Rusty Nail.

#WeAreLB #LBCC #VGOH #CollegeFB #GetUp4GameDay #JUCO

These Aren't The Renegades Of Funk You're Facing, Long Beach...

There are times, where, I do admit, I am a bit too harsh on the athletic teams of my junior college alma mater, Long Beach City College. I generally don't admit these things until a long time after the fact. For a number of years, I did not bother going to their athletic events. Years ago, Nov. 6, 2010, to be exact, I was watching a game between LBCC's football team against the Panthers of Chaffey College at Veterans' Memorial Stadium, and in those days, Mike Reisbig (who I considered at the time to be a talentless hack milking off the legacy of his more successful brother Larry and who drove the program into the ground) was the head coach. I was verbally ripping apart the team for not defending the pass, for not generating enough offense to make up for the inept defending, and for simply not playing the game properly. I ended up getting ejected by security and even the police had to intervene.

Derek Oriee is a longtime employee of the college and is an alumnus of one of a number of men's social service clubs at the college, the Order of Tong International. At the college, I was an active member of Tong, Thane, Alpha Gamma Sigma - Kappa Chapter (an honor society), and the Associated Student Body Cabinet as their administrative assistant. After I was tossed, Derek was gracious enough to drive me all the way home because he didn't want the situation to escalate further. Recalling this event as I type this still drives me to tears because one thing I despise is teams I watched stealing my hard-earned money without giving me a victory.

That was six years ago. Viking football under Mike Reisbig, especially in 2012 was a disgrace. We did not have the players, the talent, the pipelines, and so on and so forth. We were losing games to Cerritos College on a routine basis. We were bad. We sucked. When I found out that Reisbig was let go in 2012 (he got a reprive for making a bowl game the following year, a bowl game we didn't deserve), I considered that to be one of the biggest victories in program history. You see, whenever a team just doesn't know how to play the game properly or even coach the game properly, when a team stains the good name of its college and its city, the athletic department can rebound by getting rid of the coach and its staff.

At a program as successful as Long Beach City, we have expectations. I'm being extremely straight-up with you. I don't earn six figures at my work so if I spend money on a team sporting event, the expectation is that my investment pays off with a win to the team I support. As a result of the Vikings not getting their act together, I stayed away until things changed.

So this guy by the name of Brett Peabody comes in.  Suddenly, the only real opponent that continues to have our number on a constant basis is Saddleback. The Gauchos are going to always be good. Nothing anyone out here can do about that, Mark McElroy will always get his players, that's out of our control. What we can control, on the other hand, is turning the tide on Cerritos. Last year, we finally got our act together against these Falcons and got back the Crosstown Cup, which my Tong brothers made.

Now, the Vikings's loss to Saddleback was avoidable. Not being able to manage games hurts, especially with all of college football catching up to Oregon's spread attack and uptempo style. Carries over to the junior college level. Again, the Vikings failed to manage the game late, and the Gauchos's long streak agains the Vikings continued. The one that really hurt was against Mt. San Antonio, or Mt. SAC. 34-3. That effort was reminiscent of the last time I watched these guys against Chaffey years ago. Even though the Vikings won the next four games, their overall record was inferior to Riverside, whose only loss, ironically, came against Long Beach.

So now, Long Beach is back in a bowl game, but not in the playoffs. They will be hosting the Western State Bowl this Saturday and I am planning to be there to do some filming. I had watched Avalon, they won. I had watched St. Anthony, they won. I had watched Azusa Pacific, they won too. I am so far 3-for-3 this year.

That said, this game between Long Beach and the Renegades of Bakersfield College is going to be the last football game I see live unless Woodrow Wilson Classical High School advances on Friday and hosts a CIF Southern Section Division Semifinal. Wilson are on the road against Saugus High. Logic suggests that, based on their performance against Pomona, it's straightforward. Even if St. Anthony beats Dos Pueblos of Goleta, I don't believe in seeing a team I already made a Quik film out of. Also, this is the last game of the season for both teams.

Bakersfield are 6-4 and are on a two-game losing streak. They were demolished by Riverside on the road 45-7, lost a 30-27 overtime heartbreaker away to Moorpark, were blown out of the water by Ventura 49-21 and ended the regular season with a 14-10 defeat at home to Canyons, who the Vikings demolished at home, 41-14. Long Beach defeated Moorpark 43-29 and also this year, I mentioned Chaffey and this year, LBCC routed them, 48-14. On the grounds of this hotstreak, I am compelled to see this team again.

In the past, when I started doing sportswriting, I started out covering junior college football. It was after the site I work for went defunct that I switched to writing about soccer, which I continue to do so today. The main reason why I chose to watch Long Beach City College this weekend instead of St. Anthony is because of watching, in its entirety, Last Chance U. Now if you don't know what that is, it's the story of East Mississippi Community College, which was transformed under Buddy Stephens as a refuge for disgraced NCAA Division I FBS players who got into trouble at their four-year school and ended up playing in Scooba, Miss. to get out of Scooba, Miss. and get back in the major college grind. The series is on Netflix but you can get it for free on Ten Yard Tracker (just make sure to seed after you're done).

Seeing the stories of these disgraced athletes who lost their way and needed salvation in terms of their future and finally being successful despite adversity did a few things to me. 1. EMCC is now my sentimental favorite in terms of quality and newfound notoriety thanks to Netflix's reach. 2. Last Chance U got me to rethink and reassess my attitude towards the quality of football at my own junior college, LBCC. LBCC has won five national championships, a mark that will most likely stay untouched due to the league we play in and the fact that we are not under the NJCAA auspices. EMCC has three and they have all been in this decade alone. If the pollsters are nice, they will have a shot at No. 4.

But back to point No. 2. I have to actually applaud the players on this Long Beach team. Our quality is back, our swagger is back, our form is back. Under Peabody, the Vikings were 4-6 in 2013, 9-2 in 2014, 10-2 in 2015 and 8-2 this season. If you count the numbers right, that is 31-10, going on 32-10. Three straight winning seasons.

And that leads us back to poor Mike Reisbig. On the list of coaches, Mike is listed as an assistant coach on the offensive line...and the academics coordinator. Basically he is doing the same job Brittany Wagner is doing at EMCC. Cue the redemption card. And the lesson to be learned is this: if I can't hack it as a head coach but still possess valuable knowledge about the local high school landscape and drawing the area talent here— in this case, bringing the ones not making the grade but can still play to LBCC—sometimes I am miles better off serving as an assistant. (No, I am not referring to Les Miles, seriously. He's bad. He sucks.)

With a 31-10 mark under Brett, yeah, if I'm Mike, I settle into this role permanently cause life is good if you support Viking football and I don't want to rock the boat. (Boat, not Vote. As a voter who has jumped ship to the Libertarians following Election Day, I am gleefully looking forward to Donald Trump ass-slapping the cruel mistress that is American politics. Getcha popcorn hour ready.) Hotter than hell, sweeter than sex, we are the Beach, send us the check, cha-ching, cha-ching.

So, I am looking forward to what should be a 9-2 season and a 32-10 mark for Brett Peabody heading into next year. The last time we faced Bakersfield was back in 2015 and...it was at home. They were routed, 38 to 7. This is the first meeting for both teams in exactly 14 months. I probably will do what I did the last time and simply film warmups, snaps, crowd shots, maybe my trip to the campus... I mean, this game isn't even nationally televised, and it's only campus TV showing this and this game might be archived on YouTube and that's it. So I cannot imagine the police bothering me. I won't say anything; I'll just film, take photos, same approach as the other games.

But I wouldn't go past these guys stuffing up against Bakersfield. It's happened before. A long time ago. Back when this team was bad. The last time the Renegades beat the Vikings was in 2004 and the year prior was the last time Bakersfield won in Long Beach. Since then, we have returned the favor under Peabody, winning at Bakersfield 31-19 in 2014 and routing them last year at home. The last thing I need...is these rubes stealing my money like they did six years ago. I never forgive, I never forget, so now I'll head back without any regrets.

To close this entry, somehow, Bakersfield College comes to mind...when I play this song. Sports.

LBCC: 80 years old

As I watch young freshmen and old undergrads pay for their courses across from me at the Valhalla, now a makeshift cashier’s office to pay for registration, I can’t help but be sentimental about 80 years at Long Beach City College. I had graduated from LBCC for a couple of years now, and I would like to use this blog to reflect on the history of the humble junior college at the corner of Carson Street and Clark Avenue.

From Wikipedia…

Founded in 1927, Long Beach City College was initially housed at Wilson Classical High School in southeast Long Beach. An earthquake in 1933 resulted in classes being held at Recreation Park until 1935, when the college moved into its Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village at Carson Street and Clark Avenue.

During and after World War II, the college increased so rapidly that a new campus had to be established. This was realized in 1949 with the establishment of the Pacific Coast Campus, occupied on the former site of Hamilton Junior High School. As Long Beach City College grew in the 1970s, state law separated the college from the Long Beach Unified School District. In that decade and the 1980s, Proposition 13 signaled retrenchment for the college, with many popular classes and services folding.

Also during the 1980s, the arrival of refugees from Southeast Asia resulted in the need for extensive courses in the ESL program. This program became the largest at the college due to a later wave of amnesty applicants.

1987 saw the college acquire neighboring Veterans Memorial Stadium from the City of Long Beach. In recent years, the college has upgraded the stadium playing surface, its swimming pool facility, as well as established wireless internet and e-mail services in 2005.

Bond Measure E has seen the construction of a Child Development Center at the PCC, and construction for new buildings on both campuses are underway, including a new South Quad Complex Building on the former LAC golf mall, a new Industrial Technology Building at the PCC, and a new East Campus for the Culinary Arts Program.

Things have changed since then. Now the college is celebrating its 80^th anniversary. And I am typing this as the new guys finish paying for their classes.

Nothing has changed. Well, some.

On commencement, old friends, and the mystery of the mind

There are those who say of believe that the mind goes a million directions or so a minute. For others, it’s billions. For some it’s thousands. But the direction that a person’s mind travels changes with the seasons, the moments, and the times of days, the different aesthetics of music, art, and travel. A person’s life is decided by where his minds and heart guides him, too. And if it’s a place that he wants to be, then it is the right direction. If it’s the wrong place, or the wrong time, that direction he took was to a point of no return, and made his life miserable and meaningless.

Speaking of meaning, what is the meaning, the symbolism behind commencement? People travel down a path club in black, with two rows of instructors greeting them. In the distance, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, other family members and friends, and many more people young men and women who walk down the gap between the two lines. In the distance, Edward Elgar’s “Pomp & Circumstance” is playing lustily. And what is the meaning of these men and women tossing their hats in the air? That college spirit, that undying devotion to learning what is feels to be young…what is that?

When I was getting ready to graduate from Long Beach City College, I went down this path. My father and mother were cheering madly. I didn’t see them until I was in my seat. They were in the bleachers section, at the bottom, and my dad was dancing like that fool Willie Revillame of Wowowee. Only then did I realize where I was. I was in the middle of the new SprinTurf field at Long Beach College, on a white plastic seat, donning a gold Alpha Gamma Sigma stole, bedecked with pins, presenting t6he clubs and awards I won at the college. That stole is now encased in my room.

I had tears in my eyes. I was screaming in joy. I was ecstatic. That, I think, is that natural feeling one gets from being at a Commencement ceremony. I earned a dual degree: Liberal Arts and Computer Business Information Systems. The odd thing was that I would take one more class at the college in the summer before going on to Long Beach State.

But aside from that, commencement is a fun event. At the JC level, it’s a great day for about a thousand or so recipients of certificates and Associate degrees. When I wrote this on paper to prepare it for blog, it was less than three hours to the 80^th Commencement Ceremony at Long Beach City College. For some people I know, this is the biggest moment of their lives. For me, it’s a time to reflect on my commencement at the campus two years ago.

Last year, I had other things to do, so I couldn’t stay for the entire ceremony. This year, with Paul Rodriguez being the guest speaking this year, I was inclined to stay, and get his autograph. And this would be for my mom. There is a very strong wind, just like two years ago. Seems the times haven’t changed much.

I look at the field, the lines, the turf, and the track surrounding it. And my heart starts to race. Suddenly, I long for college football season to return. Long Beach City College still has the only college football team in this city. And I long to cover once again those games at Vets Stadium, and those games in the Mission Football Conference. I remember last year like it was yesterday. El Camino had one of its greatest seasons since 1987, when they won the National Championship. Last year, the Warriors, led by Boo Jackson, JJ Bass, Kayne Farquharson, and the linebacking duo of Vuna Tuihalamaka and Elisha Mueller, defeated Saddleback College in a thriller that was won by a missed Saddleback College field goal wide right. They would then defeat Bakersfield with some last-minute heroics, before crushing San Francisco to win the state title. While Blinn College got the national crown, they wouldn’t have stood a chance against ElCo. We may never know for sure.

And I wonder...will El Camino and Saddleback reload this season? Or will “Home Base” get their mojo back? In a disastrous season for Jerry Jaso’s Vikings, they took comfort in winning back the Crosstown Cup from Frankie Mazzota’s Cerritos Falcons.

Back to the Commencement. Paul Rodriguez, the Original Latin King of Comedy, and co-owner of the Laugh Factory, graduated from LBCC in 1980. His son is a celebrity skateboarder, and even has his own line of boards, shoes, etc. He did speak before, and that was in the early 90’s. So it’s been awhile. Of course, I was in elementary school/junior high at that time. I would pass by Veterans Stadium during bus rides up and down Clark Avenue. I liked the baseball scoreboard, and the letters-Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach City College-were prominent. It was after seeing this stadium that IU wanted to be a student here. The rest is history.

I suppose, when it comes to the best football stadiums out there for the colleges and high schools, Veterans Stadium is a gem. Every seat has great sight lines, the restrooms are of satisfactory standard, that small-town feel is evident, and the press box is quaint but luxurious, given what it is. The steps may be a workout, going up and down, but I suppose it is work it.

I guide a new visitor to Vets where to go for the ceremony. It’s not like a high school commencement. The local high schools won’t be holding theirs until the second/third week of June, but, given the numbers of students there, every seat will be reserved, and there will not be a seat left here. At this commencement, you can come on in without having to reserve a spot. Odd, but I will be surprised if there are no seats left.

4: 20 p.m. 100 minutes to commencement of the Class of 2007. At this point, all of the colleges at the Beach have already held theirs. I am just relieved that I got a C in IS 340, securing a 2.0 GPA for the semester (pending appeal). I really didn’t eat much. I wasn’t that hungry. It’s a strange feeling. You look at pictures of burgers, friend and other sandwiches, and you start to feel sick to your stomach because they are precursors to heart attacks and high blood pressure. I yawn. I was bored. So, I decided to walk back to Jack in the Box, and order a salad for dinner. Changed my mind. Japanese food. I was dying for it.

55 minutes to Commencement. The wind has died for now. I talked with a good friend of mine, Volunteer Center Coordinator Pat Hicks, who was one of those organizers of the occasion. She told me that it was doubtful that I would get Paul’s autograph, given the layout of the ceremony. Good thing I asked so as to get a background for what would go on. Looks like I’ll just have to film his speech instead, which I did.

The crowd slowly starts to fill up. By the way, I wolfed down a simple meal of curry and tempura.

39 minutes to commencement. I take a look at the program, finding who I know will move on. The person doing the welcome and farewell is Michelle Ernst. She is a TNT member, a Kassai member, and a fellow AGS Kappa comrade. She is the Student Trustee this year.

John Brunac, Tong president is one of the marshals for this event. That makes me happy to see one of my brothers raise the mace for the T-O-N-G. More cars roll in. More people roll in, and now the chamber orchestra (actually, Brass Ensemble) goes in to prepare. The Studio Singers are not going to be performing tonight, which is a bummer. Maybe this will give more room for Paul to chat with the convocation.

The Ensemble plays the same set of songs for each commencement. As the grads and faculty line up, the Ensemble starts with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Procession of the Nobles.” (I know Nikolai more for “Night on Bald Mountain,” but I suppose this would not be proper music for the commencement, and believe it or not…it isn’t.) Then, the group of 8 old guys and 1 older lady play the “Triumphal March” by Edvard Grieg. (Again, the “Peer Gynt Suite” is what I feel Grieg is more famous for, but, unfortunately, this is not a free Brass Ensemble concert of songs to invoke nightmares of armies of grues and Boogeymen chasing you to your coercive submission. No, sadly, this is Commencement. Boo.) Next, the group plays the “La Peri” fanfare by Paul Dukas. La Peri is a ballet about one man’s search for immortality, and his meeting with a Peri, a descendant of a fallen angel that is between an angel and a demon. It’s the stuff anime and manga classics are made of, though the ballet part can be done better without.

Finally, the guys and girl play that British air of patriotism (“Pomp”), before wrapping up the cheesy strings of classical hits with a couple of processional fanfares by Elgar Howarth. This piece is more recent, given that this guy is still alive. I thought it was a collaboration of two people, but this was actually a living person (still living as of this blog submission) that created these fanfares. Ahhhh, England. How I long to visit you again.

20 minutes to Commencement. The people continue to file. Must. Find. Higher ground.

“La Peri” is playing. That is one of my favorite pieces of the set of music in this program. It’s actually 10 guys and one girl playing. All old folks.

This is a different procession from two years ago. My class and I would all roll in from the north end zone. This year, the grads are marching in from the south end zone, because the north end zone is reserved for the after-graduation function. There seems to be a problem with the gate, or they haven’t been given the signal to open it yet. But they, I mean the marshals.

I sigh in boredom again. Such was a commencement like this. They should have stuck to tradition instead. The faculty first rolled in from the center to the right side of the grandstand end of the track. Even the faculty were not queuing it right. Huge gaps (“Pomp” is playing.)

6:05 p.m. The first claps. Within a minute, the roar of the crowd, and the claps would be heard, with the whistles, and air horns. One group even brought in the pots and pans to give a down-home effect. A ripple, then a wave, and finally, an eruption. Applause, cheers, and happiness all around. Actually, it took about four minutes. And to no surprise, there were some seats left.

John is at the very end. Typical. He’s the only guy among the four marshals. Lucky bloke. Actually, this guy is a smart guy, too, being on the Dean’s List, and will be graduating with high honors.

This is very good crowd. I wonder if we can have this many to come out for the Viking football games. The doves fly. Peace all over the world. I intentionally ignore Michelle’s speech to see where those doves will go. After a few minute they fly off away from view, to wherever their final destination may be. We hope they have a good night. Or is it a good flight? Or is it both. I don’t really know; can you fill me in?

I just got Paul’s speech recorded. Some slight distractions. But otherwise, a good clip. The air horns are out in full force again, as well as those from Long Beach Poly, Jordan, Cabrillo, all vocal and ecstatic. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I want the Beach to extinguish those Flames.

I just realized something. There are empty seats in the graduates and faculty section, too. Too much seats, and/or a number of folks vacationed early.

Dr. Eloy Oakley speaks. He breaks the fourth wall, and places is back up again. Dr. Oakley announces the members on the platform with him that haven’t been mentioned, and I just realized the stole Paul was wearing was that stole of gratitude they were selling in the Bookstore stall outside of the stadium. >w>

Dr. Doug Otto accepts the Class of 2007 from Dr. Oakley, as per tradition, and after a speech, confers it to them, and the grads receive their holders. The diplomas are being processed (unless they graduated in December, at which they are already printed, and given to them). I struck a pose, acknowledging the pleasantly inevitable.

The beach balls are flying in the stands now. And grads are feeling the love. I meet my old elementary school friend Veronica Quijano. She has three semesters to go. She has a lot to catch up on. Seriously, she does.

After another hours of so, I take off. Oddly, as I read one of the back issues of the Viking, the article that showed the men’s volleyball team fail against the Lasers of Irvine Valley had this to say:

“[Adam] Church’s plays whipped the crowd into a frenzy, including one LBCC students who created his own blowhorn out of a game program and repeatedly yelled ‘Go Beach!’ at the top of his lungs.”

Little did Michael Brown, the guy who wrote this, know that while in appearance, the guy in question could visually have passed for an LBCC student, the guy in fact was an alumnus who has been a graduated for two years. And that guy….was me. Actually, have artificial noisemakers like this are not allowed at the Walter Pyramid or the Gold mine during volleyball games, and the cheer I did is something Long Beach States students, boosters and alumni do whenever the opposition is serving, and we return the volley. Therefore, I suggest to the people at LBCC to try this: “Go….BEACH! Long! Beach! City!” While it was proving to be ineffective against Irvine (I still detest UCI and IVC for making their city the college volleyball capital of America this year), it can be something the students can try for next fall, when the women take the court.

On the Hall of Champions

In my days at Long Beach City College, I remember serving guests during a couple of dinners for the Hall of Champions. As a member of Thane and ASB Cabinet, I had the privilege of serving these guests. I had to be dressed in a suit and tie for this one, and I would serve these plates, pour some wine, and what not. It was the form of service your upscale fine dining establishments were made of.

Mind you, the floor was hardwood, and this was a gym that the guests were dining in. It was like a high-school gym in a way. But the reason the gymnasium, which was the home of Long Beach City’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, was called the Hall of Champions Gym was because there was a Hall of Champions, which celebrated the accomplishments of its many athletes who went on to bigger and brighter things in their respective sports, as well as in life.

As I was off duty, I would nibble at a dessert or two or and hors d’oeuvre (an acquired taste for some), before watching the event unfold. One time I was so tired and exhausted, and hungry, that they gave me some leftovers that the guests couldn’t stomach. Energized with a shot of water, I got back on my feet and watched the rest of the event, before feasting on some pizza afterwards.

So many great stars have been enshrined in the Hall of Champions. This year’s class is not different in terms of feathers in its caps. John Gonsalves was already enshrined in the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame, and had his jersey retired, and he was given a place in the Hall. Tom Clark, an accomplished cross-country and track star, is currently on the LBCC Board of Trustees. And Myisha Delaney helped the Vikings win their first state title in women’s soccer, and lead them to National Championship honors as a assistant under then-head coach Mauricio Ingrassia.

Looking back on my days at Long Beach City, I would do anything to experience it again. And to participate at the Hall of Champions dinner is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
February 15, 2007


They say it’s tough to beat a good team twice.

But that’s what Long Beach State did. While I was taping on my cell phone me and Pete’s Posse’s forays into Titan Gymnasium, I knew that while the odds were against the 49ers numbers-wise, it put a lot of pressure of us. If we had dropped this game, of course I would be stoic and disgusted with the result. But if we won the game, it’s because of the pressure of having 15 straight games without a loss at their home floor (including 11 this season) became too much to bear for Bobby Brown, Scott Cutley, and Frank Robinson.

As we got on the coach to the Gym via 22 and 57, Dr. Vic Cegles, LBSU Athletic Director, as well as Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press Telegram, accompanied us on the trip. It was a mellow ride, delayed by the usual evening gridlock, but as I got off and planted my feet on the ground, I said, “Fullerton, I have returned.”

We had some problems with our seating, but we eventually sat on the balcony. There was a railing, and this allowed us to stand on the seats, and even lean on the railing if we were to protest our decision. This was very advantageous for our group, as it allowed us to jump like the Cameron Crazies (whoever they may be), as well as yell obscenities when the calls by the officials were suspiciously questionable.

I helped lead some chants, as well as others, and I paced around to make sure they were fired up from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. And they were. A couple of campus event staff tried to limit our antics, but they might as well get out of the way instead to relieve their stress. They couldn’t handle us, and neither did their players.

We won by ten point-again. 94-84. I was very proud of my team’s effort, as well as the Posse’s effort. But I knew at the back of my head that we have a long way to go before we get to where we need to be. On top of that, Homecoming week was on tap after a luau with the Warriors.


While Long Beach City is also taking care of things, sweeping through the South Coast regular season with a 76-73 win over El Camino, I have to feel for another junior college miles away that lost one of its players.

I don’t know Grayson County College that well. Heck, I don’t know how the Texas junior college system works. But whenever something like this happens, it really is depressing. Mike Ndiribe, a 6-8, 210-pound freshman who had big dreams ahead of him, got that-and his life-taken away in the locker room. I looked at the story on ESPNU, and I thought it was Deon Tresvant, but thank goodness it wasn’t that close to home. Again, you never want something like this to happen at any level. Because, when will it be my time? Or when will it be your time? Who will be next?

It’s like the day Hank Gathers collapsed on the floor during a Loyola Marymount game in 1990. But that was because he did not listen to his doctors. I don’t know about this. One thing’s for sure; you will be seeing an ESPN special on this. They are notorious [sic] for capitalizing on demises like this.