On Our Board:
Bill Gates

Taking leave to help new mayor

With the publication of this month’s SportsLines, I’m in my second week of a leave of absence from the San Jose Sports Authority. In my place, Patricia Ernstrom, the organization’s excellent deputy director, will serve as director. Many of you know Patricia and know that the Sports Authority is in very good hands with her as its leader. There are a limited number of upcoming sports events in which I will remain active and will be available to interact with Patricia and event leaders during my leave of absence.

I am returning to city government for a three- to six-month period as a senior advisor to new San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and his staff. During the ’80s I served as staff director to Mayor Tom McEnery, and I’m very excited about the chance to spend time back in San Jose city government helping the new administration get started.
 
This will be another good year for sports in San Jose with our lineup major events. Among the high points are the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball San Jose Regional in March – the sixth NCAA Championship the city will have hosted in the last 10 years – and the Visa Championships in August, which are the national championships in gymnastics for men and women. Please check out the calendar of events at the end of this newsletter to learn more about the year.

Dean Munro
Executive Director

When the nation's top professional cycling stage race – the Amgen Tour of California – returns to San Jose, many local cyclists will feel their pain.

All amateur cyclists 18 and older, regardless of ability level, are invited to participate along with some of the pros in the inaugural San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. The ride will give cyclists a taste of the tortuous Sierra Road climb that is part of the Stockton-to-San Jose stage Feb. 21 when the world's top racers streak into downtown and the finish at City Hall.

The King-of-the-Mountain Ride will begin with a celebratory breakfast at City Hall. The Stockton-to-San Jose stage is the third leg of the 650-mile Tour of California, which begins in San Francisco on Feb. 18 and concludes Feb. 25 in Long Beach. More than a million fans saw last year's race.

San Jose State completed its most successful football season in 16 years when it defeated New Mexico 20-12 on Dec. 23 in the New Mexico Bowl.

The victory gave the Spartans a 9-4 record, the first nine-victory season since 1990 and only its sixth since gaining major college status. The nine victories were more than the team had in the previous three seasons combined.

Quarterback Adam Tafralis threw for three touchdowns in the game, played in Albuquerque, two of them to James Jones, the game's offensive MVP. Spartans linebacker Matt Castelo forced two fumbles and made 18 tackles to be named defensivie MVP.

Stanford and Cal will be among the favorites when the State Farm Pac-10 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament returns to HP Pavilion for the fifth consecutive year March 2-5.

Along with the conference championship comes an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Last year the local organizing committee, chaired by former Mayor Susan Hammer and assisted by the Sports Authority, raised more than $35,000, which was used to purchase tickets for disadvantaged youngsters.

San Jose State has been invited to play in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque on Dec. 23, its first bowl trip since 1990 and its first ever bowl trip out of state.

The Spartans will play New Mexico in a game to be nationally telecast live at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. The bowl invitation was extended after San Jose State defeated Idaho 28-13 on Nov. 25. to run its record to 7-4. The Spartans rank 17th nationally in rushing offense, and junior quarterback Adam Tafralis, left, has completed 66.38 percent of his passes, the best in school history.

The bowl invitation caps a comeback from a 3-8 season a year ago. The Spartans' most recent bowl appearance was a 48-24 victory over Central Michigan in the 1990 Raisin Bowl in Fresno. Overall, they have a 4-3 bowl record dating to their 1947 Raisin Bowl victory over Utah State.

Tickets can be purchased online here.

The Pete Newell Challenge made its first visit to San Jose on Sunday, and the two host teams split the college basketball doubleheader.

Stanford knocked off Texas Texas 70-59 with Brook Lopez coming off the bench to store 18 points in 17 minutes. The Cardinal is now 6-1. Cal fell 77-71 to Nevada, and the Bears record dropped to 6-2.

It was the 10th anniversary for the event honoring 90-year-old Newell, the Bay Area basketball legend who coached Cal to its only NCAA basketball title. As part of the festivities surrounding the doubleheader's first appearance in San Jose, Newell appeared along with Bob Knight (right), Texas Tech coach, and the coaches of the three other teams, Trent Johnson of Stanford, Ben Braun of Cal and Mike Fox of Nevada, at a VIP reception Saturday night at the Fairmont

The Sports Authority has submitted a bid to host the Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at HP Pavilion for five years beginning in 2008, when the current contract at Los Angeles' Staples Center expires. The tournament has been held in LA since 2002, and it is considered likely to retain the tournament.

Fox Sports owns the rights to the tournament, which is being expanded from eight teams to the conference's full 10 teams this March. Fox just extended its contract for five years, also beginning in 2008.

The tournament runs four days each March with the first three days of competition televised on Fox Sports Net and the final day on CBS. There are several ancillary events including a golf tournament, luncheon, fan fest, 3-on-3 shootout competition and Hall of Honor Banquet. The tournament would fill a minimum of 515 hotel rooms per night.

Portland's Rose Garden, home to the NBA Portland Blazers, is also a bidder.