Lots of sports action in Fresno this weekend!
Thursday night saw what may have been the biggest game to ever take place in Bulldog Stadium. Fresno State shut down the mighty Boise State Broncos, snapping their 31-game WAC winning streak, and virtually sealing the WAC championship for the Bulldogs. Even bigger, the win will unquestionably move them up quite a bit in the national polls.
Unfortunately, a bunch of piece of crap fraud “fans” didn’t bother to even show up to the game, and others left at halftime. Many were from the “red seats”, but many others were from other areas, even the student section. It was embarrassing. The biggest game in forever and a bunch of so-called “fans” skipped it because they were afraid to get wet. Seriously shameful. Put on a damn poncho and be a fan. At the end of the game, some players and Pat Hill came to the full sections and showed their appreciation for the actual fans that did stay for the game. Still, it was a reminder that, when it comes down to it, Fresno’s still third rate. Not the school or the football program, but the people.
Last night (Friday), Logan and I went to the Fresno Falcons game. They played against a former AHL team, the Utah Grizzlies. And they got steamrolled. The Grizzlies dominated physically, and the goaltender played a great game. Meanwhile, backup Falcons goalie Mike Brown was lit up like a Christmas tree, and the offense couldn’t even get shots off on a 2-man advantage power play. They were completely outclassed. Utah played a sound, clean game, but played hard and physical.
It didn’t get much better tonight. The team looked largely ineffective against a last-place pathetic San Diego Gulls team. Power play opportunity after power play opportunity was blown, against the team with the league’s worst penalty kill. Falcons goaltender Brett Jaegar played outstanding hockey, and that was the only thing that kept the team from getting beat. The Gulls outshot Fresno, and had many more quality scoring opportunities. The San Diego goaltender was rarely challenged. It took 9 rounds of shootout for the Falcons to finally eke out a win. Not a good sign against a cellar dweller Gulls squad.
Oh, and Fresno fans - just because a Falcon gets pancaked and falls to the ice doesn’t mean there should be a penalty called. Get over it. The Falcons crowd shows about as little hockey knowledge as possible.
The Falcons definitely don’t look like a team that deserves to be at the top of the division standings right now. The goaltending is there (when Jaeger is between the pipes), but the offense and forechecking is woeful. This weekend, they played at the same level as a last-place team.