New Year’s resolutions are fun. I’ll be posting during the next week or so about some of my favorite teams and what resolutions they might think about adopting First up: Cal Poly men’s basketball.

Early Blows:

The Cal Poly Mustangs Men’s Basketball are currently 7-5, which puts them third in the BigWest Conference behind the UC Davis Aggies (9-3) and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (12-4). Conference powers such as UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and Long Beach State have not started the way they wanted to but will most certainly be in the hunt throughout conference play.

The season did not start out the way the Mustangs wanted. Guard Taylor Sutlive and forward Zach Gordon whom Coach Joe Callero expected an increase in production from this season were lost for the year due to injuries. Callero was forced to incorporate new players into the lineup such as freshman forward Aleks Abrams — a big and active player who rebounds well — and increase roles for players such  as senior guard Michael Bolden who is a skilled defender and capable shooter, and senior guard Reese Morgan who has battled through injuries but is a great free throw shooter and known for making big time threes.

The Mustangs were blown out in their first three road games at Nevada (65-49) California Berkeley (72-52) and Saint Mary’s (82-56). The Mustangs also found out recently that Kyle Toth who had been productive during his time with the Mustangs will not be eligible when conference play begins due to academic reasons.

In his sophomore season, Ridge Shipley’s ability to put pressure on defenses and be efficient with the ball will go a long way toward Cal Poly playing their preferred style and pace. By Owen Main

New Year’s Resolutions:

January begins the new year (2015) as well as conference play for teams. With the Big West as deep as it has been in years, Cal Poly will need to find ways to stay competitive throughout conference play. Recently, they’ve found ways to win on the road and get themselves above .500 despite the losses of Sutlive, Gordon and Toth.

1.The Mustangs lead the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (8.4) and fewest total turnovers (101).

2. The Mustangs are balanced offensively with 8 players scoring more than 4 points per game (7 minus Toth). The Mustangs have 2 of those 7 players scoring 6 points per game (Ridge Shipley and Joel Awich) 1 player scoring almost 10 points per game (Reese Morgan) 1 player scoring over 11 points per game (Brian Bennett) and 1 player scoring over 14 points per game (David Nwaba).

3. The Mustangs defense holds opponents to 60 points per game while Cal Poly averages 63 points per game.

With an efficient and balanced offense and tenacious defense the Mustangs have been able fight through injuries and should be able to remain competitive after the loss of three players before conference play even begins.

In Cal Poly’s case, their resolution to get back to basics seemed to start a little early, when they went 4-2 on a 6-game December road trip to finish non-confernence play. Like many people resolve to do the same things year-in and year-out, Cal Poly seems to have once again found out a way to hang their hat on defense and taking care of the basketball. Perhaps it was a resolution they made before their recent road trip in December, but Joe Callero once again has his team focused on the things that matter to him.

Defense wins games and tournaments and Cal Poly proved that last season after they won the BigWest Tournament and won their first round game against Texas Southern in the NCAA Tournament. Their teamwork on offense and defense should give Mustangs fans a reason for optimism through the uphill climb that is BigWest Conference.

Cal Poly starts Big West play on Thursday at Hawai’i before returning for their home conference opener Saturday January 10th against rival UCSB.

Finding a friend is way more important than a fancy contraption. By Harry Alverson from Shanghai, China, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy New Year. It’s 2014 and you’re trying to lose some weight, get in shape and turn your life around. If you are trying to exercise more in 2014, I have one piece of advice for you — get a friend.

Find someone who has a similar schedule and who likes to do the same activities as you — basketball, cycling, mountain biking, running, whatever. The last ingredient in this friend is that they are a little less lazy than you and possibly in a little better shape than you already.

I suppose you could call them your “exercise mentor.”

Before 2013 ended, I was down in my exercise. A new baby and lots of bad eating had my weight up about 10 pounds and I wasn’t happy about it. I wasn’t riding my road bike. I wasn’t playing basketball. I was turning more and more sedentary. As luck would have it, a friend gave me his old mountain bike and his father, who lives locally, started inviting me out on rides. My mountain bike buddy is 25 years older than me and has better stamina and skills. Most importantly, he’s had the kindness to show me new trails and parts of my hometown I’ve never seen before.

For the past two months, I’ve been furiously pedaling up the hill behind him — almost every weekend. Have you ever seen the view from the top of Irish Hills or the trails near Turri Road between Los Osos and Morro Bay. I assure you they are worth the walk/ride.

All this weekend mountain biking has caused me to be more motivated to work out during the week as well. You see, when you know that you’ll be chasing someone on Saturday, exercising on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday becomes much less of an option and more of a necessity. Motivation becomes easier to come by. If I know I’m riding on Saturday, my meal on Friday night usually is pretty healthy, and not too heavy.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve started marking exercise on my calendar and, interestingly, I’m doing SOMETHING at least every other day, on average. This was unthinkable just a few months ago, when the lack of sleep from the newborn was a built-in excuse to not moving.

Communities can be very successful. For me, even a very small community of people I like riding and being with makes a huge difference. Though I am not, many of my friends are “Crossfitters,” and if I had to point to one thing that has caused Crossfit to enjoy a meteoric rise over the past two years, I would point to the sense of community that is clearly evident in that world. Both real social interaction at each “Box” and online virtual interaction with a community of people with similar goals can help a person achieve something remarkable there. Compare that to the weights and weight bench that have been gathering a sad, lonely layer of dust in my garage for most of this year, and the point is made.

Balancing a 5 month-old with the rigors of work AND exercise can be challenging. But, if I had one piece of advice this resolution season, it’s to spend some serious time and energy finding someone who you like and who enjoys the same type of exercise you do. It can make a world of difference.