Saturday's weather forecast in Fresno calls for sunshine and 70 degrees — nearly 10 above normal. June Sweeney is sure she knows why: "Jim did this. He always said, 'When I die, I want a big party.' He made the weather nice so he can have it." A public memorial for Jim Sweeney, her late husband, will be at 1 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium.

Here's the archive of a live blog from the tribute ceremony Saturday, Feb. 16, at Fresno State's Bulldog Stadium for Jim Sweeney, the legendary Bulldogs football coach (iPad users: See the blog on fresnobee.com).

He arrived at Fresno State in 1990 a raw quarterback, aimless yet gifted. An Aptos beachboy loaded with false bravado.

The death of former Fresno State football coach Jim Sweeney made me recall the day back in the mid-1980s when I interviewed him about another death: The passing of Bill Sweeney, his father.

Kevin Sweeney had a chance to play for just about any university in the nation coming out of high school.

The year was 1984, and Pat Hill had lost his job as an assistant with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.

For all the glory he experienced while involved in a Fresno State football program that went 46-13-1 with four league titles and two bowl wins -- one over USC in the 1992 Freedom Bowl -- Ron Collins' greatest thrill at Bulldog Stadium came 16 years a

Remembering Jim Sweeney

Fans, friends and Fresno State faithful react on Twitter to the death of former Fresno State football coach Jim Sweeney.

Jim Sweeney, who christened Fresno State a "sleeping giant" when he arrived in 1976 and then awakened not only the school but a region with 19 years of charismatic, firm and witty leadership as a football coach, died Friday. He was 83.

Enter the Warzone, bite-sized chunks from the smorgasbord of sports.

I covered Fresno State football for the last of coach Jim Sweeney’s nine seasons, and I long lost count the number of college beat reporters from other newspapers who said they envied me.