Ryan ChartrandIf this column can be only half as good as J.A. Adande’s moving final piece in the Los Angeles Times last Thursday, I’ll chalk it up as a success.
This year has generated profound memories for me as sports editor, and surely, a wire-to-wire thrill ride for Mustang Maniacs everywhere. But as a wise “Star Trek” character once said, “all good things must come to an end.”
The question of whether 2006-07 was the best year for Cal Poly athletics since moving to the Division I level in 1994-95 was pondered on this page two weeks ago. My answer is “yes.”
But what of these recollections will stand the test of time?
Start with two games in particular during the Cal Poly football team’s roller coaster season. The funny part is, the low and high points came in back-to-back weeks.
The low point for the Mustangs was a puzzling 29-28 Homecoming loss to South Dakota State in which Cal Poly allowed 23 points in the final 7 minutes, 55 seconds.
Many fans didn’t notice, though, seeing how hundreds had filed out before the fourth quarter even began. But after the unthinkable happened, and Cal Poly’s vaunted defense had been torched like a shish kabob, people were still trying to comprehend one of the biggest meltdowns in program history.
So was South Dakota State, of course.
No doom and gloom set in, though, and the Mustangs were back out on the “I Field” the following week with as much vigor as they had shown all season.
What followed was a 16-14 win at San Diego State, only the school’s third win ever over a Football Bowl Subdivision school since moving to the Division I-AA level.
Standing on the sidelines of Qualcomm Stadium to witness the raw emotion of 22 players on an NFL gridiron had more than a surreal feeling to it. It was the most etched-in-my-mind experience in seven years of working in sports journalism.
Outside Cal Poly’s locker room in the bowels of Qualcomm, free safety Kenny Chicoine sat and gave interviews for more than 10 minutes with blood clotted on his nose from a collision during the fourth quarter. He was fully aware of the history that had taken place, comparing the win to the Mustangs’ last win over a I-A – a 34-13 rout of UTEP in the 2003 season opener that he was a part of.
Memories like these are too poignant to forget. They define sport as a poetic window through which life can be seen, and lend commentary to the discussion about the human condition.
As inspired by Adande, favorite interview subjects among head coaches must be acknowledged – Rich Ellerson for his precision and attention to detail, Kevin Bromley for his wit and charisma, Jenny Condon for her clarity and eloquence, Larry Lee for his humility and honesty and others.
In terms of players, Kyle Shotwell was quoted more than anyone else on campus. It’s not often that the highest-profile player on the highest-profile team on campus is also the best interview, but that was the case with No. 17.
In signing off as sports editor, a thank you must be given to you, the reader.
Sports pages are not the proverbial toy box of newspapers as some like to think. Rather, they are the ideal forum in which the relationship between sport and society can be studied. And without readers, what a boring forum it would be.