Spring Break
The Star Report: The top five games of the last four years
The best of CSU athletics for 2008-2009 school year
Sean Star
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Sports
Since covering the water polo team as a freshman, I've seen a decent amount of CSU sporting events the past four years. Because this is my last column for the Collegian, I decided to take a look back at the top five games I've watched or reported on since I began writing for the paper in fall of '05.
No. 5: Jason Smith's last game at Moby, Feb. 24, 2007: Though it wasn't his final collegiate game, the 86-68 blowout over Wyoming was the lasting image I'll have of Smith as a Ram. Now with the Philadelphia 76ers, J-Smooth out-shadowed the seniors on Senior Night, scoring 27 points on 13-17 shooting with 22 rebounds to send the Pokes back to Wyoming battered and bruised.
Afterward, he said it wasn't his last game at Moby, though a little more than a month later, he decided to forgo his senior season and turn pro. As a 7-footer with soft hands and a good jump shot, Smith was a highly regarded pro prospect long before, but it wasn't until this game that I was truly convinced of that.
No. 4: Women's basketball upsets top-seeded Utah, March 12, 2008: After going through the entire conference season winless, the Rams pulled off one of the greatest upsets in program history by defeating eighth-ranked Utah in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament in Vegas.
Utah hadn't lost a conference game all season and was riding a 22-game winning streak, so it's harder to say whether the Rams winning or the Utes losing was more shocking.
Nonetheless, the win put the school in the national spotlight for a brief moment, as then-coach Jen Warden and Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk appeared on ESPN, which was a refreshing twist for the school in a year in which both basketball teams went winless in conference and Sonny Lubick was fired.
"It's unbelievable; there's not even words to describe it, really," Ram guard Sarah Hunter said afterward.
No. 3: Volleyball sweeps Florida in the 'Big Showdown', Sept. 3, 2008: There's probably been far more important wins for coach Tom Hilbert's team the last four years, but this was perhaps the most enjoyable.
No. 5: Jason Smith's last game at Moby, Feb. 24, 2007: Though it wasn't his final collegiate game, the 86-68 blowout over Wyoming was the lasting image I'll have of Smith as a Ram. Now with the Philadelphia 76ers, J-Smooth out-shadowed the seniors on Senior Night, scoring 27 points on 13-17 shooting with 22 rebounds to send the Pokes back to Wyoming battered and bruised.
Afterward, he said it wasn't his last game at Moby, though a little more than a month later, he decided to forgo his senior season and turn pro. As a 7-footer with soft hands and a good jump shot, Smith was a highly regarded pro prospect long before, but it wasn't until this game that I was truly convinced of that.
No. 4: Women's basketball upsets top-seeded Utah, March 12, 2008: After going through the entire conference season winless, the Rams pulled off one of the greatest upsets in program history by defeating eighth-ranked Utah in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament in Vegas.
Utah hadn't lost a conference game all season and was riding a 22-game winning streak, so it's harder to say whether the Rams winning or the Utes losing was more shocking.
Nonetheless, the win put the school in the national spotlight for a brief moment, as then-coach Jen Warden and Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk appeared on ESPN, which was a refreshing twist for the school in a year in which both basketball teams went winless in conference and Sonny Lubick was fired.
"It's unbelievable; there's not even words to describe it, really," Ram guard Sarah Hunter said afterward.
No. 3: Volleyball sweeps Florida in the 'Big Showdown', Sept. 3, 2008: There's probably been far more important wins for coach Tom Hilbert's team the last four years, but this was perhaps the most enjoyable.
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