End of the regular season: Links and quotes

Well now that I'm not busy writing a new issue every night this blog might actually get updated... ah who am I kidding probably not.

Either way here is a completely self-serving list of quotes and links to things written about us or the Aggies that I wanted to have saved in one place. Enjoy reading about me

Reno Gazette Journal
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090127/SPORTS06/901270349
Chris Murray of the RGJ with quotes from Faf and I about the Aggies
Pack Basketball: Aggie faithful will put Pack on hot seat
Utah State's 11-0 home record traced partly to fans

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/sports/ncaabasketball/21utah.html?pagewanted=all
"Home to Utah State, this postcard city of nearly 50,000 boasts a coach who wins as consistently as anyone in college basketball, a hornet’s nest of a student section"
and
"The student section consists of about 4,000 fans and wraps from baseline to sideline in the shape of an L. Students print an often-hilarious newsletter “The Refraction” for organized heckling, billing it as an “independent and satirical publication"

Sports Illustrated
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1151776/index.htm
"THE UTAH STATE student rooting section, a mob of 4,000 blue-clad fans armed with sheets of opposition research for organized taunting, considers itself an integral part of its team's success"

Parsing The Wac
Sending some help to the Refraction-ers
More on The Spectrum reception committee
Has there ever been a better endorsement?
Utah State - BYU brings out the $#%&$#
The 'gangstas' -- if you will -- of the WAC

ESPN
Kyle Whelliston's ESPN Chat:
Scott (Reno): How much better was your Spectrum experience over Lawlor last year? We already know they have the best atmosphere in the WAC(stay down Raggie fans), just want an outside opinion.
Kyle Whelliston: I'm going to give you the difference straight up -- Utah State fans are more organized, more ruthlessly efficient, and care less about offending people than any competitor. The Refraction is a cold-blooded wrecking machine. That's all there is to it.

Midmajority.com
Games! Of! The! Night! 1/29/2009
Good Morning Hoops Nation: January 2
"We spent the evening in a Refraction t-shirt, sitting in with a USU student section that's easily one of the best in the country. You haven't lived until you've done "The Scotsman.""


There is probably more I'm forgetting, and I'll add those in as I remember them or see them.

Some love from around the interwebs

Here is the ESPN.com article on the Aggies

"And in the last game to go final in 2008, Utah State transcended a rare poor 3-point shooting night to clip Wyoming in overtime. And yes, we were at that game. We spent the evening in a Refraction t-shirt, sitting in with a USU student section that's easily one of the best in the country. You haven't lived until you've done "The Scotsman.""

from http://www.midmajority.com/2009/01/good-morning-hoops-nation-janu.php

From Kyle's ESPN.com chat

Hipster: (Mantua UT): Just wanted to say thanks for visiting the Spectrum last week and for the well researched article you did on the Aggies. I appreciate it when a journalist goes the extra mile to get the scoop. Just know you are always invited back to Logan, and if you want to experience the Spectrum at it's finest come to a Nevada, New Mexico State, Boise State, Utah, or BYU game. Love your work and plan on purchasing your book later this year.

Kyle Whelliston: (4:12 PM ET ) I appreciate the kind words, Hipster. Everybody kept telling me not to expect much of an atmosphere with the students on break, and of course there are near-sellouts. It's a phenomenal basketball city.
__________

Scott (Reno): How much better was your Spectrum experience over Lawlor last year? We already know they have the best atmosphere in the WAC(stay down Raggie fans), just want an outside opinion.

Kyle Whelliston: (4:17 PM ET ) I'm going to give you the difference straight up -- Utah State fans are more organized, more ruthlessly efficient, and care less about offending people than any competitor. The Refraction is a cold-blooded wrecking machine. That's all there is to it.
___________

Tee (charlotte, NC): We've seen a number of mid-majors play against "power-houses" and hold their own to a certain extent. Which mid major team do YOU think "can" make a deep run into the NCAAs?

Kyle Whelliston: (4:27 PM ET ) A lot of the media is still enamoured with the Curry show, but without a Jason Richards-type of players, the road back to the Elite 8 is uphill. I'm focusing on more well-rounded teams like Saint Mary's, Butler, Utah State.
____________

Isaac (Logan, Utah): Hey Kyle, which was worse: the mini ball barrage at Gossner's or the horrible Kenny G warm up music in Holt Arena?

Kyle Whelliston: (4:29 PM ET ) Hail to my tweeples! Being pelted in the head with miniballs made me scared for my life, but "Songbird" at halftime dissolved a part of my soul.
_____________

Kraig (Logan, UT): So as long as we are talking about how great Utah State is, I want to know where the Spectrum ranks in your top places to watch a game. Top 10? Top 5?

Kyle Whelliston: (4:58 PM ET ) Easily top 5, I can remove Boylan Gym at Monmouth because it's closing. I'll be back for a league game next year, if I'm still gainfully employed.

Gossner Recap

So after three days and nights spent in the Spectrum what did we learn?

-Jared Quayle is the man. Put the team on his back to get us the win against Wyoming. He gets better every single night.

-The Spectrum's reputation is getting bigger by the day. We had officials tell us that it was one of their favorite places to do a game because "when you guys are full its as loud as anywhere". One of Howard's assistant coaches told us that during a film session the camera went away from the team and panned to the crowd and the players didn't believe that it was actually the student section and watched the tape multiple times just to make sure, he also commented that he had never seen any crowd like us in 16 years of coaching and wanted to come to a USU-Nevada game at the Spectrum before he died.

-Not only that but ESPN.com and Midmajority.com writer Kyle Whelliston was in the building for all three games and couldn't say enough great things about the crowd and the team. He even came and sat with us during the USU-Wyoming game and will have an article about Utah State on ESPN.com in the next couple days. Kyle's writings on the midmajority.com have been an inspiration to me for several years now and it was awesome to finally meet him and for him to be as cool as he was.

-There were so many other great stories, from Paul Kirkpatrick from Howard's love of Subway's Chicken bacon ranch sub, to Brandon Ewing being heckled for 3 straight days and still being cool as hell to us, to having dinner with the officials at Iggy's. This years Gossner was truly one of the best Aggie basketball experiences ever.

WAC play starts on Monday, if the Aggies can keep this winning streak alive for 3 more games we could easily see a top 25 ranking in our future.