San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Too much expected out of Aztecs
Sez Me …
Has San Diego State never had a nun on campus, one sister who could root shamelessly for the Aztecs and help make a 3?
Maybe that’s the ticket — prayer to make a shot and navigate at least partially through a men’s basketball NCAA Tournament bracket. Divine Madness.
Tell you what, I read “State Expectations” while at SDSU and it scared the Dickens out of me.
I’ve read it again and again, many, many times since, hoping the ending would change, until I finally realized: It is what it is.
The Aztecs are like prize milk cows. We want to squeeze more out of their athletic udders than they possibly can give.
State’s basketball team got its Aztecs kicked by Syracuse in the first round of the Tournament, and whatever wasn’t tied down in hell broke loose.
Playing in the Mountain West leaves the Aztecs ill-prepared for the Tournament.
They weren’t ready for the Orange’s 2-3 zone despite having several days to figure it out.
Brian Dutcher should move on to Minnesota (which, thankfully — for those among us not delusional, anyway — isn’t going to happen).
Like everything else in San Diego, they are cursed.
Bah. (And I’m tired of the curse manure.)
During my matriculation at State, Don Coryell’s football teams — small college for the first three of them — lost one game and tied another.
They were too good for Division II, but the fans of course wanted galaxies and constellations. Bring on the big boys!
Things were OK vs. the occasional big boy — not a steady diet — up to the end of the 1970s, and then football accomplished very little for many years, the only vaccine provided by Marshall Faulk, and they still couldn’t win anything.
Basketball was awful, and by the time Secular Miracle Worker Steve Fisher took over in 1999, it might have been the worst program in America. Now, only Gonzaga consistently has been better on the West Coast in this century.
And that’s pretty damn good. But it’s not good enough. It’s never good enough.
There’s no question the Mountain West stinks, but it applies more to football, which needs more players than basketball, which also has a tournament of more than four schools. Brady Hoke has a Himalaya to climb in a sport in which only a few royals seem to matter every year.
I hear the Aztecs didn’t play a strong nonconference schedule. Because of COVID, how many schools did? State battered UCLA, and the Bruins made the Sweet 16. Oral Roberts plays in the Summit League, Loyola Chicago in the Missouri Valley.
It’s about matchups. The Tournament is all about them. Syracuse was an awful matchup and State stunk it out.
The Big Ten was great, the Pac-12 terrible. It’s all a bunch of crap. State was much better last year, when it had enough to win everything and was denied by the virus.
Shall I bother mentioning all the “powers” that got their butts run out of Indianapolis? The Aztecs had company. Twenty outright wins by underdogs the first weekend.
Hell, folks, Dutcher is 53-7 over the past two years. SDSU basketball is really good — Dutcher usually has veteran teams (important in March) — and every so often it’s going to be better than good, and the cow is going to produce primo cream.
That’s how it’s been and how it is. Get over it . ...
The Minnesota meal being off the table is going to help Dutcher’s recruiting, always a nasty swallow when a coach is being wooed. There are over 1,500 players in the transfer portal. …
Athletic directors should not be allowed to contact coaches for jobs while their teams still are playing. Period, Minnesota. …
Spotted last weekend: The first three-second violation since the last one was called — on George Mikan .…
A Big Ten team hasn’t won the title since 2000. …
A wag noticed Oral Roberts has beaten Ohio State one more time than Jim Harbaugh . ...
Listen up. No one — no one — was more fun to watch playing basketball than Elgin Baylor, the game’s first astronaut. The greatest shot creator, one of the 10 all-time players. Notarized. So elegant, so strong, more 6-4 than 6-5, playing 7 feet. RIP. …
I saw the Baylor and Jerry West 1963 Lakers play a real NBA game vs. the Dolph Schayes and Larry Costello Syracuse Nationals in Peterson Gym (really). Elgin and Jerry both went over 30. It was basketball then. …
Chick Hearn doing Elgin: “Baylor at the top of the key, yo-yoing the dribble. Baylor to the baseline, Baylor in the air, hangs, 15-footer, looks good, it is good, from the right side with the right hand.” The best, calling the best. …
Saw a clip of Purdue receiver
Rondale Moore running a 4.29 40 at his pro day, probably into a stiff wind. The scouts timing him looked like the cast of “Cocoon.” …
RIP, John Featherstone .A good guy, fine Aztec player and outstanding, longtime football coach at El Camino JC . ...
Noticed the Colts waited until Philip Rivers retired before signing tackle Sam Tevi .…
Judases sign Chase Daniel, one of Sid Gillman’s favorites . ...
If the 49ers want to win a Super Bowl now — and they do — it won’t happen with a rookie QB. …
Daniel Snyder is buying out his Washington “minority” partners so he’ll get no guff keeping the R-word racist nickname . ...
By the time he’s done playing, Fernando Tatis Jr. is going to have enough X-rays to light up Petco. …
MLB plans to crack down on pitchers using sticky substances. Problem. Will umps enforce it? ...
Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell gets death threats, Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn gets racially slurred. Damn, idiots, don’t bet big money on 18, 19, 20 year olds. …
Shaka Smart is headed to Marquette, where he can lose games he’s expected to win. Never won a Tournament game at Texas . ...
Shaw said youth is wasted on the young and, from what I’ve seen in Miami, so is higher learning. …
Engineers inform San Diego State that, if it had waited a few more weeks, it could have saved money, because the stadium would have collapsed on its own. …
In his efforts to slow down mail delivery (read: stop), the postmaster general will hire
Newman as his top aide. …
Hard to believe Congress ever will approve a gun bill that has more teeth than a 90-yearold hockey player. …
Tyson vs. Holyfield? Not happening. Mike’s afraid of him. …
Stink O’ The Week Sezment: They’re trying to change the San Diego Seal. The new one will depict bike lanes and a f lat top grill with ham & eggs. This is important? …
Stink II: Opening Day Starter. Don’t mean one damn thing. …
As I see it, anything “new and improved” wasn’t good enough to begin with . ...
The Tide to watch coming in strong on college basketball’s beachhead is Crimson. Alabama soon will dominate two sports. …
Thankfully, I always bring my own water to the polls . ...
Thoughts cannot be put back into heads, words cannot be returned to mouths. …
Every Lent I give up New Year’s resolutions.
sezme.godfather@gmail.com Twitter: @sdutcanepa
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