HOOP DREAMS … the email arrived unexpectedly, seemingly out of the blue … it was an invitation from a representative of the UC Davis men’s basketball team for me to attend tonight’s Aggie showdown with Stanford at the Pavilion … fair enough … but it also requested my presence at the team’s morning “shoot-around,” the mid-afternoon team meal and the pregame locker room pep talk … and then — you’d better sit down — my presence was requested on the Aggie bench during tonight’s game …

After thinking this through for a minute, it all fell into place … as is evident from the struggles this young Aggie team has had in the early season, first-year coach Jim Les is a bit short-handed as he gets used to West Coast collegiate basketball … his bench is thin … I am not thin … Coach Les needs another body on the bench, just in case those wide bodies from Stanford knock a couple of his kids out of the game …

Clearly, old film of my basketball career at Davis Junior High School has emerged and, well, Coach Les knows talent when he sees it … although I graduated from UC Davis some years ago, I did have one year of athletic eligibility remaining … the NCAA has been notified and has agreed to review my transcripts and certify my eligibility, providing I sign an affidavit declaring I never took money for playing basketball … the UC Davis admissions office is working on quickly getting me enrolled in 12 units worth of fall quarter classes under full scholarship … now, if they can just find a uniform that fits …

Yes, I will be on the bench tonight when the Aggies take the floor against Stanford … and while I feel a bit like “Rudy” of Notre Dame and movie fame, please do not begin clapping and chanting my name, hoping Coach Les will insert me into the game in the waning seconds … that is his decision and his decision alone, but I will have my jersey on straight, my shoes laced up and my hopes high … go Ags … beat the mighty Cardinal …

BRAGGING RIGHTS … if ever an Aggie football season needed a rivalry game at the end of the year for all the marbles, this is it … those of us who have watched UC Davis football for centuries are not used to a 3-7 record with just one game to go … the reason we’re not used to it is because it hasn’t happened since 1969, when the Aggies finished 3-7 … but, when you play football long enough, you’re going to experience a season like this every now and then … which is why a rivalry game is so important …

Much better to be finishing with the hated Hornets of Sac State, where a victory is multiplied 10 times over and the season’s previous missteps are quickly forgotten … the Hornets, no world-beaters themselves at 4-6, no doubt feel the same way …

NO RESPECT … unable to attend last Saturday’s Aggie-North Dakota football game, I kept myself up to date by periodically checking on the ESPN website … in addition to the score and how much time was left in the game, I learned that the temperature was “51 degrees with light rain.” … which was strange, because the sun was shining in East Davis … later it was “55 degrees and overcast” and near the end of the game it was “64 degrees, few clouds.” … then again, ESPN isn’t exactly the Weather Channel …

I was stunned, however, to read that while UC Davis was a member of the Great West Conference, North Dakota was listed as a “I-AA Independent.” … since I had always thought of North Dakota as a Great West member as well, I checked the scores of the league’s other members — Cal Poly, South Dakota and Southern Utah — and learned that they, too, were all listed by ESPN as “I-AA Independents.” … apparently, the Aggies are the only team in the league … which may explain why they’re joining the rugged Big Sky Conference next fall …

ABOUT THAT NICKNAME … this was the last time the Aggies are likely to play a team with the “Fighting Sioux” nickname … the NCAA tried to ban North Dakota’s mascot, but the state legislature stepped in and required that exact mascot be kept … after the NCAA threatened to lower the boom, the legislature relented, the governor signed off and the Fighting Sioux were granted state permission to no longer be the Fighting Sioux … next year look for the Fighting Tumbleweeds to be running up and down the gridiron …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected] Can’t get enough college football? Get expanded forecasts and discussion at Bob Dunning’s college football blog at dunningblog.blogspot.com or at davisenterprise.com under “Blogs.”

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