Unless you’re a coach, games are always better when they’re close. On Friday night, San Luis Obispo and Mission Prep matched-up in at least four varsity sports.

Boys’ Soccer

San Luis Obispo (11-3-2, 5-1-1) scored early and often in a win at San Luis Obispo High School. By the time I got to the game, about six or eight minutes in, the score was already 2-0 and the Tigers were lining up for a penalty kick. SLO continued to score in the second half — Grayson Stewart earned and finished a penalty — and the Tigers rolled over the Royals (3-12, 0-6) by a final score of 5-0.

Photos by Owen Main

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Girls’ Soccer

The girls’ soccer match promised to be closer than the boys’ game. Mission Prep (9-4-2, 3-1-2) has had a great season so far. Unfortunately for the Royals, SLO was undefeated coming in and continued the trend.

Through light rain at SLO High, the Tigers got a goal apiece in the first and second halves, controlling play for a 2-0 league win.

The Tigers are now 15-0-1 overall and 7-0 in Pac 8 play.

Photos by Owen Main

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Girls’ Basketball

While San Luis Obispo dominated the soccer matchups, Mission Prep got a pair of basketball wins. On the girls’ side, Andrew Richardson’s Royals (11-7, 5-2) used tough defense to beat the Tigers (9-9, 2-5) 44-25.

Boys’ Basketball

When I arrived, the game was just beginning, the atmosphere was already electric. With both the Mission and San Luis Obispo student sections jam-packed into Mission Prep’s gym, ear plugs would have been in order if I’d had them.

San Luis Obispo kept the game close for most of the first two quarters before Mission used runs in the second and third quarters to extend the lead that they’d hold onto throughout the fourth quarter.

For their part, San Luis Obispo (12-9, 3-4) looked like the improved squad they are. It would be great for high school sports in SLO if this rivalry continues to heat up the next time they face one another and in coming years.

Mission’s junior forward Kyle Stewart had a great game to the tune of 20 points — his patented “eyes-closed” shot release seemingly dialed-in.

Mission (11-8, 6-1) maintained their one-game deficit behind St. Joseph with the second half of Pac 8 play starting this week.

Photos by Owen Main

To view all photos, click here.

All-SLO, all the time

I saw at least half of three games on Friday night and even managed to sneak in a burger at Franks between the two soccer games at SLO High. On February 12, all four teams will once again face-off in the final game of the regular season for all of them. I love rivalries.

This post might seem simple. People might think I’m beating a dead horse. But that horse is still in my front yard and smells worse than ever. I have this club in my hand and I have to do something.

If I’m going to write about the Dodgers this season, how, exactly should I consume their games?

First of all, I’m not thinking that this dispute between providers and TWC SportsNet LA will be settled anytime prior to the season starting. If it happens, I guess I’ll be excited, but I’m not counting on it. A fan has to make contingency plans.

Without the ability to legally watch the games live in any way from my home town (which is 3 1/2 hours away from the stadium), what exactly are my options?

1) Buy MLBTV for the right to stream the entire games the next day.

This option is kind of what I did this past year. The nice thing is that I got to watch other games that didn’t have the Dodgers or Angels involved. That was nice for my fantasy team, but doesn’t do me much good in terms of trying to provide any kind of timely commentary or analysis.

The other bad thing about this mode is that the MLBTV app for my Playstation shows me when runs are scored and when cool things happen. Because I’m a little impatient sometimes, I tend to skip right through some of the non-scoring, but still interesting, portions of the game.

This will not be good for the whole “I’m going to write something every day” mantra of this year.

2) Listen on the radio.

This is a great option when I’m by myself. I can have the radio feed blaring over whatever else I’m doing. With a family, though, having the game on in the background, muted, would be better.

I guess I could listen with headphones too, but headphones aren’t good for your ears and also it’s 2015. Not being able to watch a game in your local market in this day and age is pretty silly.

3) Follow a select group of Twitterers.

I have a kick-ass group of Dodgers-related Twitter follows. Truthfully, if you follow the right people the Twitter feed around a Dodgers game (especially a playoff game) can be as entertaining as watching the game itself.

Seriously, with people like Chad Moriyama, Eric Stephen, Dylan Hernandez, Mike Petriello, Jon Weisman, and so many others, a guy just can’t go wrong. Some day I’ll make a list so other people can follow along with me. It’s really good, but twitter shows reactions to something and if you didn’t see that something, it’s a lot less impactful and a lot less fun.

My brother and I got last-minute tickets to a game a few years ago. It meant that we left San Luis Obispo at about 2:30pm and were home at about 2:30am. Driving is a really tough option.

4) Drive myself to Chavez Ravine

This takes 3 1/2 hours on a good day from San Luis Obispo. It can be up to 4 1/2 on a bad day. This means leaving around 7:00 or 8:00 AM for a weekend day game and getting home sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 at night. I do it a few times a year, but think about that for a minute.

5) Move 45 miles North.

In Monterey County, the Giants own the media rights. Buying MLBTV and watching from there would get me access to live Dodgers games. Believe me, it’s something I haven’t not thought about.

6) Find a way

I have heard of people who have found ways around the rules and regulations. With this Internet thing not going anywhere, people have found ways to access games. I don’t care to break the law, nor do I condone such things. This will not be what I do, but I suppose it’s an option for a die-hard fan who’s been put in this situation.

What to do

As you can see, there aren’t a lot of great options here. I’m not going to become ambivalent like I did last season. That attitude doesn’t suit me and it’s not how I care to be. I’ll figure it out until TWCSNLA becomes available, if it ever does.

Perhaps I’m missing an option here? If you have suggestions for me, please let me know.

Here is a map of MLB blackout areas via Wikipedia:

I guess things could be worse if I lived way up in the Owens Valley… “MLB Blackout Areas” by Braindrain0000 – via Wikipedia

Maybe the thing I’ll regret most this year is missing so many of Dee Gordon’s stolen bases. By bridgetds on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

The majesty of Matt Kemp‘s beard and sweet haircut. Vin Scully telling a story about Aramis Ramirez‘ involvement in cock-fighting in the Domincan Republic. Miguel Rojas picking a few nice grounders.

Tonight, these are things I’m seeing for the first time this season, all while traveling out of state for work. These are all fun things to see, but they aren’t even the most entertaining parts of watching the first inning.

The best of the first comes when Dee Gordon steps to the plate to lead-off the bottom of the inning. The young All-Star second baseman hits a swinging-bunt single down the first base line. It doesn’t take long for Gordon to steal second base (his 55th stolen base of the season), advance to third on an overthrow by Jonathan Lucroy, and score on a Yasiel Puig single. Two batters, one stolen base, two hits, and about everything you could ever expect from Dee Gordon.

Apparently, Gordon has been doing this pretty much all season. What have I been missing? The answer is a ton, and then again not very much. Via advanced stats, like his Baseball-Reference.com page, Gordon has only managed a 2.4 WAR, probably due mostly to his 80/30 walk/strikeout ratio from the leadoff spot in the order. Gordon’s league-leading 55 steals in 68 attempts leads the league.

Gordon may not be as valuable as he is exciting. I’ve always been intrigued by speed in baseball, especially when I haven’t seen very much baseball this year. After Juan Uribe strikes out with runners on second and third and two outs, maybe a little part of me is glad I haven’t seen more.

Dodger fans on the Central Coast have been effectively banned from watching their team this season — a ridiculous development for the year 2014. By Downtowngal (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

If the Dodgers wanted the Central Coast as part of their media market, they sure could have fooled me. With thousands of other Dodger fans, we are the forgotten children, poised in no-man’s land.

It’s officially the All-Star break. We are still, officially, blacked out.

For fans around Los Angeles, there are other ways to take the game in. Their flagship radio station’s ratings are up almost 50 percent and ballpark attendance is up over eight percent. In San Luis Obispo, the games can be found on ESPN Radio 1280, but there is no legal way to actually watch the games.

Like many others in California, we live hours away from Los Angeles, while still being technically within the Dodgers’ market. One county to the North (Monterey County), the market switches to the Giants. It takes at least 12 hours to drive to Dodger Stadium, take in a game, and get home (probably more like 15-18 if you like to get there early). In other words, it’s a full day.

I’ve explained the ridiculousness before. If I lived almost anywhere else in the country, I’d have at least some access to games. If you live “outside” of the Dodgers’ market (one county to the North, for example), you can get every Dodgers game via MLBTV. Even if I was “blacked out” in Los Angeles, I’d be able to go to more games in person, as it seems many fans are.

This, my friends, is no-man’s land.

Like so many Dodgers fans, I haven’t been happy about the situation. While fans are completely helpless, I’ve found other things to focus on this Summer. In my house, there are lots of projects I’ve completed instead of watching the Dodgers on TV. I’ve found other sports to watch, writing for an MLS-related site. In an age where I can watch EVERY World Cup match live, from my computer, wherever I am, how silly is it that I can’t watch the Dodgers on TV?

It’s far less than it once was, but every so often, I have thought about the Dodgers this summer.

I wonder what an All-Star level Dee Gordon looks like. I haven’t seen it with my own two eyes, so I wonder whether it actually exists.

I wonder what it must have been like to see Clayton Kershaw throw one of the best-pitched games of all-time.

I wonder how many years Vin Scully has left in the tank. How bitter will my emotions be if this whole season goes by without being able to see hear Vin describe those warm Chavez Ravine evenings? If this is Vin’s last year, how much does anyone really care?

I wonder what will happen if the Dodgers make it to the World Series. Will I have to learn about some of the players on my own team throughout the playoffs, when I should have had 162 games to take the information in? Am I less attached to this team because I cannot see them play?

To be a fan is to be engaged. To be an educated fan is to have consumed the games by some means. Radio used to suffice. I still follow games on Twitter and online, along with ESPN Radio 1280. No matter what I try, there is nothing like seeing the look on Yasiel Puig’s face before he gets tossed, or witnessing the throws (which have been described alternately as both ill-advised and outstanding) he makes on what seems like a regular basis.

The thing that is always crazy to me is that the buck just doesn’t stop anywhere.

The Dodgers have their money, Time Warner has its price, and other television providers have made their stand. Everyone has made rational, probably defensible decisions along the course of this process. It reminds me of an undergraduate Poly-Sci professor’s lectures on the decisions that led to the first World War. Everyone makes decisions in their own interests, and those decisions don’t always turn out to be best for the greater good. Maybe Victor Magagna should be baseball’s commissioner. His mustache he wore circa 2001 would give him instant clout.

For those of us who are Dodger fans on the Central Coast, we know what the impact of the Giants’ recent World Series’ have been. We know we’ve seen more orange and black than ever. What rational decision can we make?

One option is to go to the beach more and care about a baseball team 200 miles away less. I promise I’m not the only one thinking that way.

For the first time ever, Cal Poly is hosting a baseball regional. On Monday morning on ESPN U, the teams who are coming to SLO were announced.

Pepperdine, Arizona State, and Sacramento State will battle the Mustangs for a chance to go to a super-regional and eventually the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Cal Poly baseball players sit at Charlie’s Place and await word about who they’ll face in the San Luis Obispo regional. By Owen Main

Familiarity

Two of these schools are familiar foes for fans of Cal Poly athletics. Sacramento State plays baseball in the Western Athletic Conference, but battles Cal Poly in football each year since the Mustangs football team moved into the Big Sky Conference. Sac State is also a member of the Big West in soccer. Between 1950 and 2009, Cal Poly baseball has played Sacramento State 58 times and has dominated the series, going 43-15. The two teams last played in 2009.

Cal Poly faced Pepperdine on back-to-back Tuesdays just a few weeks ago. In Malibu, Pepperdine threw ace Aaron Brown in the mid-week game to take a shot at the highly-ranked Mustangs. It worked, as Pepperdine handed Cal Poly one of its 10 losses with an 11-4 thrashing. One week later, Cal Poly returned the favor in San Luis Obispo, beating Pepperdine 5-1 at Baggett Stadium. With the split against the Waves this season, Cal Poly is 24-32 all-time against them.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils are the wild card. Cal Poly is no stranger to the Pac 12. They’ve played UCLA, USC, and Cal this season and are slated to play a weekend series at Oregon State next year. But for fans on the central coast, Arizona State is a little under the radar this season. Like Cal Poly, Arizona State has won nine of its last ten games and they are poised to flex their BCS-conference muscle.

The only thing you need to know about ASU is that they beat Oregon State in two of three games in a series in Corvallis early in the season. On Monday, Oregon State was awarded the top overall seed in this year’s tournament.

If you’re looking for a Cal Poly connection, Pat Tillman’s brother, Kevin, transferred to Cal Poly from Arizona State and played second base for the Mustangs before enlisting with his brother.

Cal Poly is 1-3 all-time against Arizona State. The last time they played was 2010 and Cal Poly lost to them then at the “Coca Cola Classic” in Surprise, AZ. The Mustangs went 23-32 that season — the worst year Cal Poly has had under head coach, Larry Lee. Since then, Cal Poly has had a winning record each year and has had 36 or more wins in each of the past three years, including their sparkling 45-10 record this season.

Tickets should go fast…

People, if the games aren’t sold-out already, they probably will be sometime soon. Hosting a regional is a historic event not just for Cal Poly, but for San Luis Obispo. Baseball is probably the most mainstream sport that Cal Poly could ever host NCAA Tournament games for. If you’re a baseball fan and you don’t go when this game is in your back yard, then it’s time to question your fansmanship.

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

After they swept a doubleheader against the Twins last night, the Dodgers have played 29 games. That’s almost twenty percent of the season (to be fair, about 18 percent).

This year was supposed to be about a team taking the next step. It was supposed to be about a team that last year became a group I could be proud to root for again. It was maybe the most anticipated season the franchise has ever had. What it’s turned into, I’m not sure — because I cannot watch the games. I’m not allowed to.

I live in San Luis Obispo, and the Dodgers are only available on a network I can’t get. Our cable option here on the Central Coast is Charter, but the Dodgers station, Time Warner Cable SportsNet is only available on Time Warner Cable. Neither DirecTV nor Dish Network carry the Dodgers’ station either, so a dish isn’t a viable option.

I have MLBTV, which is a solid product. Of course, all the Dodger games are blacked out where I live, 3 1/2 hours away from Los Angeles.

The whole thing is ridiculous. The situation smells like a soiled diaper at the top of a mountain of month-old garbage and refuse and I’m about fed-up.

Look online and you’ll find articles like this one, where (hilariously) the CEO of Time Warner Cable, Rob Marcus is described as “upbeat.” I’m glad someone is… . Everyone involved including Marcus, other cable executives, and (importantly) Dodgers executives are all to blame. Maybe this is the price we have to pay to be able to have the highest payroll in baseball. Unfortunately, not being able to see the games is probably the only price we aren’t willing to pay.

As all of these leaders from cable companies and satellite providers continue to hold Dodger fans hostage, I’m reduced to watching games with something that looks like this:

A screen shot of last night’s Twins/Dodgers game from the “GameTracker” on MLB.com.

How exciting can it get?!

This season, I’ve been following baseball as though I lived in 1950, when Vin Scully began his career — via the radio and box scores. In the age of HDTV’s, and advanced statistics, this time machine of a season has been quite exhilarating.

In all seriousness though, I lost patience a long time ago. At this point, I’ve missed a fifth of the season and every day that goes by where I have no option to watch the team, I care about this season less and less.

Two years ago, my grandmother bought an HDTV. It was a few years after my grandfather had passed and she wanted to be able to watch the Dodgers games. Over the past few years, it’s become her main source of summer entertainment.

Well into her 80’s, she would pay much more than the $4 per customer Time Warner is said to be demanding of other providers to watch the Dodgers. I think she would pay $100-$200 per year. Too bad she lives in the far reaches of the “territory” the Dodgers call their own.

Options

If I want to watch the Dodgers, I could move about an hour North to Monterey County — a place closer to me than Dodger Stadium. From there, Dodgers games on MLBTV would not be blacked-out.

I could also move to a place where Time Warner Cable is an option. At this point though, I would move away from a Time Warner area just on principle.

I have a friend who has gone to the trouble of masking his IP address and, with his MLBTV access, can watch the games with his rigged-up system and a little extra cost. This is something I’ve considered, but seems like a lot of work just to watch a team that has been complicit at-best in the current standstill.

The truth is that I haven’t had cable or satellite service in almost two years. My household saves over $100 per month, still gets all the shows via Netflix and Hulu Plus, and I pay for any sports packages I want — the MLB package for instance, on my terms.

I get to watch a lot of baseball still. I watch almost all of my fantasy players on a regular basis and probably enjoy baseball itself as much as I ever have while basically having to act like the Dodgers don’t exist. It’s basically as if Major League Baseball liquidated my favorite team. It’s as if the Dodgers don’t exist anymore for millions of fans who should be rooting now harder than ever for ‘dem Bums.

Major League Baseball is already losing young fans, and If I was a kid still, I’m pretty sure I’d be thinking about rooting for a different team right about now. I’m well into my 30’s and I’m taking applications.

I guess the alternative is to find something healthier than sitting on my couch. There are a lot of other fun things to do in this part of the country. The Dodgers and their new cable network shouldn’t forget that.

Friend of Fansmanship, Matt Jones, gets ready to kick into the last two miles of the half-marathon on Sunday. By Owen Main

Sometimes, your best isn’t really your best.

Last night, I had my alarm set for 5:15 AM. I had it all planned-out. First, I’d get downtown and take photos of the two huge groups of runners as they streamed through downtown. In front of the Fremont Theater. Under the railroad bridge on Johnson Ave. and back over the pedestrian bridge by the train station.

I had the saddle bags on my bicycle packed, camera batteries charged. It was going to be a great morning. I went to sleep about 9:30.

“Wasn’t your alarm supposed to go off at 5:15?” my wife asked. It was 6:30, and my plans were out the window.

If I had been a runner, it’d have been Seinfeld-esque

I know the issue wasn’t “snooze” or “AM/PM.” Pending a few tests, my bet is also on “volume.”

Anyway, when it came to the marathon, I didn’t go to the finish line, and I didn’t try to get downtown during the day, which helped me avoid a disaster like the great Fosters Freeze blockade of 2013. There were a few frustrated drivers I saw downtown, but none of them were me.

I set-up shop on the west side of the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks. I got some decent shots of the first few guys that came through, some shots of people I knew who were running, and watched in awe as an increasingly large mass of humanity jogged past me with varying levels of suffering evident in their eyes.

In a lot of ways, it was inspiring to watch people who had absolutely put in time and painstaking training to get to the point they were at. For a minute, I talked to a friend about what it would be like to train and do it next year.

I brushed that thought out of my head pretty quickly, got on my bike, and headed home.

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

On Monday night, an old rivalry was renewed with Arroyo Grande visiting San Luis Obispo. Both boys and girls games were close early and in both matchups, Arroyo Grande came out on-top, using skilled offensive performances and very good defensive rebounding.

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

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.

Peter McBride is REALLY good at disc golf. By Owen Main

As it sometimes gets in the Spring, Laguna Lake Park was so freaking windy. Clutching my three cheap frisbees (discs) I had bought earlier at Big-5, I trudged up to the professional, knowing I was about to go to school.

Peter McBride still does go to school — high school, in fact. He stands under six feet tall and wouldn’t be more than a welterweight if he boxed. His bag – a backpack with over 20 discs, seems bigger than he is, though he carries it easily and is sponsored by the bag’s label. A San Luis Obispo High School student and native of SLO, McBride has emerged in the past year as one of the best young disc golf players in the country.

After winning three top-level amateur events over the past year or so, he participated in the “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup, finishing in 12th place — ahead of at least two former world champions. The high finish encouraged him enough to take the prize money and officially become a professional.

Already signed up for several pro tournaments next year, the high school junior will enroll in independent study to avoid getting behind in his school work.

So, I played a round with the kid. As his “shots” curved just the right way nearly every time, mine went awry. Nearly every time. There was one shot that looked good, but a tree branch came out of nowhere to crush my hopes of a great shot. McBride was nice — blaming my errant throws on either the wind or my discs. It was much like a golfer blaming his clubs or the ball,  and something told me that he could have made my starter-set of discs curve any way he wanted.

In a lot of ways, disc golf seems kind of like golf (disc golfers call golf “ball golf”). In “ball golf,” most players who play a lot can make a few really good shots in a round. But the ones who make mostly great shots are the people who can make money doing it. Other things are similar about the two types of golf — swearing (by me, not him), having a good walk spoiled by a bad shot, and a chance to get outside for an extended period of time. I enjoyed disc golf and will definitely play again sometime. Here’s a link to a local disc golf group, the SLO Throwers.

McBride and I talked about where he wants to go, what he’s up to, and what it would be like to have a Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) event here in San Luis Obispo. It’s a quick podcast (only about 18 minutes) and I hope you enjoy it.