Hello, my name is Ryan and I am one of your proud new sports editors. I am kind of obsessed with sports. You could say I bleed Gaucho blue and gold (and occasionally red).

A couple things about me: I believe that basketball is the greatest sport in the world and that fantasy football is the greatest game in the world.

The Clippers are my favorite team, followed by the Lakers. I firmly believe that this is neither counterintuitive nor prohibited by the laws of fan-hood. If the Clippers had even one relevant moment in my lifetime, then maybe it would be frowned upon. I am also a huge Cal Berkeley fan.

I like that I can curse in my columns. Fuck, it feels good. If I could have one drink for the rest of my life besides water, I would choose Gatorade; specifically Fierce Melon, with Glacier Freeze a close second.

Put mildly, I love UCSB. I dread graduating in the spring, when I will have to leave a school where, five minutes before class, you can decide to just ditch lecture and go surfing instead. I dread leaving my amazing home, where my standard delivery order from I.V. Deli is a chicken shawarma, spicy, with an Arnold Palmer, Fritos BBQ Twists, and a grape swisher, and where — as broke ass college students — we get to live on the beach.

To all of you new UCSB students out there — freshmen and transfers, and anyone else, for that matter: Take advantage of your opportunities here at UCSB. It is a wonderful place to spend the best years of your life. Break out of your shell, try new things, and go crazy. Athletics is just one of the many ways to explore and develop and identification with your university.

So, we don’t have a football team. It’s not the end of the world, I promise. The UCSB athletic program — which has produced famous alumni such as MLB All-Star Michael Young, ex-NBA star Brian Shaw, Olympic gold medalists Jason Lezak and Todd Rogers, and even Jim Rome — is ready to serve you.

Attend a soccer game at the famous Harder Stadium to cheer on your nationally ranked men’s soccer team, or nationally-ranked-in-the-good-looks-department women’s soccer team. Embrace the Gaucho Loco tradition and throw some tortillas onto the field as you sip from your flask, because you are the smart one who keeps your buzz going throughout the match.

Head out to the Thunderdome or Robertson Gymnasium to support our two-time defending Big West Tournament champion men’s basketball team, our nationally-ranked-in-the-good-looks-department women’s basketball team, our runner-up national champion men’s volleyball team or our nationally-ranked-in-the-good-looks-department (noticing a trend? Our female athletes are better looking than yours!) women’s volleyball team.

If you make an effort, you will soon discover that UCSB athletics are amazingly fun and entertaining.

Also, be sure to hit up the Daily Nexus Sports website. We are going to work hard to have all of our content — including a lot that won’t make the newspaper — up there, in addition to exclusive player and coach interviews, twitter musings, and podcasts about much more than just sports.

If you have an opinion, please share it on our website or by e-mail. If you are interested in writing, shoot us an e-mail or come visit us in the bunker that is the Daily Nexus office under Storke Tower.

Our goal will be to provide to you complete, succinct coverage of our wonderful UCSB athletics, as well as honest, entertaining, fresh stories to go along with the everyday shenanigans UCSB and Isla Vista have to offer.

Looking forward to a great year,

Ryan Porush