The soon-to-be head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers? Photo courtesy of latimes.com
MY THOUGHTS REGARDING THE POSSIBLE OF THE LAKERS HIRING THIS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COLLEGE COACH
It’s been all over the sports news in So Cal the past couple of days;
The Lakers seemingly very much wanting to hire Dan Hurley, the University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball coach whose Huskies won their second straight NCAA championship a couple of months ago.
According to various sources, the Lakers want this guy badly, to the tune of offering him at least $100 million according to the Lakers Nation site.
After reading the feature article and Bill Plaschke’s column in the Los Angeles Times regarding this coach and his personality and approach,
Here’s what I have to say about the whole thing…
It’s not going to work.
Hurley should stay at Connecticut and build a legacy there, like John Wooden did at UCLA.
Here’s why…
Dan Hurley, the son of longtime New Jersey high school hoops coach Bob Hurley and brother of former Duke standout and current Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, has a personality that can be best describes as intense and in-your-face;
In Plaschke’s column, he quoted Hurley as saying that he can be “an a**hole” in order to get players to perform to their capabilities and win;
He has also had incidents with opposing fans in the form of yelling at them and saying things a coach shouldn’t say.
An intense and in your face style personality and style can work for high school and college kids – Bob Knight, the legendary coach who led Indiana to three national championships and was the leader of college basketball’s last undefeated team in 1976, is the perfect example of that.
But as far as men in the NBA?
One word…
NO.
Can anyone imagine Hurley trying to get in LeBron James’ or Anthony Davis’ faces when he feels they need to do a better job at something?
Not without some confrontations between player and coach that no one needs.
In short, men trying to feed their families in the NBA will tire of Hurley’s personality and approach fairly quickly.
And unless he changes such, which I doubt as one can’t change his personality in the tradition of the leopard not being able to change his spots,
Add to that the fact that successful college coaches rarely succeed in the NBA or even the NFL;
Pete Carroll, who was fired by the New York Jets and the New England Patriots before he came to USC and ignited the Trojans’ glory days in the 2000’s, and Nick Saban, who was fired by the Miami Dolphins before he became about as God-like as Bear Bryant at Alabama with all that dominance, are perfect examples of that.
Well, let’s just put it like this,
Should Dan Hurley be indeed hired as the Lakers’ new head coach,
I would give him two years at the helm.
At the most.
Unless they – at the very least – go far in next season’s playoffs, which I honestly don’t see them doing.
Of course, my opinion means absolutely nothing as the Lakers will probably hire Hurley and give him the keys to the Lake Show kingdom.
But that’s how I see all of this.
I’m looking forward to see how this works out at this time next year.
AN UPDATE:
Hurley did, in my opinion, the right thing and the smart thing in announcing that he turned down the Lakers’ $70 million offer to remain in Storrs, CT as the Connecticut coach and go for a third straight national championship next season;
Something that hasn’t been done in college basketball in nearly fifty years, since John Wooden’s seven NCAA titles in a row from 1967-73 in Westwood.
I wonder if he read this post and took my advice to heart…
FILE PHOTO: Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley celebrates after winning the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports Photo courtesy of reuters.com
Being that it was the end of the regular season, with spots in the CIF playoffs being determined all over So Cal, including in my Westside neck of the woods,
Even though the game wouldn’t decide the Bay League championship as Palos Verdes, who is ranked 12th in the Los Angeles Times’ high school football poll, had locked that title up with their undefeated season,
Being that with Samohi having a 1-3 record in league play and in a must-win situation with Culver City to have a chance at postseason play, or so I thought (more on that later),
I reckoned that for the first time in two and a half years, I would venture to my former hometown to see this annual renewal of Westside rivals,
And to also see them play on the Samohi campus, where they moved their home games to last year after over seventy years of playing at Santa Monica College.
Which I was a bit shocked over when I heard that news, wondering why that alma mater of mine’s athletic department and administration would throw away over seventy years of tradition.
When I asked a security guard about it at the gate, he said that it was about money and that the Samohi administration and (I’m sure) the school board felt that the money being paid to rent Corsair Field would be better spent on other things,
Plus it would give them all – students, teachers, parents, etc. – the opportunity for their football team to play their games on their campus.
Which I suppose I understand, though in being old school I would have preferred that Samo remained at SMC for their football contests.
So on the evening of October 26th I set off to Santa Monica to do this blog’s annual “Friday Night Lights” feature,
While it featured teams I had covered before, a school that I graduated from facing off against the school that’s a fifteen minute walk from my home,
I felt that with supposedly so much at stake for Samohi’s Vikings, it would be a good thing for me to cover.
Culver City’s football team entering their field before a game…
So I took the Metro E-Line, formerly known as the Expo Line, to Santa Monica,
Passing through my old neighborhood at the 17th Street stop on the way to the end of the line at 4th Street adjacent to downtown, the Third Street Promenade, the Santa Monica Pier, and all the other haunts that the town where I spent my formative years in was and is famous for.
In my grand tradition of focusing on the atmosphere of the game as much as the game itself if not more,
I made it a point to visit Samo’s band room to say hello and chat with their marching band director, who I had known since he was twelve, him being in seventh grade at John Adams Middle School while as an SMC student at that time, I was an aide there.
It was a very nice visit, him showing me some trophies from 1980 in particular, which invoked some memories as while I wasn’t in the Samohi band just yet that year, me being in the eighth grade, I knew some band members from that time.
I also made it a point to greet Culver City’s band and their director, who made the nearly eight-mile trip west to support their Centaurs;
As they played while I was sitting behind the end zone at the start of the game, my prevalent thought was how good they sounded and how that had come a very long way in the twenty-five years that I have been living in Culver City and seeing that Centaur Band.
Another prevalent thought in my mind was how glad I was that I wore a hooded sweatshirt to the game as with Culver City being a few miles inland, I would almost always forget how chilly Santa Monica would get in the evenings every time I visited there,
Especially where the Samohi campus and football field is on 4th Street, which is four blocks from the ocean and the sea breezes that render that area as chilly and outright cold at times.
So with both teams sporting a 6-3 record going into kickoff, the game began with Culver scoring the game’s first three touchdowns, including a 78-yard strike on the very first play, my remarking “That was quick!” upon seeing that.
As I was going to be at the Rose Bowl the next day to watch my collegiate alma mater, UCLA, take on Deion Sanders – “Coach Prime” – and his Colorado Buffaloes the next day, I was planning on leaving after halftime to go home and get my needed rest,
Which was reinforced by Culver’s big lead.
The halftime show provided by Samohi’s Viking Marching Band was best described with one word:
OUTSTANDING.
It certainly would have put the Samo band from my days to complete shame, although that band was quite formidable as well;
As they had a band competition in the San Fernando Valley the next day, I’m positive that they did very well.
I watched it with someone who, while I was walking was calling my name a few minutes before while I was walking back to the field after getting some water;
I didn’t recognize her at first, but when she told me her name (which I won’t say for privacy reasons and out of respect), the memories came crashing back into my gray matter as she turned out to be a John Adams and Samo band mate of mine, graduating two years after me with her sister, who I was also in the John Adams and Samohi bands with, having been one grade above me.
I hadn’t seen her in over three and a half decades, and it was great catching up with her as she has made a career as a teacher in the Santa Monica-Malibu district.
As was said,
With the game being a Centaur blowout at halftime, I was planning on being home early;
Until Samohi completely changed those plans in making like Rocky Balboa and making the contest a true fight in staging a furiously crazy comeback, scoring what would have been the tying touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter if not for the extra point being blocked.
I reckoned that those Vikings would get one more chance, but Culver’s offensive line imposed their will in keeping the ball on the ground and eating the clock up in securing their 27-26 win.
Which I know was absolutely heartbreaking for my alma mater’s players as with their league record at 1-4 at that point, I figured it would be the last game for Samo’s seniors,
Who I of course I felt for.
When I found out in the L.A. Times’ sports section that they were admitted into the postseason anyway as they will face Santa Ana in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 9 playoffs – at home as a 3 seed no less,
I was happy for them, but puzzled over how Culver, having beaten Samo head-to-head and having a better league and overall record, was shipped out as a 14 seed and is slated to face Chino Hills Ayala in Division 4’s first round.
I left when the Centaurs went into victory formation, hearing Samohi’s alma mater “Hymn of Praise” as I headed for the E-Line, my thought being that that football team of Santa Monica High School’s deserved MUCH credit for the heart and guts they showed in making their game vs Culver City a real battle when they were on the verge of getting smashed.
Which showed the character that coach Carter Paysinger evidently imprinted on them.
Of course I certainly hope that both teams go far in their playoff runs.
And as always, I had a good time in my old hometown and at my alma mater watching what turned out to be a hard fought contest between two Westside schools and towns.
A photo of Santa Monica High School’s navy blue turf…
Mary Lou Retton during her Gold Medal triumph in the ’84 Summer Olympics at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion...
One In A Series
AN APPEAL FOR SUPPORT AND BEST WISHES FOR THE DARLING OF THE 1984 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC GAMES AS SHE DEALS WITH HER ILLNESS
When I read on Yahoo.com about how Mary Lou Retton, after contracting a rare form of pneumonia and, according to her daughter, was unable to breathe on her own and was “fighting for her life” in an ICU unit,
Not only was that a shock,
Memories started flowing from my gray matter;
I vividly remember how this “Charlie Hustle in a leotard”, which is what the Los Angeles Times’ legendary sports columnist Jim Murray called her,
Took the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, which happened to have been held in Los Angeles and So Cal, by storm in becoming the first American woman (or more accurately young lady, as she was sixteen and a few months younger than me) to win the Gold Medal in the Women’s Gymnastics All-Around at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, joining icons such as Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci in winning gymnastics’ highest honor and becoming the Darling of the Games, me being a 17 year old going into my senior year of high school at that time.
While I thought she was cute and a little energy ball, and while quite a few guys I knew had crushes on her while the girls completely crushed on gymnast Mitch Gaylord,
My big L.A. Olympic crush was on synchronized swimmer Tracie Ruiz, who won two gold medals in her events in those Games.
Which was of course besides the point as it was that energetic fireball from West Virginia that, along with Carl Lewis and his four gold medals in track and field, was the one that fans remember from those two weeks,
Particularly when she started doing those Wheaties commercials, becoming the first female to appear on those boxes, and all those other TV appearances on programs like Baywatch and Dancing With The Stars.
It was saddening to read how sick she was, and of course I prayed for God to spare her life,
But I was gladdened to read that over $400,000 was raised for her medical expenses and that while she remains in the ICU, according to her daughter “…her path to recovery steadily recovering…Her breathing is becoming stronger, and her reliance in machines is diminishing.”
Which is certainly encouraging news.
Of course it should go without saying that I’m going to continue to pray for this all-time gymnastics great who is a big part of So Cal Sports history with that gold medal she won in Pauley.
And I reckon the sports universe will do the same.
I certainly hope everyone who reads this prays for her.
#PrayForMaryLouRetton
#GetWellSoonMaryLou
A focused Mary Lou during the 1984 Olympics All-Around competition. Photo courtesy of pinterest.com
Trojans returning to their locker room for their halftime break. Photo courtesy of saturdayblitz.com
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – TROJAN FOOTBALL
First Season: 1888
All-Time Record: 870-361-54
All-Time Bowl Record: 34-20
Conference Championships: 39
National Championships: 11
Heisman Trophies: 8
First Game / First Home Game: San Jose State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Saturday, August 26th at 5:00 p.m.
The USC football helmet – a helmet that evokes no middle ground among college football fans, particularly in SoCal; it’s either loved or hated…
OKAY, TROJAN FAMILY:
HERE’S HOW I SEE YOUR TEAM’S SEASON UNFOLDING AND WHAT ITS ULTIMATE FATE WILL BE…
The first half of USC’s schedule is something that a kindergardener can accurately predict, being that the opponents through October 7th won’t put up too much of a fight.
Colorado in Boulder a month from now will be interesting, but only because of their new coach known as “Coach Prime”, also known as NFL legend Deion Sanders;
Other than that, with those Buffaloes having only one win last year and thanks to the purge that Deion enacted having almost literally a whole new team this year,
If they come to within four touchdowns of ‘SC, that would be an accomplishment.
The same can be said of the other five teams that the Trojans will be playing at the front end, with Arizona being the only squad that might be competitive early on due to them having improved.
But since that game is at home, I see USC beating them pretty comfortably anyway.
Whatever intrigue that the Trojans will face will come in the second six games of the season; that’s also something that everyone can agree with as those teams will provide the biggest challenge to USC’s aspirations of glory.
In his Los Angeles Times column, Bill Plaschke boldly predicted and pronounced that those Trojans will go undefeated.
12 and 0.
As much as that, on the surface, is an easy thing to predict with the players that they will have, and not just Caleb Williams either,
I’m going to respectively disagree and state that their will be at least one team that they will lose to;
One game where the Trojan Marching Band won’t be playing “Conquest” and “Tusk” afterwards.
The game and the team? Oregon in Eugene on November 11th.
Autzen Stadium is very well known as one of the toughest places, if not the toughest place, for an opponent to play due to their rabid fans, who I see as a big factor in USC falling short in that contest.
Much like in Salt Lake City last October 15th, when Utah scored one of their biggest wins in program history in beating ‘SC for the first of two times last season.
Not that I’m seeing history repeating itself in 2023 as when those Utes come to Exposition Park on October 12th, it won’t be the Coliseum they’ll playing in as much as it will be a place that’s the opposite of Heaven;
The Trojan Family will be that motivated and will see their team get their revenge for those two defeats.
As for the other opponents on the back end of USC’s slate – not counting UCLA, as I’m continuing my long standing tradition on this blog of not making any predictions regarding that Crosstown Rivalry Clash until two days before kickoff – in this case on November 16th,
Notre Dame has the best chance of upsetting the Trojans due to that longtime storied rivalry game being in South Bend, but I just don’t think those Irish will have enough manpower on offense to keep up with Williams and company.
California? Coach Lincoln Riley’s game plan for those Golden Bears needs to be to make sure that Williams is pulled and the second and third stringers are playing by the fourth quarter if not the middle of the third quarter, else they will be legitimately accused of running up the score as Cal is expected to be that bad a team.
Which leaves Washington, who like Oregon is a very good team with a very good quarterback in Michael Penix, Jr.
If that game on November 4th was in Seattle, I would likely pick the Huskies to upset the Trojans.
But since that game will be in the Coliseum, though I see Washington giving ‘SC a fight such upset will not come to pass.
So with all of that being stated, here are my official predictions for that cardinal and gold-clad Men of Troy for their last season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference…
TEN WINS (outside of UCLA)
PAC-12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
A final ranking in the top four – likely 4th – which means…
A spot in the College Football Playoff, but…
No national championship as they will lose in the semifinals, with the consolation prize being…
A second straight Heisman Trophy for Caleb Williams, the first time that has happened since Archie Griffin of Ohio State in 1974-1975
The main reason I’m making these lofty predictions lies in what I see will be improvement in the Trojans’ defense, particularly their run defense as the performance of new guys on the defensive line will be significant enough to make a difference.
The stars are so aligned, the only thing that could and will stop USC is – and I dearly hope it doesn’t happen as I never wish this on any athlete and I never will,
Injuries, especially to Williams though of course that applies to all the Trojans.
As always,
We shall see if I’m proven right this December.
USC’s Song Girls doing their thing during a game. Photo courtesy of thespun.com
Shohei Ohtani: 7-4, 3.32 ERA, 132 strikeouts (3rd in the American League)
Griffin Canning: 6-4, 4.62 ERA
Carlos Estevez: 2-1, 1.80 ERA, 21 saves
Last Game: Lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-5, on July 8th
Next Game: vs the Houston Astros on Friday, July 14th
Angel fans during an Angels 5K and Fun Run on July 1st. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Comments and Thoughts:
Things had started so well for this Orange County-based bunch of Halos.
And then IT happened in the form of what I see has been a curse that has plagued that team for I don’t know how long;
Mike Trout broke his wrist on a simple swing and will be out for a month
Anthony Rendon is injured – again – and will be out for goodness knows how long
Shohei Ohtani, though he’s having the season of his life with the bat, is unable to pitch because of a blister on his finger when he has been by far the best starter those Angels have, and…
Even their top young player/prospect, Jo Adell, got hurt and had to leave their last game against the Dodgers.
At least they finally found a closer in Carlos Estevez with his 21 saves and sub-2.00 earned run average in what has clearly been a Godsend.
But ever since Trout in particular got hurt and went out, that team has gone on to lose nine out of their last ten contests – including getting swept by their I-5 Dodger rivals for the second time – and have fallen below .500.
To put it bluntly,
This has all gotten absolutely, completely, and totally SAD.
And now Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke has called for something that for a long time, through the early part of this season, has been unthinkable,
But which if things continue the way they’re going I feel would not be a terrible idea…
Trade Shohei Ohtani.
Angels owner Arte Moreno should face facts;
Ohtani has never experienced a winning season in Anaheim, and he has stated that he wants to win,
He will be a free agent at the end of the season and will command, deserve, and get a contract worth anywhere from $500 to $600 million, which incidentally will be the largest in the history of North American professional sports,
There hasn’t been any signs that Moreno is once and for all 100,000% committed to winning, and…
There’s no way that Moreno will be able to play the kind of money that Ohtani wants and afford to pay for quality players around him, particularly with Trout’s $426.5 million deal
As of this writing the trade deadline is in about three weeks, which doesn’t give those Halos too much time to make what will be a signifcant decision that could well change the direction of that franchise.
One team comes to mind that Moreno can make a deal with, a team that has plenty of quality youngsters, particularly on the mound, in their minor league system,
Who has oodles upon oodles of money to burn and can more than afford to sign Ohtani and afford stellar players around him,
And which the vast majority of pundits, including yours truly, see him signing with for 2024 and several more years after that;
The blue-clad team that plays their home games a little over 30 miles up I-5 from Angel Stadium that is known to one and all as the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I would personally love to see Ohtani wearing Dodger Blue next season.
But for now, let’s see if those Angels can get back on track after this all-star break;
If they can, maybe they could keep that pitching and hitting stud from Northern Japan that has been compared to Babe Ruth for the entire time he’s been on this side of the Pacific.
Angel superstars Shotei Ohtani (left) and Mike Trout (right), who is unfortunately injured at the moment. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Now-former USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn (left) with USC President Carol Folt (right) at his introductory press conference in 2019. Photo courtesy of si.com
SCANDALOUS INCIDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REARING ITS UGLY HEAD – AGAIN!
Even though I am an alumnus of their hated crosstown rival,
I’ve never necessarily intended to have this blog’s posts regarding USC be of the negative “WTF?!” kind,
And if you take a close look, positive articles about those Trojans are fairly plentiful here,
And I believe the Trojan Family will like what I have to say about their football team and my predictions for them when I post their official season preview this coming August.
However…
When you have a very well known institution of higher learning with a VERY, VERY well regarded, vaunted, and blue-blooded football and athletic program experience bad incidents and scandals like,
The previous Heisman Trophy winner before Williams having to return such trophy due to some blatant breaking of NCAA rules by both him and particularly his parents, resulting in the Trojans being forced to vacate all of their wins from 2004 and 2005, losing 30 scholarships and getting a two-year bowl ban in the process
The dean of their medical school resigning due to getting caught hanging out and doing drugs with prostitutes
Their school gynecologist resigning due to his longtime abuse/molestation of women students going back over thirty years (though I do freely state that his UCLA counterpart was committing the same sin and had to resign as well, my Bruin Nation not being innocent of this issue)
The actress formerly known as Aunt Becky from the TV series Full House getting caught paying roughly $500,000 to have her daughters be admitted to ‘SC and its rowing program when such daughters never rowed at all, subsequently serving time in prison for that scam, and…
Their famous Song Girls, the face of USC along with Traveler, their Trojan horse mascot, being abused and subjected to a toxic culture and atmosphere by their longtime director over the course of several decades
For both the sake of this blog’s integrity and because it is big news,
I am forced to post my thoughts, impressions and opinions about them and these outrageous stunts.
Alhough I admit that there was a time that, being a member of Bruin Nation, these developments induced a gleeful, “My school is better than yours” feeling,
I don’t feel that way anymore when it comes to these unfortunate events that ‘SC is forced to go through as to be honest,
These scandals have gotten sad in a “I feel sorry for those Trojans (particularly those Trojans who had nothing to do with those atrocities)” kind of way.
Traveler, USC’s iconic mascot. Photo courtesy of writingillini.com
And now there’s another shocking atrocity in Exposition Park,
In the form of (in case you haven’t been online or watching the news) athletic director Mike Bohn,
Who had only been the head sports man at USC for three-and-a-half years and by all accounts, at least on the surface, had done quite well at Heritage Hall,
Especially in hiring Lincoln Riley and subsequently righting the Trojan football ship in a significant fashion this past year after enduring one of their worst seasons ever in 2021,
And getting the wheels in motion for ‘SC – along with UCLA – to become the newest members of the Big Ten Conference, with all the more multi-millions that will stem from that, one year from now,
Resigned citing “health problems” when according to reports from the Los Angeles Times when they investigated the matter, as quoted from a New York Post article, Bohn,
“…made inappropriate comments about the physical appearance of female colleagues, including remarks about their dress, hair and weight, that staff members said made them feel uncomfortable,” leaving the women doing the accusing “…feeling ‘awkward’ ,”
The Times also reported that people were not 100% happy about Bohn’s management style, saying that he missed meetings and wouldn’t engage in hard conversations regarding various issues.
My initial reaction upon hearing about all of this was a simple one, best expressed by a hashtag…
#SMH
Along with not only feeling sympathy for USC’s students and alumni for having to see their beloved alma mater get their name dragged through the mud for the umpteenth time,
But also thinking that if I were an ‘SC alum and a member of that Trojan Family,
Or if UCLA ever had those many scandalous events go down in such a relatively short time,
Let’s just say I wouldn’t be wearing my cardinal and gold gear (again, if I had gotten my degree from USC) or my Bruin gear for a while;
My level of embarrassment would be that pronounced.
Heck, I felt that way when those three UCLA basketball players got caught shoplifting in China in 2017 and faced a three-to-ten year prison sentence, me advocating immediate expulsion for those guys.
At least one of those players, Cody Riley, repented and was able to return to the team;
Rest in peace to another one of those Bruins, Jalen Hill, who was found dead in Costa Rica in September of 2022 in the midst of his going through anxiety and depression, by the way.
As such,
I do hope that USC is able to get through this and that President Carol Folt is able to get it right in hiring another athletic director going forward;
The last thing that that University of Southern California needs is another scandalous event that makes them look bad.
To be honest, I’m not 100,000% sure if that Trojan Family will be able to take another hit like this after all of the hits they have taken;
It will certainly make it difficult to endure and “Fight On”, as they desperately need some good things to happen on that south of Downtown L.A. campus right now.
I have a feeling that with their quarterback being the reigning Heisman Trophy winner,
Plus their defense getting a complete makeover with some standouts from big-name teams that will make an immediate impact coming through the transfer portal,
Their football team has a great chance of providing that good news this coming fall.
Bohn (left) with USC football coach Lincoln Riley (right) after beating UCLA at the Rose Bowl last season. Photo courtesy of usc.rivals.com
The 2022 Los Angeles City Division III Champions – the Crenshaw High School Cougars! Photo courtesy of twitter.com
I know that everyone’s hailing St. John Bosco High’s Braves from Bellflower as a team for the ages after crushing San Mateo (about twenty miles south of San Francisco) Serra’s Padres 45-0 to not only win the CIF Open Division state championship this past weekend at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo,
But being the number one ranked team in the nation after beating Santa Ana Mater Dei for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title at the Rose Bowl, winning the (unofficial) high school football national championship as well.
St. John Bosco joined Laguna Hills as the only teams from Southern California among the fifteen football divisions that play high school football in this state to beat their northern counterparts and win a crown.
HOWEVER,
When I read about this team in the Los Angeles Times, one word came to mind:
INCREDIBLE!
Consider this:
This Crenshaw High School Cougar team was one that, according to the Times, was “…coming close to shutting its program down during the pandemic days,” and according to longtime coach Robert Garrett, “Even this summer, the team was close to disbanding,” due to the fact that enrollment had shrunk to 500 students in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They managed to field a team this fall with a roster of a mere 21 players,
And it wasn’t as if they were exactly world beaters as they finished with a record of 2-7 during the regular season.
Shockingly enough, the L.A. City Section granted them an at-large spot in the playoffs,
Where those Cougars proceeded to absolutely catch fire in winning four straight games and blowing out Wilson by a score of 49-14 to win the City’s Division III title!
Then after shocking the Friday Night Lights world in walloping Whittier Christian in the State Regionals, they were rewarded with a trip to San Francisco to face Lincoln High for the Division 7-A state championship!
In short, they went from 2-7 to 7-7 in just a few weeks!
OK, their run ended with a big crash as with two of their players unable to play, leaving the Cougars with only 19 suited up, they were annihilated by Lincoln, 54-6.
But the fact that Crenshaw got that far after all the adversity they went through;
That more than deserves a mention and a shout-out from me on this blog!
So let me just say,
WAY TO GO, CRENSHAW COUGARS!
I would very much like to cover one of your games for this blog next season,
And (big time) hopefully I’ll make that happen!
Crenshaw after winning the City Division III title. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
The Kings’ Anze Kopitar (left) and the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf (right) getting ot on during a Freeway Faceoff Game from last season. Photo courtesy of nhl.com
OUR LOOK AT HOW SOCAL’S TWO NHL TEAMS ARE DOING AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON
At A Glance / By The Numbers:
LOS ANGELES KINGS
Current Record: 12-9-4, 28 points
Third place in the NHL’s Western Conference’s Pacific Division behind the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kracken
Last Game: Lost to the Seattle Kracken, 9-8 (OT), on November 29th
Next Game: vs Arizona Coyotes on December 1st
ANAHEIM DUCKS
Current Record: 6-15-2, 14 points
Eighth place in the NHL’s Western Conference’s Pacific Division
Fewest points in the NHL
Worst record in the NHL
Key Players:
Troy Terry, C: 24 points – 10 goals, 14 assists (leads team in all three categories)
Trevor Zegras, C: 20 points – 8 goals, 12 assists
Adam Henrique, C: 12 points – 7 goals, 5 assists
Cam Fowler, D: 12 points – 2 goals, 10 assists
John Gibson, G: 4-12-2, .894 save pct, 3.99 GAA
Last Game: Lost to the Nashville Predators, 2-1 (OT), on November 29th
Next Game: at Dallas Stars on December 1st
FREEWAY FACEOFF – KINGS vs DUCKS
Tuesday, December 20th at Crypto.com Arena
Friday, February 17th at Honda Center
Sunday, April 23rd at Honda Center
A GREAT ILLUSTRATION OF HOW INTENSE THIS SOCAL RIVALRY IS: The Kings’ David Backes readying to brawl with the Ducks’ Nicolas Deslauries. Photo courtesy of news.yahoo.com
A Few Thoughts:
Not that I have been really paying attention, because I admittedly haven’t paid attention to what’s been going on with the two NHL teams that call the greater Los Angeles area home because of what’s been happening with our college and NFL football teams.
Plus I’ve always felt that – with all due respect to the fervent Kings and Ducks fans out there – the NHL season begins WAY too early and gets in the way of football;
I much prefer the hockey season beginning after Thanksgiving at the earliest due to my firmly considering it a winter sport, not a fall sport as it should NOT start in the middle of October.
Which is during the middle of football season and the Major League Baseball playoffs.
Just being honest.
Having said all of that,
It’s pretty obvious when I take a look at the standing in the sports section of the Los Angeles Times the directions that SoCal’s two NHL teams are going in 2022-23.
The Kings – them giving up NINE goals in their most recent game notwithstanding – are doing fairly OK.
The Ducks – to put it bluntly – stink and stink bad, much like the team that they were named after in the beginning of that 1993 movie.
It’s painfully apparent that they are going through a rebuild.
It’s also crystal clear that for those orange and black-clad ducklings from Orange County that for all intents and purposes, their whole season will lean on how they do against their black and silver-clad rival Kings from downtown L.A. in their three upcoming Freeway Faceoff games
Again, to be honest,
There’s really not much more to say regarding these two clubs,
Except that I’ll be posting the highlights of the games where they play each other – ala the annual Freeway Faceoff (see the dates of those games above) – on this blog’s Twitter and Facebook pages when the time comes.
And if the Kings go far enough in the playoffs to induce talk about a Stanley Cup this spring, I’ll be sure to have posts on that in this blog.
Until then…
Another shot of a King and a Duck tangling. Photo courtesy of lakingsinsider.com
Charles White, USC’s and the Pac-12’s all time rushing leader who is now suffering from dementia. Photo courtesy of latimes.com
WITH COLLEGE AND PRO FOOTBALL TRAINING CAMPS IN FULL SWING, THE RAMS & CHARGERS MEETING IN THE PRESEASON OPENER AT SOFI STADIUM THIS WEEKEND (as of this writing), AND UCLA & USC OPENING THEIR SEASONS IN A FEW WEEKS,
I BELIEVE THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE ISSUE TO WRITE ABOUT
A few weeks ago I was, as usual, reading the Los Angeles Times sports section.
The feature column focused on something and someone that really caught my attention and reminded me of what is the negative drawback to this country’s number one spectator sport.
I remember Charles White quite well.
When I was an eleven and twelve-year old kid, he was the reason why I committed a grave sin against Bruin Nation as a young adolescent;
Though I did prefer UCLA in basketball, from about sixth grade throughout my days in junior high school I was a fervent USC football fan, mostly because of Charles White (although Marcus Allen was a pretty big factor in that particular fan loyalty as well).
My favorite shirt in those days was a cardinal-colored USC-type jersey that I had gotten from Sears that I wore roughly once a week or so.
Charles White and his exploits as a Trojan provided a good reason for me for root for old ‘SC as he not only won the Heisman Trophy in 1979 and led USC to back-to-back Rose Bowl wins in ’79 and 1980,
He is still the Pac-12’s all-time leading rusher with 6,245 yards gained on the ground, including 2,050 rushing yards in 1979 – the first college player to ever hit the 2,000 yard mark.
And he had a decent career in the pros, winning an NFL rushing title with the Rams in 1987.
However,
Being that various forms of brain damage like Chronic Traumatic Encepalopathy, or CTE, is common among former football players,
I was honestly not shocked when I read Bill Plaschke’s column talking about how White is currently residing in a nursing home due to his suffering from dementia stemming from all the hard hits that he took throughout his time as a premier running back.
SAN DIEGO – DECEMBER 24: Junior Seau #55 of the San Diego Chargers looks to the sidelines during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers played on December 24, 2001 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images) A USC/SoCal football legend and NFL Hall of Famer who tragically succumbed to CTE. Photo courtesy of huffpost.com Brian Price, a UCLA standout in the 2000s who later had an agitated mental episode after his NFL career was over. Photo courtesy of sports.espn.go.com
Being that a study of brains from former NFL players a few years ago showed that 110 out of 111 of those brains showed evidence of CTE,
What Charles White was and is going through reminded me of the many other former football stars whose brains were ruined on the gridiron;
Junior Seau, another former legendary Trojan who played for the then-San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots for twenty years and was an obvious selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame who subsequently and tragically killed himself due to all the troubles he was having with CTE, particularly came to mind.
As did Brian Price, a star UCLA defensive lineman from the late 2000s who was involved in an incident in Michigan in 2017 where he acted agitated in public and drove his car through the window of a auto repair shop.
Though it wasn’t specifically mentioned, when I heard about that I immediately thought, “Brian has CTE,” even though that condition can’t be diagnosed until after someone is dead.
Of course the tragedy of Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriot who committed murder and killed himself in prison, his brain having found to have stage 3 (out of 4) of CTE, which likely was the factor for numerous other incidents such as fights and public drunkenness even before he committed murder, is a prominent illustration about what football can do to a player’s head.
All right, I reckon you’re probably asking what’s my point in all of this right about now.
Here it is…
While football is a great sport; I’m certainly a fan of it and have been a pretty big fan of the UCLA Bruins for forty years, having repented of my sin of rooting for the crosstown rival Trojans when I got to high school and realizing my dream of attending – and more importantly graduating – from UCLA and seeing nearly 200 games (a very rough estimate) at the Rose Bowl over nearly 35 years,
There’s a reason why as much as I enjoy football, I prefer baseball and softball.
And there’s a reason why so many former NFL stars like former UCLA Bruins and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman have said that they would not let their sons follow in their footsteps,
The inherent and high risks of brain damage in the form of CTE, dementia, and (likely) Alzheimer’s from hitting and taking all those hits on the gridiron being the factor.
So many football heroes have wasted away and passed away too soon, and that saddens me.
Which is why I need to be sure to remind myself to say a prayer for all the players on the Bruins, Trojans, Rams, Chargers, and everyone else who plays football from the Pop Warner level through high school and college and the NFL;
A prayer that they will all get through each practice, game, season, and career with little or no damage to their heads or any other part of their bodies.
And of course wish them all nothing but the best of luck as football season is fast approaching.
COMING IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS:
Our official previews of USC Trojan and UCLA Bruin football along with my predictions of how they will fare this year, so…
WATCH FOR THEM AND DO NOT MISS THEM!
Charles White during his glory days at USC. Photo courtesy of pinterest.com
Two Major League Baseball stars who I feel sorry for: Mike Trout (#27) and Shotei Ohtani (#17), due to the continuous misfortunes of the team they’re playing on. Photo courtesy of capperspicks.com
TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF ALL OF THE HALOS’ MISFORTUNES IN THIS 20th ANNIVERSARY SEASON OF THEIR ONLY WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
First it was Josh Hamilton.
Then it was Albert Pujols.
Then Justin Upton.
And now Anthony Rendon.
Not to mention the countless numbers of bad injuries that so many of their pitchers have suffered.
And let’s not even get started on the ultimately tragic death that befell Tyler Skaggs three years ago.
And the fact that they have recently come off a franchise record fourteen-game losing streak which cost Joe Maddon his job as the Halos’ manager.
Sure, they took four out of five from the Mariners in Seattle this past weekend thanks to Mike Trout’s torrid home run tear.
However,
When Angel fans really think about it, it’s hard for them to not acknowledge the fact that on a large scale,
This team’s fortunes have not been good.
They haven’t been good for the past six years as they’ve sported a losing record in each of them.
And after a most decent start in which they were actually tied for first place in the American League West at one point,
The term “things have gone south” would be an understatement.
Brandon Marsh (#16) congratulating Taylor Ward (#3) after hitting a home run. Photo courtesy of si.com
This past weekend the Los Angeles Times had a special commemoration of the Angels’ epic 2002 World Series win over the Barry Bonds-led San Francisco Giants;
The one where courtesy of Troy Glaus and (especially) Scott Spezio’s three run home run in Game 6, those Halos overcame a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5,
Then saw rookie John Lackey and closer Troy Percival secure the title with their 4-1 triumph in Game 7 at home in front of 44,598 delirious Angel fans at what was then known as Edison Field, who had waited forty-one years for the moment when Darin Erstad caught that fly ball in center field.
It’s safe to say that things haven’t gone that well since.
Much of it I put upon Arte Moreno, who bought the Angels from Disney soon after they won the World Series as he kept paying big money to stars who put up big numbers elsewhere only to be busts at various levels when they got to Anaheim (see the above names at the beginning of this post).
Add to that these factors…
The seemingly unending numbers of pitchers suffering from major injuries which maimed the Angels’ chances the past several years
The last time they won a playoff series: 2009 in the ALDS vs the Boston Red Sox
The last time they won a playoff game: 2009 in the ALCS vs the New York Yankees
Their last winning season: 2015, with a record of 85-77
Plus their past misfortunes such as…
The murder of Halos outfielder Lyman Bostock in Chicago, where they were playing the White Sox, in 1978
The 1982 ALCS vs the Milwaukee Brewers where the Angels, who resembled an All-Star team with the likes of Rod Carew, Don Baylor, Fred Lynn and Reggie Jackson on the team, blew a 2-0 lead in that best of five series
The 1986 ALCS, which saw the Angels being one strike away from their first World Series berth in Game 5 only to see the Red Sox’ Dave Henderson homer off of Donnie Moore – who was so devastated about it that he committed suicide in 1989 – and go on to lose that Series in seven games
The 1995 season, which saw the Halos blow an eleven game lead on August 9th and get blown out in a one game playoff to the Mariners, 9-1
and,
After pitching six shutout innings in his first start of the 2009 season, Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident in nearby Fullerton just a few months short of his 23rd birthday
With all these tragedies,
While I won’t officially call the Angels as being a cursed franchise,
It would be quite difficult for folks to not see them as otherwise as except for that 2002 triumph, breaks have been too few and far between for them.
And now with Rendon out for the year,
If I were an Angel fan, I would be fervently praying that Trout and Ohtani will remain in perfect health.
Because if either one of them gets hurt and misses any significant amount of time,
Those Halos may as well forfeit the rest of the season, because those two stars are the string and chewing gum that’s holding that Angel machine together.
Check out the Angels’ Nike City Connect uniforms that they recently wore on a recent home stand; at least the caps and jerseys look better than those UGLY red jerseys and caps! (PLAYERS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Noah Syndergaard, Michael Lorenzen, Mike Trout, and Jared Walsh) Photo courtesy of sportsbusinessjournal.com