Pulled this from a respected pundit about Max's chance to make the world cup squad:Work to do: Max Arfsten The pundit listed him as work to do, but has a chance.

Max Arfsten is an enigma. Watching the fullback in person shows his tendencies to push aggressively high up the wing and how it generates great offense.

You also clearly see how far he needs to track back to play defense. Arfsten's pushes up the field can often lead to exposure on the flanks that have hurt the USMNT.

That Costa Rica match was the essence of what makes Arfsten great - and what he needs to improve. After giving up a penalty on a clumsy tackle to go down 1-0, he assisted Luna's equalizer and then scored one of his own to take a 2-1 lead.

But beyond his performances, left back could be a position of luxury - with PSV's Sergino Dest and Borussia Monchengladbach's Joe Scally serving as top options when healthy. He'd need to truly shine for Columbus Crew the rest of the season to bump either of them.

Arsten played very well; worked hard, had a super shot from outside that was a meter off-line. He played well for himself, his country and a UCD alumnus.

WOW--Best of luck to Max and the USMNT. Big time stuff.

There is no way CAL and UC Davis is a lateral move. While CAL football and basketball have struggled, they have history and some of their Olympic sports regularly bring home NCAA titles. UCD's football and basketball are not juggernauts and Olympic sports are weak with no national presences and general medocity in the Big West. CAL is at the adult table and UCD is still at the kiddie table on the national scene.

It has been long enough for me to have unpacked Blue's tenure at UCD. I think looking back it was at best a mixed bag. His EVO program for me was more for positioning his next career move rather than to benefit the UCD student athletes. His inability to garner major support from alumni was probably due to the general consensus from Aggie alumni.. EVO is no longer in the department. The overall sports program was good but not great. He did not have higher superstars for his staff. As for his job with the World Cup 2026, it is a huge deal, and I will be rooting a 100% for the Stars and Stripes.

What happens if they change their uniforms does it mess up the with color contrast? Football is complicated, play the game to win and go a quest to win a natty championship. Cut the fluff and have laser focus on the above, while still getting a great education.

I agree, with you about our traditional uniforms. Nike and the Ducks had a vested interest in having so many styles of uniforms, with the end goal to sell more of everything. Keeping our Davis script and same color is great. Focus on what is important for many of the Aggie athletic following; being great student athletes that compete their a***** off in sport and the classroom.

I see these alternate uniforms as a frill at best and at worst against one of our campus goals of sustainability. We touted ourselves as a global leader in sustainability. Alternative uniforms do NOT meet the concept of sustainability.
For the department spending resources including time takes away from being focused on the athlete’s sport (craft) For the athletic department in general I see resources being taken away from supporting the athletes. Please do Not tell me that these uniforms are going to create positive revenue by selling them to the public.

With the portal it will be the new normal. Not a good normal, but it will not scare away players as their egos are strong and most believe that they will be a very good starter at any program that at any point had interest in them.

Bill was a grand man. His support also included Davis high School and the community in general. He left every aspect of Davis a better place. Deep condolences to his family. RIP Bill.

So many problems. I will just add my two cents on two that I think are important First the elite programs are going to build up walls and barriers to ensure that they stay on top and keep out others. They will not be likely to offer and support the possibility of competitive parity.

The second is the number of athletes in Division I that will have meaningful experiences and personal growth is going to plummet. I am truly sorry for future NCAA athletes.

Hi LeFan,

Not sure of your number is that $ 350,000-400,000 for mens bb or a smaller number. Sorry for the lack of knowledge.

Rick Pitino at Saint John's calls every member of his team a pro.

What do you think it will take to buy a pro team to win the Big West on an annual basis?

The schools you listed UCI, UCSD and UCSB also don't have football.

Any have thoughts on how much it will cost to pay for an Aggie Mountain West team to compete for a MWC title?

The Big West according to the long time Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell is” a cost containment conference.” The move will help out the California schools are UCD and Hawaii leaving
NLI money is going to hurt the NCAA sports and when we have a downturn cost containment will help keep the Big West school afloat rather than the wholesale cutting of ICA departments.
Good for CBU and the Big West. I wish them both well.

I was on campus this morning and the baseball lights were on. They are awesome!!! I am amazed by how effective the bank of lights are, compared to older fields that have more lights. The tech is great. The field looks great under the lights. It will be a great time under the lights this season.

I agree Sochor field, but which most CSUS departments do NOT bring anything more than a pittance. Which means most are in danger of being cut. I feel for those that may lose their teams and for those that will NOT have a chance to compete at a CSUS school.

This is very sad for Sonoma state. The CSUS are really hurting. I was surprised and glad when Humboldt State changed to a more protected status of a Poly tech.

I can see other CSUS cutting their entire ICA department. Sac state and their bid to go to the Pac-?,. may result in the loss of their entire ICA department. I also could see Sac state losing their entire department if they stayed in the Big Sky.

The future of all of NCAA sports department is very unsettled. I have no idea where anything will be in the next 2 to 5 years.

New WSC coach hired: https://ucdavisaggies.com . Looks like Kat Mertz has some coaching chops. Might be hard to replace the players and the staff that went to the Ducks. I think the travel for the soccer teams in the Mountain West will be a challenge. The good news for the women's program is that 6 to 7 weeks of the season will be done before mid-terms begin. Good luck Coach Mertz!!!

If I was a head coach I would be leery of an assistant coach that brought players with them. I assume that the assistant coach was telling the players to come to UCD and then changed the tune and said it is great to be a Duck. As the Head Coach I would wonder if the assistant coach was going to be loyal to me and my program,; or that they would be willing to hurt me and my program to move forward. That is my take on assistant coaches talking to star players with them.

This is going to be a more common place with NIL money.

I voted for the pies, but leftovers are the best!