7 national TV games means Fresno State football will get exposure … or get exposed

Enter the Warzone, sports aspirin in chewable form.

▪ There’s a simple, three-part explanation why Fresno State football ticket sales are running almost $500,000 below even the athletic department’s cautious projections.

Reason A: The Bulldogs went 3-9 a year ago and retained their head coach. B: Expectations for next season are lower than an earthworm. C: The home schedule doesn’t have much sizzle.

Having the marquee game, San Diego State, moved to Friday night only makes things worse.

▪ In all, the Bulldogs will play seven nationally televised games in 2016.

As Pat Hill used to say, “You either get exposure, or you get exposed.”

▪ Safe to come out, fans of actual sport.

The NFL draft isn’t for another 51 weeks.

▪ For the first time since 2000, Fresno State didn’t have anyone drafted.

Best (and perhaps only) chance for making sure that doesn’t become a trend: cornerback Tyquwan Glass.

▪ Remember “Playmakers,” the short-lived ESPN drama about a fictional pro football team squashed by the NFL because the storylines were too sensational?

Thanks to Laremy Tunsil, that will never ever ever happen again.

▪ No doubt Tunsil’s social media accounts were hacked on draft night. The question now is who? A better question might be what did Tunsil do that would make someone sabotage him so publicly?

Usual answers: money and broken promises.

▪ Chukchansi Park may have opened 14 years ago, but the downtown stadium remains a hot topic of debate in the Fresno mayoral election of 2016.

Because hindsight is always a strike on the outside corner.

▪ If elected, Henry R. Perea says he’ll reinstate the Grizzlies’ $1.5 million annual rent.

Sounds like Perea wants The Chuk, already underutilized, to have 72 more open dates in spring and summer – which is precisely what would happen.

▪ Leicester City capturing the English Premier League title is like the Grizzlies getting promoted from Triple-A to the majors and going on to win the World Series.

In other words, impossible to contextualize.

▪ Stephen Curry wants to return for Saturday’s Game 3 of Warriors-Trail Blazers, but coach Steve Kerr and the team’s medical staff should put the reins on that.

Golden State doesn’t need Curry just now. It will in a couple of weeks.

▪ This isn’t to suggest the Warriors are better without Curry – for statements that stupid, they take away your sportswriter’s license – but in this series it works.

Portland’s short-but-explosive backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum simply isn’t tall enough to guard Klay Thompson or Shaun Livingston. Nor do they seem to have much interest in doing so.

▪ Someone needs to tell A’s TV broadcaster Glen Kuiper that a certain San Joaquin Valley city is pronounced MER-ced – not MAR-ced.

Oh, just did.

▪ The Fresno State softball team improved to 18-0 in Mountain West play, scoring 30 runs in a three-game road sweep of second-place San Jose State, after a certain writer’s recent visit.

No jinxes here.

▪ It’s a little disconcerting to see Warmerdam Field as nothing more than a large expanse of dirt.

Fresno State’s venerable track and field facility is undergoing $2.6 million in renovations. Which, judging by its current state, began from the earth up.

▪ For no particular reason: Erubiel Durazo

▪ Very pleased to hear Huntington Lake, a favorite summertime hang, will be filled to capacity during June, July and August.

No, that doesn’t mean you can take a 15-minute shower.

▪ Magic Johnson has a simple, two-step plan to turn around the Lakers: sign Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Genius. Though it might be easier to invent a time machine and bring back himself and James Worthy from 1985.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "7 national TV games means Fresno State football will get exposure … or get exposed."