Reliving The Great Moments

 The final chapter of Bob Biggs' coaching career will play out over the next several months at Aggie Stadium. In typical Bob fashion, he's trying his best to deflect as much of the attention onto his team, particularly his senior class.

Undoubtedly there'll be plenty of tributes to Bob as the Aggies move through the season which already has built-in excitement because of the move to the Big Sky Conference.

As we count down the days to the Aug. 30 opener against Azusa Pacific, we'll be reliving some of the memorable moments during Bob's tenure as head coach. Starting tomorrow, Aug. 10, we'll be using Twitter, Facebook and our website to present "20 Great Biggs Moments."

They'll probably be no more than a sentence or two and won't be ranked in any order. What they will be is a chance to remind Aggie fans each day of some of the notable things have that have happened during the Biggs era. Will it be comprehensive? Absolutely not. Let's face it, there have been a lot more than 20. But, hopefully they'll bring a fond memory to the forefront.

They might be games, a big catch, a great defensive play, etc. Trying to come up with that list will be tough since there have been so many and also because we're all getting older and sometimes can barely remember where we park our cars.

Those 20 moments will lead up to the first game where we WILL be ambitious and try to rank a top 11 which we'll count down each week during the regular season. We'll even have a poll on Facebook where you can help us decide the top five. In fact, let us know which five should even make up that polling list. You can comment to this blog or on Facebook.

Your list of great moments or a top 11 will likely differ than ours but that'll be the fun of it.

So, start following the Aggies on Twitter (@ucdavisaggies) or "like" us on Facebook (UCDavisAggies) and help us great ready for a memorable season of UC Davis football and a sendoff for a tremendous head coach.

GOOD DEEDS FOR LOCAL KIDS

Kudos to coaches and staff of the Intercollegiate Athletics Department for a good deed this summer in helping a worthy organization, "Yolo County Backpacks for Kids."

Besides helping contribute much-needed funds to the group, individuals in the department donated a variety of school supplies that will be distributed to children and schools in need in Yolo County. Pencils, pens, crayons, markers and a host of other supplies will help youngsters in our local area as they get ready for the new school year.

"Yolo County Backpacks for Kids" has helped more than 4,000 children over the past five years and continues to be an integral resource in our community.

To help out, visit their website at http://yolobackpacks.org

BLEARY-EYED BUT EXCITED

Were you one of the many Aggie fans who got up in the wee hours to watch Aggie volunteer coaches Scott Weltz and Kim Conley compete at the London Olympics? I was and I'm still catching up on sleep.

Thanks to an eight-hour time difference and a lack of courtesy by organizers to schedule events convenient to my life, I relied on my alarm to wake me up at 2:45 a.m. on July 30 to watch Scott swim his 200-meter breaststroke prelim, and then on Monday to watch Kim race in her 5,000-meter prelim.

Mark Honbo, from our staff, was also up although he took the easy route and just stayed awake all night. We wrote recaps for the website and got the results out via social media - duties I can't ever recall doing at that time of day - but even without the work, I would've been up to watch a historic moment for Aggie Athletics.

My dog, Annie, mistook my getting up as a cue for going for our morning walk so at least I had some company as I watched on my iPad. Watching Scott, I just started thinking of the possibilities of him winning a medal. He looked that good in the prelims. With Kim, content that she was right where she needed to be for most of the race, I found myself scanning the stadium crowd, amazed at their level of enthusiasm for the competitors. I kept thinking of the thrill Scott and Kim must've been experiencing.

Both athletes had tremendous performances. Scott eventually finished fifth overall and Kim had a personal-best time. They also capped unbelievable summers that included each of them providing arguably one of the most exciting moments of their respective Olympic Trials.

And, a special thanks to Drew Wartenburg, director of cross country and track and field, who also serves as Kim's coach. He texted me a quote for my recap soon after the race and, as always, it was gold and provided wonderful perspective on the moment.

Now, where's the coffee?

Mike Robles is assistant athletics director for communications, likes to be in bed before 10 p.m. on most nights and very rarely sees the 3 a.m. hour. Annie, his dog, doesn't care what time it is. If there's a walk to be had, she's good to go. Congrats to Scott and Kim for making that middle-of-the-night experience memorable.