Oh dear. I didn't know what this talk show host named Don Imus said regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team ("nappy headed whores"?)...heck, I don't even know who the hell he is, but he's finished doing any more broadcasting. I think he should be fired without pay, and sent to the streets to where he should belong. If he were saying this in a nation of Amazons (assuming such a thing exists), he would be impaled, chopped up, and boiled into stew for those remarks.
So Tommy Amaker is now the head coach at Harvard. Enjoy your Ivy title, Penn, because they're due to take it off your Quaker head post-haste!
Chelsea was lucky to prevent extra time. Thanks to Andriy Shevchenko and a late stoppage-time goal by Michael Essien, they are now going to face either PSV Eindhoven, or, more likely...Liverpool. It's one of those "You again..." type of encounters. I hope they are successful in getting the job done, instead of choking like UCLA did against Florida in men's college basketball two years in a row.
Adam Jones is suspended from the NFl for one year. Not harsh enough. The football-player turned Supreme McGriff protege should be banned from football-and-sport-altogether. And I mean it.
Damn Manchester United....they had fun at Old Trafford against AS Roma. It wasn't even close. 7-1, winning 8-3 on aggregate. I wonder who they will face in the semis of the Champions League...Bayern Munich or AC Milan? I hope it's Bayern. Just because.
Welcome to the streets, Don Imus.
Why hello there, Mr. Koulax…
On a day where the Dirtbags claimed another series after being in a funk the last three goes, the Long Beach State softball team fail in predictable fashion against Cal Poly, while the women’s water polo team are given a refresher course in Water Polo 101 by Stanford.
Congrats to the Michigan State Spartans for winning the Frozen Four on the eve of Christ’s supposed resurrection. Ironically, the Spartan Fight Song is based on a Christian revival hymn called “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus.” Divine Intervention? (They did score three goals…one for the father, son, and holy ghost.) Timing of the best case? King Leonidas getting his revenge with the Green and White fighting in the shade? I leave it to you schmucks to figure it out.
And as for our men’s volleyball team…it’s over, unless they get help fast. Cue the long beep sound you hear on those medical drama’s like Gray’s Anatomy, E.R., and whatever garbage the big three network decide to place on as a Blue Plate special on the boob tube.
I hope the Galaxy wins on Sunday. And I personally welcome Dan Monson as the next coach for the 49er hoopster guys. But now he has to prove to us why he was the right decision....starting with the recruiting trail.
lbsu,
You don’t have to be rich to make a mean-ass burger!
No. Seriously. Just ask a humble guy by the name of Tommy Koulax. It was decades ago that he decided to make a commitment to make the finest burgers and hot dogs and fries in the Los Angeles area. His idea became a reality with The Original Tommy’s hamburger and hot dog chain. Before the baseball game with Oral Roberts on Thursday, I decided to make my annual ritual to the Tommy’s in Long Beach to savor a Tommyburger, which was laced with their special chili. I do this once per year, in the middle of my university’s baseball season, preferably in the first week of April, when the cherry blossoms flow down.
I should have taken a photo of the sketch of Mr. Koulax. This guy knew how to run a fast food chain. No franchising. Word-of-mouth advertising. Not spreading too far in the hopes of finding stability and not close part of the chain. He had savvy. And a famous slogan to go with it: “If You Don’t See The Shack…Take It Back!”
In a city where competing chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and (my home base) Carl’s Jr. (only because they have one on campus) lock heads with other chains to find the right customers, there are some local chains that don’t believe in trying to spread worldwide. The Original Tommy’s is an example of this. It’s akin to the City of Lakewood government: Times Change. Values Don’t.
As I watched the game, I was not disappointed. Oral Roberts just disposed of Wichita State, a team who we lost two out of three to. Dr. Dan, a local supporter of the Dirtbags, as well as the author of the Diamond Dust blog and baseball insert, called for Mike Weathers’ crew to go back to the fundamentals. In spite of giving up an error, the Beach was able to play a solid game through Andrew Liebl, an ace from Livermore up in the Bay Area, and the Bags won 4-0. I think it was a good move not to risk Bryan Shaw choking like he did in the third game against Fullerton. By doing so, he avoided getting his closer risking some more scathing remarks, should he do it two home games in a row. In the pros, I think he would called down, and reassigned.
Speaking of which, the minors got going. While the Los Angeles Angels dropped their first match of the year to those loathsome scum from that cesspool of the Bay known as Oakland, their Triple-A affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees, edged the Las Vegas 51s, 4-3. Ironically, the Angels lost by that same score.
One more thing: the 51s are affiliated with the Dodgers, and they are not starting in the right auspices. Still early, though. And I will bet you that Matsuzaka-mania will die quicker than it started. Maybe not now, but somewhere later this season.
Ten great songs with summer on it
Ah, Good Friday. No meat today, and I got a couple of teams...okay, a trio, I would love to see crucified...with a loss. San Hoser in women's water polo, Oral Roberts in baseball, and Hawaii in men's volleyball.
Now, if I may continue with the summer lists, I would like to disseminate my top 10 songs with the word “Summer” in it.
1. The Boys of Summer – Don Henley
This songs has a great kick to it. A timeless 80’s melody riff. The live version by the Eagles is a great example of this at work, as well as the DJ Sammy cover, which has a bumping beat that echoes shining chicks in bikinis bathing in the sun.
2. Summer of 69’ – Bryan Adams
A tune that characterizes Adams’s signature sound of classicrock with an 80’s edge to it. A light power ballad worth boogieing to.
3. Our Last Summer – ABBA
A melancholy ballad of lost love, and a guy named Harry who is a football fan. And a family man. And the guy of a downtrodden girl’s dreams. And worth a listen.
4. Summertime – Will Smith
A nice hip-hop number that shows a slice of life in the summer that is still true today. If you’re in the city.
5. Hot Fun In The Summertime – Sly Stone
Perhaps an inspiration for Genesis’ “Misunderstanding,” it’s an easy number with some great harmonies.
6. Long Hot Summer Night – Jimi Hendrix
Great bluesy number with the Experience, although “Hey Joe” and “All Along The Watchtower” are my favorites from this group.
7. Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran
This is a song about perseverance in the times of youth. Poor Eddie got killed in a car crash, and was unable to continue his dreams of becoming one of the best musicians in history. This is the only memory of him.
8. Hot Time, Summer In The City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
Great 60’s-style song about summer in the city. The piano is quintessential novelty.
9. In the Good Old Summertime – Captain Kangaroo
This is one for the little brats. But it’s novelty, and it’s timeless, and it’s sung by Captain Kanga-fuckin-roo, people! Raise a pint of bee-uh for him!
10. The Summer Wind – Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett, whoever sung it first.
You may have heard this from “The Simpsons,” but I love a good big band “Rat Pack” song, and this one completes the list.
Fruits for the Summer
Everyone likes to eat something sweet and fresh. So, with Spring going through its course, Summer is coming very soon. Hot days, warm nights, and lots of lovemaking underneath the stars require some fruit to fit the season. In a little bit of a deviance from the usual posts I make on BoBA and LoLi, I would like to make a list of my favorite fruits to ea during the summer. A top 10 list, if you will, in no particular order.
1. Watermelon. Glamorized by many anime classics (whacking the watermelon on the beach), this large green wonder is a perfect refreshing treat when sliced up. It quenches you, and makes you feel good. Make sure you take the seedless varieties, if you can find them.
2. Pineapple. A spiky wonder that lends a Hawaiian touch. Simply take of the crown, and slice it in chunks or rings. Maui Gold is my favorite variety. There ar actually different types of pineapple, from red ones, to purple ones. Look it up on Wiki.
3. Cantaloupe. I like to eat this when the fruit is shaved into strings, and placed in a pitcher with water, ice and sugar, then placed in the fridge. Who needs iced tea anyway!?
4. Strawberries. Although I like to eat this in the Spring, strawberries taste fantastic in the summertime as well. Take off the green top, gather them in a bunch and add cream to it.
5. Oranges. A handy snack. The color reflects the season.
6. Fuji apples. I know some people like brands like Gala, Granny Smith, and even that evil apple known as Red Delicious (ugh), but Fuji apples are what real apples should taste like. Try it. You’ll get addicted to it.
7. Nashi pears. Another thirst quencher. Some people also like a Chinese version, called Ya Li pears. That is unique in its own right, but inferior to Nashi, straight from Japan.
8. Bananas. For those of you whose minds are fixated-no, make that hellbent on fellatio-infested fornication this summer, this is the fruit for you. And it’s got a potassium kick when you at it in bunches. Go ape-crazy on this one.
9. Mangoes. Messy fruit this is, undelicious this isn’t! Enjoy this luxurious treat wherever and wherever you can get your hands on it.
10. Coconuts. Might be a bit fattening for some who are obsessed with being anorexic, but otherwise, this is a no-brainer. Enjoy!
On softball and how it turned to more than just a playground game
I always thought of softball as one of those playground games. I first saw a softball pitch when I was a young kid, walking around Admiral Kidd Park. That park was just a few minutes from my house. I saw how the field looked like. The infield was made of dirt and clay, while the outfield was grass. I thought at first that this was another example of a baseball field, until I found out that it was for a different game altogether.
Softball was an offshoot of baseball. The ball was larger, and pitches were thrown underhand. Further, there were three varieties of the game: slow-pitch, which has a very big ball, a deeper field, and no gloves needed, fast-pitch, which has a yellow ball, and was defensive oriented, and modified-pitch, which was somewhere in between the former two.
My university’s softball team played the fast-pitch variety. It’s an NCAA rule to have it be this way, and it probably is the most challenging of the three types. So I was watching the ladies take on Cal State Northridge for a three game series in two days. The first day was a doubleheader. They lost the first game, and I screamed at the ladies to wake up and get the job done. They would win the second game thanks to the heroics of one Kelly Cross. Brigitte Pagano, the pitcher who lost the first game, came right back to atone for her transgressions by winning the deciding rubber match on Sunday. On that day, one of the softball boosters gave me a shirt. On Sunday, the day of that third game, a group of kids from Los Altos Bobby Sox came over to watch. It’s a good thing they weren’t disappointed.
I suppose softball is one of those games that makes you feel like a little kid again.
Fast forward a week, and now in between watching Oral Roberts taking on the Dirtbags, the volleyball team of men finishing their home campaign against Hawaii, catching up on my IS 380 homework and blogging and drawing, I am watching the softball team take on Cal State Fullerton.
I told Ryan Kobane of the Long Beach Union Weekly that my work’s not done yet, and with the Dirtbags hogging the April dates, it’s set to be that way. We did win our last game. Could we be turning the ship around and prove that our last win against the Zot scum wasn’t a fluke?
I leave it to the schmucks who call the Blair home to figure out the answer.
150th post...a moment of silence
As I create this 150th post on BoBA, I would like to ask that you hold a moment of silence for someone special. Weeks after lead singer for Boston Brad Delp passed away, and a few days after the Virginia Beach Mariners folded, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I FCS football history, Eddie Robinson, died at the age of 88 due to Alzheimer's Disease.
He was perhaps one of the greatest coaches, if not the best ever, in Black College Football. Grambling State University won many National Championships under Coach Robinson, and he was a proud supporter of the game after he finished his coaching days with 408 wins to his credit, a record that stoood until Coach John Gagliardi eclipsed it years later with the Johnnies of St. John's in Division III.
He lived a long, proud, rich, accomplished life, and BoBA, along with its sister blogs Love and Liberty II on SeiyaUsagi.net, Love and Liberty Lite on TagWorld, and Bedlam on MySpace Boulevard on MySpace, saluted Coach Robinson for his contributions to the game of American Football...and to life.
Rest in peace.
Spring Break Sketch Suite Part 5
HEre is the canon couple from Hayate the Combat Butler...Hayate Ayasaki and Nagi Sanzennin. A 13-year old kid in love with a 16-year old kid. No problems, as far as I know. Such is the power of the overpriviliged.
Spring Break Sketch Suite Part 4
This is Hinagiku from Hayate The Combat Butler. She's my third-favorite character, after Nagi and Hayate. I need to work on shading when sketching. Quite a bit.
Spring Break Sketch Suite Part 3
I prefer to draw using pencil. That means most of my drawing are sketches. I like it that way. I have no qualms about thinking outside of the box. For example, if Apricot Sakuraba let her hair down and wore her older sister's headband, I imagine her looking like Kaede Fuyou from Shuffle!.
Spring Break Sketch Suite Part 2
I like playing the guitar. Even though I can't get the licks right, and that I prefer to play the drums (I can't afford a drum set yet....sob sob), I like to draw girls donning guitars.
Spring Break Sketch Suite Part 1
I love Jimmy Eat World. Not for the trademark song "The Middle", but more for the song "Get It Faster," from the same album, Bleed American. This fueled me to draw a set of sketches for Spring Break.
Keep in mind this is an exclusive, away from my usual site on CSULB's server. Just for those of you who like to check out BoBA.
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.
“Summer hasn’t arrived yet.”
While I was savoring the news of my compadre and colleague, Mark Andrews, winning the ASI Presidential Runoff Election, I saw someone sunbathe. A moe complexion to go with a rather plain yellow T-shirt bra top and a blue denim string bottom. After 10 minutes, she put her clothes back on, and said to her friends, “It’s not hot enough,” and then left.
Looks like summer hasn’t arrived yet. Well, that’s because it’s early Spring, and April hasn’t even arrived yet! And that’s why many people head to the Caribbean, Cabo San Lucas, or somewhere along those lines, maybe even Ibiza, for Spring Break! Obvious, ojousama, obvious!
Speaking of which, something happened at last year’s Spring Break in Aruba. A young girl named Natalee Holloway disappeared on the island. She must have been turned into some type of saint. I assume she was a moekko worth fapping to, but I haven’t seen her in person. Therefore, I advise you, to whoever is bent for a week of love, sex, drinks, and more sex, please be safe, and don’t disappear or do anything beyond the ordinary, lest you become one of my personal Saints of Spring Break.
And congratulations to Mark Andrews. You are the man, and don’t you know it!
Djobi, Djoba...
Interesting dream. I was with my business partners, and they were talking about the fact that my belly was shrinking, and that the fat had gone instead to my chin. I was in a hotel in Vegas, when I found out this was the hotel were the Gipsy Kings would be the main event for a celebration of flamenco music. I passed my murals and photos of the performers, and even passed by a tribute to the band. I saw the band pass by, all of the Reyes and Baliardo brethrer, and was able to travel with them to the third floor, but in the nick of time, because I slipped on the surface, and I had to jam my arm to open the door.
When we got to the third floor, the band passed by some security. I thought they were preparing for the concert later tonight (they had 5 to 6 hours before the show began), but one of my colleague explained that they would be having lunch in Wyoming first, then come back to do the show. He also pointed out that my dress was a bit less professional, since I was wearing khakis instead of black slacks. I told him my slacks are 3 hours away in my house in North Las Vegas. I had to get them back.
And then I woke up, finding out I slept for nearly 12 hours, at 2 p.m. in the afternoon and waking up at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. Ironically, I saw an article on Diego Maradona overeating and getting hospitalized.
Could you believe that?
On bubble gum
Whenever I’m in an ordinary mood of pure state of concede of reality, I like to go to the local convenience store and buy some Trident bubble gum. Unlike most bubble gums on the market, this bubble gum has a good helping of xylitol, so I know I’m getting the good stuff.
I like to chew two pieces per serving, so I know I’ll be blowing bubbles left and right. Like most gum, it starts soft, and then it gets a bit stiffer, due to prolonged mastication. This makes the bubbles snap harder, and louder, waking even a bored, sleepy class. It wakes even the professor from his or her funk.
In the past, the gum bases were made of chicle, but now, they are simply made with polymers. I suppose they are similar to that type of compound used for balloons. I have no idea.
I usually chew Trident bubblegum during an afternoon session, and keep the wad in my mouth during my Monday night class, where it gets hard enough to cause some loud snaps. It is said that gum is a great way to ease boredom, and a good stress reliever. The scene of a veteran coach, chewing on bubble gum while watching his players on is the mood I am in right now, as I assume I’ve seen all there is to life, but I know I lie to myself as I go through my period of assuming.
I’m on my second serving of 7. There are 14 pieces per pack, meani ng 7 servings, meaning this one will last 2-3 days, at $1.00 a pop. As I am chewing the savory blend of polymers, softeners, vanilla, cinnamon and other spices softly blended into a manufactured mastication device, I am playing Tommy February6’s “Lonely In Gorgeous,” segueing to Seal Samuel’s “Crazy.” I like playing syhtesizer-heavy tunes with the hooks during the evening run home.
UCLA’s going to look for a little bit of revenge against Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Taurean Green, Lee Humphrey and the rest of the lucky scumbags from Florida. Hope they do it, and do it right. No excuse to be choking like Long Beach City did against Antelope Valley, okay?
Air Force is taking on Death Valley, South Carolina, in Big Apple City tomorrow. To prepare, I’ve been downloading some comic strips from eDodo, one of the satirical web sites run by Air Force Academy graduates, and frequented by other grads and current cadets. Sorry to say, the Grunion can dish out better equivalents, but I do commend their effort.
Seriously, I hope Air Force and UCLA win their respective tournaments. That means the Beach lost to two teams that won their dances. More impetus for a rising assistant to make his move.
But how did Landon Donovan dish out the goods against Ecuador that effortlessly? With 2 goals in as many minutes, no less? Simple: He grew up. As in: he got married. Let’s see if he will smash Eric Wynalda’s record in internationals in the Gold Cup, as well as translate his forays to big ones as the G-Men open play against Houston Dynamo.
The April wave of new anime classics is upon us. This means Alpha Nu Iota alums (ANI – my imaginary sorority of moe anime girls) Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa are sending in a new wave of pledges in Nanoha StrikerS. Add some other new candidates to push in this year’s Saimoe, and we got some good ones up in store. Question is: from this new crop of new shows, what will Anime Club play via raws or subtitles? Stay tuned…
It seems very effortless to draw women in the moe aesthetic these days. Hope the COTA (College of the Arts) makes a course of it for the freshies rolling in next year.
Lately, I have been hungry to look at the history of failed web sites. eFront, LoanCity, and several other big companies that are NOT Enron have been my style of corporate necrophilia. I may have to find some way to be the infrastructural coroner for my upcoming IS 355 project.
Speaking of which, I have two other project besides the IS 355. For IS 380, I have to set up Oracle SQL code from the top down, while in IS 340, I have to create a program using purely Visual Basic code. Farewell Spring Break, and diving into a harem of hedonism…till summer.
Oh Carolina...
While my compadre and colleague Ryan Kobane of the Union Weekly is compiling a special on me for an upcoming issue, I have to express my condolences to North Carolina, and not that they were upset by Georgetown. The guy who plays as their mascot died due to an accident before the game against USC.
Oh Carolina.
Uncontrollable? Coming…
I tried out the love tester at the Claim Jumper after my meal with my sister and her new fiancée. The light pointed to the highest spot, Uncontrollable. I think I need to go through that again. The urge to do so must be felt now. If the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then it must be true: I love the color red.
I have nothing but scathing remarks to say about our effort against USC in volleyball. To be honest, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Long Beach City.
I think my voice is coming back. Two weeks! Two frustrating weeks without my voice. Thank god the Fortnight of Silence is now silenced…for now.
San Berdoo...why do you fail? <_<#
I have heard of Cal State San Bernardino at least once or twice in my life. And that was when I was looking for the right place for me to get a college education after I was done with Long Beach City College. At San Bernardino, their athletic teams are called the Coyotes. They were established only recently, and they are younger than the beach by a few decades, so their enrollment is small, Division-II quality. As of this writing, they have never won a national championship in anything, but their men’s basketball team was poised to be the first from San Bernardino to bring home their first piece of real hardware.
Their head coach was Jeff Oliver, a Cal Poly grad who worked with then-head coach Larry Reynolds as an assistant before ascending to his current role. They had some good payback, defeating Humboldt State to get to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield is home to the YMCA that welcomed basketball to the world via one James Naismith. Yesterday, they thumped Wingate by nearly 30 points, also scoring 100 in the process. Today they face the Bulldogs of Barton College. This school is small, with an enrollment of barely over 1,000. How this team is even Division II is beyond me. My high school has higher enrollment than this.
The kicker is that they are Division II’s “Beasts from the East,” having been seeded first in the East Regional, and winning it as well. If San Bernardino wins this game, they take on either Central Missouri or Winona State for all the marbles.
Unfortunately, they didn’t. They lost 80-79 to the Bulldogs. Which means: they fail basketball. Which also means: Who fucking cares?
Nice way to fail, Coyotes. Enjoy not getting a national championship in any sport for the next 100 years.
A Master Plan for Hedonism
As the 2006-07 rugby season wraps up, and I see some changes coming at my university, I feel obligated to think of something to do for Spring Break, which, here at the Beach, falls on the first week of April, when the cherry blossoms are going through their usual serenade by aspiring young otaku troubadours in Tokyo.
I have a few assignments that I have to do that week; namely, group projects. I have to come up with a program using Visual Basic for a group project, while I also have a project to do in Business Telecommunications. I plan to utilize either Bluetoth, Wireless LAN, or on Ethernet. I’m going to have to prepare something big, else this can make or break my grade.
Not to mention, the week before sees me go through the midterm runs, so making some drawings will be on the back burner until my midterms are done next week.
I’m starting to warm to Meyrin Hawke from Gundam SEED. Maybe it’s the twintails, or what she uses as casual gear, but outside of Lacus Clyne, she gets my vote. Her sister Lunamaria is a close third.
I’ve been listening to Tommy February6’s “Lonely In Gorgeous for over a year know, well over a year to be exact, and I never seem to get tired of listening to the song. Maybe it’s the refrain to the chorus, the hooks, the beat, the synthesizing melody, or the fact that Tomoko Kawase simply knows her synth pop, but it’s a timeless song that is great when cruising down Akihabara, and the neon ads, on a decked-out, sleek Mistubishi...for a commercial on NHK or TBS.
I haven’t fasted this frequently since way back when. With the Lenten season closing up, I have been unconsciously skipping meals to get to my classes. Even surprising, I am still conscious, after not eating for over half a day. Maybe those darn Quaker Oats from hell had something to do with it.
And one wonders, how does one make Quaker Oats from Hell? Simple: pour 8 to 10 packets of Quaker Oats into a large bowl, add 6 cups of milk, flavored syrups if desired, then pop it in the microwave for 6:66. It’s a bit dry, but quite filling. And no hot sauce needed!
The biggest victory of the season: Reynolds is out!
This may be the biggest victory of the season. I’ve been waiting for this to happen after we got killed by Tennessee last Friday, and it has come true: Larry Reynolds has been fired as Long Beach State Men’s Basketball coach. Everyone who knew the Beach knew this was inevitable; Dr. Vic Cegles and Dr. F. King Alexander just needed to make it official.
Oddly, I has a bad dream today, in which I was with a mob of students for Spring Break, and I was about to ride a roller coaster sponsored by seniors on my high school’s football team. They wanted me to ride it. But I found out before I could ride, that this was a roller coaster to hell, and I asked all the passengers to leave the park as quickly as possible. In other words, we had to flee. The seniors didn’t want us to leave, but most of us were able t, after I stopped the switch from closing the gates completely. They were able to kill a few of the fleeing students, though, and blood was everywhere: on our faces, our clothes, on the sidewalks. Some were carrying their loves ones, already dead, out of the park. Many were wailing.
The Riot Squad came and killed the culprits with machine guns issued by the LAPD before they could kill anyone else leaving the park, or the Riot Squad themselves.
It was surreal, a bad dream, a nightmare. And seeing this news felt like I woke from one of the biggest nightmares I’ve ever seen in my life.
St. Patrick, meet Lady Milfeulle Sakuraba-Meyers.
St. Patrick’s Day, for the most part, was a bit of a huge pill to swallow. It started ominously-our university’s rugby team lost-again-this time to UC Santa Barbara by the sound of 46-7. Also, our baseball team saw their last seven batters go through a futility spell in an 8-7 loss to Wichita State, forcing a rubber match on Sunday.
So, as I ate lunch at the Carl’s Jr. on PCH and Ximeno to get energy for the volleyball match against Penn State, I thought; could this weekend become any worse for me?
The answer: Yes, but with a reprieve, and a big one at that. While Cal Baptist could not replicate its sweep of Penn State the other night against IPFW (who we defeated in a 3-2 barnburner), our volleyball team took on a Nittany Lions side that was angry that they got humiliated by an NAIA team (albeit the best in the NAIA), and I knew that this was going to go the distance-again.
Thank god for Dan Alexander of Arcadia. The redshirt freshman, along with diaper dandies Tommy “Cretino” Pestolesi and Dean “Dino” Bittner of Lakewood, pounded the lazy lobs from Penn State with authority, as if he were slam-dunking his opponents into submission.
Unlike our basketball team against Tennessee on Friday, our volleyball team actually showed some defense to go with the offensive kills, aces, and blocks off the touch. We went the distance, and won the fifth game 15-13. All the while, visions of King Leonidas of Sparta at the Battle of Thermopylae were on my mind.
As I went over to take a look-see at the Jack Rose Relays at the track of the same name, a few reporters from Cerritos College stopped me for a quick interview for their project. It had to do with race relations. I said that it was a good thing we have diversity on campus because it raises our profile for tolerating people of different persuasions. They asked me a question about the beating, and I said, “This was a backwards step for our university. I feel that justice was not served, and it was a huge step backward. But, in life, as a society, we have to learn to move backwards in order to move forwards. Everybody on campus has talked about this situation, and there will come a time when both sides reconcile about this situation, and put it behind them for good. Going backwards to go forwards: this is, I think one of the interesting, if not one of the best things about life.”
My alma mater, Lakewood High School in Lakewood, CA, is known for having a consistent baseball team. They are one of the best in the state, if not the nation. In their recent game on St. Patty’s Day, they defeated their opponent 16-1. In an outcome like this, the mercy rule came into effect. Oddly enough, I don’t know who they faced, but it didn’t seem like one of the strongest teams in the league. Either that or it was one of the pansies in the Moore League.
They are currently 9-1, ranked first in the Southern Section Division I. And they are the defending champions, having edged the Agoura Chargers in a nailbiter at Angel Stadium many moons ago. If we win the title again, I would issue a challenge to the winner of this year’s summer Koshien to face them in a friendly series down the road. While the timing may be a bit off, in a perfect world, this would be possible, and it would be Japan’s best team against one of California’s best teams.
I don’t know how we would do against them, but I think we would put them in their place. The laurels of victory will shine on Lakewood if they get the job done like they did last year. I’m going to make it a habit to come to at least one of their games later in April.
Speaking of which, I remember when I first went to the state championships in Anaheim last year. I’m talking five baseball games, all championship games…for the ridiculous bargain of $8.00. I was able to sit at the very front, behind home plate, watching teams like Quartz Hill, Palos Verdes, St. Francis, and my Lancers, among the participants, fight to the end. I remember when they were giving the trophy to St. Francis, and I saw on of the Franciscan monks watch the event, I said “Get Friar Tuck off the stage!” A St. Francis fan said, “Patience Lakewood. You’ll get yours.”
Well, I just had to laugh.
And wouldn’t you know it: in the last sign of proof that I went through St. Patrick’s Day, I picked up a dollar bill off the sidewalk. Not sure who would drop this, but I think this is going to make printing my codes for my Oracle and Visual Basic assignments easier.
I finally found who the Lancers beat the next day. Woodland Hills Taft. One of their aces, Omar Jimenez, struck out eight batters in the Redondo Tournament.
The Times They Are A Changin'...
As I passed by a few Utah Valley State distance runners warm up for the world-famous Jack Rose Relays tomorrow, with a background of field athletes going through run-throughs, I knew that Larry Reynolds’ time at Long Beach State was up. It wasn’t because they lost to Tennessee in a 121-86 blowout. It was because of the first three seasons that proved to be his undoing.
Those who have been exposed to how things work in college or professional sports, especially business majors like me, know that a coach is signed to a contract, and the coach, after the contract is completed, is judged by the performance during the the seasons on his contract. If they are very good, i.e. titles (regular season and conference tournament), great wins (i.e. 4 or 5 at the minimum over top 50 RPI), and progress in the Big Dance was satisfactory (at least winning the first round), then you will be offered a contract extension. If you have the last season be your best season (more wins than the other five), as well as win the conference, but get destroyed by 35 in your first appearance in over a decade, WITH senior leadership, and have the first three seasons be losing seasons (10 wins or less), you’re not going to be kept. Add also the looming cloud of the NCAA who will investigate two students who will be graduating from the university this Spring over transcript snafus, and the season could be a bust. Meaning, all the effort I put into the last two seasons may have been in vain.
For some people, it’s a cruel decision. But for many who have followed a team-heck, alumni and boosters who exert just as strong, maybe even stronger, influence over a university’s basketball program than the students, this would be the right decision.
And while this is going to be at the expense of Reynolds, an up-and-coming coach can see this record and capitalize on the success, and make it better.
All that has to happen is for Dr. F. King Alexander and Dr. Vic Cegles to make it official on Monday.
Volleyball captain Teddy Liles asked to give me an update on the game between Arizona and Purdue in the first round. 45-34 Purdue in the second half during first media timeout.
Liles is from Tucson. The Boilermakers would hold on.
This day is not without some good things happening. Our baseball team defeated Wichita State 2-1, winning in the ninth inning, while our men’s volleyball team held off a comeback by IPFW to win 3-2. But perhaps the biggest surprise outside of Winthrop actually winning a game in the Big Dance or Duke getting kicked out by Virginia Commonwealth was that Cal Baptist, an NAIA team, swept the #6-ranked Nittany Lions of Penn State in volleyball. While the Lancers (who we earlier defeated), are the best team in the NAIA, the stigma of being an NAIA team should have made this a cakewalk for Penn State. I didn’t count on it to be the other way around.
They’re going to be hell bent for leather when they take on us on Saturday.
Twilight Zone time for Tennessee
Tennessee was in ther Twilight Zone, playing perhaps their best basketball even this season. High-flying offense with opportunistic defense resulting in one of those old-school 70's and 80's style overs, a 121-86 win over Long Beach State.
Wonder if this makes the decision for Vic Cegles to be a bit easier, or harder. I don't what's going through his mind. I don't even want to know.
The truth about Long Beach Guesthouse...
Well, as the men's basketball team play with nothing to lose down in Ohio, and the Dirtbags go on an expedition to shock Wichita State in awe, the men's volleyball team is hosting the Active Ankle Classic. Interestingly, the secondary sponsor is Long Beach Guesthouse. On the site, they look spic and span.
When I looked at the reviews for the hotel, most reviews were very negative, some were even graphic in their presentation. Could have used a better choice of wording, but the surrealism may add to the fact that it probably wasn't the best choice to be secondary sponsor to the Active Ankle.
Might as well just called it the Active Ankle/Hotel California Invitational instead. Colitas over a played Felder and Walsh riff anyone?
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