Apparently the hiring committee at Cal Poly had quite a bit of trouble narrowing down a pile of 40-plus applicants for the head football coaching position left vacant by Rich Ellerson.

By the end of the day Tuesday, athletic director Alison Cone and the committee will have met with 10 candidates, and one could be named by Wednesday but could come as late as Friday.

Only one will interview on Tuesday, and that’s Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood. Was the committee saving their favorite for last? Or will the front-runner emerge from the unnamed group that came before him?

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Weltraffer from Jesus Diaz on Vimeo.
Awesome Lego videos: See your favorite toy in action

Here’s a good way to kick off 2009.

My favorite tech blog, Gizmodo.com, has announced the winners of its “Go Miniman Go!” video contest. It’s all part of the hoopla celebrating of the 30th anniversary of the Lego mini-fig (those little posable plastic guys).

Click here to watch the top five winners, which range from a pretty persuasive argument about the right to “bear arms” (yes, there is a pun there) to the Lego equivalent of “We Are the World.” Pretty touchy-feely stuff.

My favorite is “Weltraffer” (I presume this means something profound in Danish), which basically chronicles the whole of European history in about four minutes. With Legos.

You can also see videos by the three acclaimed Lego filmmakers who judged the “Go Miniman Go!” contest. Check it out.

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Yes, Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson is at Army now. Cal Poly is interviewing its finalists for his vacant position.

Our story on Saturday morning says Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood is pursuing the job and former Ellerson assistant and current San Francisco 49ers special teams coach Dave Fipp has pulled out of consideration.

Other candidates have been revealed over at FootballScoop.com and talked about at the Cal Poly Mustangs message board.

One name that I haven’t seen brought up is the newly available Ted Tollner.

Tollner was let go by the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday and has previously been a head coach at USC and San Diego State. He was a member of the 1960 Cal Poly football team and survived the plane crash that killed 22 in Toledo, Ohio.

Tollner switched seats with another player who died in the crash, and his new seat was apparently the cutoff point for survival.

He’s gone on to have a solid coaching career in both college and the NFL. Seems like the 68-year-old could be ready to settle down back in SLO, and he’d be a name that would definitely resonate with the community.

But with Cal Poly apparently moving fast on this job — an announcement could come Tuesday — it might be too late for Tollner to get involved. Plus, he might not even be interested in coming back to college and dealing with all of the off-the-field responsibilities that go hand in hand with campus life but aren’t concerns in the NFL.

Fipp didn’t have a whole lot of insight on Tollner’s situation but he did say that the two had discussed the Mustangs coaching job at length in the past. Your thoughts?

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Deadline drawing near for filmmakers of the future  Attention, future Spielbergs, Scorseses and Soderberghs.The deadline is drawing near for the youth-only portion of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.Entries for the festival’s Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase are due Jan. 15, 2009.The short films can cover any subject or style. However, they must be G or PG-rated, less than 30 minutes in length and made by filmmakers ranging in age from kindergarten kid to high school senior.This year, entries will fall into three categories: primary (kindergarten through sixth grade), middle school (seventh and eighth grades) and high school (ninth through 12 grade). All ages are eligible for $50 cash prizes awarded to Best Short Feature, Best Short Film and Best SLO County Film. Sweet!All of the entries will be shown at the Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase – Sunday, March 8 in San Luis Obispo. The event will also feature short films made by the participants of summer filmmaking workshops sponsored by the film festival and the Holser Educational Fund for the Performing Arts. You can learn more about the youth film competition here or just fill out the entry form. Good luck! 

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A report coming out of the Times-Herald Record in Middletown, N.Y. is saying Army has moved Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson to the front of the line for its head coaching opening.

I talked to Ellerson and Cal Poly president Warren Baker on Monday. To hear what they had to say on the topic check out Tuesday’s edition of The Tribune.

It doesn’t seem like anything is set in stone one way or the other yet, though the Middeltown report makes Ellerson-to-Army sound like a slam dunk.

If it is, it could be a sad day for Mustangs fans. Ellerson is a winning coach with a Pac-10 pedigree. It will be interesting to see if Cal Poly will be able to find as good a coach who’s as enamored with the SLO life.

Ellerson, who’s coaching resume includes a stop at Southern Utah, has said he loves living San Luis Obispo.

But he grew up an army brat and has ties to Army. His brother was a team captain there in the early 1960s. And I can certainly see why he’d be the pick for an Army program that has been down in the dumps.

Army obviously isn’t the best choice for top recruits across the country, but Ellerson’s philosophy is to target players that might not be as attractive to the bigger schools anyway. His flex defense and option offense are solid schemes designed to compete with smaller athletes.

It’s much of the reason he’s been so successful at Cal Poly. Well, that and his ability to coach a tall player like Ramses Barden here and there, too.

So what are your thoughts on the developments? Sound off below.

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According to scout.com, the Cal Poly football team is in the running for a two-star recruit coming out of the from the central San Joaquin Valley the same week that the Mustangs lost out on another.

Fresno-Edison linebacker Nat Harrison (6-3, 228) has Cal Poly listed among his suitors along with Cal, Fresno State, Sacramento State and Utah. He’s apparently already visited Sacramento.

The Mustangs missed out on College of the Sequoias defensive back Andru Stewart (5-10, 192), who reportedly verbaled to Arkansas. If my math is correct, Stewart would have been on the Oaks Christian team that took down Logan Budd and Morro Bay High in the CIF-Southern Section Northwest Division playoffs in 2006.

We’re now in the dead period where coaches are not allowed to visit recruits and can only call them once a week. So news should be slow going until the end of the period on  Jan. 4.

But there might be some other kind of Cal Poly football news brewing.

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Yeah, that tough loss in the FCS playoffs might have had you in a football hangover for a while, but basketball season is now in full swing.

Well… it’ll be slow this week because of Christmas, but in preparation for turning your full attention toward basketball in the new year, check out these highlights of the women’s team playing Eastern Washington on Saturday and the men taking on Portland State on Wednesday.

And let me know what you think the chances are for each team as they chase the Big West title and a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

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Here are the PAC 7 all league teams for football, boys water polo and girls volleyball. This information will also run in the newspaper along with the All-LPL teams as soon as the LPL information is released.

FOOTBALL
MVP — Nick Tenhaeff, Sr., Atascadero
Offensive Running Back of the Year — Andy Bridge, Sr., Paso  Robles
Offensive Lineman of the Year — Jose Lopez, Sr., Paso Robles
Defensive Back of the Year — Michael Lombardi, Sr., Atascadero
Defensive Lineman of the Year — Trevor Holloway, Sr., Atascadero

First Team Offense
QB: Thomas Bernal, Sr., Paso Robles
RB: Javon Davis, Sr., Righetti
RB: Andy Bridge, Sr., Paso Robles
FB: Trevor Holloway, Sr., Atascadero
OL: Jose Lopez, Sr.,Paso Robles
OL: Dylan Cramer, Sr., SLO
OL: Brian Brickey, Sr., Righetti
OL: Dalton Spinas, Sr., Atascadero
OL: Thane Atkinson, Sr., Atascadero
WR: Scott Aguilar, Sr., Lompoc
WR: Taylor Sorenson, Sr., Paso Robles
TE: Cheston Holguin, Sr., Paso Robles
K: Nathan Stein, Sr., Atascadero
First Team Defense
DL: Josh Mei, Jr., Atascadero
DL: Patrick Gibbons, Sr., Atascadero
DL: Carlos Faumuina, Sr., Righetti
LB: Michael Lombardi, Sr., Atascadero
LB: Trevor Holloway, Sr., Atascadero
LB: Weston Powell, Sr., Paso Robles
LB: Cody Berry, Jr., Righetti
LB: Garried Mitchell, Sr., Paso Robles
DB: Robbie Boggs, Sr., Paso Robles
DB: Matt Miller, Jr., Righetti
DB: Bo Cabalar, Sr., Arroyo Grande
DB: Dylan Candaele, Sr., SLO
P: Robbie Nadalsky, Sr., SLO

Second Team Offense
QB: David Schultz, Sr., SLO
RB: Jay McLearney, Sr., SLO
RB: Bobby Collins, Sr., Lompoc
OL: Sean Brown, Soph., Arroyo Grande
OL: Conner King, Sr., Atascadero
OL: Evan Ferini, Sr., Righetti
OL: Eric Bilderback, Jr., Paso Robles
OL: Mitchell Van Dyk, Sr., Paso Robles
WR: Alex Wolf, Sr., Atascadero
WR: Justin Goodman, Sr., SLO
TE: Justin Rucker, Sr., Righetti
FB: Christian Crichton, Soph., Arroyo Grande
Second Team Defense
DL: Saul Dominguez, Sr., Lompoc
DL: Derrick Cummings, Sr., SLO
DL: Amir Rodriguez, Sr., Paso Robles
DL: Jordan Murray, Jr., Arroyo Grande
LB: Teddy Engdahl, Sr., SLO
LB: Matt Remington, Sr., Paso Robles
LB: Favi Vargas, Sr., Lompoc
LB: Daniel Morgan, Sr., Arroyo Grande
DB: Joseph Dodds, Sr., Atascadero
DB: Samuel McMillan, Jr., Atascadero
DB: Jono Oliver, Sr., Paso Robles
DB: Jake Morehart, Sr., Lompoc

BOYS WATER POLO
Co-MVP — Jesse Gillespie, Sr., Arroyo Grande.  Tom Ross, Sr., Righetti
First Team                                                    Second Team
Mikey Benaron, Sr., Arroyo Grande           Taylor Romine, Sr., Arroyo Grande
Derek Lange, Sr., Arroyo Grande                Patrick Cullen, Sr., Arroyo Grande
Eric Marsh, Jr., Arroyo Grande                   Scott Roseblum, Sr. Atascadero
Niel Shapiro, Sr., Paso Robles                     William Frederick, Sr., Nipomo
Josh Grall, Sr., Righetti                                 Adam Deale, Sr., Nipomo
Eric Tucker, Sr., Righetti                              Eric Duarte, Sr., Righetti
Alex Johnson, Sr., Righetti                          Matt Johnson, Sr., Righetti
Morgan McReynolds, Sr., SLO                    Sam Thielscher, Sr., SLO
Honorable Mention
Arroyo Grande: Jonathan Kullman, Sr.
Atascadero: Matt Zappas, Sr.
Nipomo: Garrett Kleve, Sr.
Paso Robles: Evan Norton, Sr.
Righetti: Kevin Ostrin, Jr.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
MVP — Olivia Trudeau, Sr., Arroyo Grande
First Team                                                Second Team
Brooke Shepard, Sr., Arroyo Grande     Madi Ventura, Soph., Arroyo Grande
Kaele Morrow, Sr., Arroyo Grande        Caitlin Feilzer, Sr., Arroyo Grande
Kelsey Wagner, Sr., Arroyo Grande       Alyssa Hall, Sr., Atascadero
Madison Hilliard, Sr., Atascadero          Jessica Bell, Sr., Atascadero
Sara DeCou, Sr., Atascadero                    Christina Rosales, Sr., Nipomo
Mattie Bliss, Sr., SLO                                Sadie DeQuattro, Sr., Paso Robles
Tess Rountree, Soph., Paso Robles        Kristin Urias, Jr., SLO
Honorable Mention
Arroyo Grande: Chelsey McKelvy, Jr.
Atascadero: Brook Casler, Sr.
Nipomo: Erin Smith, Sr.
Paso Robles: Nicole Andersen, Sr.
Pioneer Valley: Chrisian Reyes, Sr.
Righetti: Jayne Bruno, Sr.
San Luis Obispo: Lexi Scott, Sr.

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 I know this is coming out late but it’s been a busy week putting together the football all-county team, which will be released Sunday. Oaks Christian is playing tonight at 7 at Morro Bay in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Northwest Division playoffs.

Oaks Christian is led by junior starting quarterback Nick Montana, the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Also playing for the Lions is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky and actor Will Smith’s son Trey Smith. Trevor Gretzky, a sophomore quarterback, and Smith, a sophomore receiver, both started this season for the Oaks Christian junior varsity team. According to the Lions varsity roster on maxpreps.com, only Gretzky is listed as being moved up from the JV team and he could see some playing time too. He had one carry for two yards on Nov. 21.

I will be hosting a live blog from the game. Click on the following link to get to the page: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/sports/story/550333.html. If you would rather come to the game and try and see either Montana or Gretzky sitting in the stands, assuming they come to the game, I would totally understand and expect it. According to an ESPN report that aired in November, Montana even comes onto the sidelines to help coach his son during the game.

Come out and go star watching. Oh and Oaks Christian isn’t too bad either, they are trying to repeat as Northwest Division champs and make it into the state bowl playoffs.

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Here’s some video of the Wisconsin fans bouncing around to House of Pain’s “Jump Around” between the third and fourth quarters. It’s a well-known Camp Randall Stadium tradition.

Cal Poly assistant sports information director Eric Burdick appears scared in the video. The press box was actually swaying along with the jumping. I didn’t feel threatened, but then again, I lived in a house on stilts in Cayucos for a year.

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