March 26th 2009 During my spring break, my wife and I decided it would be fun to take our daughter on a road trip to Phoenix, Arizona to visit my brother and his family. On the way there we stopped in Flagstaff, home of the Big Sky's Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

While staying in Phoenix we learned that the Wildcats were going to be playing in San Diego, a 5-hour drive away. So we decided to make that an excuse to visit my other brother who lives on the military base there. We bought tickets to the NIT game and got to watch SDSU beat our team pretty bad. But we still had lots of fun anyway.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

WSU Has The Best Team & The Best Fans

March 15th This basketball season has been awesome so far. I've really enjoyed the resurgence of the student section and the Purple Pack. Thanks to you all for making the games that much more enjoyable. And a big thanks to Bev and Dave for their roles in it all.

March is Madness for the Big Sky Too

March 6th Sometimes as Weber State fans we are so focused on what our University does to make our sports experiences better. We are always concerned with what marketing is doing, what our Sports Information Director is up to, and what the overall university support in our teams is.

Often we get so caught up with our school and its efforts that we forget about those from the Big Sky Conference who work so hard to ensure that we are enjoying a quality product, whether it be on Big Sky TV, the Altitude, or in person at conference tournaments. If ever a fan wants to do a little research on Big Sky Conference sports and teams, I would highly recommend checking out the Big Sky's website, their blog, or their new Twitter page. The Big Sky provides tons of news, information, and updates.

Because I believe the Big Sky is so important to our Weber State basketball experience as fans, I thought it would be interesting to do a short interview with Jon Kasper, Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations for the Big Sky, to find out exactly what he and the conference do behind the scenes and what they are doing to prepare for the Big Sky Championship tournaments.

I found his responses to my questions very informative and enlightening. I think you will too.

Wildcat Wall: What is your job title for the Big Sky?
Jon Kasper: First off Mark, thanks for your interest. I'm always happy to answer questions from our fans. Most people don't understand what exactly we do here, or don't know that our offices are located on Historic 25th Street in beautiful Ogden. My job title is Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations.

WW: How long have you worked for the Big Sky?
JK: I started at the Big Sky in September in 2004, so I've been here about 4.5 years.

WW: What are some of your general duties in your job?
JK: We have a small staff, so we are all involved in a lot of different things. My main responsibilities are overseeing the media relations department, which includes myself, Autumn Wehr and our intern Tanner Gooch. I'm the main contact for football, men's basketball and women's golf, and oversee the other sports, which Autumn and Tanner handle. Our duties include selecting Players of the Week, publishing weekly notes, updating the content on www.bigskyconf.com, www.bigskytv.org, as well as our blog. (www.bigskyconference.blogspot.com, and our new Twitter page. We've produced some video highlight packages this year. We also administer the All-Conference selections, handle the certificates that student-athletes and coaches receive. We have working relationships with all of the sports information directors in our league, and work with media who cover the Big Sky. I also help work with television networks that cover our league. I also oversee the golf championship, and assist at other championship events. It honestly seems like there is something new and different every week.

WW: Do you get to go to many of the men's basketball games around the conference?
JK: Because of the economy, I haven't traveled much this year. We are very cognizant of money at all times in the Big Sky. I try to attend all of Weber State's home conference games so I can see each team in person once. I've also attended one game at Idaho State and one Montana non-conference game while I was in Missoula for a playoff football game. I get the sports package on Dish Network, so I try to either watch or tape all of the basketball games featuring Big Sky teams. I also spend a lot of hours watching our teams on Big Sky TV.

WW: This year has been a very exciting season for Big Sky men's hoops. What are your thoughts on how it all played out, and what are your thoughts on how Weber State did?
JK: I guess I'm a little bit surprised at the success of Weber State, but who knew Damian Lillard was going to emerge like he has, and players such as Nick Hansen, Kyle Bullinger and Kellen McCoy were going to perform as they have. I think Randy is a terrific coach and always has his teams well-prepared and ready to play. With all of the talent Portland State has and especially after the upset of nationally-ranked Gonzaga, I think a lot of people felt like the Vikings were the team to beat. The Vikings are a very dangerous team, and I wouldn't be at all surprise to see them win the championship next week. Yeah, I know Weber fans don't want to hear that. The emergence of Anthony Johnson has been vital to Montana's success. I was surprised to see Idaho State struggle like it did, especially early in conference play on offense. Idaho State played a brutal non-conference schedule, but I thought with the talent the Bengals had they would win a couple more of those games. Idaho State has found its groove at the right time, and could surprise a lot of people. I know that's another thing Weber fans don't want to hear, but I really think Idaho State is a talented club, and a tough matchup because of its overall size. It's good to see Northern Colorado continue to improve and make it to the tournament for the first time. The Bears are another dangerous team playing well right now. Montana State isn't playing very well right now, but let's not forget that the Bobcats are the only team to beat Weber State and earlier in the season MSU won road games at Oregon State and Colorado.

WW: The quarterfinals are tomorrow and the rest of the Big Sky Championship will be on the 10th and the 11th in Ogden. Do things get more hectic around the office when the Big Sky playoffs begin?
JK: They don't call this time of the year "March Madness" just because of the games on the court. This is very busy time of year. I haven't slept much in the last couple of weeks. I spend a lot of time the last week of the men's and women's season trying to figure out the scenarios. All the teams want to know what they have to do to get in the tournament, get a certain seed, secure a home game, and host the championship. I was up until 4 a.m. one night working on men's scenarios. Today started at 7:30 a.m. with a conference call. Commissioner Fullerton and I spoke with a member of the NCAA Committee who is responsible for overseeing our conference. We do our best to present information to the committee throughout the year to help our teams gain respectable seeds. We do all of the credentials for the tournaments, and that's what I've been working on most of the morning. I've also been in contact with Altitude and ESPN, working with them to make sure they have everything they need. Saturday morning I'll fly up to Missoula for the quarterfinal game featuring Montana and Montana State. Before that, I'll watch the Montana-Portland State women's game that will determine who hosts the women's tournament. After the games, I'll write up stories on both quarterfinal games, update the brackets, and begin working on the championship release. Sunday morning I'll fly back to Ogden, finish up my release, and start doing the last-minute checks. One nice thing about having the tournament in Ogden is I get to sleep in my own bed and don't have to travel on Monday. Normally, I spend Monday traveling to the men's site, and then go right from there to our women's tournament on Thursday morning. At least I get a few more days at home this year. Our Associate Commissioner Ron Loghry oversees the championships, so he is very busy working with Weber State and potential women's hosts. There is a lot of planning that goes into the championships. Teams have to select hotels, banners need to be made, and officials need to be selected and their travel has to be arranged. We want the championships to be a great experience for the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans.

WW: It looks like this will be a very competitive tournament. Any predictions on who will win?
JK: I've learned not to make predictions in this job. We've got nine schools and we love them all the same. It irritates me when fans think we favor one school over another. I see that all the time on the message boards. Believe me; if we favored one school over the other we wouldn't have our jobs long. We want to see all of our student-athletes, coaches and universities succeed. When it's a non-conference game, we're always rooting for our teams. If it's a playoff game - like the Weber State/Cal Poly football game - we were all ecstatic that the Wildcats won. At the same time it was disappointing because we knew that since Montana and Weber State were playing the next week, one of our teams would have to lose.
OK, I'll bend a little bit. I think all of the four teams who advance here to Ogden have a chance to win the championship (Now that's going out on a limb). There is no doubt Weber State has the advantage of playing on its home court in front of the Purple Pak. Weber seems so focused. Weber had nothing to play for Tuesday against Montana State, but went and played like the No. 1 seed was on the line. If Portland State hits its 3-point shots the Vikings will be really, really tough to beat. If Montana's outside shooters are hitting to help Anthony Johnson they are tough to beat, especially because the Grizzlies are playing so well on defense. Idaho State and Northern Colorado are also playing very good basketball right now.

WW: I know you are a UM guy, but your wife is a Weber girl. Who is your family pulling for during the tournament?
JK: It's weird how the world works. My family is originally from North Dakota, and we moved to Montana when I was 14. I attended Montana and ended up living there for 10 years, working at the Missoulian as a sportswriter, where I learned to be very objective. I wouldn't be in this position today if the conference didn't think I could be objective. My mom, dad, brother and sister all moved to Ogden in 1996, so now we're all back in the same city. My brother took many of his classes at Weber State, but his degree is from Utah State. My sister is a freshman at Weber State. My wife Mackenzie is close to getting her degree from Weber State. My father-in-law Bob Hunter is a Weber State alum and an adjunct professor. My father-in-law actually helped design the old "Go W" logo back when he was a student. I have a lot of purple in my family now, and most of them are probably rooting for Weber State. Some of them don't care at all that there is a tournament coming up. Mackenzie takes a lot of photos for us, and does graphic design for us. Like me, she respects all of the teams in our conference. She's developed friendships with many of the people in our league. I think she's neutral, but I can't control her. I know she knows a lot of you crazy Mountain Dew-guzzling Purple Pak guys from high school. She and our beagle Annie are excited the tournament is in Ogden so I will be home and not on the road. What I'm pulling for is the community of Ogden, the students of Weber State, and other sports fans throughout Utah to come out, support Weber State and support our tournament. I believe winning sports programs can really bring a community together and create civic pride. Tuesday and Wednesday night are a chance to forget about the problems of the world for a few hours and come out and support some great collegiate student-athletes. I know they would all love to play in front of 12,000 fans on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

My Letter to the Editor for
the Standard

March 3rd I am a huge fan of Weber State basketball. I hold season tickets, I often attend the coach's luncheon at Lagori's and I write a blog for a fans website.

It really bothers me when I tell someone how my number one hobby is Weber State basketball and they give me a funny look or make a snide comment like, 'Weber State? Don't you mean Harrisville High?' I just don't get it. I've attended most of the home games this year and have been disappointed to see it filled over half-capacity only three times. I think most residents of the greater Ogden area just aren't aware of what they have up on the hill. Maybe they are not aware of the history and success of Weber State basketball.

In the last 10 years the 'Cats have gone to the NCAA tournament three times. In 1999 they stunned the nation by upsetting third-seeded (No. 13) University of North Carolina. I'm pretty sure that is more appearances and wins in the tournament than other division 1 programs in Utah.

On March 10-11, because the 'Cats became Big Sky champions, Weber State will host the Big Sky Championship where the winner will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The Dee Events Center holds 11,666 people. Let's get the community excited about our amazing basketball program and get them to come to the game and fill the Dee to capacity.

I am proud to say I live in Ogden, home of the Weber State Wildcats. I hope the community is too. And I hope we can all show up to the tournament and help our team make it to the NCAA tournament for the third time in two years.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

Mahoney Brings the D

February 15th It's been a while since I was able to attend a WSU basketball game, but yesterday (Valentine's Day) I convinced my wife that we should celebrate our love by attending the Portland State game. The game was one of the most fun games I've seen in a long time. Lilliard, Panos, and Davis got a dunk a piece; we got to chant "Waters Sucks"; and the student body had a half dozen hilarious sings poking fun things such as Dominguez' run in with the law in Mexico and PSU's poor 1-15 record at the Dee.

But the most entertaining part of the night to me was Weber's tenacious defense. I especially enjoyed watching freshman, Darin Mahoney. The dude had two blocked shots, two steals, and nine points.

It is so cool to see how good we are this year and at the same time see how many promising freshman and sophomores we have. Needless to say, I think Weber State basketball is going to be good for a long, long time. And Darin Mahoney and his tough defense are going to be a big reason why.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

Coaches Luncheon is Rahe's Luncheon

January 12th, 2009 Every other week Wildcat Club members and other Weber State University supporters meet inside Lagori's restaurant in Ogden to listen to WSU coaches report on the teams they coach. Today at the luncheon five coaches addressed supporters. The coach that stole the show-Men's basketball coach Randy Rahe.

I paid $6.75 for my lunch and to hear the coaches. I would have paid $10.00 just to hear Rahe, even if that price didn't include a meal. Rahe was awesome. Besides reporting on the Wildcat's improbable road victories over Portland State and Eastern Washington, he was chuck full of hilarity. Among other things, he shared a personal conversations he had with a referee during the road trip, and he also detailed for those in attendance the pathetic state of Portland State's basketball facilities. (Last year the 'Cats actually had to share a locker room with a bunch of naked PSU professors. Yikes.) He talked about his superstitions as a coach. He said he has a lucky road tie and a lucky home tie. "The guys are getting tired of seeing them," he said. He also said he finally found a hotel to stay at in Washington as he will not return to a hotel if the previous time his team stayed there they lost.

Besides being quite hilarious, Rahe was also very impressive. He makes sure his team stays hungry, prepared and humble. During the lunch he said there are no stars on his team. "We just have a bunch of good basketball players who play well together," he said. He expressed concerns about his team getting too confident and comfortable with the recent road sweep. "We're going to get after them these next two days to make damn sure that doesn't happen."

Rahe also said that he enjoys coaching in the Big Sky because for his team there is no margin for error. Any team can beat any team on any given night. That is, according to Rahe, what makes every week so much fun.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

Weber State: Playing to Make History

November 17th This Saturday Weber State plays host to Eastern Washington in a game, that if Weber wins, will ensure the Wildcats stand alone as Big Sky Champions. WeberHoops founder sent out an email to some website loyalists that does a good job of summing up Weber State's football season and outlaying the importance of this Saturday's game.

Here is the email

Wildcat Update:

Weber State's football team is having possibly or already the greatest season in school history with 1 game to go before the playoffs. Weber has already won the Big Sky title which was the first since 1968 (back when John L Smith was on the Weber football team.)

WSU is 7-0 for the first time ever, having never even gone 5-0. 9-2 overall with losses to Hawaii (36-17 final after being up 17-7 at the half) and Utah (37-21). In the Utah game, WSU's QB Cam Higgins threw for over 300 yds, 2 TD passes and 0 INT's. This yr against Utah's D, only Oregon State has been able to do as good as Weber's QB. TCU didn't even score 21 in Salt Lake. Higgins is just a soph but is a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, it's the Heisman of Div I FCS formerly I-AA.

If WSU wins out they have a chance to get one of the 4 seeds of the 16 team playoffs starting Nov 29. Currently Weber is ranked 8th in the nation.

National championship game is in Chattanooga, TN, Dec 19.


W. Paige


Wouldn't it be great if Weber was able to host a playoff game and go on to become national champions? But first thing is first, in order to increase their chances of a top four seed in the playoffs and of hosting a game, they need to take care of Eastern Washington.

And people from the greater Ogden area have no excuse not to come:

1- Tickets are half off for adults and only $1 for kids.
2- The game is at noon. The Holy War starts at 4:00 PM, so there is no conflict of schedule with that.
3- If we win, everyone is going to rush the field! How often have Weber football fans been able to do that? This is a once-in-a-forty-years opportunity!
4- The first 2,500 fans to show up at the stadium will receive free Wildcat t-shirts.

So no excuses not to come. If you are not a Weber State fan, it is time to become one. Weber State football is on the verge of making history, and I want to say I was there to see it happen.
By Mark Berger
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

Good Week for Weber. Bad Week for Me.

November 14th What a depressing week it was for me! More specifically, what a depressing weekend it was for me! Last Saturday could have become one of the greatest Weber State sports memories of my life, but alas, it wasn't and won't be. I had the chance to make two great memories for myself, but instead found myself buried under books and papers, trying to get caught up with my classes.

First of all, I could have made the trip with two of my brothers, several friends, and over 2,000 fans to Idaho State to see the Wildcats rip the Bengals to pieces, clinching their first Big Sky Championship in a very, very long time. As I watched the highlights on the news, read the stories in the papers, and watched Cheesus' highlight video on weberhoops.com (that video is seen below), I became irate at the fact that for some reason Weber State chose this year, when I'm too busy to even sleep, to be great at football! It just sucks. And it depresses me. However, there is some hope as Weber's offense next year looks to return almost everybody and Mac extended his contract another four years. Maybe they'll win the Big Sky next year at home and I will be able to rush the field like a mad man.

Since I wasn't able to make the trip to Pocatello and was at home with my one-year-old daughter, I thought maybe if I could dig in and get my papers written, I'd have the chance of taking my daughter to see her first Weber State basketball game at the Dee that night. Unfortunately, that memory never happened. I just had too much to do. We will have to make that memory another day. The good news here is I did buy season tickets and I will have a whole month of no classes in December, where I will surely be able to take her to a game and witness the miracle of purple slowly filling her veins.

#9 WSU beats Idaho State 59-27 to become the Big Sky Champs

For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

Changes to the Fan's Website

October 15th This year has been a big year of big (and hopefully good) changes for Weber State's number one fan-run website. First off, as you have probably noticed, we changed our name from wsubball.com to weberhoops.com. This was an effort to come up with something easier to remember. Plus we wanted to get Weber's name in the URL.

Weberhoops has also changed the name of Berger's Blog to Wildcat Wall. This was done for two reasons. First, we wanted a name that would be more associated with Weber State. (But don't worry. Though name is no longer in the title of the blog, I will still be providing my insight on Weber State sports on a regular basis.) The second reason for changing the blog name is because WeberHoops has acquired the talent and insight of two new Weber State sports enthusiasts who will be contributing to the blog. Eric Neff will join me in blogging, and Phil (mostly known as Cheese) will be creating videos to include on Wildcat Wall.

I'd like to quickly introduce these two Weber fans to Weberhoops' visitors.

It is no exaggeration to refer to Eric Neff as the true Weber State insider. I challenge anyone out there who knows someone who is associated with Weber State to ask that person if he or she has heard of Eric. I can guarantee you if they don't personally know him, they have at least heard his name, or know someone who has. Not only did Eric graduate from Weber, he was also involved in Student Government, the fraternity scene, and many other school organizations. We are very much looking forward to the news and insight he will be able to provide us through his many contacts on campus.

Cheese is one of the biggest Weber State sports fans I know. He is currently attending Weber State, pursuing a degree in Business Administration. He recently obtained a camcorder and began making videos, highlighting Weber State sports and Ogden, Utah. Here is a link to his first video: Football Clip 1 It's a highlight of Weber's recent trouncing of Montana. It will be great to not only get his videos on Wildcat Wall but to also see them available on YouTube.

I hope you enjoy the new entertainment and information available from Eric and Cheese! They should have plenty to write about and record as this is turning out to be the best football season in years and as WSU basketball is looking just as promising.
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com

WSU beats #3 Montana 45-28

October 8th Congrats to the football team on beating the Montana Griz this past Saturday! It is still kinda hard to believe we won the game. The Griz previously had won 25 straight conference games which dated back to the 2005 season. The last time we beat UM was in 1998. UM has also won 10 straight conference titles.

A few notable hightlights from the game: Sacks: WSU 7, UM 0; Turnovers: WSU 1, UM 4; Rushing yards per carry: WSU 6.2, UM 2.9.

Running back Trevyn Smith had a breakout game rushing for 158 yards. He is on track to break the all-time WSU rushing record and it could even happen this season as a junior. The current record of 3,596 yards is held by WSU class of 2004, Nick Chournos.

Response to Whiney Ute Fans and Utah Media

September 29th I was shocked when on my way home from the Weber-Utah football game Saturday night, an angry Ute fan called a local radio station, complaining about Coach Ron McBride's actions during the game—particularly the fourth quarter. This caller was saying McBride was classless for "running up the score" in the fourth quarter. He said Coach Whittingham put in his second and third stringers in the fourth quarter out of respect for McBride, and McBride's leaving in his starters for the whole game was an ungracious way to lose to the kind-hearted Whittingham and his Utes.

HA! Anyone who has ever read my blog knows that I am very much both a Wildcat and a Ute fan. But I just about died when I heard this and other similar arguments coming from the media and fans alike. First off, how is it even possible to "run up the score" if you are losing? Ridiculous. And if you are going to bring up running up a score as classless, we need only to point out Utah's "classless" sloshing of the Wyoming Cowboys last year. Were the Wildcats supposed to succumb to a 30 point loss? Of course not. Whittingham didn't pull out his starters out of respect for Mac. He pulled out his starters because he has to face a Pac-10 team this Thursday that just knocked off the number one ranked team in the nation last week. One thing these fans and media obviously have forgotten is that Mac is a head football coach for a football team that is not the Utes. All week long I had to listen to media people ask Mac about what he thought about the Utes and their chances to be BCS busters. They asked him about how he recruited as Utah's head coach. They asked about his coaching philosophy when he was a Ute. They asked him questions about current players on Utah's roster. They asked him questions about anything other than the team he actually coached for. I understand most of the people in Utah could care less about the Wildcats and they wanted to hear Mac's thoughts on div I-A football. But come on! I heard two separate interviews Mac did, one on kall 700 with Bill Riley and the other on kfan with David James. Neither one asked Mac a single question about his Wildcat team. Talk about disrespectful. And then after the game, because McBride's boys were able to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Utah's reserves, making the game seem closer than it really was, people are getting all butt-hurt. Why would Mac do such a thing to the Utes? We thought he liked the Utes! HA! It's like it never crossed their minds that Mac takes his job at Weber State seriously. It's like they think Mac isn't competitive, that he isn't a good coach. McBride said after the game that he came to win. And he showed that by fighting to the very end. He could very easily have pulled out his starters in preparation for a big conference game against Montana this Saturday. Maybe he should have to prevent possible injuries. But I think Mac was sending a message, not to the Utes, but to his team, that he wants to make sure they have no quit in them and that if they are good enough to play competitively against the 17th ranked team in the nation (now #15), they sure will be able to compete against Big Sky powerhouse, Grizzlies. He was building their confidence. And this Saturday we will see if it worked. I suspect it did.

Football Kicks Off

Aug 29th 2008 This blog is supposed to be mostly about my experiences with WSU basketball, but since we're still in the the bball offseason and I have been itching to write something, I decided I'd try my hand at blogging football.

I went to the Weber State football's season opener against Montana-Western. We killed them 62-6. I'll quickly note a few of my observations on the lopsided victory. Then I want to rant about how disgracful WSU's "marching" band is.

Trevyn Smith is still the man: The dude had three touchdowns in the first half alone--the first of which was a thirteen-yard scamper finished off by a diving summersault into the south endzone.

Place kicker Mike Snoy has a leg: Because of our almost a billion touchdowns in the game, Snoy got to kick off almost a billion times. The result? Almost a billion touchbacks.

Higgins is legit: Though at first it seemed his timing was off with receivers Etuati and Toone, Higgins was consistant in the pocket. He went 17 for 27, throwing for 286 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. His agility and ability to avoid the sack was quite impressive to me.

Make Them March!

Because hardly any of the band members make it to Weber State's basketball games (attending basketball games is not a requirement to reatain a marching band scholarship) I was surprised to see a grundle of purple and black clad bandsmen making their way onto the field at halftime. The announcer anounced that they would be performing and marching to two Disney songs. I immediately became curious as to what the band actually could do.

First off let me say their uniforms were sharp looking and the songs sounded great. But I really don't think they can feel good about calling themselves a marching band. They looked more like a standing band to me. I will admit there was a strong effort for some pretty decent moving around while playing during the first Disney song. During the second song, however,the band went back to what they always do. They stood on the field and played a song. They didn't even move. I did see a tuba bobbing up and down. But that was it! I remember thinking the same thing last year when at every football game I went to, the band would run onto the field only to stand and play a song or two. Seems to me they are not working too hard for their scholarships. I say they need to learn to march and play at basketball games to keep their scholarships! Who's with me?
For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com