LBSU Athlete of the Week: Michelle Osunbor (10/25/2010)

This week women's volleyball middle blocker Michelle Osunbor takes home the LBSU athlete of the week honors.

Michelle had a career game against rival Cal State Fullerton last weekend. She led the 49ers to a victory with a personal best 13 kills. Osunbor also had 5 blocks in the game.

The impressive win against CSUF helps the women's volleyball team extend their 57 game win streak against the club.

Hear what Michelle has to say about her performance and her upcoming Halloween costume!

No Sick Days II makes its web premiere

Hot on the heals of the SportsCenter top plays receiving, 42,000+ YouTube views and blog igniting original, No Sick Days II has arrived with a familiar idea but a new bubble boy.

Casper and Greg may be cured of their sickness, but it looks like Coach Monson has come down with a bit of a cough. You know what that means...

 

You all know what to do now: post to your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (if it still exists), email it out to all of your friends and spread this to as many people as you can!

Hoops season is only 17 days away!

Run around the Pyramid November 7

Time to lace up your sneakers!

Bust out your calendar, and draw a big circle around Sunday, November 7th, because it's time for the Pyramid 5K Run.

 Begining at 9:00 AM, runners will race around the scenic LBSU campus. You can run, jog, walk, and even bring your kids for the Kid's Run.

Runners hoping to run a PR will enjoy this flat, fast course located entirely within the campus. For a complete preview of the course, check out this video:
There will be amenities on race day includeing free parking, chip timing with splits, pacing services, race photos, and food/beverage concession stands.

And stay tuned for annoucements of notable race participants. Last year's participants included the University President Alexander, Coach Monson, and Long Beach Councilman Robert Garcia.

Registration is now open, and click HERE to register.

For more information, visit pyramidrun.com.

Bring your friends, your family, your neighboors; run and have fun!

49er soccer celebrates senior day with 2-1 victory

It was only fitting that on a day when Long Beach State 49er soccer recognized its outstanding senior class, two of those seniors would lead LBSU to victory in front of a raucous crowd at George Allen Field.

Bo Rael and Lindsay Bullock each notched goals to lead Long Beach State to a 2-1 victory over visiting CSUN on senior day. It was Rael's first goal of the year, and Bullock's sixth.

With the victory, the 49ers moved in to sole possession of second place in the Big West, with an overall record of 11-4-2 with a 4-1-1 mark in conference.

Click here for a full photo gallery from Saturday's game

Athlete of the Week: Ashley Lee

This weeks athlete of the week is Ashley Lee.

The woman's volleyball setter had an impressive game against UC Riverside as she became the first player of the year, in the nation, to have a quadruple double. The 49ers had two wins over the course of the weekend, Ashley was highly influential in both. She made 39 assists and had 13 digs.

In addition to being named LBSU athlete of the week, Lee was also named Big West Conference Player of the Week, and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Volleyball Update and the American Volleyball Coaches Association. This is the 8th time an LBSU player has been named National Player of the Week. Lee becomes just the fourth setter in club history to earn the honor, joining former 49er greats Misty May, Keri Nishimoto, and Jillian Mazzarella

Here the Black and Gold Insider catches up with the LBSU star:

Athlete of the Week: Lindsay Bullock

Lindsay Bullock's team mates have appointed her "The Sheriff" of 49er soccer for her dominating physical presence and will to win. That skill set was as present as ever over the weekend, when Lindsay netted a hat trick against rival Cal State Fullerton in route to a 5-2 road win for Long Beach State. Check out this video interview with Lindsay talking about her hat trick, what her team needs to do to continue to have a successful season and most importantly: what it means to bleed Black and Gold.

 

In their biggest game of the season thus far, the 49ers will face off with the No. 18 UC Irvine Anteaters in the Black and Blue Rivalry in a battle for Big West supremacy. The match kicks off at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday at George Allen Field from the Long Beach State campus. Be there to support 49er soccer!

A whirlwind week for "No Sick Days"

Wow. What a week.

When we filmed what would eventually become "LBSU Basketball: No Sick Days" last Monday night at the Men's basketball photo and poster shoot, we couldn't have imagined that a week after its release nearly 40,000 people would have seen the video, that we would be doing interviews for not only the Daily 49er but also USA Today, be featured on KTLA's 10 p.m. newscast, and spread across the blogosphere from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Rivals, NBC Sports and many others.

It's been not only a whirlwind of excitement around the athletics department, but a concrete reminder of the power of the Internet, a Flip Cam, college basketball and little dose of humor. Oh, and human size hamster balls.

With "No Sick Days" getting so much love from other blogs, it's fitting that it also gets its due on our blog today, the day that official practice begins for Long Beach State. As the video says, the March towards March begins October 15, and we couldn't be more excited about it!

So in case you have been living under a rock, here is "No Sick Days" in all of its 46 second glory. Enjoy!

Stop by the Goldmine Gym tonight at 5:00 p.m. to get your first look at the 2010-11 Men's Basketball team. The practice is open to the public.

Athlete of the Week: Matt Kubeck

In case you missed it, check out our video interview with Matt Kubeck, the Men's Water Polo goalie who's incredible performance in goal against UCSD led the No. 8 49ers to a 6-5 victory.

 

Be sure to come out and support Matt and the rest of the Men's Water Polo team as they host their home opener this Saturday vs. UCI at the campus pool at noon.

Beach women's basketball supports fight against breast cancer

The Long Beach State Women's basketball team raised over $1,000 in donations, doubling their target goal, as participants in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk that took place on Sunday, Oct. 10.

The 5K walk was held in Costa Mesa, Calif. and was held to celebrate sponsorship and as an occasion to express hope and increase awareness about breast cancer.




For a full gallery of photos from the event head over to LongBeachState.com

College Gameday Commercial Winner

Kevin McConnell was last weeks winner of the College Gameday Commercial contest. He won a free meal from Chipotle for correctly identifying where each of the videos was filmed on campus. 

Kevin graduated from CSULB in 2009 with a degree in management. He is currently completing his masters in sports management here at CSULB. Kevin has a true passion for basketball. He was a team manager for the Men's team for all four of his undergraduate years, and currently works for the Los Angeles Sparks. 

Congratulations, Kevin! Keep up your school spirit!

Behind the Scenes at the Men's Basketball Shoot

Posters, hamster balls, green screens, Prospector Pete, 3-pointers.... Just another Tuesday night for the Men's Basketball Team as they shot promotional material for their upcoming season. The Black and Gold Insider was there to capture all the action; watch for the fun videos coming soon! And you can see the full "Behind the Scenes" photo album on our Facebook Page. Remember to Like us for all the latest news!

T.J. Robinson poses with the ball

Lin Chang (11), Kyle Richardson (34),  Jerramy King (25), and
Mike Vantrimpont (14) wait to be photographed

In the middle of the photo shoot

Hamster balls! Watch for the fun video coming soon!

Women's Basketball Team Breast Cancer Awareness Walk on Saturday

As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is unfortunately the most common cancer in the United States and is the second leading cause of cancer death for women. Let's join the fight and help raise awarness for our friends, sisters, mothers, and daughters.

The Women's Basketball Team is raising money towards Breast Cancer Awareness. They will be participating in the 2010 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K Walk this Saturday, October 9 in Costa Mesa.

Please donate to their cause and help fight breast cancer by visiting their site. You can also find out more information about the 5K walk by clicking here.

Also, don't forget the Women's Volleyball Spike Out Breast Cancer Match against UC Davis this Friday! Wear a pink t-shirt and get a ticket for only $3! You can click here for more information.

Dirtbags Star in October Baseball

For baseball fans October means only one thing- the playoffs. And this October Dirtbag fans have much to be excited about.

Today, Wednesday the 6th, is the first day of Major League Baseball playoffs, and Dirtbag alumni have already been prominently displayed.

The postseason opened with the top American League seeded Tampa Bay Rays hosting the Texas Rangers. Former Dirtbag Evan Longoria went 1-4 in the Rays loss. Longoria is considered one of the Rays' best hitters and has the potential to be a true game changer this postseason. While it is never smiled upon to lose the first game of a series, especially with home field advantage, the Rays are comforted in knowing that they have an almost identical record on the road.

Other former Dirtbags in the playoffs this season are the Philadelphia Phillies' pitchers Vance Worley and Andrew Carpenter.

The Rays continue their journey toward the World Series tomorrow, Thursday the 7th at 11:30 am PT. The Phillies play their second game on Friday the 8th at 3 pm PT.

Keep rooting for your favorite Dirtbag alum this postseason!

Athlete of the Week Press Conference: Shawna Gordon

The accolades just don't stop for Shawna Gordon. She is this week's Long Beach State Athlete of the Week as well as being chosen as one of CollegeSoccer360.com 's Premier Performers of the week. These honors, along with last week's Big West Offensive Player of the Week nod add up to a busy couple of weeks for Shawna. She took some time out of her award winning scheduule to hold a press conference to tell us all about it.

Vote Tulowitzki for Roberto Clemente Award

Every year, each of the thirty Major League Baseball clubs nominates one player for the Roberto Clemente Award. The award is considered one of the most prestigious in baseball, and is based not on performance at the plate or on the mound, but instead in the humanitarian field. Clemente is celebrated as one of baseball's greatest humanitarians, as he lost his life in an untimely plane crash while delivering aide to Earthquake survivors in Nicaragua in 1972.

This year, the Colorado Rockies have chosen former Dirtbag Troy Tulowitzki as their Roberto Clemente award nominee. Tulo's on the field performance this season was one to remember, in September he posted numbers that had rarely been approached in the final month of the regular season- all the while helping to raise money for children's charities including The Special Olympics and The Children's Hospital. Tulowitzki has raised over $25,000 for these charities this season, and plans to do more in the future to continue to help children and raise awareness for these important causes.

Tulowitzki continually shows that community spirit does not end with the Dirtbags or the Rockies, but instead by making a difference and reaching out to those in need. Help LBSU and Tulo's fans everywhere by voting for him as the fans' choice for the 2010 Roberto Clemente award by clicking here and casting your vote before October 9, 2010.

Behind the scenes: Women's Basketball photo shoot

In preparation for the upcoming 2010-11 basketball season, Long Beach State's Women's team pulled on their brand new uniforms, laced up their fresh kicks and said 'Cheese.' Repeatedly. For about two hours.

The Black and Gold insider was there to capture some candid photos from behind the scenes.



Courtney Jacob poses with a green screen behind her



A side view of some video being shot last Monday night in the Pyramid



Ashley Bookman filming a promotional video



Courtney Jacob (left) helps Lyndsay Heard (No. 23) get ready for a picture

Spike Out Breast Cancer Match: Women's Volleyball

October. Visons of pumpkins, falling leaves, and trick-or-treaters on Halloween come to mind.

But did you know that October is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Now in its 26th year, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotes awareness, shares information on the disease, and provides greater access to screening services. Though many advances have been made in breast cancer awareness and treatment, there remains much to be accomplished. Please join the Long Beach State Women's Volleyball Team as they promote Breast Cancer Awareness.

On Friday, October 8th, as the Long Beach State faces off UC Davis, wear a pink shirt, and receive a ticket for only $3!

When: Friday October 8th, 7PM

Where: The Walter Pyramid

Who: Long Beach State vs UC Davis

$3 tickets will be available to those sporting pink shirts at the Pyramid Ticket Office day of the game.

For more information, please call (562)985-5063