Unless you scan your morning sports section with the religiousfervor of the posters on Aztec Talk, you may have missed this one.
SanDiego State volunteer assistant Tony Gwynn was recently hired by ESPNas a color commentator for Major League Baseball broadcasts, where hewill be in direct competition with Kevin Kennedy of FOX Sports forthe title of best ex-jock announcer in Aztec history. Gwynn said hewill pursue broadcasting so long as it does not get in the way of hiscoaching responsibilities.
In a related story, former SDSU hoops coach Fred Trenkle waspromoted from stock boy to night manager at the Home Depot.
A book about Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 2001 campaign, titled ThisGracious Season, has hit the stands. The work was penned by formerDaily Aztec sports editor Josh Suchon, now the San Francisco Giantsbeat writer for The Oakland Tribune.
Strange. Most DA sportswriters I know have never even read a book.
After the dismissal of Barb Smith, the question of who AthleticsDirector Rick Bay will hire to take over the women’s basketballprogram looms large. The program has not had a winning season in fiveyears and it has shown at the gate. The stands at Cox this year forwomen’s games made one harken back to the elevator scene in TheShining — a vast sea of red. What SDSU needs is a coach who canre-invigorate interest in the program. Maybe a coach with a winningtrack record. A coach with ties, and possibly coaching experience atSDSU. A coach with name recognition among the local fans. A coachwith experience in a big-time conference like the Big Ten. Perhapseven a coach that has recently been fired from her Big Ten post.
Is there anyone out there who fits that description?
My only qualm about Gwynn becoming a color commentator: Wouldn’t itbe a bit odd listening to Tony breaking down the swing of, say,Jeromy Burnitz? That would be a little like van Gogh critiquing thefinger painting of a first grader.
Considering the incredible interest and turnout created by Tony GwynnBobblehead night on Jan. 26, word is the promotions department islooking to honor another SDSU notable in a similar fashion.
Look for President Stephen Weber figurine night at a stadium nearyou. The dolls will not be bobbleheads, however, as that wouldactually require Weber to move in one direction or the other.
I noticed something kind of interesting while covering baseball atBYU over the weekend — so interesting, in fact, that I stopped in mytracks and said, “Oh my heck.”
If you walk around that campus, you see bikes everywhere.Stereotypical? For sure. But here’s the amazing part: It is illegalto ride bikes on the SDSU campus. Now try to name one other thingthat is scorned here at State, but totally permissible at BYU.
Maybe you Aztec Talk zealots can help me out with this one.
–Michael Klitzing is an assistant sports editor for The DailyAztec. He can be contacted at m_klitzing@hotmail.com.
–This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec.
