The importance of clericality cannot be stressed any more.

"When one person makes a small error, that ripple can turn into a tsunami if it isn't stopped."

-J.R. Salazar

I work as an administrative assistant at the Long Beach Bar Foundation, and after seeing this news, I cannot stress further the importance of paying attention to detail. One of the staff members at Lakewood High (my alma mater) made the poor decision to let one of the players on the varsity side play, though he was ineligible.

Here, an ethical choice had to be made: do you ignore the situation, or do you take action and forfeit the four victories, while taking corrective measures regarding the player and (most importantly) the person who screwed thousands of alums who watched the team blaze through their non-leeague games?

They chose the latter, and the end results are at least two scapegoats who now are going to be reviled among the Lancer faithful: the player and the person who made the error. I'm already sharpening my meat cleaver as we speak.

===

Clerical error costs Lancers
FOOTBALL: Lakewood forfeits wins for unknowingly using ineligible player.
By Dave Werstine, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/30/2008 10:23:13 PM PDT


LAKEWOOD - Upon finding it had unknowingly played the first month of the 2008 season with an ineligible player, the Lakewood High football team Tuesday forfeited all four of its victories as a corrective measure.

According to Lakewood officials, the mistake was of a clerical nature. They also refrained from naming the player in question, citing "respect" for him.

"We want to do the right thing," Lakewood co-principal Charles Acosta said after calling those schools affected by the forfeits and apologizing for the error. "We have to own up to it. We don't want to sacrifice our integrity, as painful as it might be."

The Lancers gave back wins over Crenshaw, Peninsula, Mayfair and Verbum Dei, and will now go into Friday night's Moore League showdown against Poly with an 0-4 record. Giving the 24-7 decision over crosstown rival Mayfair also means giving up the Milk Bucket.

"It's not rightfully ours," Acosta said. "It needs to be returned."

Coach Thadd MacNeal said he was "shocked" when he heard the news about lunchtime Tuesday.

"I'm sick," he said. "I feel bad. I'm embarrassed."

MacNeal added even though the incident is a distraction going into the Lancers' biggest game of the season, he believes it won't change his team's lofty goals.

Despite surrendering the victories, Lakewood can still reach the CIF Southern Section playoffs if it can clinch one of the top four spots in the Moore League.

"Our goal is to win the Moore League and be CIF champion - that's not going to change," MacNeal said. "We've got to focus on the Moore League, on our first game against Poly. You always have adversity. ... It's like a guy who gets hurt - you got to move on. The trains keeps going."

MacNeal said the player in question has the chance to right his grades by the next grading period, which will take place in about three weeks, and rejoin the team.

The eligibility mistake is one that Lakewood officials say won't happen again.

June 7, 2008

From TOW Horse Racing:

Da’Tara is one of the longshots on the board for the Belmont Stakes but it wouldn’t be the first time a Nick Zito trained horse shocked the racing world.

Back in 2004, Zito-trained Birdstone shocked Smarty Jones here in the Belmont Stakes to end that horse's Triple Crown bid.

This horse is generally the front runner early on and has had issues maintaining his early momentum when crunch time came near the end, but he seemed to buck that trend in his last race. 

His speed figures continue to improve and he did well by holding on for a second place finish behind Roman Emperor. 

There are some positives in the bloodline with Da’Tara showing good stamina in longer races due to his father Tiznow, a former Horse of the Year winner. 

If he can maintain his early pace, it won’t be easy for the other horses that hope to come from behind.

Big Brown has gone toe-to-toe with Da’Tara in the past but it wasn’t much of a competition as Brown finished 23 lengths ahead in the Florida Derby. 

With that being said, that was easily the worst speed figure in recent history and this horse has ran well on this track before, getting second place in his racing debut.

You never know what’s going to happen in horse racing and with so many strong finishers in the group, and all it would take for Da’Tara to get his shot at glory would be some bumping of the horses that will likely be clumped behind him. 

I’ve seen much weirder things happen in races and with Zito already showing he has what it takes to pull off a miracle, you just can’t count out this colt.

The Great Hoops Depression of '08 hit its nadir.

And all was quiet on the Beach. I am getting the feeling that the work I did last season was in vain. And I was going to create a documentary on the season. That's going to be on hold indefinitely now.

Larry Reynolds is now one of Long Beach's most hated people now. He earned it. That's all I can say.

NCAA News Release
Division I Committee on Infractions Penalizes Long Beach State University Men's Basketball Program
Embargoed UntilThursday, March 6, 2008, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Contact(s)
Stacey OsburnAssociate Director of Public and Media Relations317/917-6117


INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized Long Beach State University for major and secondary violations in its men's basketball program. This case involves improper benefits, impermissible transportation and phone contacts, unethical conduct and a failure to monitor by the institution and the former head coach.
Penalties for the violations, including those self-imposed by the institution, include three years of probation, a reduction in recruiting activity, a vacation of records, a reduction in the number of men's basketball scholarships, as well as a four-year show-cause order for one former assistant coach and a five-year show-cause order for another.
Under this show-cause penalty, should the former assistant coaches seek athletically related employment with any NCAA institution during this time period, the individuals and the hiring institution must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine whether his duties should be limited.
The violations committed by members of the men’s basketball coaching staff occurred between late August 2004 and the end of August 2005. The university’s 2005-06 recruiting class included six two-year college transfers, none of which were eligible for admission to the university or athletics participation. Beginning in May 2005, with the knowledge, encouragement and assistance of the coaches, the young men took additional classes, including correspondence courses, at various institutions. Some of the young men needed as many as nine hours in a short period of time to meet academic requirements, the committee said.
The violations committed by two former assistant coaches and the former administrative assistant included paying or arranging for payment to register some or all of the six two-year college transfers in classes, paying or arranging for payment of fees so that transcripts of the transfers’ coursework could be obtained, providing impermissible tutoring and transportation, as well as making impermissible phone calls.
Also, one former assistant coach obtained a correspondence exam for one of the student-athletes, allowed the young man to complete it without a proctor, then forged the name of his friend as the proctor and returned the exam to the issuing institution.
Once an investigation into the violations began, the two former assistant coaches compounded the violations by providing false information to investigators on numerous occasions. In addition, one former assistant coach asked a number of student-athletes to provide false information and the second former assistant coach asked his friend to provide false information regarding proctoring the exam.
The committee found that both former assistant coaches failed to deport themselves in accordance with the generally recognized high standards of honesty and sportsmanship associated with the conduct and administration of college athletics.
The committee also found that the former head coach failed to monitor the men’s basketball program. Though the head coach was aware that the six two-year transfers were deficient academically and taking numerous courses in a short period of time, including one of the young men taking four classes at three different junior colleges, the former head coach did not ask questions regarding their classes, sources of support or the level of his assistants’ involvement with the young men. He also failed to involve the compliance office in the monitoring effort.
The committee also found that the university failed to monitor its men’s basketball program in its recruitment of transfer student-athletes. The committee has stated in numerous infractions reports that institutions have a duty to monitor the activities of prospective student-athletes in the vicinity of campus in the summer prior to initial enrollment. The committee states in its report, “This is particularly important when the prospects have not yet achieved admission to the institution and/or athletics eligibility.”
This case involved secondary violations as well, which are outlined in the Committee on Infractions' public report.
In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the institution's cooperation in the investigation, self-imposed penalties and corrective actions. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are as follows:
• Public reprimand and censure.
• Three years of probation (March 6, 2008, to March 5, 2011).
• A prohibition from recruiting two-year college transfers or permitting such transfers to participate in men’s basketball for those student-athletes entering the university for the 2008-09 academic year. (Self-imposed by institution).
• Reduction of scholarships in men's basketball from 13 to 12 in each of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years. (Self-imposed by institution).
• Reduction in the number of official visits to nine (from the maximum of 12) for each of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 recruiting years. (Self-imposed by institution).
• Reduction from three to two in the number of coaches who can recruit off campus during the summer recruiting period of 2007. (Self-imposed by institution).
• A five-year show-cause order for one former assistant coach effective from March 6, 2008, through March 5, 2013.
• The second former assistant coach’s current employing institution self-imposed a number of penalties, which are detailed in the public report. In addition to these penalties, the committee imposed a penalty prohibiting him from recruiting and/or signing any two-year college transfer student-athletes for the 2008-09 academic year.
• A four-year show-cause order for the second former assistant coach effective from March 6, 2008, through March 5, 2012.
• A vacation of all wins, including any recorded in conference tournaments or the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, in which the six two-year transfer student-athletes competed while ineligible. The individual records of the six young men shall also be vacated. Further, the university’s records regarding men’s basketball as well as the record of the former head coach will be reconfigured to reflect the vacated records and so recorded in all publications in which the men’s basketball records are reported, including, but not limited to, media guides, recruiting materials and institutional and NCAA archives. Finally, any public reference to tournament appearances and performances during this time shall be removed, including, but not limited to, athletics department stationary and banners displayed in public areas such as the arena in which the men’s basketball team participates.
The Committee on Infractions consists of conference and institutional athletics administrators, faculty and members of the public. The committee independently rules on cases investigated by the NCAA enforcement staff and determines appropriate penalties. The committee's findings may be appealed to the Infractions Appeals Committee.
The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Josephine Potuto, the Richard H. Larson Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and chair of the committee; Paul Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami, and formerly the institution's general counsel; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Alfred Lechner, Jr., attorney; Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; Thomas Phillips, attorney with the Austin, Texas office of the law firm Baker Botts and formerly the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; and Jack Friedenthal, professor at George Washington University National Law Center.

This was bad timing of the worst kind because this week is Homecoming Week. Already it has been wrecked with this garbage. Just another reason why I detest Myles Brand and the people who come up with this garbage on a daily case-by-case basis.

The wheels fell off

When I found out that Paul Carroll returned tonight in the lineup for Pepperdine against us. I thought one thing.

Shit.

The wheels fell off. That ruined an otherwise subtle day with the men's basketball team defeating Davis, and me getting the official word from Enrollment Services.

Curse you Press-Telegram for giving me the wrong information. You told me that we won the the match, only to find the exact opposite. Nice going, guys.

Lord Voldemort, send help!

It's times like these where I would love to be in Lord Voldemort's shoes. You know who Lord Voldemort is, right? The guy who does that "Avara Kadavra" spell? Yes, you know who.

Boy, I would love to use that spell on my men's basketball team. It's one thing to rip up an opponent in a game that I couldn't see because the calendar stiffed me. It's another thing to make that win a flat-out lie against Cal State Bakersfield, a team that is not even through its first provisional year of four.

Way to deceive me, you bastards. Not ever Dr. F. King Alexander, not even a fan telling me "it was a good game," not even the sympathetic bus driver taking me home, giving out a "Go Beach" cheer as I left, could console me from the inescapable fact: our men's basketball team, for all the losses it has accumulated, has hit ROCK BOTTOM.

At least that's what I told Doug Krikorian of the Long BEach PRess-Telegram after the game, or rather asked. "Hey Doug, is it fair to say...that we've hit rock-bottom tonight?"
He just shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "The way we've played, I don't think we've seen the worst of this team just yet." And I have a meeting with my old friend Elie at 10:00 a.m. at the Academic Advising Center. And I will be in a somber mood, pending the effect of my pills.

Dispute it all you want, people who read my blog, but the reality is this: if our economy is in a recession (admit, you GOP bastards on the hill; you admitted preventing a two-thirds override of a veto of an important bill at least once today!), our men's hoops team is going through a DEPRESSION.

The next victory we have (if we even have the guts to WIN a game; give up your scholarships if that's gonna be your mentality, to NOT win a game), I may not be able to see it. That's gonna be on the road, this Saturday against Northridge. God knows if our guys are even going to be motivated to even do anything right the rest of the year.

That said, the warlock formerly know as Tom Marvolo Riddle, I could use a little help here...

"As you wish."

No hope for USA Volleyball.

The men, at least.

After sweeping the Brazilians, Puerto Rico defeats them in four games. Our Olympic run is over, god willing.

Way to have a letdown, you pricks. I'll be bloody surprised if you turds are still able to qualify after an uninspiring performance.

Just when things couldn't get any worse...

I have to announce a moment of silence for Lakewood High's baseball team. They went on the road to El Dorado...and lost. There go all my aspirations on getting to Dodger Stadium. Not sure if the softbal team met a similar fate against La Palma Kennedy, but I am counting on it.

I bought a new patch for a letterman's jacket I want to purchase from the Bookstore. It won't be ready until next week, but I hope I can muster enough to buy that jacket. Then I have to pay 8-9 quid for the folks at D & D to sew it up on my right sleeve.

I am currently following the Anaheim Ducks. They are so far 1-0 up on Detroit in the Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Hang in there. The 2nd period is starting as I am typing this up.

April 17: A pure day from hell.

I'm...not dead yet.

I still ask myself, “Why am I not gone yet?” Yesterday was a day that I would love to forget. In fact, I have to forget this day, because I sacrificed a number of things, part of a baseball game that would see my home team drop, and barely missing a bus. On top of that, my hockey team, the Anaheim Ducks, squandered a sweep that night, and the Angels continued their evil losing ways once again.

The biggest one that had to hurt was the fact that I had a second unexcused tutoring absence. It was not something I wanted to sacrifice, but given that my laptop was going through an important software upgrade, I had to give that up.

On top of that, I was a no-show at the ISSA meeting because my laptop was still going through the upgrade. The people at the labs could not let my laptop go unattended, and if I pulled the plug, I would still be stuck with Vista Home Premium, instead of Vista Ultimate, which was finally finished over an hour after the meeting concluded.

I had enough time to get the baseball game, but the Dirtbags were awful against LMU. Inept pitching. Horrible fielding. And extra innings after squandering the opportunity to win the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

To make matters worse, I missed my bus heading to Downtown Long Beach. And for an exclamation point, my sister goes far as to call me an idiot. I’m not sure I can accept her apology afterwards, unless she pays for my bloody tuition. She’s 10 times the schumck I will ever be, that older sister of mine.

I am still stunned and in disbelief that I could survive such a nightmarish day. Maybe the man upstairs is telling me to wait a long while before he puts me in the know. Guess life will have to go on for me...for now.

orz

Why is it that I fail at exams every time? I got a 63 out of 100 in my IS 340 class, in spite of blazing through the homework sections on a 97.25 average.

I want to be given my comeuppance by a moe girl from Amaenaideyo...or something. I am awaiting liftoff.



orz

Orz...der of Tong

Those fools from Tong failed me again in their mission, not winning Sweepstakes in Spring Sing. No excuses for that. They have no one to blame but themselves for that.
-_-#

I need to buy a Singapore rattan cane bad. Those guys deserve it for their transgression on Friday.