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Nothing earth-shattering (though if you saw that season premiere of LOST, we can talk about earth-shattering) , but I've collected a few tidbits of info this week you might find interesting:

— Stockdale's girls team, ranked No. 4 in my section girls basketball rankings last week, might be moving up in the world courtesy of an old friend. Melissa Sweat, who won the last two Californian Player of the Year awards before her dad got a job in Madera, apparently is back at Stockdale and hoping to join the Mustangs before the end of her senior season. I'm still trying to nail down some concrete information on whether the transfer will go through, but if it does, it would obviously help the already-formidable Stockdale backcourt.

— Cal Hi Sports released its all-state teams late last month, and Kern County is well-represented.
On the overall All-State team, Frontier's Matt Darr is the second-team punter and Bakersfield's Craig McMahon is a third-team kicker. The Central Section's only first-team pick was Kingsburg QB Tyler Bray.
On the Underclass team, Centennial's Cody Kessler is the first-team QB, and Liberty defensive tackle Cody Temple is a second-team defensive lineman. Rane Cravens, the Patriots' sackmaster, is oddly enough a first-team selection even though he's a senior.
Tehachapi's Drew Howell (the future long-snapper of the Oregon Ducks) is a second-team linebacker on the "Medium Schools" team, and Taft OL Buddha Savaii and RB Cody Shirreffs are first-team "Small Schools" picks. Congrats to all, and if you want to check out the various teams, this page is a good place to start.

— Also talked with Liberty coach Tony Mills today and got another tidbit on Temple: The big man (6-3, 285) has been offered his first scholarship for next year's signing day, and it comes from Washington State. Not a bad first offer. Add Temple to Cody Kessler, who has two offers from New Mexico State and Fresno State and should have more coming, plus a host of other quality juniors, and it should be a banner signing day for locals next February.

— Lastly, and most sadly, Ridgeview senior Robert Roberts won't be playing basketball anymore. The Wolf Pack's leading scorer, who had grade problems and didn't play his first three years, was booted off the team. I'm still working on tracking down the exact reason, but Roberts has been in and out of disciplinary trouble the whole season. The other oft-troubled Ridgeview player, Kaylin Evans, is back in action after missing four games, but the loss of Roberts obviously is a big blow to any Wolf Pack state-tournament hopes. More important is the status of a young man who obviously still is sorting out priorities. Good luck to you, Robert.

— My gosh, can we get some more pep bands out at basketball games? A handful of local schools do it, and I can't tell you how much I think it improves the atmosphere of a game, especially if the game isn't particularly exciting. West High's did a nice job against Garces tonight, and I hope some more athletic directors and band directors canteam up a few times down the stretch here.

— Very interesting comment here yesterday about Foothill's wrestling team forfeiting its season-ending dual against Bakersfield. I can see a team being beat up and being worried about 40-match limits for some of its wrestlers, but that still seems a bit cowardly to me\, especially when some of its top kids are missing matches that will have impact on seeding in next week's league tournament. More than anything, though, this just underlines how little dual meets mean in wrestling anymore. I've got a story on the subject slated to come out next week, and here's what opinion I've gathered so far: At some point, someone is going to have to make a decision in California wrestling and either (1) make dual meets more meaningful, either by having section dual tournaments or letting teams wrestle in the postseason because of dual records or (2) just call any dual meet an exhibition or eliminate them all together. The dual meet is a beautiful thing when the crowd is into it and the spotlight is on every match, but it has lost a bunch of luster in this state.

— I'm out of town for the weekend, but I'll leave you with my Super Bowl pick: Colts 33, Saints 24. I'd love to see those diehard New Orleans fans get themselves a championship, but Peyton Manning is so cerebral that he's almost approaching cerebral status. He's lost one meaningful game in about his last 30 tries. And when Indy needs points late in the game, he'll get them. And that'll be the difference.

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If I completely had my druthers, I'd be curled up the couch tonight watching the Season 6 opener of LOST. But, like most of us, I have to work for a living, and my chosen career requires evening hours (not that I'm complaining, mind you; on the contrary, I very much enjoy my job). So I'll have to trust the DVR on LOST and settle for the next-best thing: Watching two rivals go at it in a high school sporting event with a league title essentially on the line.

Thing is, this particular game has flown under the radar a bit, I think, and that's because it's out of town and played out in the cold. Wasco boys soccer visits Shafter tonight, and it's too bad more aren't paying attention, because these are two of Kern County's (and the Central Section's) best teams. Shafter beat Wasco early in the year and the Tigers returned the favor in league play with a 2-0 home victory last week, so this one shapes up to be good. Neither has been beaten or tied by another SSL team, either, so it shapes up to be important, too.

That got me thinking that it's high time we took a look at how league races are shaping up in soccer, which has just two weeks before playoffs start, and basketball, which has three.

Boys basketball

Let's start with the SEYL, where the clear top dog has been 6-0 Bakersfield. The Drillers swept through their first round of league play, including victories against fellow contenders Liberty, Garces and Golden Valley. As a bonus, BHS gets four of its final six games at home, though the two roadies are at Garces on Wednesday and at Liberty next week. Win just one of those, and BHS probably wins the title, considering the Rams and Patriots both have two losses and GV has three. Garces has won six in a row, though, since it lost at BHS in overtime.

Those of us who thought Ridgeview would be the team to beat in SWYL boys basketball didn't factor in the impact of discipline; the Wolf Pack has lost three straight games, to Frontier, Centennial and West, without the services of Robert Roberts and Kaylin Evans, who are being punished for off-court transgressions. Even with those guys, Ridgeview lost to Stockdale, and at 3-4 the Wolf Pack is all but out of the race. That leaves it to 6-1 Stockdale, defending champion Centennial at 5-1 but with a win against the Mustangs, and perhaps 5-2 West or even 4-3 Frontier. I think 10-2 or even 9-3 will win the league, so all of those teams obviously still have a chance. The big games? Start with Centennial at Stockdale on Feb. 11, but anything between those four will be big, as will their games with Ridgeview, which suddenly is a very talented spoiler.

Bakersfield Christian lost its first SSL game in years to Shafter in the opener, and though the Eagles have rebounded with three wins since then, they're behind the eight-ball — and 3-0 Tehachapi. The two teams lock horns for the first time tonight at BCHS, so there's another early league showdown. They'll play again on the mountain next Tuesday. Taft, at 3-2, and 2-2 Shafter are still in the mix as well.

Girls basketball

Another league title could be all but wrapped up this week when Garces visits 5-1 Bakersfield on Wednesday. The Rams are 7-0 with their closest league game a 39-27 cruiser against the Drillers at home. Repeat that feat and no one will touch Garces. But if BHS can pull an upset, the teams would be tied and hoping the other loses down the stretch. Liberty is in third at 4-2, but realistically, this race comes down to tomorrow night.

Some might say the SWYL title, on the other hand, was decided several months ago when Jalei Kinder and some of her Stockdale teammates stayed healthy, and I wouldn't really argue with them. The Mustangs are, as usual, running roughshod through the league, at 7-0, with its closest league game a 28-point beatdown of Ridgeview. Frontier, at 6-1, visits Stockdale on Thursday, and that's followed a week from tonight by 5-2 Ridgeview and its wonderful freshman Erica McCall, but I wouldn't expect either of those teams to pose a great challenge.

Shafter (4-0) and Tehachapi (3-0) are ruling the SSL roost right now, but they haven't played yet because a first meeting was snowed out (guess where it was!). They'll play in Tehachapi on Feb. 11 and then in Shafter a week later.

Boys soccer

Golden Valley and its national ranking are doing just fine in the SEYL at 8-0-0, though they got a big scare from Liberty in an overtime game in the teams' first meeting. The Patriots are 8-1-0. No one else has fewer than four losses, so the teams' Feb. 10 meeting at Golden Valley will decide the title.

Things are a lot more complicated in the SWYL, where Stockdale is unbeaten in nine games but has three ties, meaning 5-1-2 Centennial is right in the thick of things. The tiebreaker scenarios there could get messy, especially considering the teams tied the first time they played. Again, no one else has fewer than four losses, so circle the teams' Feb. 10 meeting at Stockdale.

Girls soccer

The SWYL boys basketball race is exciting, but I'm not sure anything rivals the SEYL girls soccer dash to the finish line. With Garces at 7-1-1, Bakersfield at 5-1-1 and Liberty at 7-2-0, anything could happen, especially considering BHS still plays both teams again. Garces and Liberty split their season series.

In the SWYL, Stockdale is making another run at an undefeated league campaign, but the Mustangs were pushed hard at Frontier, which has just one loss, before scoring the winner with five minutes left in an earlier game. The rematch is Thursday at Stockdale.

Finally, Bakersfield Christian took a big step towards an SSL title when it exorcised some mountain demons from last year with a 4-0 rout at Tehachapi last week. Tehachapi had allowed just seven goals before that, so the 4-1-0 Warriors will be itching for a rematch at 6-0-0 BCHS a week from tonight.

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News today out of Frontier is that Matt Darr, the nation's No. 1 punter according to Scout.com, has switched his commitment from USC to Fresno State as of this afternoon. I spoke to Darr tonight, and he plans on signing with the Bulldogs on Wednesday morning.

If you're wondering why someone would switch a Trojan Red ballcap for a Bulldog Red one, you're probably not alone, but I think Darr's reasons are pretty altruisitc.

He mentioned (1) USC's coaching change, and that one should be obvious, (2) Fresno State's academic program, which no one will confuse for USC's but which does have a program in Darr's preferred field of agriculture and (3) the fact that FSU has an "environment that hits home."

Darr didn't say it outright, but I think he's also made the decision because Lane Kiffin and the new regime at USC didn't exactly extend him a warm welcome after they took over for Pete Carroll a month ago. He had to wait a couple of weeks before talking to someone there, and in the meantime he re-opened his commitment.

He eventually found out it still included a scholarship to USC, but he told them no — along with finalists Arizona State and Northwestern and a handful of other schools — to become the latest Bulldog from Bakersfield.

Other football players signing Wednesday include Highland linebacker John Oglesby (also with Fresno State, which will give the Bulldogs no fewer than nine Bakersfield players and three Scots on the roster), Tehachapi LB Drew Howell (Oregon as a long snapper) and South lineman Julio Regla (Sacramento State).

The two outgoing Fresno State players from Bakersfield — West High alums Ryan Mathews and A.J. Jefferson — were both invited to the NFL Combine today. The Combine begins Feb. 24 in Indianapolis. Mathews, a running back, will work out between Feb. 25-28 and Jefferson, a defensive back, will have his chance to impress pro scouts Feb. 27-March 2. The NFL Draft is April 22-24 in New York.

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REALIGNMENT----D~.doc

There was quite a bit of excitement last week surrounding the approval of a new playoff format for the Central Section, and that's going to continue through the summer, I'd think, and into next year — which is shaping up to be kind of a watershed, with new leagues and new playoffs. A lot of people are going to look at section sports differently starting in the fall of 2010.

Anyway, I thought it best if we got some nitty-gritty out of the way now. Attached is a file that has the new divisions for each sport (wrestling and track and field stayed the same). Next to each school's name in each sport, you'll see a number. That's the score the section assigned that program for its performance in 2007-08 and 2008-09 in its league and its postseason. Generally speaking, 100 or higher is very good; anything below about 20 means that program has struggled. If you see a '+' next to the score, that means the team is moving up into a new division; i.e., Visalia-El Diamante, Tulare Union and Fresno-Edison up to Division I football (the score obviously is from Division II compeititon). If you see a '-' that team is dropping down a division.

Feel free to peruse that document or the list of local movements we put in Saturday's Californian, but here's some moves that stuck out to me:

— Tehachapi is moving up to Division II in no fewer than five sports: Football, boys and girls tennis, volleyball and softball. The Warriors are a tough case for me, because I think they've always been too good for D-III (they're pictured here after winning a second straight D-III football title in the fall of '08), but D-II is a mighty jump in some of those sports. Of course, with the best D-II teams moving up, Tehachapi might be able to compete for titles there with the likes of Garces, San Joaquin Memorial and the remaining Kings and Tulare County schools.

— Likewise, Bakersfield Christian moved up to D-IV in five sports, joining the basketball and volleyball teams that were already there. The new D-IV teams are football, boys and girls tennis, girls soccer and baseball. To me, this is a necessary move; BCHS has already shown in hoops and volleyball that it can compete at this level, and some of these teams (specifically the tennis teams) were making a mockery of the Division V bracket. I think they'll find themselves even higher in the years to come.

— McFarland cross country is up to Division III, and now we get to see if the Cougars can continue their long section dominance there. They've won 19 straight section titles in D-IV. Right after this was announced, longtime Kern County running guru Andy Noise tweeted at me that this was an awful development, and I can see his point. That's because the Cougars challenge for the state title every year in D-IV, and while they are by no means dominant (they haven't won a title in nearly 10 years), they are competing with like-size schools and showing off what that community has built in cross country. Now, they'll be expected to compete with schools twice their size. This is a pretty unfortunate side effect of this business.

— Several teams are moving up to Division I status: Liberty boys and girls basketball (after a brief and, for the boys, very successful Division II respite), Frontier and Garces volleyball, Garces boys and girls tennis, West boys soccer and North baseball. The last two are the biggest surprises to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if the section determines the Vikings and Stars belong back in Division II in two years. The others probably will stick for a while. In fact, I'm not going to be surprised if most of Frontier's teams are Division I by the time 2012 rolls around.

What's for sure is that the playoffs suddenly got a lot more competitive — and therefore interesting — throughout the Central Section.

At long last, here is the fourth set of winter-sports rankings. I'm hoping to update these at least once before the playoff season begins (which, for soccer, comes in two weeks!), but consider this a pretty good look at the section.

I wrote yesterday how Golden Valley at No. 1 was a shoe-in for the boys. That's true (though the Bulldogs could manage just a single goal in a 1-0 win against Garces last night), but it's even more true on the girls side with Clovis-Buchanan. The Bears are ranked No. 7 in the nation by ESPN Rise (among states that have winter soccer), and they've beaten the third-place team in these rankings 8-0 (though, as we'll discuss, Stockdale was very short-handed at the time. Buchanan still has thumped the Mustangs twice in the past two Central Section finals).

1. Clovis-Buchanan (20-0-1, 7-0-0 Tri-River, Division I ) — Even last year, when Buchanan was a young team and it was Clovis High that carried the unbeaten record and lofty national ranking, the Bears ended up on top after Stockdale took out Clovis in the semifinals. This year, it's the Bears' turn as favorites.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Madera, 3-1; won Friday vs. No. 4 Clovis West, 4-1
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday at No. 7 Clovis; Friday at Clovis East

2. Fresno-Bullard (13-4-2, 4-0-0 County-Metro, Division I) — The gap between 1 and 2, though, isn't quite as large as you might think. The Knights have lost just one game inside the section, and it was to Buchanan by a 2-1 count in the championship of an early-season tournament. They also have ties against Clovis West and Madera, but they've beat those teams in other games.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Sanger, 7-0; Friday vs. Reedley (no score available)
LAST WEEK: Wednesday at Fresno-Edison; Friday at Fresno-Hoover

3. Stockdale (13-4-3, 9-0-0 Southwest Yosemite, Division I) — Seems like the Mustangs always get on a roll at this time of year, and I don't think it's just because the SWYL has a few weaklings at the bottom. Stockdale usually carries that into the playoffs, though the championship has been elusive. This year, at this point, third is about the highest you could peg them.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at South, 10-0; won Thursday at North, 5-0
NEXT WEEK: Thursday at No. 12 Frontier

4. Clovis West (12-4-4, 5-2-0 Tri-River, Division I) — Stockdale's Erica Shelton scored a late goal against the Golden Eagles in the first round of the Garces tournament to win a 3-2 game; since then CW has lost only to Bullard and Buchanan (twice). This is a pretty fab final 4 for Division I, though I wouldn't sleep on Liberty, Clovis or Bakersfield sneaking in, either.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Fresno-Central, 6-0; lost Friday at No. 1 Buchanan, 4-1
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday vs. Clovis East; Friday vs. Madera

5. Garces (12-2-4, 7-1-1 Southeast Yosemite, Division II) — If you can figure out the mess in the SEYL race between the Rams, Liberty and Bakersfield, more power to you. The teams are very even and all have at least one loss against one another this year, but Garces is the only team to have beaten the other two. The Rams have allowed just eight goals, fewest in the section, and lost once in the section (to Liberty).
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Highland, 3-1; won Friday vs. Golden Valley, 2-0
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday at No. 7 Bakersfield; Friday vs. West

6. Liberty (11-4-2, 7-2-0 Southeast Yosemite, Division I) — Here's the only team to give Buchanan a blemish on its record, though the Bears won that 0-0 tie in a shootout at the Liberty tournament and then beat the Patriots 2-0 a couple of weeks later. Still, that and wins against Stockdale and Garces ought to let you know how dangerous this team is without Mariah Alvidrez, who, I was told last summer, had the end of soccer season as her return date.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Foothill, 4-1; won Friday at East, 5-1
NEXT WEEK: Friday vs. Highland

7. Clovis (14-3-3, 5-2-0 TRAC, Division I) — Last year's dream season ended badly for the Cougars, and you can bet they'd like to return the favor to Buchanan this year, even if their defeat last year came to another team. Problem is, in two games against Buchanan, the Cougars have been outscored 8-0, and in two against Clovis West, it's been 6-3.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Clovis East, 3-1; won Friday vs. Madera, 2-1
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday vs. No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan; Friday at Fresno-Central

8. Bakersfield (10-4-3, 5-1-0 SEYL, Division I) — There must be a result or three missing from MaxPreps, because BHS must have played more than six league games so far, even considering rainouts. Either way, a draw against Clovis West and victories against Frontier and Liberty tell you that Brian Walker's team is predicatably strong.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Golden Valley, 7-0; tied Friday vs. Centennial, 3-3
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday vs. No. 5 Garces; Friday at Foothill

9. Tulare Western (17-2-2, 8-0-0 East Yosemite, Division II) — For the record, I had the Mustangs ahead of crosstown rival Tulare Union before Friday night, when they blanked the Redskins 3-0 on the road for their ninth straight win. Point is, if not for a couple of strange results against El Diamante, this team would be unbeaten and untied in the section. Just hope they don't run into that matchup early in the playoffs.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. Chavez, 8-0; won Thursday at Porterville-Monache, 3-0; won Friday at No. 11 Tulare Union, 3-0
NEXT WEEK: Monday vs. Porterville, Thursday vs. Porterville-Granite Hills

10. Visalia-Central Valley Christian (16-3-0, 8-0-0 Central Sequoia, Division IV) — Another team with a nine-game winning streak that's going to last a while in a mediocre league, but don't doubt CVC: They have wins against Tulare Union, Visalia-Redwood and Centennial. The Cavs look like a big-time favorite in Division IV.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Exeter, 2-0; won Friday at Coalinga, 4-1
NEXT WEEK: Monday vs. Exeter, Tuesday at Reedley-Immanuel; Friday at SLO-Mission Prep

11. Tulare Union (11-3-2, 6-1-0 EYL, Division II) — Friday's 3-0 loss to Tulare Western comes at a bit of a shock, not because the Redskins lost but because they gave up three goals; they had surrendered just seven in their first 15 games. Despite that, a 1-0 win in the Garces tournament against Frontier is going to come in handy come seeding time, unless TU lets one loss turn into more.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Porterville-Granite Hills, 6-0; lost Friday vs. No. 9 Tulare Union, 3-0
NEXT WEEK: Monday vs. Chavez; Tuesday vs. Porterville; Thursday at Delano

12. Frontier (12-7-1, 8-1-0 SWYL, Division II) — That's a lot of losses for a team to be ranked this high, but all of those losses are to teams above the Titans, and some were without Cami Privett, who was injured early in the year. When she's healthy and teaming with Kelly Nikkel, Frontier can beat just about anyone.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. West, 5-0; won Wednesday vs. Ridgeview, 9-0; won Thursday vs. South, 7-1
NEXT WEEK: Tuesday at North; Thursday at No. 3 Stockdale

13. Madera South (13-6-3, 5-0-0 North Yosemite, Division III) — This is a difficult team to place, because a couple of crosstown losses to Madera and a tie against Hoover don't look very good, but a draw with Frontier and wins against Clovis North, Memorial and Sierra do. For now, call the Stallions your Division III favorites and leave it at that.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Fresno-SJ Memorial, 1-0; Friday vs. Fresno-McLane (no score available)
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday at Fresno-Roosevelt; Friday vs. Fresno

14. Visalia-Redwood (14-4-2, 6-0-1 West Yosemite, Division II) — Don't sleep on the Rangers, who lead a deep WYL and should have quite a bit of momentum heading into the Division II playoff scramble. Remember, it was just last year that Frontier came from a No. 8 seed and shocked that bracket.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Hanford West, 2-0; Friday at Lemoore (no score available)
NEXT WEEK: Monday at Hanford; Wednesday at Visalia-El Diamante; Friday vs. Visalia-Golden West

15. Clovis North (9-3-7, 4-1-1 CMAC, Division III) — It's pretty amazing how quickly Clovis North, which is in the same year of development as Mira Monte and Independence (though the Broncos have played varsity sports for a year longer) has gotten intself into the section conversation in so many sports. Never is that more clear than now, with the teams girls soccer — Clovis North was the D-III runner-up to Golden Valley last year — and wrestling teams making big-time waves.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Fresno-Hoover, 3-0; won Friday vs. Fresno-Edison, 1-0
NEXT WEEK: Wednesday at Sanger; Friday vs. Reedley

Waiting: Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, Madera, Oakhurst-Yosemite, Visalia-El Diamante, Madera Ranchos-Liberty, Bakersfield Christian, Fresno-McLane, Centennial, Tollhouse-Sierra

Like with the basketball rankings, you've got to have your salt with these, and it's especially true here. No one shies away from using MaxPreps like boys soccer coaches, and it's really hard to get all the information you need on some of these teams. So if you know of results that would help out here, please feel free to let me know.

What's not in doubt, I wouldn't think, is the No. 1 team here.

Girls soccer will be posted late tonight or tomorrow.

1. Golden Valley (20-0-1, 7-0-0 Southeast Yosemite, Division III) — When you can play soccer with flair and ball control, the results are usually pretty good. It's why Brazil and Spain will be among the World Cup favorites this summer, and it's why Golden Valley can play button-down defense — thanks, Abel Hinojosa — while having the ability to strike for goals at any time — Julio Cruz and Roberto Moreno.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Bakersfield, 3-0; Friday vs. Garces

2.Tulare Western (15-1-2, 7-0-0 East Yosemite, Division II) — Next year, we'd be looking forward to a showdown between these top two; this year, we've already had it, in the final of the Garces Tournament's Elite Division. Golden Valley took it, 1-0, behind a goal from Cruz. The Bulldogs could have had more in the first half, but Tulare Western made a few pushes of its own in the second.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Chavez, 2-0; won Thursday vs. Porterville-Monache, 3-1; today vs. Tulare Union

3. Farmersville (20-1-3, 4-0-0 East Sierra, Division VI) — It's pretty safe to say this is the highest you'll see a Division VI team in the Central Section rankings for any sport. Big props to the Aztecs, who earned it with a tough non-league slate that included wins against Clovis West, Madera South, Tranquillity and Avenal and ties against Golden West and Golden Valley (and they beat the Bulldogs in a shootout in that game to boot.)
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. Laton, 9-1; won Wednesday vs. McFarland, 5-3; today vs. Cambria-Coast Union

4. Clovis-Buchanan (10-4-0, 3-1-0 Tri-River, Division I) — It's also probably safe to say this is the lowest you'll see a Division I team make its first appearance in a ranking set, and you could argue that the Bears belong below Golden West, too, after a loss to Madera this week. But I'll give them the nod here for a tougher schedule that includes a slew of good wins, including a big-time TRAC win against Central. This is your front-runner for the No. 1 seed in Division I.
THIS WEEK: lost Tuesday vs. Madera, 3-2; today at No. 9 Clovis West

5. Visalia-Golden West (15-3-4, 6-0-1 West Yosemite, Division II) — There are some solid teams — Redwood and Hanford, to name two — in the WYL, but the Trailblazers are well above the rest. Wins against a couple of TRAC teams and Wasco prove that, as does the sparkling league mark. Is a rematch with Tulare Western (1-0 loss the first time) coming in the D-II championship game?
THIS WEEK: won Monday vs. Visalia-El Diamante, 1-0; tied Wednesday vs. Hanford, 2-2; today vs. Hanford West

6. Wasco (13-3-5, 4-0-1 South Sequoia, Division IV) — A slow start keeps the Tigers from being in the discussion for a top-five spot (ties against Mira Monte, McFarland and Redwood and a loss to Shafter), but they've been nails ever since winning the Premier Division at the Garces tourney. They've avenged the Shafter game and lost only 3-2 decisions to Tulare Western and Golden West.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Taft, 4-0; won Thursday vs. No. 13 Shafter, 2-0

7. Fresno-Central (12-4-3, 4-1-1 TRAC, Division I) — Needless to say a 4-1 defeat at Buchanan wasn't what the Grizzlies had in mind when they went to Clovis for the first big meeting of TRAC favorites, but there will be a return trip for last year's D-I runners-up (to Bullard).
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. No. 9 Clovis West, 1-0; today at Clovis East

8. Liberty (10-5-1, 7-1-0 SEYL, Division I) — Here's another team that has flown under the radar because of a slow start. The Patriots were swept out of their own tournament to open the season by Wasco, Bakersfield and Shafter, but they've since gone 10-2-1 with close losses to Tulare Western and Golden Valley (in overtime). They'll be a playoff factor.
THIS WEEK: won Monday vs. Bakersfield, 2-1; won Wednesday vs. Foothill, 3-1; today vs. East

9. Clovis West (8-8-3, 2-2-1 TRAC, Division I) — The record isn't gaudy, and the Golden Eagles need to find a big win somewhere before their playoff seeding is hurt, but the potential is there — witness a 6-0 win against Memorial or a pair of ties against Central.
THIS WEEK: lost Tuesday at No. 7 Fresno-Central, 1-0; today vs. No. 4 Clovis-Buchanan

10. Fresno-Sunnyside (13-4-1, 6-0-0 North Yosemite, Division II) — The story with top NYL teams in many sports is that they have to gear up for playoffs after a weak league slate, but that's not really the case in soccer: Sunnyside, Memorial and Madera South are staging an interesting race that comes after they all faired well in non-league play.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Fresno-Roosevelt, 4-0; won Thursday at Fresno, 2-1

11. San Luis Obispo-Mission Prep (13-0-0, independent, Division V) — Much of the Royals' undefeated season has come against weak competition or against Southern Section teams from the coast, so it's a bit hard to place them. A 3-1 win against Shafter early in the year, though, says a lot.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Cambria-Coast Union, 3-0; today at Lynwood-Firebaugh

12. Kingsburg (13-2-2, 7-0-0 Central Sequoia, Division IV) — Not a whole bunch of results to write home about here, but the Vikings do have a sparkling record and a history of success in other sports. Couple that with a nice win against CSL No. 2 Dinuba, and you've got a Division IV title threat.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. Selma, 3-0; today at Reedley-Immanuel

13. Shafter (12-4-0, 4-1-0 South Sequoia, Division IV) — Early wins against Wasco and Liberty tell you how good Shafter can be when it's playing well. But they've got to find a way around SSL roadblock Wasco to avoid a No. 3 seed or lower in the Division IV bracket. That would potentially put them on the road to Kingsburg (or Wasco) in the semifinals.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Tehachapi, 7-0; lost Thursday at Wasco, 2-0; today vs. Arvin

14. Tranquillity (10-3-0, 3-0-0 West Sierra League, Division VI) — The set of Central Section Tigers you don't hear much about have some soccer firepower, with 49 goals in 13 games, including a 6-0 win against Avenal that gives them control of the WSiL.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. Firebaugh, 4-2; today at Dos Palos

15. Stockdale (7-4-5, 6-0-3 Southwest Yosemite, Division I) — A slow start and no notable wins makes me doubt the Mustangs a bit, but they're the kind of team that plays possession soccer, and while that doesn't produce a lot of highlights, it keeps Stockdale in every game. That's why they're unbeaten in a quality league.
THIS WEEK: tied Tuesday vs. South, 2-2; won Thursday vs. North, 4-0

Waiting: Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial, Dinuba, Avenal, Madera South, Madera, Riverdale, Fresno-Bullard, Centennial, Parlier, Tulare Union

Here goes a shot at girls basketball, which normally is a sport where the best teams have no problems with teams underneath them but don't stand a prayer against the teams above them. Odd that this year, that hasn't always been the case. Some teams have obviously progressed as the season has gone on, and that's why some rankings don't always reflect early head-to-head results.

Keep in mind all rankings and records are before Thursday night's games.

1. Hanford (19-3, 6-0 West Yosemite, Division II) — This won't surprise anyone who's followed the section's girls hardcourt. The Bullpups beat Clovis West in the teams' last meeting (early last season) and best the Golden Eagles on their only common opponent this year, Albany-St. Mary's, which beat CW by 4 but lost big to Hanford.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Lemoore, 102-37; Friday at No. 15 Visalia-Redwood

2. Clovis West (13-4, 3-0 Tri-River, Division I) — After an upset loss to Stockdale in last year's D-I championship, the Golden Eagles look safe atop that bracket this year, with big wins against the Mustangs and Buchanan already chalked up. Next year, Hanford will move up to D-I, and things could get really interesting.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at No. 11 Clovis East, 85-45; Friday at Madera

3. Oakhurst-Yosemite (19-2, 2-0 North Sequoia, Division II) — One of the nice things about the new playoff system is that it all but ensures that the best playoff game won't be a Division II affair. The Badgers were the first team in four years to go into Stockdale and win.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at Fresno-Washington Union, 79-35; Friday vs. Chowchilla

4. Stockdale (19-3, 6-0 Southwest Yosemite, Division I) — The loss of Melissa Sweat, a two-time Californian Player of the Year, obviously doesn't help, but I think the Mustangs miss Alexi Smith's inside presence even more. That's not to say this isn't still a very good team.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday at South, 66-16; today at North

5. Clovis-Buchanan (15-4, 2-1 TRAC, Division I) — The Bears have lost just once against section competition in 14 tries, and that was a relatively tame 17-point loss to Clovis West last week. The wins are big-time: Edison twice, Corcoran, Memorial, Redwood, Clovis twice. It'll be fun to see the Bears come to Stockdale for a D-I semifinal.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. No. 9 Clovis, 81-69; Friday vs. No. 11 Clovis East

6. Fresno-Edison (15-5, 3-0 County-Metro, Division I) — This could be your underrated team of the section. The Tigers' four in-section losses are to Yosemite, Clovis and Buchanan twice, and they've got plenty of quality wins, too. A couple of teams they haven't played? How about Clovis West and Stockdale, both of whom struggle in only one category, the paint. Edison has a couple of six-footers. Hmm."
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Sanger, 60-37; Friday at Fresno-Hoover

7. Garces (19-2, 6-0 Southeast Yosemite, Division II) — With early-season losses to Memorial and Frontier wiped away by a 15-game winning streak that includes a revenge victory against the Titans and wins against Ridgeview and Bakersfield, here's one of those teams that's getting better. The reason is obvious: Garces has just seven players and rarely subs from its starting five. As the Rams get in better shape, opponents have more and more trouble.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Highland, 83-27; Friday vs. Golden Valley

8. Corcoran (14-5, 3-0 East Sequoia, Division IV) — Boys soccer, which we'll take a look at tomorrow, seems to be the sport where schools that don't enjoy a lot of success in other sports make bigtime waves, but girls basketball isn't too far behind. Corcoran has a fine athletic program all-around, but it's in girls hoops where the Panthers can step toe-to-toe with just about anyone, regardless of size — ask Bullard, Liberty, Centennial and Clovis, all Corcoran victims.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Hanford West, 73-57

9. Clovis (18-5, 2-1 TRAC, Division I) — Few teams funnel their offense through two players as much as the Cougars: Kylie Harbin and Nikki Chapple combine for almost 60 percent of Clovis' scoring. Tough to take away both of them.
THIS WEEK: lost Wednesday at No. 5 Clovis-Buchanan; Friday vs. Fresno-Central

10. Frontier (16-4, 5-1 SWYL, Division III) — Another section title could be order for the young school, considering the Titans play down in D-III, where they won't meet resistance like Stockdale and Garces, the only two section teams to beat them. And with Gabi Morales and Malea Miller, Frontier has two of the better scorers in town.
THIS WEEK: won Tuesday vs. West, 71-48

11. Clovis East (9-10, 1-2 TRAC, Division I) — Much like Clovis West in football, don't be fooled by the record here. The Timberwolves have lost seven games to Central Section schools, and all have been to teams in the top nine of these rankings. Three of them have been by less than 10 points.
THIS WEEK: lost Wednesday vs. No. 2 Clovis West, 85-45; Friday at No. 5 Buchanan

12. Bakersfield (18-4, 5-1 SEYL, Division I) — Hard to believe the Drillers have the record they do and are still just the seventh D-I team listed here. But a one-point loss to Frontier and a lack of quality wins (best are Ridgeview, Independence and Liberty) leaves me unsure of what to do with them.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Golden Valley, 59-39; Friday vs. Centennial

13. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (19-7, 3-0 North Yosemite, Division IV) — If the Panthers were with their boys team up in Division II, they be buried under pretty quickly come playoff time. But down in D-IV, they've got a clear path to the final and a probable meeting with No. 8 Corcoran.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday at Fresno-Sunnyside, 47-41; Friday vs. Fresno-McLane

14. Porterville-Monache (13-3, 5-0 East Yosemite, Division II) — Just one loss in the Central Section (and that was to Hanford), but the Marauders haven't played many teams of note. One more game against Tulare Western likely is their only chance to trip up before the playoffs.
THIS WEEK: Wednesday at Porterville (no score available); today vs. Porterville-Granite Hills

15. Visalia-Redwood (12-8, 5-1 WYL, Division II) — The Rangers won by 20 against Hanford West and by four at Lemoore a couple of weeks ago, which in a normal West Yosemite League sport would qualify league-championship caliber games. Not so in girls hoops, where Hanford reigns supreme. Still, Redwood has nice wins and very quality losses.
THIS WEEK: won Wednesday vs. Visalia-Mt. Whitney, 78-24; Friday vs. No. 1 Hanford

Waiting: Ridgeview, Fresno-Bullard, Sanger, Tulare Western, Hanford West, Clovis North, Independence, Tollhouse-Sierra, Liberty, Fresno Christian

I'm going to have to take a pass on rankings today; they'll return Thursday, I promise, and I still hope to have girls basketball and both soccer rankings done by the end of the week.

Today, we'll discuss some more long-term news. The Central Section board of directors approved a new playoff system this morning in Porterville by a 31-4 vote. Teams will now individually be placed into divisions with a competition-based system.

Basically, that means that if a team has done well in the two previous years, it could be moving up a division; if it's struggled, it'll move down. This is not entirely different from the current system, but right now, schools are evaluated on their program as a whole, without regard to a particular sport that might be excelling or struggling (that's why, for example, a team like Golden Valley soccer or Ridgeview basketball is down in Division III, while a program like Bakersfield softball remains in Division I).

The lopsided vote shows you that most leagues — the East Yosemite and Central Sequoia Leagues were the only dissenters — are ready to have playoffs that give every team in every sport a fair shake. No more will a struggling program be forced to face teams it can't compete with.

The downside, of course, is that in a way this punishes over-achievers. A team with a small enrollment can play over its head for a couple of years and essentially be punished with tougher competiition for the next two years. A team that struggles with lots of resources could be rewarded with a weaker playoff bracket.

In terms of football, the biggest change will be that Visalia-El Diamante, Tulare Union and Fresno-Edison will be moving up to Division I to join the TRAC schools, Fresno-Central, Bakersfield, Stockdale, Liberty and Centennial.

The moves are based on a points system — Each team gets points for its league finish, playoff seeding and playoff results over the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years. Then, in two years, we'll re-align again based on this school year and next. Teams can appeal their move, but there's no guarantee the section will listen. They have until Feb. 15 this year to do so.

The other major provision in this rule change — one I can really get behind — is that there will be a minimum of 13 teams in each division for each sport. That means we'll see no more teams ducking out of Division I or sitting by themselves in Division VI with only a handful of others. Every playoff division will be deep and, theoretically, equal.

Thoughts? Questions? It's a bit of a complicated process, and I don't have the exact alignment just yet (I should have it tomorrow), but I had a lengthy conversation with section commissioner Jim Crichlow today and can probably explain whatever part of this is bugging you.

By popular demand, I'm using this week to do some Central Section rankings of winter sports, leaving out wrestling, which has a very convenient and well-done set of its own over at The California Wrestler.

And, like a freshman stepping to the free-throw line in a one-point game and no time on the clock, I'm scared to death.

Yes, I do football rankings every week in the fall, and theoretically, basketball and soccer shouldn't be any tougher. But they are. Part of the problem is that The Californian doesn't cover these sports like we do football — we don't get all the scores, don't get the stats, don't have the bodies out there making observations. Coaches (especially, ahem, soccer coaches, it seems, and yes, I'm calling out those of you who don't) also aren't nearly as good about keeping MaxPreps updated. Less information means it's harder for me to determine nuances between teams.

I'm starting with boys basketball, which presents its own set of problems. Several teams around Kern County have had key players missing for certain games, like Kaylin Evans and Robert Roberts for Ridgeview tonight against Centennial, or Cody Kessler for the Golden Hawks earlier this season. Mostly because of injuries, Bakersfield has only had its full lineup for a handful of games. And even the teams that have been together have had disparate results: Stockdale lost to Ridgeview by six, then beat it by 15 (the Wolf Pack was full-strength for both games). The Mustangs lost to Clovis by 11 but beat Fresno-Bullard by three. Wouldn't you know that Bullard beat Clovis by four when the teams played?

So, anyway, suffice it to say that these rankings are a work in progress, and only one man's best guess at a work in progress at that. But here we go. Enjoy and discuss.

1. Clovis East (15-5, 2-0 Tri-River, Division I) — Hard to top the Timberwolves' pedigree — a 2008 section title and and a TRAC championship last year — and schedule — they've gone out of the section for all but four games this year and done well against some of the state's best.
THIS WEEK: today at No. 7 Clovis West; Saturday vs. No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan

2. Clovis-Buchanan (14-4, 2-0 TRAC, Division I) — The team that ended Clovis East's run last year was No. 9-seeded Buchanan, which escaped Stockdale in Round 1 and then gave everyone a taste of what was to come this season by shocking the T'wolves.  Buchanan's only section loss was to Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial.
THIS WEEK: Wednesday vs. No. 8 Clovis; Saturday at No. 1 Clovis East

3. Fresno-Central (14-3, 1-1 TRAC, Division I) — No question the TRAC is top dog when it comes to boys basketball leagues. We already mentioned Buchanan's upset of Clovis East last year; Central was the league's runner-up and went all the way to the Division I final before losing to Fresno-Edison. This year, that trio has lost just three games to Central Section teams — one coming when the Grizzlies lost to Clovis East.
THIS WEEK: today at Madera; Friday vs. No. 8 Clovis

4. Stockdale (13-5, 4-1 Southwest Yosemite, Division I) — For now, I give the Mustangs the nod as Kern County's top team because I think they've been the most consistent, and because they've had success against teams from Fresno — wins against Bullard and Memorial against a loss to Clovis. Still a little concerned about Stockdale's ability to get scoring outside of Jordan Burris.
THIS WEEK: today vs. South; Thursday vs. North

5. Fresno-Bullard (12-6, 2-0 County-Metro, Division I) — The Knights are one of those teams that's hard to figure out — a 28-point win against a short-handed Bakersfield team and wins against Central, Clovis, Centennial and Edison, but also losses to Stockdale and Tulare Union. We know from football that the athletes are there.
THIS WEEK: today at Fresno-Hoover; Thursday vs. Clovis North

6. Ridgeview (16-3, 3-2 SWYL, Division III) — When it's playing well and is at full-strength, the Wolf Pack is a top-three section team. When it's not — like tonight, or several other nights, when Evans and/or Roberts are absent — it's still very good and plenty good enough to win D-III. Time will tell which team we get in the playoffs.
THIS WEEK: today vs. No. 9 Centennial; Thursday vs. West

7. Clovis West (12-4, 0-2 TRAC, Division I) — Another team that could certainly argue it's in the top 5, but most of the Golden Eagles' competition has come against out-of-section teams, so it's hard to get a grasp on exactly how good they are. Losses to Central and Buchanan to start league isn't great, but a lot of teams would lose to those two.
THIS WEEK: today vs. No. 1 Clovis East; Friday vs. Madera

8. Clovis (10-7, 1-1 TRAC, Division I) — Outside of Madera, there just aren't many easy games in this league (and the Coyotes are no pushover, either). The Cougars could very well finish fifth in the league, and they've beaten both Bakersfield and Stockdale. Impressive.
THIS WEEK: Wednesday at No. 2 Clovis-Buchanan; Friday at No. 3 Fresno-Central

9. Centennial (12-9, 4-1 SWYL, Division I) — When all-star point guard Cody Kessler is present, that record jumps to 10-4, 4-0. He's been everything to this team now that its main big man, Nick Jenson, is playing at Utah Valley. Kessler can do it all, though, and the Golden Hawks are scrappy enough and shoot it well enough otherwise to make them tough to beat.
THIS WEEK: today at No. 6 Ridgeview

10. Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial (15-5, 2-0 North Yosemite, Division II) — It's really too bad Memorial isn't in a better league, because it had had an impressive non-conference run, pounding the likes of Tulare Union, Lemoore and Frontier and also beating Buchanan and Clovis. Of course, Sunnyside (15-1) and Madera South (11-4) may yet provide a challenge.
THIS WEEK: today vs. Fresno-Sunnyside; Thursday at Fresno-McLane

11. Bakersfield (12-6, 5-0 Southeast Yosemite, Division I) — Alfonso Jackson joined the team late, and Tim Billingsley missed some games with a broken nose. With both of them, the Drillers are 3-0 with an impressive win against Liberty in there. If this team continues to come together, it has enough athletes to make section-wide noise.
THIS WEEK: Wednesday at Golden Valley

12. Fresno-Edison (8-8, 1-1 CMAC, Division I) — The defending Division I champions have struggled in the early-going, with the Tigers' best in-section win coming against Clovis North. Close losses to Clovis East, Bullard and Bakersfield suggest that Edison might be able to make a similar run as 2009, when it came from the No. 5 seed to win it all.
THIS WEEK: today at Sanger; Thursday vs. Fresno-Hoover

13. Tulare Union (15-3, 5-0 East Yosemite, Division II) — Here's another quandary: What do you do with the Redskins, who own a great win against Bullard but have lost to Visalia-Mt. Whitney and don't play a particularly awe-inspiring schedule. I will say they've got a great chance of running the table in the EYL.
THIS WEEK: today at Tulare Western; Friday at Chavez

14. Visalia-Central Valley Christian (13-4, 5-0 Central Sequoia, Division IV) — As usual, CVC has bumped up to beat some big boys (Fresno-Hoover) and dominated smaller teams. They're odds-on favorites in their league and section.
THIS WEEK: today vs. Exeter; Thursday at Coalinga

15. Liberty (12-7, 3-2 SEYL, Division II) — For a school that's Division I in just about everything else, Liberty has done predictably well in D-II basketball over the past couple of years (for the record, LHS is one of the section's smallest D-I schools). This year, as long as they have nifty point guard Sam Marcus, they'll be a factor.
THIS WEEK: Wednesday vs. Foothill; Friday vs. East

Waiting: Fresno-Hoover, Hanford West, Lemoore, Fresno-Sunnyside, Golden Valley, Garces, Clovis North, Chavez, Madera South

In case you haven't had enough SWYL drama today, I just talked to Ridgeview coach Bobby Sharp, who said his top two scorers, Robert Roberts (16.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Kaylin Evans (14.2 ppg, 13.6 rpg) will not play tomorrow night at home against Centennial. They both missed last week's loss at Frontier with an off-court discipline issue.

Neither will play in Thursday's game against West, either, though Sharp said he hopes both can return next week.

Obviously this will hurt Ridgeview against Centennial, but the bigger question for me is whether Roberts and Evans, who have been in and out of trouble for their whole careers, can shape up enough down the stretch to let Ridgeview make a postseason run. Or, perhaps, whether they should be allowed to. At this point, it's a fair question.

By the way, I am working on some Central Section basketball and soccer rankings. It's a bit of a slow process, but I hope to have all four sports, girls and boys, up by the end of the week.

In regards to the situation that happened after the Centennial-Frontier boys basketball game that we've discussed at length in the last couple of blog posts (one and two), particularly in the comments, I think there's one side that hasn't been covered, and that's the perspective of Centennial coach Alex Lee, who allegedly lost his temper and was at the center of the shouting match/argument/whatever it was that happened after the Golden Hawks won 80-73.

Lee, the 2008 Californian Coach of the Year, has had technical problems with his phone, he said, and so wasn't able to return my call until Sunday night. He left a detailed voicemail with what happened from his eyes:

— Lee and Frontier coach Jeremy Pierce are good friends, but Lee says what Pierce said in the handshake line after the game struck him as unsportsmanlike and "hurt me deeply." He didn't go into detail about what was said, but it wasn't a knock on his coaching ability, which is what had been intimated to me by Pierce. Either way, Lee said he's over it and that he and Pierce are fine and still friends.

— He didn't use any language stronger than "BS." He said he did take his complaints to Frontier athletic director Ryan Geivet but never elevated his language past that point.

— As far as Cody Kessler holding Lee back, that wasn't the case. Lee said he was on his way to the weight room that served as Centennial's locker room in order to remove himself from the situation, and Kessler thought he was doing something else and so held him back to calm him down. But Lee said he was headed to the locker room on his own.

— Lee said he did lose his temper and regretted the way he handled the situation. "If I had it to do over again, I would act differently," he said. But he didn't sound as if he had completely gotten over Pierce's comment, either.

Again, that's all from Lee's perspective. So take it as you will, but I thought it important to get that out there.

Hope that clears some things up a bit. In any case, let's take a deep breath here and not treat this as a bigger deal than it is: It was an argument that took place in the heat of the moment, escalated into a bit of a scene and quickly died down without any laws or (m)any rules being broken.

Tuesday, Centennial takes on Ridgeview in a huge game for the SWYL race. The Wolf Pack has its own set of problems, mainly that Kaylin Evans and Robert Roberts were suspended from the team last week for an off-court disciplinary issue. Still trying to find out whether they'll be active tomorrow, but I'll post as soon as I know. If they don't play, obviously that's a blow to Ridgeview, but the Wolf Pack is good enough and deep enough to challenge about any team in the city even without them. We shall see.

larger view

Tom Hanks said it about life as Forrest Gump and he said it as Paul Edgecomb about The Green Mile, but it's true for my job, too: You never know quite what you're going to get when you walk to work to every day as the Californian preps writer.

Today, the first order of business is to set the record straight concerning something that happened last night here at School House Zach — on the comments of this post, you'll see a story related about the Frontier-Centennial boys basketball game that says, in essence, Centennial coach Alex Lee went off the deep end after Frontier coach Jeremy Pierce said something to the effect of "You're lucky" after a close Golden Hawks win.

Have heard from both Pierce and Frontier athletic director Ryan Geivet that that's not exactly how things went down. Pierce says he did say something to Lee, an old friend, in the handshake line after the game in regards to Cody Kessler, who scored 30 more points in the 80-73 victory. According to Pierce, he said, "Hey, I wish I had a 40-point-a-game scorer," which he admits was a poor choice of words. He was trying to say, "Hey, Cody's a great player" not "You only won because of Cody." Pierce, in fact, said he thinks Lee is a better coach than he is. He also said the two talked afterwards, quickly reconciled and are having a barbecue this weekend.

Geivet also chimed in with an e-mail saying Lee was never in his face. Lee's apparent retreat to the weight room was because that's where his team was — visitors at Frontier use it as their locker room.

Haven't been able to get a hold of Lee yet, but I'll update this when I do. Until then, let's consider it a matter of miscommunication and leave it at that.

Today's other surprise? Well, area baseball fans will remember Grant Desme (pictured above), who starred for Stockdale a few years back, then went to Cal Poly, would up as a second-round draft pick of the Oakland A's and has been making his way up through the team's minor-league organization. He ended last year with Stockton of the Cal League (even coming through Bakersfield a couple of times), was the MVP of the Arizona Fall League and probably was going to be placed in Double-A or higher this coming spring. He's ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the A's organization by Baseball America.

So what's next for this budding star from Bakersfield? Well, he's becoming a priest.

Yep, that's right. The guy's trading in cleats for clergy, drunken fans for a congregation and home runs for sermons. But jokes aside, I seriously admire a guy who is willing to give up what so many dream of doing for what he wants to do with life and feels like he should do. Would have been fun to see him continue to climb baseball's ranks, but if he's happy doing this and helping people, much more power to him.

Here's a post about what Desme's eventual major-league prospects might have looked like.

Anyone who has paid attention to Central Section high school soccer knows the prowess of Golden Valley, which has thrived under coach Troy Lynch. Lynch has brought a defensive mindset to a talented group, and they've more or less dominated the area over the past two years.

A couple of years after winning their first Central Section title in 2005-06, Golden Valley really amped up its level. In 2007-08, the Bulldogs went 25-5-1, losing the section title game to Fresno-Roosevelt despite controlling the run of play for most of that time. Last year, GV started 18-0-3 before slipping up a couple of times in the second half of SEYL play, but the Bulldogs still won the league, their second section title and a 25-2-3 mark.

But this year's team couldn't live up to those lofty heights, could it? Not with losing All-Area Player of the Year Matt Clemons, a defender, leading goal-scorer Joel Juaregui and sweeper Mario Mendoza, surely. But here we are, midway through league season again, and Golden Valley is 18-0-1 with an Elite Division championship at the Garces tournament — the first Kern County school to do that in more than a decade — and wins against Bakersfield (x2), Liberty, Arvin, Shafter, Fresno-Central and Tulare Western, all of which are having nice seasons. The only blemish was a penalty-shootout loss to Farmersville, which goes as a tie on the record. The Bulldogs' game with Highland last night was postponed because of the inclement weather and field conditions.

And people are noticing. Lynch sent me a note today, reminding me of something I'd seen before: ESPN Rise ranks Golden Valley No. 14 in California and No. 34 nationally among states that play soccer in winter (and Texas and Florida are two of those, if you're into high school power-brokering arguments). That's pretty heady company.

The problem is that Golden Valley is a Division III team in the Central Section. That means the Bulldogs will be more than heavily favored to win another section title, sure, but the only CIF playoff in soccer is a Southern California regional, and just one Central Section team — from any division — is accepted into the field. Are the Bulldogs going to be picked ahead of a Division I champion? Well, if it's Bakersfield, Liberty or Central, sure they are. But what if it's Clovis-Buchanan, which leads the Tri-River Athletic Conference? You would hope the CIF would take a look at those ranking, but you never know. And it'd be a shame if we didn't get to see how the Bulldogs would stack up against some Southern Cal competition at the end of the season.

Speaking of state-wide comparisons, a new batch of state wrestling rankings are out over at The California Wrestler. You can find them here. Bakersfield High is ranked No. 2 in the state to Clovis, with a third Central Section team, Selma, coming in at No. 3. BHS and Clovis tangle for the third time this year at this week's Temecula Valley Invitational. The Cougars have won the first two meeting, but the Drillers should have close to a full team down at TV.

A couple of notes on those rankings: Bakersfield 152-pounder Adam Fierro is missing, and I'm not sure why. He's been hurt, and he's since been wrestling at 160, but he's supposedly going 152 this weekend and is a defending section runner-up at 145 and was a couple of matches away from placing at state last year. I think he'll prove he belongs in the top eight somewhere by season's end. Also, there are a number of locals — Frontier's Shane Ellis and Lance Castaneda come to mind, as does Chavez's Noel Gomez — who I think are on the cusp of those rankings, or at least the honorable mention. And Frontier has to be awfully close to breaking through in the top 30 teams standings. Part of this might be a problem of getting the statewide wrestling community to realize that there is good wrestling in Bakersfield outside of BHS.

We'll see in March, and you can too — the state meet is March 5-6 at Rabobank Arena.

In a turn of events that not many who follow high school football around here would call shocking, Bakersfield Christian athletic director Doug Barnett re-installed himself as the school's football coach after watching Matt Love follow Barnett's back-to-back section-championship seasons with a 3-8 effort last year.

Of course, that's not entirely fair: Barnett had a lot of talent on those 2007 and 2008 teams, most notably Jake Peterson and Derek Carr, who pushed Peterson to wide receiver when he arrived, right arm in holster, from the Houston area for his senior year. Love didn't have that last year, but I was surprised that the Eagles faded as badly as they did. There were some good players on that team.

Barnett apparently thought so too. He told me "the decision to move forward had nothing to do with Xs and Os and had nothing to do with wins and losses," but he also said, "There's no easy way for me to say this. Matt did a great job, loved our kids and treated our kids well. But you know as well as I do, in the football world, I believe there are right ways to do things and even better ways to do it. As a school, we decided to go in a different direction."

Barnett decided to stop coaching at about this time last year to spend more time with his family and he got to do just that. But after discussing matters with his wife and kids, he decided he missed the sideline too much to stay away.

"I wouldn't trade the year with my family for anything," he said, "but when you love what you do and you've been successful, absolutely you do miss it. And even though you're around them, it's not quite the same when you're not in the trenches."

Interesting point about Love: I called what was his cell phone as of about six weeks ago, and a man answered said I had the wrong number. Hmm. Changed his number, I guess. For the record, Barnett said he did offer Love a spot on the "varsity staff," but Love declined it.

You know what all this tells me? Bakersfield Christian, and by extension Barnett, wants to win. And it wants to win badly. There's nothing wrong with that, persay, so long as you don't sacrifice ethics to get there. But like we've seen with private schools in the Los Angeles area this offseason, sometimes these things go overboard.

Does Bakersfield Christian (or Garces, which has a mighty history of success as well) going overboard? I wouldn't say that. But look at BCHS' track record: Two years ago, Barnett and highly successful volleyball coach Judy Rexroth parted ways, somewhat less than amicably, after Rexroth wouldn't dissolve her volleyball club, one that the school encouraged her to start in the first place. The school consistently competes in the lowest section division possible, presumably so it can better compete in state playoffs and bowl rankings (BCHS is Division IV when the state mandates the division by school size; in the sports where the section decides, like football, BCHS has remained Div. V). And now this.

From what I can tell, Bakersfield Christian provides a wonderful atmosphere for its student-athletes. The kids and coaches all seem happy, they're generally classy, they do put a genuine emphasis on religion and some of the brightest and most-prepared high school athletes for college I've ever seen have come from BCHS. And, like I said, what's wrong with trying to win? Isn't that the point?

But there's no point in hiding it: BCHS is most certainly trying to win. And after a very successful 2008-09 school year, the school is struggling almost across the board in 2009-10 (girls tennis a notable exception). If I were a coach of one of those teams, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel if the struggling continued.

On another note, there's a great one-on-one matchup in high school basketball tonight between Stockdale's Jordan Burris (23.4 points a game) and Centennial's Cody Kessler (30.2). Both love to get to the basket and both are good defenders, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them on each other much of the night. And it's a key matchup in the SWYL standings, as well. Fun stuff out at Centennial. If you don't make it out, follow along on Twitter, @zewing.

In case you missed it this weekend, East High honored the greatest basketball coach it has ever seen — and perhaps the greatest Kern County has ever seen — in 79-year-old Ralph Krafve. The Blades lost to Bakersfield that night, but that didn't do much to dampen spirits around East. You can find some coverage, my story and some great photos, here and here.

This weekend's other news came in wrestling, where Bakersfield went to the state's other behometh of a tournament, the Five Counties Championships, a week after placing second at the Doc Buchanan Invitational. They added a third place, behind Selma and Santa Ana-Calvary Chapel, at the Five Counties. Selma's performances — it was third at the Doc B — are impressive, but keep in mind BHS went to each tourney with just eight of a possible 14 wrestlers in its lineup. On an individual level, 160-pound senior Bryce Hammond won both tournaments; I'd say that makes him a prohibitive favorite at the state tournament in seven weeks at Rabobank Arena.

Also, read this. It's some, um, unique news. Sad, and I hope everyone's OK, but it's easy to have a sense of humor about, too.