|
|
|
UPDATED, 11:49 p.m.: Here's what we're looking at for next week. We'll talk more about it Sunday in a Most Important Things post, but I wanted to get the matchups out there and talked about now:
Division I
(8) Centennial at (1) Clovis-Buchanan
(5) Liberty at...
|
Comments [11] - Views [1109]
|
|
|
|
See, I went and tried to make fun of coaches everywhere with a bunch of cliches about our podcast without checking to make sure the thing was actually going to play. It's like talking about your playoff chances without realizing two of your best linemen have swine flu. Epic fail on my part....
|
Comments [4] - Views [524]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED: Use this one instead. Trying to make up for my ineptitude.
Todd Camps was under the weather for this week's podcast and powered through anyway. That's what you do when you're in playoff podcasting. If we win this week, we'll be lucky enough to go to the podcasting quarterfinals...
|
Comments [2] - Views [200]
|
|
|
|
It's a great time of year because the postseason for most fall sports is winding down (a couple of exceptions to that which I'll note below) and football playoffs are just gearing up, so I'm able to turn focus almost completely to them.
The two exceptions are tomorrow, when volleyball has its...
|
Comments [12] - Views [890]
|
|
|
|
Yes, the playoffs have started, so my opinion (or anyone else's) doesn't really matter on who the best team is anymore. Well, OK, it never really did. But that's not going to stop me from pressing on with Central Section rankings, and it probably won't stop all of us from dissecting them every...
|
Comments [5] - Views [821]
|
|
|
|
We interrupt your scheduled football thinking time to bring you a reminder that this is the biggest week of the year in Central Section volleyball.
To wit:
Tomorrow night, Centennial, undefeated against Central Section competition and 29-3 overall, will travel to defending section champion...
|
Comments [0] - Views [325]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 5:36 p.m.:
Division VI — Quarterfinals: (5) Orange Cove at (4) Farmersville
(6) McFarland at (3) Mendota
BYES: (1) Tranquillity, (2) Strathmore
Off-the-cuff predictions: Semifinals, Tranquillity d. Orange Cove, Strathmore d. Mendota. Final, Tranquillity d....
|
Comments [17] - Views [1396]
|
|
|
|
After the Phillies cruised to a 5-1 victory over the wild-card Rockies in game one behind a solid performance from postseason rookie starter Cliff Lee, Colorado edged out Philadelphia 5-4 in Game 2 to even the series, snapping the Phillies eight postseason game-winning streak and tagging World...
|
Comments [0] - Views [1]
|
|
|
|
Torii Hunter’s three-run home run in the fifth broke a scoreless deadlock and propelled the Angels to a 5-0 shut out over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday night.
Anaheim took the lead in a playoff series with the Red Sox for the first time...
|
Comments [0] - Views [2]
|
|
|
|
PREFACE: Yes, this is late. I should have posted three days ago, and then probably again since then. Feel free to call me lazy and worthless. Both of those would accurately describe my weekend (and it was wonderful, I might add).
Anyway...
You had to be there, at Stan Bledsoe Field on Clovis...
|
Comments [3] - Views [367]
|
|
|
|
We've just completed boys semifinal day in Central Section basketball, and it sounds like there was a batch of great games around the Valley tonight.
One of them I saw firsthand. Liberty started sloppy, played flawlessly in the middle and then got sloppy again in holding off...
|
Comments [1] - Views [142]
|
|
|
|
It's a crazy one in the office tonight with boys and girls soccer Central Section championships and boys basketball quarterfinals roaring along all over the Valley. I went to Frontier to watch the school unveil the new lights on its stadium and then the Titans girls soccer team, which won...
|
Comments [0] - Views [142]
|
|
|
|
Ladies and gentlemen, I humbly present the final Californian football podcast of the season. Listen here, download to iTunes and listen on your way to the game tomorrow. It's all there for you.
|
Comments [0] - Views [166]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 11:42 p.m.: It's repeat night for the South Sequoia League. Bakersfield Christian, as expected by some, went up to Corcoran and put a big number on the undefeated Panthers despite fog so think you couldn't see the stadium lights until you were right beside it. And Tehachapi, a few miles...
|
Comments [3] - Views [182]
|
|
|
|
After a perfect week last week (granted, it was just 5-for-5), I take a stab at the last four Central Section games of the season.
Bonus picks this week of the Divisions II and IV championship games — and barring any unforeseen miracles, that will be it. If Bakersfield Christian had...
|
Comments [1] - Views [174]
|
|
|
|
A little late-night blogging for some late-season football rankings, with championship week left:
1. Clovis West (10-3, Division I, last week: 1) — What a culmination for the Golden Eagles in the Division I championship game: A stifling defense shut down a good offense, and CW...
|
Comments [0] - Views [134]
|
|
|
|
So often in sports, the run-up to the championship seems to overshadow the actual title game. Baseball's regular season is a marathon of a spectacle and the playoffs are wall-to-wall action for the first week until the World Series, when things grind almost to a halt. March Madness is really...
|
Comments [0] - Views [76]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 11:41 p.m.: Offense carries the night in Kern County. With Bakersfield Christian, of course, that's the routine. Derek Carr threw for 417 yards and six more touchdowns tonight. I wrote that so non-chalantly that it makes me feel dirty. Let me try again: FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTEEN...
|
Comments [1] - Views [256]
|
|
|
|
After some more technological hand-wringing on my part and a very big assist from The Californian's photo/video department, we have a workable podcast once again. It's semifinals time, ladies and gentlemen.
|
Comments [0] - Views [66]
|
|
|
|
With the football season winding down, I'd like to take this chance to remind you (sounds like a Public Service Announcement, doesn't it?) that this blog does have year-round service. Football, I think, is the sports fan's entreé, but I will be here through Kern County basketball and...
|
Comments [5] - Views [214]
|
|
|
|
The worst fears of Kern County football fans have more or less been confirmed this year, with all but one of the teams thought to be the best around have been eliminated by the playoffs' third week. Most of that carnage happened in Division I a couple of weeks ago, but D-II lost North and West...
|
Comments [5] - Views [179]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, : It was a night of almosts.
West High almost finished off mighty Visalia-El Diamante. North High almost got back into a dogfight with Sanger. Highland almost got revenge on Foothill. Tehachapi is almost back in the Division III championship.
Even around the rest of the section, there...
|
Comments [4] - Views [330]
|
|
|
|
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
Here's the deal with this week's podcast: Because the people who know what they're doing with these things are off for the holiday, I attempted to create this podcast file myself. Obviously, I haven't been able to embed it in the blog, but if you click on...
|
Comments [0] - Views [115]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 10:30 p.m.: Sorry for the update drought, but there was really not much to say. More Tyler Bray, more London Lacy (that's Bray's backup), continuing to torch the Taft secondary. Kingsburg wins it 39-0 and will go on to the semifinals to play either Arvin at home or Visalia-Central...
|
Comments [3] - Views [110]
|
|
|
|
A happy Thanksgiving Eve to everyone. I'll be heading up to Kingsburg in a couple of hours for the Vikings' Division IV game with Taft, which the teams mutually agreed to move up to save holiday plans.
I love the idea, not only because it gives the players, their parents and coaches...
|
Comments [0] - Views [213]
|
|
|
|
Sorry for the lack of posts around here lately — I've been busy with a few things, namely working on some non-football stories and proposing to my girlfriend (she said yes, for the record).
But to make up for that, I'm going to do a very abbreviated version of Most Important Things for the...
|
Comments [8] - Views [236]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 10:52 p.m.: Looks like all of the Central Section finals have rolled in for the evening. All three Bakersfield teams go down in Division I, with only Liberty in the game at the end. Bakersfield, riddled by mistakes, fell to Bullard 35-14 and Stockdale lost at home to Clovis East, 52-20....
|
Comments [14] - Views [463]
|
|
|
|
We're about 26 hours away from playoff football, folks. Hope you're getting as excited as I am.
|
Comments [0] - Views [153]
|
|
|
|
It's shaping up to be quite an end of the month. Four Kern County volleyball teams are in Central Section volleyball championships Thursday, the football playoffs start Friday and the state volleyball and cross country championships will be decided in the coming weeks as well.
Both McFarland and...
|
Comments [7] - Views [372]
|
|
|
|
Ladies and gentlemen, you have entered The Twilight Zone.
Courtesy of The Fresno Bee, the Fresno Unified School District finished up its investigation into Edison High School and found ... that the accuser is the guilty party. What?? Yep, that's right. Jeff Powell, the math teacher who said an F...
|
Comments [0] - Views [287]
|
|
|
|
UPDATED, 8:42 p.m.: There's more to this seeding story than I initially thought. Turns out there was a Division I bracket released before the one that I've posted (and before I checked the site this morning) that had Liberty as the No. 4 seed hosting Clovis East. Stockdale as the No. 6...
|
Comments [19] - Views [653]
|
|
|
|
Before I get to the topic at hand (and I have a heck of a rant ready, so be forewarned), I wanted to atone for a mistake.
I realized today that I gypped my loyal blog readers of a look-ahead to next week (this week's) big high school football games in my Week 7 edition of "most...
|
Comments [11] - Views [317]
|
|
|
|
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...
|
Comments [0] - Views [77]
|
|
|
|
It's been an eternity since my last post here — if you hadn't noticed, we had a pretty big throwing story we ran this week, and we wrapped up section track finals. Anyway, my apologies. I promise to make up for it with a nice, long, involved playoff glance here.
Let's start in baseball....
|
Comments [0] - Views [95]
|
|
|
|
UPDATE — Checking back in with Division III and IV news.
Kern County is well represented in D-III, but I don't know how far any of the teams will go. South, which reached the championship game last year before falling to Dinuba, is the highest-seeded K.C. team at No. 5. The Rebels host...
|
Comments [3] - Views [101]
|
|
|
|
A big, big weekend in Kern County sports coming up. The last of the league titles will be decided tomorrow when SWYL play in baseball and softball finishes up. (Actually, 11-0 Centennial has already wrapped up that league title, regardless of what happens Friday).
Here's the spring league champs...
|
Comments [0] - Views [92]
|
|
|
|
Here's a quick update on the home run race I blogged about on Friday, which at first glance might appear to be over. Jarret Martin blasted three home runs, including a dramatic go-ahead shot with two outs in the seventh inning, giving him the Central Section record for home runs with 17....
|
Comments [0] - Views [45]
|
|
|
|
Not sure if anyone will end up reading this... but it will be fun to hear people's opinions.
Who are the All Area Girls and Boys Soccer nominees, in your opinion? Looking at the Central Section stats from MaxPreps.com... Kern County has 11 players in the top 25 for scoring in girls and...
|
Comments [8] - Views [163]
|
|
|
|
I guess I'm carrying some kind of jinx (or is it a blessing?) with me to the pitch this week. Last week, I saw East extend itself before beating Hanford minutes shy of double overtime in the Division II boys soccer playoffs.
Then, Tuesday night, West scored in the final minute of...
|
Comments [0] - Views [53]
|
|
|
|
I could probably use the same story line for all three winter sports this week, basketball, soccer and wrestling: Coaches (and the wiser players) have been saying all season that what happens in the regular season doesn't matter — it's just about getting a good seed in the Valley, or in the...
|
Comments [0] - Views [43]
|
|
|
1
