Volleyball vs. Extravaganza: I"ll take the real competition

By Joshua D. Scroggin

The definition of a scrimmage: practice play between two teams—a fake game.

It’s what you’ll see at the Bulldog Basketball Extravaganza. But It’s what you won’t see Sunday night at the Save Mart Center when the volleyball team hosts No. 2 Hawaii.

People don’t like fake games. Ask the students. They wouldn’t even take free tickets to see the basketball teams scrimmage tonight. It’s not a real game.

In fact, it’s not even a real scrimmage. According to the latest press release, the men’s and women’s teams will “combine forces” and play a co-ed game. There go all the positives of watching the event from a fan standpoint.

I wonder who combined forces to come up with that bright idea. There’s no way a single Bulldogs’ marketing whiz could have brainstormed that one.

I wonder if there’ll be a 10-point shot. (To Fresno State Marketing: please don’t.)

The first scrimmage is traditionally the first chance for people to see the team and get an idea of what to expect from it during the season. It’s bad enough it’s not even a real game, but now that it’s a co-ed affair, it’s almost assured to be more of a farce than a competitive athletic competition.

But people will go. It’s in the new arena.

The allure of being in the SMC shouldn’t be enough to attract a larger audience than a genuine athletic competition with championship implications—but it will be.

More people will brave the weekday rush-hour traffic delays to watch the basketball teams play rock and jock, than will be at Sunday’s volleyball game.

Never mind the Bulldogs are playing the second-best team in the nation.

Never mind Hawaii’s best player, senior Kim Willoughby, is also the best player in the nation.

Never mind Bulldogs junior outside hitter Kristen Fenton is one of the best to play the position for Fresno State.

The volleyball game will be an exciting struggle between the top-two teams in the Western Athletic Conference, featuring some of the best players in the country, each trying to play their most-inspired game.

The Bulldogs need a win to stay in second place. If they fall, it may cost them an NCAA tournament bid. The game against the first-place Wahine is as close to must-win as it gets.

At the game, you’ll see drama, plotlines playing out and the best volleyball seen in Fresno in a year. The last time the two teams played here, it was in a five-game thriller in a jam-packed North Gym.

After it looked like Hawaii would cruise to an easy victory, winning the first two games, the Bulldogs fought back to take the next two and send the match into sudden death.

The Wahine survived the scare and won the fifth game, but the Bulldogs rode a confidence boost into their third NCAA tournament in program history, and the fans were entertained.

You want drama like that at the basketball extravaganza? You’re more likely to see the confetti in the bucket skit.