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I love the preseason. Anticipation builds, players and fans get psyched, coaches preach patience, everybody waits for the start date, and in the meantime, people like me churn out predictions that turn out to be totally wrong.
Well, today, I'm not alone. I'm going to link to CalHiSports'...
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Are you one of those people who can't believe it'll be high school time in three mere weeks? In Alaska, they've already started. I know most of us can't wait for game days to get here, but that seems a bit early even for me. Of course, with the weather and light restrictions you've got as it...
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Clearly the biggest high school football offseason story in Kern County was the arrival of Derek Carr. Long rumored to be coming home to Bakersfield, Carr left behind a 13-1 team at Sugar Land-Clements in the Houston area to play in the city where his older brother, David, played for Stockdale...
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I don't know what to say to introduce the Taft preview, other than that it'd be wise of you to pay attention the next three days. The Wildcats, plus league rivals Bakersfield Christian and Tehachapi, are going to be three terrific teams next year. How in the world you can confidently predict the...
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Quickly (or knowing me, not so quickly), a non-football related note (gasp!).
I’m a sucker for the Olympics. I have friends who tell me they’re stupid, boring, don’t matter, strange sports, etc., and maybe some or all of that is true. But I don’t care. It’s...
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Maybe it's a California/nice weather thing, but this is the first I ever recall the high school football season starting AFTER college football and the NFL. Week 0 games (countdown: 29 days) begin Sept. 5; the NFL kicks off the previous day, with Washington facing the New York Giants, and college...
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Today we pass another milestone in the long trek of 2008 preseason football. Our team previews here at School House Zach have ventured into the South Sequoia League. We start with a team that fell off the face of the Earth last year after two straight winning seasons. Will this year bring about...
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The number of schools in Kern County grows every year, it seems, and this one certainly is no exception. The Kern High School District opens the doors to two new high schools on Aug. 18, Independence in the southwest and Mira Monte in the southeast. The Delano Joint Unified School District, after...
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In case anyone missed it, the first day of helmet-and-footballs practice for high school football teams was Monday — what I consider the first "official" day of the season.
Check out the Californian's unparalleled coverage of Day 1, complete with my journies across town and a...
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Well, well, well. It's finally here, the first day teams across the county were allowed to bring out footballs and helmets. Pads come next week, but for me, this is the first official day of high school football season.
Optimism reigns everywhere this time of year, but I'm going to go ahead and...
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For all of the schools left to be previewed (Chavez today, Delano tomorrow and then the SSL and the city schools), we'll go to an extended format, with the exception of Tuesday, when I'll take a quick look at the three new schools in the county: Independence, Mira Monte and Robert F. Kennedy...
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There's a smell coming in the air, and it's not smog or smoke.
It smells more like barbeque, fall air and pigskin. That's because high school football is getting closer and closer. The latest sign? Our high school football previews are finishing up with the Southern Section, wrapping up with the...
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Friday night, but no lights yet.
We'll see some next week when full practices begin. Until then, there's our high school football previews. Today we go south and northeast into a couple of mountain towns where they play some pretty good football (no, not THAT one, not yet).
FRAZIER MOUNTAIN...
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Say goodbye to July, which means August — and football season — are right around the corner. Kern High School District teams can begin practice with footballs and helmets Monday. Today, we continue our preview trek through the Southern Section and into the High Desert League.
...
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Our daily high school football previews are moving out of 8-man territory and into the 11-man game we all know and love. And today we bring you a couple of teams from the edge of Kern County that will be worth keeping your peripherals on.
Countdown to Week 0: 37 days
BORON BOBCATS
Coach: Todd...
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It's my birthday today, and while that might not mean a whole lot to you, I bring it up for a reason (and it's not to get anonymous well-wishers in blog comments, I assure you).
My birthday, to me, in the past few years has meant less about me getting a year older (I'm 24, if you care) and more...
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I've just found out some interesting information regarding movement of athletic directors in the Kern High School District. I'll share.
The district's budget constraints that were much bally-hooed earlier this year didn't seem to affect much of anything as far as coaches and sports were...
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There are 33 high school football teams in Kern County, at different levels, and every last one of them has fans.
That's why, over the next four weeks, we'll be previewing each and every high school team in the area here at School House Zach. I'll run a smaller bare-bones preview on some of the...
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Here's something I've been wondering about for a while, and because I'm nerdy and all, have kind of taken a keen interest in.
Take a look at this page, scroll down past the first image and download the .pdf file for the current Kern High School District Boundaries (the link says "Current...
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— CalPreps has high school football rankings out. You can sort them by section or division or just look at the overall rankings, which seem a bit off to me (Bakersfield Christian over Centennial, Liberty and Clovis East? West and North so low? I guess it's somewhat believable, but there are...
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I get tired of hearing stupid clichés like "Last but not least" or "Saving the best for last" on these types of lists, so I'm not going to bite and do it.
But if I did — and believe me, despite my reaction, I too am strongly drawn to the cliché — it...
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If you weren't a tennis fan after the Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer a couple of weeks ago, you'll never be. But I'll bet if you saw Nadal's epic win, you're starting to like the game more and more. And if you like tennis, you'll like today's Year in Review segment.
...
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For today's Year in Review, I'm bringing out Kern's Sunday best — Emily Irvin, Stockdale's swimming extraordinaire, to be exact. Actually, she was good on any day of the week, especially on Saturdays in May.
2007-08 Kern County GIRLS SWIMMING
Overview: Emily Irvin dominated the...
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So, about that one-post-per-day thing ...
True story — I'm laying in bed last night, just turned off the light trying to decide if I'm going to be too hot (who isn't these days) and then it hits me: I didn't do a boys swimming Year in Review! This might not keep many awake at night, but I...
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These 100 degree days don't quit very easily, do they? I've always said I prefer extreme hot to extreme cold (I guess that's one reason I live here), but I could use an 85-degree respite or something. Eh. Guess I'll have to wait a month.
Anyway, another summer day means another sports' Year in...
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Those of you still awake after staying up late last night to watch the All-Star Game go to 15 innings (and just imagine what it would have been like on the East Coast) are in for a treat.
Track and field might have been Kern County's best sport in 2007-08. Better than football, where the area...
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So ... I didn't know I was jinxing the poor saps falling asleep at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game (not to mention newspapers on deadline in the eastern half of the country) by saying it was like a softball game, then talking about 15-inning games in my last post.
They're into the 15th...
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As I'm starting this entry, the Major League Baseball All-Star game is resembling a softball game — domination from pitchers, lots of strikeouts, some aggressive baserunning, and some baserunning errors.
So maybe it's appropriate that for today's Year in Review segment, we head to...
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Happy Bastille Day to everyone (French independence day, for the uninformed). Greetings from Las Vegas, perhaps one of the least French places (yeah, yeah, fake Eiffel Tower and all) on Earth but a city that actually has something to do with our baseball year in review segment today. It was...
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This is a taped blog entry, so to speak.
I wanted to make sure to get one Year in Review out each day, but I'm heading to Las Vegas for a couple of days to visit a friend. So what to do? Store a couple up and send 'em from the road!
So, live from the Rio Hotel, it's ....
2007-08 Kern...
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It's already been an exciting year for soccer fans, with Euro 2008 one of the better-played international tournaments I've ever seen, an all-English Champions League final and World Cup qualifying beginning in earnest on Aug. 20 (the U.S. takes on Guatemala that day).
It wasn't the...
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A couple of interesting tidbits, one football and one track-related, to pass along before we to get to the Wrestling Year in Review.
Derek Carr is the cover boy for Bakersfield football this coming year, between his older brother's legacy in the Valley and his status as a top-notch recruit...
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Ahhh. Finally feeling back to normal, after a week or so back from Europe, my body's clock is finally back on good ol' Pacific Daylight Time. And you can tell that from how my Year in Review blog entries have slipped later and later into each day. Pretty soon, I'll be posting around midnight like...
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It might not seem appropriate to talk basketball in the summer, what with it 110 degrees outside and all, but that's not entirely the case. Shoot, the NBA plays till the summer solstice, why can't we take things into July? And the Summer Breeze tournament will give you an early glimpse of next...
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Well, it's not exactly golfing weather, not in my book (then again, this is more like do-absolutely-nothing weather to me), but I'm sure there are some people out there roasting anyway. With that in mind let's look back to last fall's girls golf season in Kern County.
First, the Year in Review...
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For those of you who limit your bakersfield.com use to the work week, well, first of all, shame on you. Your weekend fun is here, not at the beach.
No, no, I'm kidding. Hope you had a fantastic Fourth of July. But you did miss the first few installments of the Year in Review...
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My friends, here is your daily dose of Year in Review. First, an index of what's been covered so far:
July 3: Football
July 4: Volleyball
July 5: Boys cross country
2007-08 Kern County GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Overview: Not as illustrious a year as the Kern County boys runners had, but still a...
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Don't turn away from this entry just because it's cross country. These Year in Review segments are a great way to look back on the most popular sports, yes, but they're also a good way to quickly catch up on the lesser-known sports.
With that said, here is the boys cross country Year in Review....
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A happy Independence Day to everyone out there. If you're doing work by reading this, I hope you're at least getting time-and-a-half enjoyment out of it. (Bad joke, yes, but I keep reminding myself that holiday pay makes working on the Fourth worth it).
In case you missed it yesterday, we're...
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Pardon my two-week intercontinental sojourn (is it easier if I just say "vacation"?), but I'm back and rested and ready for an information-packed summer at School House Zach.
Here's my plan: We'll go through each high-school sport from 2007-08, one by one, with a look at the best...
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As you might expect, and as you might have already noticed, the number of posts at School House Zach is going to lessen a little bit here in the month of June. Not a whole lot of high school sports action going on.
There was an all-city baseball game last Friday night at Gerry Collis Field at...
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Are you a photographer or videographer?? The Bakersfield Rollergirls are looking for both a photographer and videographer to shoot our bouts- home and a away if you can make it.
We can't pay, but you'd get in for free and have the love of all the BRG girls, plus advertising on our website...
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Guess what? I'm actually not on the road or in the office! Sitting at home on the couch for the first time in what seems like forever, and it's a pretty darn good feeling.
It's been a hell of a finish to the high school sports year for Kern County, what with five state track and field...
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CERRITOS -- It's late, and I've had a long day (yes, it started with a workout, thank you very much), so I'll keep this short.
It was a pretty successful day for Kern County at the CIF Track and Field State Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk on Friday. All of the athletes who were...
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MURRIETA — I owe an extra-large visit to the exercise room here in my hotel tomorrow morning before breakfast. A footlong sandwich from Subway, a couple of cookies and a small pizza for dinner isn't my way of doing things normally.
Of course, I did walk some six, seven miles today out at...
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I'm sitting here at my desk keeping an eye on the Pistons-Celtics NBA playoff game, which is the fifth game in a seven-game series, and I'm feeling a little sorry for some high school golfers.
Those headed down to the Southern Cal Regional Golf Championships in Murrieta tomorrow (Thursday) have...
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Ensley Gammel started celebrating Centennial's Division I Central Section softball championship before her final pitch even reached the plate.
It was a strikeout, resulting in the Golden Hawks' 2-1 victory at Madera on Friday in front of an overflow crowd that mostly consisted of blue-clad...
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Good thing you weren't like the guy sitting next to me at the Stockdale-Clovis section championship baseball game Thursday evening. He got up and headed out with two outs and nobody on base in the seventh inning, with Stockdale down 6-3 and about to become bridesmaids again.
Well, this stinks...
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Can two rivals root for each other? If Bakersfield wants to sweep the Division I baseball and softball Central Section championships, folks at Stockdale and Centennial will have to. A day after the Mustangs baseball team held off Clovis West 5-3 in a D-I Valley semifinal, Centennial stymied...
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Forgive me for returning to a subject I've harped on before (and this probably won't be the last time, so ignore me if you like), but let's talk about the California Interscholastic Federation.
Why, oh why, do we have random sports with state championships and others with none? As great as local...
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