I talked to Ramses Barden at practice this week leading up to Cal Poly’s football opener at San Diego State on Saturday. He was the main focus of many of Aztecs coach Chuck Long’s media interviews this week. He’ll probably be the focal point of San Diego State’s defense, too.

(Not much going on in the background, but Barden’s a big guy. He blocked out most of the frame.)

I got the call today, and according to Alison Cone, Anthony DiLoreto — the would-be freshman from Minnesota — and his family have decided not to have him enroll in classes at Cal Poly. Check the print edition of The Tribune or SanLuisObispo.com on Friday for the full story.

It seems Bromley spoke by phone to the DiLoreto’s and the end result of the conversation led to what appears to be the end of any ties between DiLoreto and the university.

It would have been a tough P.R. sell for Cal Poly to have a student athlete on campus facing bank robbery and gun charges. It would have been tough for DiLoreto for that matter. At 7 feet tall, I imagine its pretty hard to blend in.

It might read a little early for this, but remember, I didn’t bring it up.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Michael Hunt called the Cal Poly football team a “poor choice” for Wisconsin’s senior day season finale Nov. 22.

Hunt criticized the Badgers’ decision to invite the Mustangs to Camp Randall instead of honoring a game against Virginia Tech.

That sounds logical.

But here’s the part that will likely end up highlighted on someone’s locker over at Spanos Stadium:

Hunt likens playing Cal Poly to being “at the Cannes Film Festival, day after day of great cinema in an unparalleled setting. Then, to close it out, they screen the Don Knotts opus, ‘The Incredible Mr. Limpet.’ “

Hunt even suggests Wisconsin would be better off moving the ’senior day’ festivities to an earlier game to better honor the seniors with a stronger opponent — Minnesota, which went 1-11 last season.

He then goes on to say he means no disrespect to the Mustangs…

But everybody knows that anytime anyone says “no offense” or “don’t take this the wrong way” or, in Hunt’s case, “not to besmirch” — what the person really does mean is offense, wrong ways and besmirchment.

Realistically, Cal Poly has little chance of derailing the Badgers, a team that starts off the season with national championship aspirations. But if I had to guess, I’d say this column just might light up some Xerox machines leading up to the San Diego State game.

It was certainly shocking to see both the U.S. men’s and women’s 100-meter relay team botching handoffs on the final legs of each race on the same day at the Olympics in Beijing this past week.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the coach in charge of relays for Team USA is a former Cal Poly coach. And that he was the ‘one person to blame.’

Yes, Brooks Johnson (that’s him on the right) coached the Mustangs from 1993-96 and is the relay coach in Beijing.

In addition to being a U.S. Track and Field Hall of Famer, Johnson, now 73, is also the Chair of the High Performance Division — the self-described quality control head when it comes to winning medals.

In this Q and A with the St. Petersburg Times in February, Johnson predicted the U.S. team would win between 27 and 30 medals at the Bird’s Nest.

And here’s the follow-up to that statement.

The Times: “Is there pressure with those expectations?”

Johnson: “If we don’t get the medals, you have one person to blame.”

So, yeah, he really set the table for himself on that one.

I got my first taste of Alex G. Spanos Stadium last night, watching the Cal Poly women’s soccer team fall 2-1 to visiting BYU.

It was actually my first time in the stadium, period.

I have to say I came away very impressed with the newly constructed half. I even took a look down at the crowd from inside the press box several times and took note of how many people were at the game.

Officially, it was 771. And I thought that was a lot. I’d seen some women’s soccer back when I was in college, and my alma mater seemed lucky to get 71. Cal Poly forward Ashley Vallis even made a comment about the solid crowd on hand.

But in my post-game interview with BYU star Katie Larkin, the Cougars All-American told me they sell out home games in Provo, Utah, to the tune of somewhere around 4,000 per game.

Wow. It was all I could think  while trying not to look surprised. They must love their soccer.

Cal Poly basketball recruit Anthony DiLoreto of Minnetonka, Min., is in jail awaiting extradition to Wisconsin on expected charges related to a bank robbery this past weekend.

According to published reports, DiLoreto, 18, is alleged to have been the getaway driver for a botched heist at a Wisconsin bank 220 miles away from his Minnesota home.

His former high school coach told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune there has to be some kind of “story inside the story.”

You’d think there has to be, right? A 7-foot tall senior with a college scholarship at a renowned academic school in the bag?

There doesn’t seem to be any logical reason to be even in a bank more than two hours drive from home — even less any reason why he’d be allegedly conspiring to commit a federal crime.

Before even stepping foot on campus this fall, DiLoreto was already the Mustangs’ tallest player by at least four inches. Now, it seems his arrival is in serious jeopardy, and his reputation possibly damaged beyond repair.

I’m continuing to chase the story. Look for more coverage soon. But for now, what are some thoughts on this tragedy and its implications for Cal Poly?

You read the quotes in The Tribune. Here’s the video. (And if you didn’t read them, you can see and hear them first!)

Jonathan Dally gave a “just shy of magnificent” interview with me right after tearing up Cal Poly’s backups in the fall scrimmage on Saturday. I gotta say he looked good. Sure, it was against the scout team, but what would you rather have seen? Two picks instead of two touchdowns?

Dally delivered. And he has high hopes for the team this season. (P.S. For those who care about such things, that’s Mustang Daily editor and Tribune intern Donovan Aird in the background interviewing offensive coordinator Ian Shields.)

Also, I had to give a blow-by-blow of some of the biggest smacks in the scrimmage.

The biggest ouch had to go to former Atascadero High standout Neil Tidwell at free safety. Tidwell, a junior transfer from Allan Hancock College, de-cleated freshman running back Ryan Solomon right into one of the metal legs of the pole vault apparatus adjacent to the field. Nobody was hurt, but it looked like it hurt.

On the first series of the day, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Tidwell was on the receiving end of a blow from senior running back Ryan Mole on a similar play. After missing three games with an injury last season, Mole looked ready to go after popping Tidwell’s pads.

On another sweep to Mole, freshman defensive tackle Korben Boaz, a former Nipomo High star, ran down Mole from behind after a 13-yard run and collided pretty hard with the runner as he tried to cut back. That drew cheers from Boaz’s friends and family on the sidelines.

Those were just the ones I noticed. Anybody else want to highlight any big plays?

Looks like the San Diego State football team is getting a big boost going into its Aug. 30 opener against Cal Poly.

The 6-foot-4, 350-pound Darius Jones, a juco transfer from Butte College, was seen at Aztecs practice this week. Academics kept him out until recently, and head coach Chuck Long said they’ll try to get him ready to stuff the middle against the Mustangs.

“The next two weeks before our first game are crucial to get him into some type of playing shape,” Long told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s going to be hard to do it within two weeks, but we’re going to give it a shot.”

Jones’ arrival doesn’t just affect Cal Poly. Former Morro Bay standout Jerome Long, a true freshman, has been practicing with the Aztecs’ second team at defensive tackle. He could potentially see a decrease in reps — though Long and Jones seem like wholly different body types.

Also: Cal Poly wasn’t the only team scrimmaging recently. San Diego State had its scrimmage at Qualcomm Stadium, where the Aztecs will host the Mustangs later this month.

The North County Times report highlighted the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley, who the Mustangs will go all out to rattle when he makes his first collegiate start.

At this time last year, the Cal Poly baseball team was waving bye-bye to Danny Duffy.

Duffy, a 6-foot-2 lefty pitcher from Cabrillo who throws 96 mph, originally committed to play for coach Larry Lee before becoming a third round pick of the Kansas City Royals and signing out of high school. (Duffy’s 7-4 with a 2.35 ERA and is striking out more than 11 batters per nine innings for the single A Burlington Bees.)

It’s not uncommon. A top recruit chooses pro baseball over college.

But this past week, The Fresno Bee reported the exact opposite. Former Clovis East infielder/pitcher Matt Jensen reportedly turned down a $400,000 signing bonus from the Seattle Mariners to honor his commitment to Cal Poly.

It’s a bold move for the 11th-round pick. Typically, if a player goes to a four-year college out of high school, he can’t enter the draft until after his junior season.

Congrats to Larry on this one.

Confirmed to be working out a date to play Cal Poly in 2010, Fresno State football coach Pat Hill took the idea a step farther this week when he made a comment to the Fresno Bee saying he believes the Mustangs will join his own conference one day soon.

Speaking of Cal Poly, UC Davis and Sacramento State, Hill said:

“Those are three universities that have very solid football programs and, in time, I really believe they’ll be a part of the Western Athletic Conference,” said Hill, citing improvements the schools have made to their facilities. “[That] would be great because it will give us a chance, from a budgetary standpoint, to get more out of our revenue sources.”

Don’t know how Poly fans feel about being lumped in with Davis or Sac State — which already competes in the WAC in baseball — but any move to the bigger conference is farther away than Hill makes it seem.

In order for FCS teams to make the move to FBS, they’ve got to average 15,000 fans. After an upgrade that cost more than $21 million last season, Alex G. Spanos Stadium seats roughly 11,000.

So either, the rule has to change or Cal Poly has to build more seats (and sell a lot more tickets), whichever comes first.

As for the other sports:
Other than greater exposure for football, a move to the WAC doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Cal Poly from a fan perspective.

With a tiny gym by major college standards, the basketball programs aren’t likely to be competitive in an upgraded conference. And even though Fresno State won the College World Series, the Big West trumps the WAC as a baseball conference. Volleyball is a push, but the balance of power would shift to the WAC if Poly joined.

The WAC does not have wrestling or men’s soccer, which are staples in Poly’s sports budget. Plus, the Mustangs would lose the conference rivalry with UC Santa Barbara.

From the cheap seats, a move to the WAC in a football-only capacity makes more sense. But one of these days I’ll have to get Alison Cone on the record to talk about the business side of a switch like this.

Logic is logic, but like Method Man said, “Cash rules everything around me. C.R.E.A.M. Get the money. Dollar, dollar bill, y’all.”