Friday August 24, 2001 |

Here are a few observations after the culmination of the first week of school:

    1) The University of Arizona has been overrun by freshmen. Don't try to hide it either, pre-teens; we all know who you are. Being a sixth-year senior (don't laugh, this could be you in five years or so), I can spot you from a mile away.

First and foremost, you bought every book for all five of your classes on Sunday and immediately put them all in your backpack. What's worse is you take every book to every class making you look like some strange creature. Camels are supposed to have humps on their backs, not humans.

Another dead giveaway is the look of despair on your faces when you realize you can't find the Harvill building, even though you were there on Tuesday. So you break out your campus map and realize that no, it's not next to McKale Center, but on the opposite end of campus.

Now if it seems like I am being a little hard on the freshmen, I am. But think of this as hazing, kind of like "Dazed and Confused." It's not all that bad though, when you consider this hazing doesn't include goats or the fat test.

    2) The UA athletic department is going all out to sell out the first home football game at Arizona Stadium.

I see two problems with this.

First, Arizona isn't going to be any good this year. Don't be fooled by all this pro-style offense mumbo-jumbo. We can't compete with the Oregons, Oregon States, let alone Stanfords of the conference.

UA will come out of the gates strong, and Coach Mackovic will be hailed as a football god, but this will only be because the Wildcats probably have the weakest non-conference schedule in the country. When Kansas State schedules harder than you, something must be very wrong.

When Pac-10 season starts it is going to get really ugly, really quick.

The final problem I have with the university's attempts to market the season opener as some huge game is our opponent - Idaho. Who in their right mind wants to watch Idaho play?

If Notre Dame or even some remotely respectable school were the opponent, I would have already started tailgating. UA should have scheduled Tucson High or Salpointe Catholic as its opponents. That probably would have garnered the same amount of interest. At least we might be able to recognize a couple of names on those rosters.

    3) The best games to attend this fall will not take place at Arizona Stadium, but at Murphy Stadium and the McKale Center.

Soccer games are a blast, and no, I am not a Communist.

There is nothing better than doing a little pre-partying with your buddies and then heading to watch the Wildcats play a little futbol. You can even bring your own couch and put it on the sidelines if you want - they wouldn't think about kicking out anyone actually willing to be there.

Then stroll down to McKale Center to watch one of the top volleyball teams in the nation whip up on whoever it is playing, new scoring system be damned.

Setter Dana Burkholder is the top player at her position in the country hands down.

Another reason to go - and this has been said for years - is to check out what head coach Dave Rubio is wearing. The man knows how to dress. Sports journalists (well-known as the worst dressers on the planet) should take copious notes about Rubio's game-day attire.