As we all know too well, Fresno State athletics is going through rough times. More than a bad year, it̢۪s been a bad decade.

Tarkanian, football hype, O̢۪Neil, Johnson-Klein, Title IX, wrestling, firings, football hype, investigations, million-dollar deficits, embarrassing APR scores, suspensions, probation, football hype. The list goes on and on for the poor athletics department.

But there is hope, at least a kind of twisted, half-focused hope that all these things can be quickly erased from memory. Because to most of the country, they aren̢۪t a memory at all.

I realize, now that I̢۪m here, that Fresno State is all about Fresno. Most of the students here are from the area, and they always will be.

I̢۪m not. I̢۪m from way back east, from the great state of Georgia. I promise, people back east don̢۪t know about the infractions. They don̢۪t know that the football team is a yearly disappointment. They don̢۪t even know that the band sits three miles from the student section.

There is an institution for East Coast sports fans, a revered tradition in the fall, which is known as The Late-Night West Coast Game (TLNWCG). When all the other college football games are over, and you̢۪ve been watching football for 12 hours, but are still searching for more, there it is, as reliable as the Central Valley fog. There will always be that one game that doesn̢۪t end until almost 2 a.m.

Your position in life can even be measured by TLNWCG.

When you’re young, you watch this game with your dad and ask about the mysterious teams: “Why is USC’s stadium so long? Why are Oregon’s uniforms so ugly? Why do they pass on every down?â€Â

This is how I first heard of Fresno State. I said to my dad, “Fresno State, huh. Where’s that?â€Â

“I don’t know,â€Â he responded.

Joseph Edgecomb / Collegian File Photo

“Hey, what does that ‘V’ stand for?â€Â I asked.

“I don’t know,â€Â he said.

The Bulldogs won that game, I liked the ‘V’ and the stadium was impressive.

Once you hit college, TLNWCG is different. It’s something to half-watch at a bar or a party and maybe use for conversation with a girl, like, “You ever been to Oregon?â€Â

I witnessed the 2005 Fresno State vs. USC game in this manner: “Fresno State, huh. Where’s that?â€Â

“I don’t know,â€Â she said.

“Hey, what does that ‘V’ stand for?,â€Â I asked. And again the response was: “I don’t know.â€Â

The ’Dogs lost that one, but it was the best TLNWCG we’d ever seen. We liked the ‘V’ and the team was impressive.

And when you̢۪re older and have kids, TLNWCG is something to watch while you fall asleep on the couch. This is what my dad did during the Wisconsin game. Nonetheless, he was very impressed by what he saw.

People back east love TLNWCG. It’s sports’ answer to Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.â€Â

And they think our Bulldogs are cool.

To the rest of the country, Fresno State isn̢۪t a turmoil-soaked school with a faltering athletic department. Sports fans in other states view it as a fearless university that is willing to take risks.

They see that we can play and beat any big school in football. They see that we have the guts to make risky hires in basketball. They see that we used to have a really hot women̢۪s basketball coach. They see us winning the national championship in baseball.

The athletic department has many woes, but they don̢۪t carry much weight past the Sierra Nevada. And once righted, they will be quickly forgotten, if they were ever even known by the rest of the country.

We here in the Valley should relax a little, and try to forgive as well.