Shaq TV

The Big Diesel: Coming to a television near you!
This post was written by Vanguard sports writer J. Logue.

Glancing thru the ESPN.com website, as I so often do, I came across a very interesting article about the Big Aristotle’s new reality show which begins filming this week.

I know what you’re thinking: An athlete doing a reality show? Seriously? Again? I can promise you I felt the same way, but then I read further into the article and saw what looks like a chance for some good moments in sports history (dare I say) form in front of my eyes.

The basic setup of the show starts with the Big Cactus challenging a current sports star (a la Michael Phelps) to an event that pertains to their sport. Once the rules are decided on, the Diesel will train for a week culminating in the “Main Event.”

I started laughing almost as soon as I finished reading.

Can you imagine the Big Shaqtus and all of his seven-foot-two frame lumbering down the first base line going for the head first slide. Better yet, how much fabric does it take to make a LZR swimsuit for a person once called the Big Galactus?

Of course there will be a part were Shaq Fu and the competing athlete will do some charity work, but that’s expected.

For the first show, the challenger will be Ben Roethlisberger, accepting a challenge yet to be determined. Considering Big Ben’s talents I definitely can envision the Big Agave hurling dead ducks down the field to Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes. Could we possibly even see a foot race between these two?

Either one would be priceless as well as a great chance to see the other side—a non-serious side—of two well known athletes. I mean does Roethlisberger talk trash to the Real Deal or vice versa? Who wouldn’t love that?

While some might fail to see the genius of the Big Banana’s show, I can promise you one thing. This will be something that everyone will be talking about after the first episode.

Ichiro value... Like a pair of Jordan sneakers, better with time

Ichiro is one of the most underrated players in the Northwest and possibly all of baseball. Guy has over 200 hits a season for 8 straight so far. Plus he doesn't have back acne or man boobs to show for it. Anyways I liked this blog by Chris Sparow.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4205676This post was written by Vanguard sports writer, J. Logue

Guest Commentary from a Portland State student and fan

Disclaimer: While we here at the Vanguard pride ourselves in maintaining our journalistic integrity and not having a rooting interest it is often difficult to not get attached to the athletes, teams and coaches that we cover. With that said, our ethical responsibility is to report the truth regardless of what light it depicts our university in.

Luckily enough, we have a guest commentator to give us the PSU Fans' perspective.

His name is Marnix Brinkhoff and he is a senior majoring in Business Accounting. Check out the picture for a glimpse at what this Dutchman looks like...

Marnix will be contributing to the sports blog on a semi-regular basis. Check out his first blog entry as he digs on the Vikings fans that manage to make all the PSU games, as long as they are on national television.

Viking Fans,

With the stars out (well, at least Greg Oden) and the bright lights of ESPN shining on the Stott Center in Saturday’s men’s basketball match up against Boise State, the Portland State student’s showed up to electrify the gymnasium.

Similar to Jeremiah Dominguez’s game, the students of PSU came out of a near year-long hiatus to once again show up in force for an ESPN televised game. The last game with so much support was the Big Sky Championship last March, the last time that the Vikings played on ESPN.

As a devoted fan to the basketball program, I realize how much better basketball at the Stott Center can be with the energy of so many rowdy students.

However, the fact that student’s only show up for a glimpse at the big stage of ESPN is disturbing.

With competitive basketball in the Park Blocks this year, I anticipated some large crowds to cheer on the defending Big Sky Champions, but with most athletic events, I was sorely disappointed in the student turnout this season.

My writing, I hope, will not deter students from attending more games or cheering vigorously but instead will ignite a spark for ALL students to come out to ALL games.

Think about the impact the sold-out crowd had on the game (as the team led by 23 at halftime) and think about what the season would look like right now if those students had been there all year.

With the last home game this Wednesday, my hope is to see just as many vibrant PSU fans this

week as there was for the game last weekend, even without the stigma of ESPN coverage.

Go Vikings!

Bombs Away: PSU's 12 threes helps Vikings take 58-35 lead into the break

In one of the more exciting games that this author has ever been privy to witness, the Vikings are playing perhaps as good as they possibly could and leading Boise State convincingly at halftime.

Just about everybody on the roster has hit at least one three pointer. Jeremiah Dominguez has three triples and Phil Nelson, Andre Murray and Kyle Coston each have two three pointers.

The Vikings got off to a scorching start, scoring on 12 of their first 17 possessions, including eight three pointers. Simply put, this is the team that Portland State fans have been waiting to see the entire season.

The Broncos have looked steady at times but unsure of themselves and without a strong offensive presence outside of junior guard Jamar Greene who has penetrated at will and hit shots from the perimeter with ease en route to 12 first half points.

As a team, the Vikings are 12 for 21 from three point land in the first half and shooting a scorching 65 percent from the field. More impressively, they have won the rebounding battle and have 16 team assists. The Vikings have also forced the Broncos into 13 turnovers leading to 23 points.

Quite the atmosphere here in the Stott Center if I may say so myself. Not only is the team playing superbly but the fans are cheering as if they know what they are doing... Its a good day to be involved in Portland State athletics. I can see Torre Chisholm beaming from here.

Oh yeah and one more topper: Greg Oden just walked in.

I don't think we're at Taco Bell Arena anymore...

I decided to get to the Stott Center early and its a good thing I did... On Thursday night there were nearly 500 announced open seats here for a conference game with Northern Colorado.

Today, at 4 p.m., one half hour before tip off, the arena is alive and jumping with a brand of energy that may not have ever been here.

You can attribute it to ESPN's presence, Boise State's natural proxemic rivalry or some other things. But any way you look at it, the celebrities are out, the alumni are here and the student section is packed with more spandex than I have seen since the Big Sky Volleyball Tournament. Should be an exciting couple of hours. If you're not here yet, get here quick.

The big talk before the game was about PSU's chances to possibly claim a decent seed should they somehow snap out of the funk that they're in and run the table. This would include a big win today and taking the other two conference games as well as trounicng their opponents in the Big Sky Tournament.

My gut feeling is that if the Vikings could do that- run the table and win the rest of their games they maybe could claim a No. 15 seed. Obviously they have some other things to worry about. Check back for more updates.