R.I.P., Prospectin' Pete (c.1967-2018)

In a grotesque move based on the continuing trend of political correctness on college campuses nationwide, the university today officially "retired" its physical mascot representative for athletics, Prospector Pete.  Use of the mascot has ended at athletic events for the past couple of years.  A statue on upper campus called "The Prospector", which was dedicated in 1967 according to the CSULB website, is slated to eventually be moved to a planned Alumni Center across from the Pyramid.  Fundraising efforts for this center are in their infancy. 

It's not certain if the 49'rs nickname will also be changed or eliminated, though some recent media reports claim a change to "1949ers", silly as that sounds.  The athletic department has also de-emphasized the 49ers nickname in recent years, favoring The Beach.  The "Dirtbags" name for Baseball, though seemingly more offensive, is not affected.

Per my recollections of my time as a student at LBSU, there really wasn't a presence of a Pete mascot at events until the late 1980's or early 1990's.  Before that, there were a couple of years of a leggy Blonde in a cowboy hat and boots wearing a large foam "49'rs" prancing around at football games, and of course, the dreaded multi-colored, sunglasses-wearing "Beach Ball".  The "Prospectin' Pete" nickname didn't even come about until students voted for it in the late 1980's.

The saddest part of this whole controversy, to me, is that the alleged reasons for dropping the mascot are based on a mistaken, or purposefully politically advanced, interpretation of history, claiming California Gold Rush prospectors committed "genocide" on the region's native residents.  Thus, a seemingly innocuous image honoring the state's history, also chosen because of the school's founding year, becomes demonized.

Obviously, I'm not in favor of this decision, but I understand it in the current political climate. 

Personally, I am a 49er/Forty-Niner, and always will be.  I also like the BE/\CH.  These are our brands and identity, and I hope they are not monkeyed with any further.  Otherwise, i'd be in favor of nobody having either mascots or nicknames of any kind.  But I'm sure even that would wind up offending someone.  😠

GO 49ERS
GO BEACH
GO DIRTBAGS

2017-18 Year in Review

OK, I haven't done one of these in several years (back to the old AOL site days), but here goes...a retrospective of the BE/\CH athletic season that just wrapped up with the track & field athletes competing at the NCAA nationals in Oregon.  We'll start with the big 7 (M/W Volleyball, M/W Basketball, Women's Soccer, Baseball & Softball) in depth, then quick reviews of how the other sports did.  It was a mixed season, buoyed by strong showings in the sprong sports, getting LBSU up to third in the BWC Commissioner's Cup standings, behind Davis and Fullerton.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Record:  15-18
BW Record:  9-7 (5th)
Lost to CS Fullerton in  BWT First Round.

Season Highlights:

Wins over Pac-12 opponents Oregon State and Stanford.
Gabe Levin ties Ed Ratleff's single-game scoring record with 45 pts in Double OT loss to UC Davis.
Levin joined 1000-point club in loss at Hawaii.

Honors:

Gabe Levin:  All-BWC 1st Team
Temidayo Yussuf:  All-BWC Honorable Mention
Deishuan Booker:   All-BWC Honorable Mention

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Record:  8-23
BW Record:  6-10 (T-6th)
Lost to UCR in BWT First Round at CSUF.

Season Highlights:

NC win at Pac-12 opponent Arizona.
Swept season series over BWT champion CSUN
Ended regular season on a 5-game win streak.

Honors:

Cecily Wilson:  All-BWC Honorable Mention
Shanaijah Davison:  All-BWC Honorable Mention, All-Freshman
Naomi Hunt:  All-BWC Honorable Mention, All-Freshman

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Record:  10-19
BW Record:  7-9 (T-5th)

Honors:
Hailey Harward:  All-BWC 1st Team
Megan Kruidhof & YiZhi Xue: All-BWC Honorable Mention
Radi Marinova:  BWC All-Freshman

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Record:  28-1
BW Record:  9-1 (BWC Champion)
Inaugural BWC Tournament Cnampion, defeating Hawaii.
NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPION, defeating UCLA 3-2

Honors:

Josh Tuaniga:  AVCA Player of the Year & 1st Team AA, OTB Lloy Ball Setter of the Year, VolleyballMag.com Co-Player of the Year,  VolleyMob 2nd Team AA, All- BWC 1st Team.
TJ DeFalco:  AVCA 1st Team AA, OTB Karch Kiraly OH of the Year, All- BWC 1st Team & Player of the Year, VolleyMob 1st Team AA, Volleyball Mag Co-POY.
Kyle Ensing:  AVCA & VolleyMob 1st Team AA, OTB Brian Ivie OPP of the Year, All BWC 1st Team.
Nick Amado:  AVCA 2nd Team AA, VolleyMob 3rd Team AA. All BWC 1st Team.
Simon Anderson:  AVCA Hin. Mention AA, OTB & VolleyMob Freshman AA, All-BWC Hon. Mention and Freshman Team.
Bjarne Huus:   All-BWC Hon. Mention.
Alan Knipe:  AVCA & VoilleyMob Coach of the Year., BWC Coach of the Year.
Nick MacRae:  AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year, named assistant on USA U19 nat'l team.

BASEBALL

Record:  27-30
BW Record:  12-12 (5th, 6GB of CSF)

Honors:

Clayton Andrews:  All-BWC 1st Team SP,  Drafted in 17th Rd by Milwaukee
Jarren Duran:  All-BWC 2ndTeam 2B, Drafted in 7th Rd (220) by Boston.
Zak Baayoun:  All-BWC 2nd Team SP.
Chris Rivera:  All-BWC 2nd Team Closer, Drafted 33rd Rd by St. Louis
Eli Villalobos:  Drafted in 14th Rd by Miami
Set official school Season attendance record of 61,179 (2110 per game),

SOFTBALL

Record:  43-14
BW Record: 16-5 (2nd)  National Ranking #20
Lost in NCAA Regionals to Mississippi.

Season Highlights:

Three no-hitters by Cielo Meza (2) and Jessica Flores.
Meza sets school single-game strikeout record vs Hawaii (17)

Honors:

Taylor Rowland:  NFCA 2nd Team AA, 1st Tean all-Region, All BWC 1st Team.
Cielo Meza:  NFCA 1st Team all-Region, All-BWC 1st Team & Pitcher of the Year
Naomi Hernandez:  NFCA 1st Team all-Region, All-BWC 1st Team, Freshman Team & Field Freshman of the Year
Nichole Fry:   All-BWC 1st Team
Jessica Flores:  All-BWC Honorable Mention
Lauren MacLeod:   All-BWC Honorable Mention
Devyn Magnett:   All-BWC Honorable Mention
Grayce Majam:   All-BWC Honorable Mention
Kim Sowder:  BWC Co-Coach of the Year

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Record:  9-6-3
BW Record:  3-3-2 (5th)

Honors:

Kaitlin Fregulia:  BWC 1st Team & Defensive POY, 2nd Team all-West Region
Katie Pingel:  All-BWC 2nd Team
Tori Bolden:  All-BWC Honorable Mention
Dana Fujikini:  All-BWC Honorable Mention
Rola Badawiya:  BWC All-Freshman
Sarah Pistler:  BWC All-Freshman

MORE TO COME...

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS ~ Beach MVB beats host UCLA for first title since 1991!

Long Beach State, on the ropes and down by 4 points to host UCLA late in the 4th set, dug deep and pulled out a 26-24 win, then finished off a 15-12 Set 5 win with a kill by MB Nick Amado, to win the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship.  A crowd of over 7000 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion witnessed the 49ers' first NCAA title in MVB since 1991, and the school's first NCAA title since Misty May's 1998 WVB team.  Kyle Ensing knocked down 20 kills for the second straight match, and TJ DeFalco added 18 kills, 12 digs, 7 assists, 4 blocks and 2 aces.  National POY Josh Tuaniga dished 46 assists, and hit 3 for 3 with no errors, including a crucial dump kill to set up his service ace to put away Set 4.  Ethan Sigfried also came off the bench to serve up a couple of aces.  Amado added 6 blocks and 4 kills, including the championship point.  The Beach's lone senior, Bjarne Huus, had 6 kills and 8 digs, and did a great job in serve recieve, with only one error in 24 touches.  The 49ers hope to go for the repeat next May in the friendly confines of the Walter Pyramid, as they host the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Congratulations to Coach Alan Knipe and his staff, and all the players, for this tremendous accomplishment, and we hope to see another celebration about this time next year in our own backyard!  GO BE/\CH!!

Beach Baseball to be televised twice on ESPNU

ESPN has announced that it will air two Big West baseball games this season, and both will involve the Dirtbags.  The first game will feature LB on the road at Cal Poly on Friday, April 20th.  The second will be at Blair Field with the opener of the final series of the regular season vs. CSUF.  Both games will be shown live on ESPNU, and will stream on ESPN3/WatchESPN.  Read the conference press release HERE.  Beach Baseball opens the season Friday, hosting St. Mary's at 6pm.

Baseball "Fan Fest" at Blair Saturday.

49er Baseball, a.k.a. Dirtbags Baseball (😁), will hold its annual Fan Fest kickoff event tomorrow at Blair Field.  Come check out this season's team, along with the latest upgrades to the facility, as the Beach looks to defend its Big West championship, and take another shot at getting back to Omaha.  More info on the event can be found HERE.

MBB wins big on the central coast, but the Ladies can't hold on at home.

Bad news first...A long season got a little longer for 49er WBB last night in the Pyramid, as Cal Poly recovered from a 13-point deficit to beat The Beach, 75-64.  The Beach was HOT early on, as Jessica Gertz led an onslaught of 3-pointers to get LB out to a 17-7 lead in the 1st quarter, before the Mustangs went on a 9-0 run to get within one early in the 2nd.  The 49ers stretched the lead again with their own 13-1 run, and had their largest lead, 30-17, 2 minutes before Halftime.  CP had cut the lead to six by the half with defensive pressure and better rebounding, and that continued through the 2nd half.  The Beach held grimly onto a five-point lead after three quarters, but fatigue and turnovers helped the Mustangs in erasing the lead by the 6:54 mark, as they cruised the rest of the way to the 11-point win.  The Leaupepe twins lead the way for CP, Dynn with 23 pts., 13 boards and 4 steals, and sister Lynn with 16 pts. and 3 steals off the bench.  Shanaijah Davison came off the bench for the Niners to score 18 points, but also gave up 6 turnovers, while Gertz drained 5 3-pointers, and finished with 17 points.  As if the 4th quarter collapse wasn't bad enough, senior Cecily Wilson went down late in the game with a leg injury, and had to be carried off the court.  She's been battling knee trouble all through the season.  You can find more about the game and the boxscore HERE.  The ladies will try again for their first win outside of the state of Arizona next Thursday, as they host conference-leading UC Davis.

And now, the good news...49er Men's Hoops got themselves another road win last night in SLO, putting away struggling Cal Poly, 87-71, and taking sole possession of 2nd place in the BWC.  Gabe Levin led the way with 21 points, and Temi Yussuf added a double-double with 17 pts. and 10 boards.  PG Deishuan Booker added 17 pts. and 5 assists, and freshman Edon Mazhuni continued his hot play. pouring in 14 pts.  G Bryan Alberts made his return to action off the DL, and added a 3-pointer in 18 minutes off the bench.  Also, freshman Jordan Roberts chipped in a career-best 9 rebounds, as The Beach dominated the boards, 45-28, and 17-4 on the offensive glass.  The Mustangs are in freefall, having lost their last five games.  The Beach is back in action Saturday up the 405 at CSUN, starting at 7pm.

Top-Ranked 49er Men's Volleyball comes back to the Pyramid for their first two official home games of the 2018 season, hosting Stanford tonight at 6pm, then taking on USC tomorrow night at 7.  The Beach swept the Cardinal on the road last weekend.  LB got more good news this week, as the Press-Telegram reported that TJ DeFalco has given notice that he will stay with the program next season for his senior year, and a chance to play for an NCAA title on his home court. 

One final bit of negative news...Two of our sports journalists have become victims of the recent bloodletting at the Southern California News Group, owners of the Press-Telegram, OC Register, LA Daily News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, etc..  Mike Guardabascio and JJ Fiddler have been covering Long Beach sports at the college and high school levels with passion and flair for quite some time now, first with the Gazettes, the with the PT.  Hopefully, they will find another outlet to continue their efforts soon.  Good luck and best wishes to them!

(BTW, Mike G. has also published a couple of books on the history of Football in Long Beach and Basketball in Long Beach, including LBSU and all the city's high schools.  They are both a  must-read for any local sports fan.  Look for them at your local Long Beach bookstore or online at the links above.)

A fresh start

Howdy BEACH fans!

I can't believe it's been nearly 4.5 years since I updated my previous Long Beach St. sports blog, LBSU 49'RS NUGGETS.  Life has really gotten in the way, but I'm ready to give it another try.

I can't seem to access the old blog to edit it, so I'm setting up a new, more modern one.  It will ultimately have all the links and stuff the old one had, and hopefully I'll be able to keep adding content at regular intervals.

I'll be providing occasional recaps of games I see in person, and links to stories on those I don't.  I also plan to post some historical content on the page (including the images below), for those not as familiar with the interesting past of 49er athletics.  

I hope you find what I put up here interesting, entertaining, and useful!  GO BEACH!! 😀

(BTW, I'll be tweaking and toying with the layout of the site for a while, so don't be too alarmed.) 

Photo taken from my phone while standing in the temporary concourse bleachers, installed before the MBB game vs. North Carolina back in November, 2012.  The additional seats brought the Pyramid's seating capacity to nearly 7000 seats!  Listed game attendance was 6912, as the Beach fell, 78-63.

Football helmet from the final two seasons of the LBSU program (1989-91), under coaches George Allen and Willie Brown (photo credit :unknown).

Did you know Prospectin' Pete had a female counterpart?  Took this pic at Homecoming in 2016.  I suspect the mascot art is from the early/mid 1960's.

 

Linebacker David Howard, who played for the Beach in 1983 & 84, and starred in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings.