One of My Favorite Days!!!!

Democracy reigns! Obama! McCain! Nader! (they were listed in alphabetical order folks....easy does it). Today is one of the days that I personally love....the presidential election. It's all about statistics...and just makes me giddy with American pride and all of that. Being a pop culture junkie, and then having a big screen TV to watch all the election stuff with...well, I'm in hog heaven.

I'm also in hog heaven because I can finally start blogging a little more after this week, as the October/November cross-over hit hard in my office like it always does. However, most folks should have seen that the men's basketball bios were updated online (and thanks to those that sent me a note that I left off Michael Lacey...oops), and that the media guide is also online.

Speaking of basketball....that game was $5 last night, so with the ISU sports season having not been the winningest of falls, I would have thought we'd have a packed house for that game, but sadly, I was wrong. The guys play again Friday in a wicked triple-header at Reed Gym...

3:00 pm - Volleyball hosts Sacramento State
5:45 pm - Women's Basketball hosts Concordia (CA)
7:45 pm - Men's Basketball hosts Rocky Mountain

Just so folks know, the volleyball game is separate from the basketball, so once volleyball ends, we will clear the gym, and then the cost of a ticket for the basketball games is $5, with that price good for both games (unreal value in these economic times, no?).

So the guys won their exhibition opener 73-55 over Montana Tech, and personally, they looked pretty good for an opening effort minus three guys (Austin Kilpatrick, Felix Caspari, and Kal Bay) who will significantly help out on the offensive end. Kellis Robinett's blog is fantastic with some postgame audio and video...check it out. Also, it should be noted that Coach O'Brien flat out told me before the game that he didn't have much in on the offensive side of things, since he concentrated on defense first. Also, with Katie Zigars and John Hapke as my witnesses, I said right at the opening tip "Bengals by 18".

Dan Thompson also has some bloggy thoughts about the upcoming football game against Weber State, who clinch the Big Sky's automatic berth to the FCS playoffs with a win on Saturday.

Scott Haynes of the Sports Network has his Big Sky men's basketball preview out, and he picked Idaho State fourth, way lower than I've seen anywhere else (which is cool to even say really...fourth is the LOWEST I've seen us picked....I'm giddy).

Pago Togafau is right back where he started by the way...no, not with Idaho State, but with the Arizona Cardinals, who just signed him off of the New Orleans Saints' practice squad to replace Ali Highsmith, who was put on injured reserve. Also in the world of pro football, Eric Price, who started his career at Idaho State, was signed to the Boise Burn, along with Mark Weivoda and Ernie James, and Emery Beckles told me today that he should be signing with them soon as well. Also, Jared Allen is being accused of a couple of cheap shots by the coach of the Texans. Allen also was injured during the game as well and is iffy for their big game Sunday with the Packers.

ISU women's basketball opens up on Friday, and there will be some more in the local paper on them this week, but former ISU standout Stephanie Pemper is in her first year at Navy, and is taking a specific approach to things.

I totally wish I could have signed up for this. Also, make sure you read this on ISU's Brenda Cooper.

Lastly, how about softball landing in a conference for the 2010 season? The Pacific Coast Softball Conference, just what the doctor ordered.

Quick Men's Basketball Update

Just a quick note for the faithful that the media guide is at the printer (YEAH!!!!). I have the updated roster online, and I'll update everyone's bios tomorrow, but the numbers are now fixed, and everyone has a photo. I'll also try to get the pdf pages online as well, but it's meeting after meeting tomorrow for a while....they will get up by Saturday night, since I can't play PSP all day on Saturday, and I'll have gotten through a good portion of Tony Dungy's Quiet Strength as well (a must, must read).

Also, I'll have more stuff about the games on Monday and Friday, but with the construction going on at Reed Gym, plus a full night of classes, parking is going to be extremely limited (and thanks in advance to the Reed Gym folks for saving a couple of spaces for the media relations people to bring over all of their gears...not!). I'll see if there is any sort of shuttle option for parking at Holt and shuttling over, but folks should plan on the fact that parking is limited, so carpool, carpool, carpool. In good news, hey, there's no $1 parking fee!

What's Over-Under on Cal Poly-ISU? Take the Over

Points, points and more points. That's what I'd expect when the Bengals travel to San Luis Obispo to take on an explosive Cal Poly team on Saturday night. The Mustangs have averaged 53 points a game in their last four outings, including a 69-point monster against Southern Utah this past Saturday. They will give the Bengal defenders, who will be busing to Salt Lake, flying to Oakland, then busing to SLO, plenty of opportunity to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out those cramped leg muscles.

The marquee name for Cal Poly is Ramses Barden, not only because he has a cool name, but because he's one of the best offensive players in the country, no matter what class you're talking about. Barden, a majestic 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds, considered going to the NFL after his junior season, but the NFL projected him as only a fifth round draft choice. So he's back at Cal Poly, where he's averaging 21 yards a catch and has already put up 10 touchdown catches in six games this season.

Throwing the football to Barden will be Jonathan Dally (pronounced like alley), probably the most underrated quarterback in the FCS. Dally put together one of the best all-around games I've ever seen a quarterback play against the Bengals last year. He ran for 119 yards and a touchdown, and completed 16 of 24 passes for 453 yards and five touchdowns. Over the last season and a half, Dally has thrown 44 touchdown passes to just six interceptions. His numbers this year reflect improved accuracy over last season, with Dally completing almost 68 percent of his passes, and he has 15 touchdown throws to just one pick so far this year.

Cal Poly is 5-1 on the year, losing only to Montana when they missed on a last-second field goal in the second game of the season, and the Mustangs own a 29-27 win over FBS team San Diego State in the season-opener. They will put up points on Saturday night, of that there is no doubt.

The "good news" for the Bengals is that Cal Poly's own defense has proven to be more than vulnerable. Southern Utah scored 41 points against the Mustangs last Saturday, largely on the strength of a 469-yard passing day by SUU's Cody Stone. Bengal fans will remember last year, when Josh Barnett ran for 118 yards and Jaron Taylor (pictured) had his coming out party with a four-catch, 149-yard, two touchdown night for ISU. If Bengal WR Eddie Thompson is available to team with Taylor and Isaiah Burel (we'll hear more on ET's injury situation from Bengal Coach John Zamberlin on tonight's coach's show -- 6 p.m., KSEI 930-AM), it should be "points-a-plenty" on the Central Coast.

--Brad B.

Oh and thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.