The Audio Thing

WOODLAND HILLS -- I'm not in the mood to rehash tonight's 91-74 loss to Northridge, so we'll talk about peripheral issues instead.

If you have an Internet connection, you've probably heard what former UC Davis player and assistant coach Dan Hawkins had to say about the anonymous Colorado player's parents who are not particularly excited about the start date for offseason conditioning. I've heard this audio four different times on the radio while driving around Southern California today. Also, while having dinner after the game, I twice saw a still of Hawkins come up on the television. I can only assume ESPN and Fox were discussing (and playing) his outburst.

UCD had its own audio issues earlier in the year relating to basketball Gary Stewart's use of a chair and trash can as projectile. A lot people at UCD were unhappy about the California Aggie posting the audio of the chair/trash can incident. Two weeks later, after the loss to Pacific, Stewart asked all the reporters present to turn off their recorders during the postgame press conference. That only happened once, thankfully. I bring this up only to note how intense things could have been around the Stewart incident (if Davis was better known, or if there had been video). In the 21st century, little blips of audio can suddenly take on lives of their own. For better or for worse, this is the world we live in now.