CSU will have extra source of support for home finale

One good note deserves another…

With a seven-game losing streak, a banged-up roster and a hungry

pack of Lobos coming to Moby Saturday in their final home game of

2003-2004, it’s not like the Rams needed added motivation, but they

are going to get it anyway: in the form of more than 100

blue-shirt-clad, screaming kids from the Boys and Girls Club of

Larimer County.

Working with Saul Guice, branch manager of the investment firm

Smith-Barney and Kathy Wright and John Sinnett of the Boys and

Girls Club, the CSU athletic department has donated over 100

tickets to the club along with a bag of popcorn and a soda for the

fortunate fans.

“This is an opportunity for us to give back to the community,”

said Guice, who relocated to Colorado from Texas six months ago.

“CSU is so focal to Fort Collins. I’ve never been in a city where

so many people wear their school’s gear.”

During one of the game’s TV timeouts, Sinnett said he and Guice

and others from the club will accept a $5,000 check from Guice and

Smith-Barney in an effort to promote awareness for the Larimer

County-based branch.

“These guys set up the whole thing for us,” Sinnett said of the

Guice and CSU’s athletic department. “(Guice) even ponied up for

the buses to transport the kids to and from the game.”

In a sports world inundated with steroid controversies,

multi-million dollar contracts and (insert scandal here), it’s

comforting to see people spending their time and money on an

honorable cause.

“If we get publicity, great, if not it’s still all for a good

cause,” Guice said. “The kids are into basketball, it’s a home game

and CSU’s big in Fort Collins…it’s a natural fit.”

To make this more than a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the

kids, however, depends on the athletic department.

“We’re looking to make this an annual deal,” Guice said. “We’ll

try to coordinate through the athletic department so we can do

something like this every year.”

Now if the Rams can avoid letting down their pumped up, pee-wee

following…

Speaking of the Rams, has there ever been a better year than

this to finish last? We know conference champion Air Force is good,

but last season we watched the Rams lose a pair of close ones to

Wyoming before beating the team in the conference tournament en

route to an unprecedented run to a title. D�ja V�?

Time will tell…

How ridiculous is the Eastern Conference in the NBA? We’ll

answer that by reflecting on the beginning of the season – around

the time everyone claimed Carmelo Anthony to be the Rookie of the

Year as opposed to Lebron James because the Nuggets had playoff

prospects and the Cavaliers none. Welcome to Leastern Conference

where the Cavs are a half game from the eighth and final playoff

spot while sporting a 25-36 record. Yes, that’s 11-games under .500

for those scoring at home…

Isn’t it just like Major League Baseball, inundated with rumors

and allegations (from the players themselves no less) of steroid

use, commissioner Bud Selig has declared a gag order for all

players and baseball personnel with regard to all drug-related

questions. Way to go, Bud, you just bury your head, along with the

game we love, in the sand until the whole thing, somehow, goes

away.