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I've received a few emails this week about getting copies of some of the newspaper articles on this year's team. Anyone who is interested can get a copy of the front page of the paper on the day after the City title game at:
http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?userphoto=0&image=17200102&thispage=1
Just got word that Exavier Johnson, Greg Burgess and T.J. Rosas are taking a recruiting trip to Idaho State during winter break.
There is a section of tommorrow's story where I mention some of the folks who've helped contribute to Birmingham's success this year. That list is only the beginning. There is never enough room to mention everyone. There are a number of other people who I've gotten to know this season who are equally important to the program. I've tried to mention them over the course of the year, but there are always people you forget.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention assistant coaches Vincent Johnson, Jaime Glass, Floyd Peterson, Matt Pentecost and Jim and Mike Thornton, who flew all the way from Texas for the City title game last Friday.
A special thanks to some of the great parents I've gotten to know this year: Donovan Carter Sr. Milton Knox Sr., Cecilia Knox, Lupe Lopez, Gena Sexton, Ralph Rosas, Cece and Albert Johnson, Jodie Jackson, Claudia Garrett, Tammye Burgess, Robin Jackson, Tasha Floyd, Laura and Tom Bartlett, Sam Laolagi and Blanca Escobar.
There are countless other support staffers who are always around, looking for a way to help. Carol Silver does the team programs, Dr. Bornstein and Dr. Paul, who keep the team well, film-making teacher Kevin Kelly, college counselor Laura Mitchell, the Birmingham Father's Club, and of course, the Sideline Shooter.
Last but not least, I'd like to thank coach Croson, his staff, and the players on the team. Thanks for allowing me on your sideline, in your huddles and your locker room. What a ride.
I ran into Donovan Carter yesterday and he said the Arizona State had come by the school and asked if he wanted to make an official visit. Carter plans on heading out to the desert sometime in January.
He is going on an official trip to UCLA (the school he's verballed to) this weekend, then on a family trip for a few weeks, then on a bunch of official visits --Colorado, ASU, once he gets back.
The general sense I got was the Carter still wants to go to UCLA, but he's always planned on taking other trips, and he's waiting to see who UCLA's new coach is.
It's amazing how quickly things go from full speed ahead to zero. I spoke with Birmingham coach Ed Croson Sunday night, after he'd found out that the Patriots weren't selected to play in Saturday's state bowl game and already, he sounded different.
Croson said he was taking the rest of this week off, to rest. The school goes on winter break after this Friday, so it's really more like getting a jump on winter vacation. But he takes this week off because there's a lot of grunt work to be done over the break with turning in equipment, recruiting, and just general transition stuff.
The one thing he said that was incredibly striking to me was that he'll only see this year's team, altogether, three more times. Today at 2 o'clock when the team meets to hand out their weekly awards, the team banquet in late January and sometime in the spring, when the team meets to pick up their championship rings.
``Everyone really starts scattering to the wind,'' he said.
Here's another interesting e-mail I got today:
``Why should the state high school title game fate of teams like
Birmingham, Long Beach Poly, Corona Centennial and Hart be decided by
10 people? Surely there's a better way. If you check up on the Ohio
High School Athletic Association's playoff system, you'll discover
there IS one. It boils down to a three-word methodology.
On the field.
Way WAY back on the third weekend of August, the Ohio High School
football season opened. Oh, you say that's too early? Tell that to
the players, coaches and fans of the 192 schools who participated in
the five-weekend OHSAA playoffs that concluded last weekend with six
state title games. I got to see all six games live on Sports Time
Ohio thanks to my DirecTV package. And I have all six games on DVD.
It took at least 22 years for Ohio to get it right, but trust
me...the OHSAA GOT IT RIGHT!!!
Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when Ohio's state titles
were decided by wire service polls (AP and UPI), Jack Harbin devised
a computerized system that would select the state's playoff
participants. Points were awarded for a victory recorded by a team.
The higher the classification, the more the points. Second level
points were awarded to that victorious team when the foes it defeated
went on to win a game. The OHSAA bought it!!!
The OHSAA started a playoff system in 1972, but with just three
classifications. With only one team picked for the playoffs in four
regions in three classifications, it meant the whole state of Ohio
had only a dozen teams. The news media, fans, players and coaches all
said the same thing...that there weren't enough playoff teams. A slew
of 10-0 teams would essentially say, "Hey, we did all we had to do
but didn't make the playoffs."
Over the next 20-plus years, the number of classifications and
participating teams increased to the point where 96 teams would make
it. Then sometime last decade (1993?), It took a statewide vote of
all the OHSAA principals as I recall...and that vote meant the season
would have to start with the third weekend in August in order to
double the number of playoff teams and to increase the number of
playoff weekends by one. The vote passed...and according to the 2007
playoff program sent to me by John Dickerson, a friend who's a high
ranking commissioner with the OHSAA, indicates the six-division, the
OHSAA 192-team playoff format began 13 years ago in 1994. Virtually
every 10-0 team makes it...and it's rare for a 9-1 team to miss out.
I'm sure if you contacted John Dickerson, he'd be more than happy to
discuss with you the successful OHSAA playoff system. Texas has a
very good playoff system. If it's the same as when I was part of it
in the 1970's, it's league champions who participate...but I like the
Ohio playoff system MUCH BETTER. More teams!!!!
I suppose various forms of politics will keep California in the Stone
Age with its current antiquated playoff system. But California has a
HUGE WEATHER advantage over Ohio, so why have teams' title game
fates decided by 10 people when there's a better way?''
On the field.
Sincerely,
Rob Durkee, North Hollywood
A Former Sports Editor Not Afraid To Speak His Mind
I've received several interesting e-mails the last few days and thought I'd share some of them. This first one is from Jamaal Street, whose been covering San Pedro and the Marine League the last 10 years and is rather encyclopedic in his knowledge of City sports.
``For the past ten years, I've been following CIF-Los Angeles City Section sports, with football being the one of the three main sports (basketball and softball being the other two), and I've never heard about, read about, or seen in person, a team as devastating as the one football team from Lake Balboa.
After Birmingham opened up a can of smackdown on San Pedro in the 2006 City Section title game, I pondered how can the Patriots either equal an effort like that, or completely top it all together.
The latter of my thoughts happened.
True, the loss to Crespi of Encino kept them out of the CIF State Division I Bowl Championship, but there will never be another team like them. I'll bet that Birmingham team can stack up pretty well with any of the top notch teams of Banning and Carson from the 1970's and 1980's.
Whichever college that picks up Milton Knox is getting the best running back all-time in the City Section. ''
The air inside Milton Knox’s house in Pacoima seemed to rush out in an instant. It took just five fateful words from state CIF commissioner Marie Ishida-- ``and representing the Southern Section’’ – for the Birmingham football team to realize its dream of playing for a state title had died.
In the end, it wasn’t the Patriots last game that counted most, but their first.
Birmingham’s 20-6 loss to Crespi of Encino on August 30 ultimately proved to be the deciding factor for the 10 section commissioners who voted to send Centennial High of Corona to the Division I state bowl game against Concord De La Salle Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
Both teams finished 13-1, both had signature wins against tough competiton, but Centennial defeated Crespi 41-20 while Birmingham lost.
``That was a tough one,’’ said Ken Gunn, the event director of the games. ``After a long examination of the strength of schedule of (Birmingham, Centennial, Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly), all of those teams did a great job. Basically, it came down to two or our selection guidelines: head-to-head and record against common opponents. On head-to-head, Birmingham beat Long Beach Poly. On common opponents: Centennial beat Crespi and Birmngham lost.’’
Gunn said the entire process of selecting the six teams for Saturday’s three games took about three hours. The closest races were for the Division I South representative and the Division II North representative. The latter, actually took two ballots to determine a winner. Ultimately, Novato (12-0) beat out Foothill of Palo Cedro (near Redding) and will face Oceanside of San Diego(11-1). In Division III, St. Bonaventure of Ventura (13-1) will face Central Catholic of Modesto (11-1).
Knox, the City Section’s all-time leading rusher and scorer, will be on the other side of the country during those games, on a recruiting trip to Florida, and said he’s too hurt right now to even think about them.
``I think that loss to Crespi will haunt us for the rest of our lives,’’ Knox said. ``Every guy on the team is going to be thinking about that game at night, thinking of things they could’ve done. It’s real hard right now. We made history this year. I don’t know if there will ever be another City team or Valley team that did the kind of things we did this year. But it’s hard right now.’’
Knox and the Patriots have plenty to be proud of. In addition to dominating the City Section, they scored upsets of Long Beach Poly and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in nationally televised games. They earned a national ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll. They won their fourth City title in six years.
``The fact that we were even up there, on television and mentioned for a game like that is incredible,’’ Birmingham coach Ed Croson said. ``It shows that we can play with anyone in the state, anyone in the country. I can’t really think about (the Crespi game) because of what a good season we had.’’
But in the end, the only thing that mattered was the score on the first game of the year, on a 105 degree night at Pierce College. The game where their bus was an hour late to pick them up, the game where their starting quarterback was out with a broken hand, the game where their starting safety was still waiting to be cleared for a fifth year of eligibility. The only time all year Knox fumbled the ball.
``It’s amazing how one play, one game, can determine your whole season,’’ Knox said. ``It’s tough right now.’’
I ran into CalHi Sports editor Mark Tennis moments after Long Beach Poly's 13-3 victory over Crespi on Saturday night and he just kind of shook his head at the situation: ``It's a lot closer now,'' Tennis said. ``It might be 50-50 now.''
At 3 p.m. today, Birmingham will gather at Milton Knox's house in Pacoima --along with a camera crew from Fox -- and find out whether it has been selected for the Division I state bowl game.
Long Beach Poly's win on Saturday made that a lot more likely. Centennial of Corona is still a bit of a favorite, by virtue of its win over Crespi, but Birmingham looks a lot better than it did 24 hours ago.
Birmingham's 20-7 win over Long Beach Poly is looking very impressive right about now. What's more, Birmingham didn't just beat Poly, it dismantled them. The Jackrabbits only points came late in the fourth quarter, against Birmingham's second=string defense.
As, Birmingham has wins over two teams --Poly and Notre Dame -- that were ranked in the top 10 in the nation at the time they played. Taht's pretty impressive
Their lone loss to Crespi in Week Zero looms large, because Centennial beat the Celts. But when you consider now that Crespi lost to Poly, a team Birmingham beat, and Crespi beat MAter Dei, the team that beat Centennial, things are a lot more muddled.
A couple interesting facts about the Crespi game I learned last night. Before I write this, I want to say that this shouldn't take anything away from Crespi, which was playng incredible ball by the end of the year. But I found out that Birmingham had a couple of weird things happen to it that night. First off, the team arrived at Pierce College 30 minutes beore game time. Apparently, the bus it was supposed to take accidently took the team's band over first, causing the team to sit in the parking lot for over an hour, just waiting to go to the game.
Second, Birmingham was without starting QB Exavier Johnson who broke his hand three practices before the first game and starting safety Okechukwu Meke, who hadn't been cleared for his fifth year of eligibility yet
Then there was the 99-yard kickoff return on the opening kick that dug Birmingham into a 7-0 hole right away.
Interesting. Very interesting.
I don't envy the 10 commissioners who have to sort this thing out. Both Centennial and Birmingham seem very deserving. You can't really go wrong with either. But the decision just got a lot more complicated.
Just in case you are wondering, Birmingham is lifting and watching film at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
``As long as we're alive, we're going to be ready,'' coach Ed Croson said. ``And if that was the last game, well, it was a great season.''
I'm a big fan of the show/movie/book Friday Night Lights, and it was definitely an inspiration to me in the conception of this project. I don't know if I expected to find Ratliff stadium and 20,000 fans in the middle of Van Nuys, but it's been interesting to see just how different things are at Birmingham than the football-crazed world of West Texas Buzz Bissinger discovered in FNL.
I asked a couple of kids who were walking by the field the other day if they were excited about Friday. By the confused looks on their faces, I could tell they had no idea what I was talking about.
``What's Friday?'' one of the girls said. ``You mean like, the weekend?''
``No, the City championship game at the Coliseum,'' I explained.
``Oh, yeah. That's cool. Who are they playing?'' she asked.
``Carson,'' I said.
``Oh, cool,'' she said.
I relayed this conversation to senior defensive back Evan Jenkins, who has family in Texas and a cousin who plays at Oklahoma state.
``I'm not surprised,'' he said. ``The more we win, the less people here care. They think it's easy for us. But they don't even know how much goes into it. That's OK though. We don't let it bother us.''
Then I asked how different it was from the games he'd been to in Texas.
``It's totally different there. The locker rooms are like college locker rooms. They've got your name on your locker, your uniform is all hung up in there, your cleats are set out. The seniors have their own seperate locker room. There are tons of fans at every game. It's crazy.''
This isn't to say that there's a complete lack of fan support for the Patriots. Actually, Birmingham's sidelines and stands are almost always more full than their opponents. And I've come to know and respect a large group of support staff and administrators who are at every game, cheering for the team. But it's very clear this is LA, not Odessa, Texas.
Even if Birmingham wins the City Section title, it'll be hard to convince the 10 section commissioners who will vote on the Division I bowl game representative. The fact remains, Birmingham lost to Crespi, while Corona Centennial beat the Celts. The Patriots best argument is that they have three very impressive wins over Long Beach Poly, Valencia and Notre Dame and this point, as articulated by defensive end Malik Jackson:
``I just feel like there's never going to be another team from the Valley or the City like us,'' Jackson said.
LA Channel 36 will broadcast Friday's game on a tape-delayed basis, at 11 p.m. Randy Rosenbloom and Dave Marcus on the call. It will also air Saturday at 9 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Later in the weekend, it will air on KLCS and be available on vootage.com
Also for those with a computer and internet access: www.KBCsports.com will have a live broadcast of the game. Matthew Flores on the call.
Invitational: Kickoff, 4:00pm, pre-game at 3:50pm
City: Kickoff, 8:00 pm, pregame at 7:50pm
Usually, the Birmingham coaching staff does a ton of scouting before each game, then meets with the players to go over the game plan. One player already knows what they're going to say. Tight end Mychal Rivera, who has verbally committed to Oregon, is something of an internet sleuth.
According to teammates, Rivera is a bit of a recruiting newshound. He knows all the top players, where they're going, where they are ranked. He even pays attention to the strengths and weaknesses listed by the scouting services on their profiles.
``You've got to know you're competition,'' he said.
Wow. Just wow. I went out to practice today and hardly recognized a bunch of the guys. TJ Rosas, Carlos Escobar, Cory Fields and Jake Granitz had bleached their hair bright orange. Over the next few days, most of the rest of the team will do the same.
``Everyone's going to do it,'' running back Milton Knox said. ``Just for fun. To keep things loose.''
Apparently, the team did it last year before the City championship game and it worked out pretty well as Birmingham walloped San Pedro. Judging from what I saw today, it might not be a look they'll keep long after the game.
``People were saying I looked like a Backstreet Boy,'' Rosas said.
I had a long conversation with Milton Knox last night, regarding UCLA's decision to fire football coach Karl Dorrell last night. Milton was pretty disappointed, because he'd built a strong personal relationship with the coach and was looking forward to playing for him. Milton said coach Dorrell called him about once a week and they'd talk for 10-15 minutes at a time.
``Sometimes it was about football, sometimes it was about family,'' Knox said. ``Being the head coach of a major university like UCLA, he's someone you could look up to. It was cool to see a black man in that position. I wish there were more of them.''
The one conversation they had that seemed to resonate with Milton, was when Dorrell called the week of the Cleveland game. It wasn't big game by any means. Birmingham won 82-0. But Dorrell called and asked about Cleveland and how the team was preparing for the game.
``I just felt like he wanted me to be a successful person, not just a successful football player,'' Knox said.
Expect this to be the first of many for Birmingham's talented junior wide receiver, but Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis sure knows how to put a personal touch on things. Weis called Flournoy directly today and offered him a scholarship.
EDIT: Apparently, Weis didn't call Flournoy directly. De'Von called a Notre Dame recruiter, then Weis got on the phone and offered the scholarship. I heard the story second-hand at first, but De'Von wanted to set the record straight.
For more on Flournoy, check out this article:
The school is also interested in senior RB Milton Knox, who has verballed to UCLA, but planning on taking trips to Florida, Colorado and Notre Dame.
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