Honest Words

I usually like to take things with a grain of salt. Surely, I'm one to watch things with layers of skepticism.

That said, I'm convinced that this has been a very genuine week of conversation.

The centerpiece of the sports in this week's issue of The Collegian is about SDSU pitcher Layne Somsen, who missed all but two innings in 2010 and 2011 with elbow surgery to repair his right elbow's ulnar collateral ligament. It wasn't so much a story about an injury and coming back from it but how he's deemed his career a failure thus far. It's probably not justified. He was a freshman, new to the scene in 2009, when he finished 4-7 as a starter and struggled mightily. And his last two seasons have been a washout.

Yet, because his expectations are so high, it's a failure in Somsen's eyes.

It takes a man to admit that he's failed at anything, let alone the one thing that he's sunk years and years of training and buildup into. I told him that I really appreciated the honesty and I hope that his candor comes through in the story. I wrote it but I think it's a pretty compelling story too.

On Tuesday, SDSU hired its new wrestling coach, Chris Bono, to take the reins in 2012-13. He's a former national champion and a proven winner both on the mat and from the sideline. I wrote a column on him this week and talked to him for a short while over the phone.

My takeaway: He's energetic.

You might be saying, "Marcus, that's a given. He's a wrestling coach." Usually true, but SDSU's program over the last few years has been anything but energetic. It's been dull, dry and boring.

That first interview with a coach can be hyperbole and full of empty promises. (See: Tim Brewster, Minnesota. Coincidentally, he mentioned how the university and the city of Brookings is "starving" for a winner again in wrestling. Of course, my brain went straight to the words of Brewster, who famously asked if his players were "hungry or starving" to get a win. I must link to Basement Brew and all of his whack sayings to confuse his players.) But every coach teeters on that line of being confident and speaking out of their butt.

SDSU could be one of the toughest rebuilding spots in the Division I scope because it sits so low in priority among the 21 sports for the Jacks and there is little money and fewer fans. Bono thinks he can change the landscape of SDSU wrestling and it will be a challenge, no doubt.

Thanks again. I appreciate the honesty.