Cougars and asparagus and volleyball oh my!...the Spots weekly odd's and ends...

What happens when you mix deep fried asparagus, some female footy, cougar action and a triple play involving some BBQ? That can only mean one thing…time for the Sport Spot’s weekly “Odds and Ends”

Well Spot fans, after weeks of anticipation, it finally arrived, yes, the World Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Championships…won by none other than Joey Chestnut as he devoured a whopping total of 8 lbs of deep fried asparagus, with the 2nd and 3rd place winners (Ben Monson and Pat Bertoletti) consuming 6 lbs 13 oz. and 6 lbs, respectively, of the deep fried stuff…no word on weather their parting gifts included a $10 dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble and a map to the “over eating/addiction” section of the bookstore.

The Stockton Thunder closed out their Semi-Final series with the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday with a dominating 7-4 victory, advancing to the Kelly Cup National Conference Finals to face the top seeded Idaho Steelheads…rumor has it in their continued push to “go green” the Steelheads will use potatoes instead of hockey pucks.

Bad news for fans of former Hilmar, and current University of Oregon QB Nate Costa…by all accounts what started off as Costa firmly in as the #1 QB has now turned into a horse race with Darron Thomas, creating a position battle that will spill over into the fall. Things could be worse for Costa…he could be forced to wear a uniform that looks like one of these…oh wait, he already has.

Speaking of Hilmar (aka, the Spot’s hometown, so it’ll get a little extra love today) congrats are in order for Daniel Mouro and Quentin McCown. Daniel has signed a national letter of intent to play football at Adams State College in Colorado, while Quentin has signed on to play basketball for coach Paul Brogan over at Modesto Junior College…ahh, this reminds the Spot of his glory days roaming the hardwood at Hilmar High School…ok ok, sorry…back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Fresno State Bulldog fans were happy this past week as their very own Ryan Matthews was selected #12 overall in the NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. The ‘Bolts traded up to make sure they got their hands on Matthews, who steps into an excellent situation in San Diego. Coming on board with a playoff team and perennial title contender is never a bad way to start off your pro career.

Staying in the Fresno area, let’s hear it for the Clovis West High School Baseball Team, who with a record of 21-2, were ranked this week as the #1 high school team in America by Baseball America.....and yes, there is no truth to the rumor that Major League Baseball was looking at replacing the Baltimore Orioles with Clovis West in the AL East…

Turning our attention up north…programs being cut, players leaving the men’s basketball team, petitions being signed to get rid of the head coach…what’s next for the UC Davis Athletic Department? Me thinks that Athletic Director Warczeka is burying his head in his hands hoping this all goes away very very soon…or that it’s just a real bad nightmare induced by some very shady cooking.

Whats this? Good news coming out of the Sac State Athletic Department? Congratulations are in order for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Sac State, as both won Big Sky Conference tennis titles…next stop, the NCAA tennis tourney.

Well, this is about as official as we’re gonna get…but the cat is now out of the bag, as 3 Pacific players, Sterling “Sporty” Carter, Everson Lacerda, and Royal Edwards are all transferring to other schools. Also transferring out from his respective school is David Norris, a 6-6 combo guard/forward now formerly of Sacramento State….

Speaking of Sacramento State, they’ve added some beef to the front line with the signing of 6-9 Konner Veteto, a transfer from UC Riverside…kudos to Coach Katz as he seeks to bolster the talent base in Hornetland….

Ok ok ok....so the Sacramento King's Tyreke Evans won the NBA's Rookie of the Year...I'd be rookie of the year too if I could average 5 rebounds a game by getting my own missed lay ups....soooo....as far as the Spot's concerned, he still likes to chant "overrated....overrated" when thinking of Tyreke....and he definitely isn't Ricky Rubio!...

Congratulations are in order for Granite Bay High School's Libby Jelinick...the Senior Basketball player was recently named the Maxpreps.com Female Citizen Athlete of the Year...along with her prowess on the court, she carries a 4.32 GPA and is involved in pretty much every club and cause she could get her hands on...

The Pacific Women’s Volleyball schedule is officially out…among the highlights are the 32nd annual Bankers Classic which will also include Santa Clara University and the University of Idaho, and road matches against Texas A&M (Season Opener), Arizona State, Arizona and Michigan….

Members of the Tiger's volleyball team also competed in the USAV Beach Collegiate Volleyball Challenge recently coming in 3rd place out of 24 teams....why does the spot mention this...because he was sad to hear that none of the teams feature Misty May-Treanor or Keri Walsh ......

Did I hear some Cougar action taking place? Noooo…not this kind of cougar action….the California Cougars indoor soccer team of the PASL-PRO Leauge will be hosting a booster club meeting this Saturday at 2pm at Cancun Restaurant in Downtown Stockton.  The Spot is happy to see the Cougars getting active in the off season.  He's been to a few games at the Stockton Arena and not only is indoor soccer fun to watch, its relatively affordable family entertainment also...so come out if you can make it and see what the Cougars have planned for the year ahead...plus...Cancun's Chile Verde rocks the house...

Last but not least, the Spot once again wants to give a shout out to the FC Gold Pride. The one thing he failed to mention in his story was that post game, the Gold Pride players were more than gracious to answer any and all questions we media types had for them. Same goes for Atlanta Beat Coach Gareth O'Sullivan, who after a heart breaking loss was more than happy to share his time with us. In a day and age where professional athletes can have a “prima donna” complex, these ladies are doing their best to not only help their fledgling league succeed, but to make our jobs as easy as possible too…and believe me, we appreciate it!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Here’s the Spot’s picks for getting out and about:

Stockton- Saturday May 1st- 12pm- Pacific Tigers “Triple Play”…Join the Pacific Tigers for their spring “Triple Play” as the Tigers Softball take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans at noon, followed by a BBQ at 4pm and to finish it all off Pacific Baseball battles the Titans at 6pm. Tickets for the triple play are $5 dollars with proceeds going to programs for people with disabilities.

Stockton- Saturday May 1st- 5pm- Calling all skateboarders! “Prowln’ the Mile” an event put on by the University of the Pacific’s Marketing Association Club will be having a skateboard competition for all the “Tony Hawk’s in the making”…starting at 5pm on the Miracle Mile…just show up, sign up, and show off your mad skills on the skate ramp!

Fresno- Friday April 30th thru Sunday May 2nd- It's the battle of the Central Valley as the valley's two Triple A baseball clubs, the Fresno Grizzlies (S.F. Giants affiliate) and the Sacramento River Cats (Oakland A's affiliate) square off in Fresno at the home of the Grizzlies, Chuckchansi Park.  Game times for the Friday and Saturday games are 7:05pm while the Sunday matinee kicks off at 2:05 in the afternoon...

'Till next time Spot fans....remember...stay classy Central Valley...