Sports

Four players scored in double figures Thursday night to lead the Cal Poly men’s basketball team to a 72-68 nonconference win over visiting UC Davis in front of 2,519 in Mott Gym. Senior power forward Tyler McGinn scored 14 points, sophomore point guard Trae Clark added 12, junior shooting guard Dawin Whiten had 11 and senior wing Derek Stockalper scored 10, respectively, for the Mustangs.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Not because of the holidays, but because of sports – NFL playoffs, bowl games, Division I-AA playoffs, the prelude to March Madness and even some regular-season NBA games to boot.

Here’s one point of view on some of the recent hot-button issues:

 Florida 41, Ohio State 14.

Tuesday was a day of contrast for baseball as it saw the induction of two of its most beloved stars, when writers elected Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. by overwhelming margins into the Hall of Fame.

Conversely, one of the game’s former saints, Mark McGwire, was vociferously rejected by the same individuals who helped place him on such a lofty pedestal.

Cal Poly women’s tennis head coach Hugh Bream knows his team has a difficult schedule this spring season, with five opponents ranked in the top 25.

So why not hit the ground running?

The Mustangs open their spring schedule at the Cal Winter Invitational today.

USC head football coach Pete Carroll came out and publicly said he’s not going anywhere, but we know how that one goes.

After losing his head coach, Nick Saban to the University of Alabama less than a week ago, Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga is actively pursuing Carroll.

The Cal Poly baseball team was picked to finish fifth among eight teams in the Big West Conference preseason coaches poll released Tuesday.

The Mustangs, who were 29-27 overall and 10-11 in the Big West last year, received 31 points.

Cal State Fullerton took first with seven first-place votes and 63 total points, followed by UC?Riverside (50), UC?Irvine (48) – which got one first-place vote, Long Beach State (43), Cal Poly, UC?Santa Barbara (23), Pacific (22)?and Cal State Northridge (8).

USC head football coach Pete Carroll came out and publicly said he’s not going anywhere, but we know how that one goes.

After losing his head coach, Nick Saban to the University of Alabama less than a week ago, Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga is actively pursuing Carroll.

At around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Cal Poly football player Kyle Shotwell was initially unsure whether to answer his cell phone when it buzzed in class.

It was a good thing he did.

On the other end was his agent, Ryan Tollner, calling to inform the senior middle linebacker that he had been added late to the West roster for the 82nd annual East-West Shrine Game.

For three winter sports teams at Cal Poly, it was hardly a restful break. And while the women’s and men’s basketball and wrestling teams all competed over winter break, the swimming and diving team jumped back into action Saturday. That wasn’t all that happened over the last three weeks.

Fourteen games are in the books and 14 games remain for the Cal Poly men’s basketball team.

At least until the Big West Conference Tournament, which the Mustangs likely must win if they are to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

One day after taking home the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in Division I-AA, Cal Poly senior linebacker Kyle Shotwell was just as relieved as he was excited.

“I was kind of relieved because I wasn’t the guy who broke the tradition at Cal Poly,” Shotwell said Friday in a phone interview.