October 2008 Archives

Did you ever read the Charles Dickens' novel ``A Tale of Two Halves"?

Oops!

Well, you know what I mean . . .

I just saw the high school version as the Los Alamitos Griffins, after dominating the first half and leading, 14-0, saw the worst of times after intermission and lost in overtime, 21-14, to Fountain Valley.

The Sunset League is suddenly all over the map, with Los Alamitos, Edison, Fountain Valley and Esperanza at 2-1 and Newport Harbor at 1-2 after handling Esperanza comfortably Friday night.

Los Alamitos High junior wide receiver Paul Richardson is very, very good.

But you should already know that, right?

He made two spectacular catches of Clark Evans passes into the end zone from 27 and 33 yards out in the first and second quarters, respectively, and the Griffins hold at 14-0 advantage over Fountain Valley at Orange Coast College in a Sunset League.

Nothing I've seen in the first 24 minutes leads me to think the Barons might prevent the Griffins from improving their overall record to 8-0 and Sunset mark to 3-0.

The Los Alamitos defense held Fountain Valley to a net of 67 yards in offense.

All things considered, the Lakers couldn't have looked a whole lot better than they did in their season-opening win over Portland tonight.

They looked like a team that could win 60-plus games this season, assuming Andrew Bynum continues to develop and the bench is as capable as it appeared tonight.

As I mentioned earlier, the Greg Oden-Bynum "showdown" was more whimper than bang.

And now the Blazers have to sweat out the condition of the foot he hurt in the second quarter. He didn't play in the second half and, apparently, x-rays were inconclusive. He is scheduled to have an MRI in Portland on Wednesday.

How much (injury) bad luck can one player have in such a relatively short period?

Remember, he was sidelined the entire summer before his freshman year at Ohio State (missing, roughly, the first month of the season) with a wrist injury.

He also missed all of what should have been his rookie season after his microfracture on his knee.

Let's hope it was nothing more than a "strain", of sorts.

That was revealed today during a press conference today held by physician and daughter of the recently retired University of Arizona basketball coach.

Apparently, Lute Olson underwent an MRI Monday and medical personnel determined that he suffered a stroke sometime during the past year.

There must have been some manifestations from the stroke that led to the MRI --- and which might have led to his decision to step down.

Hopefully he'll recover as fully as possible now that the issue has been uncovered.

Abdul Gaddy, a 6-2 point guard from Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, announced tonight that he will sign with the University of Washington on Nov. 12, the first day of the NCAA's fall signing week.

It's going to be a great get for the Huskies. Gaddy is one of the two best prospects in the country at the position and will be a prominent member of the Press-Telegram's 2008-09 Best in the West team, which will be published on Nov. 9.

Gaddy originally committed to the University of Arizona (twice, in fact) but withdrew that commitment when Lute Olson announced he was retiring last week.

The kid said UCLA was the runner-up, for the second time. The lure of staying close to home was apparently too much this time, based on the quotes I saw from his father.

The Bruins will still be fine in 2009-10 at point guard, though, when Jerime Anderson --- a player Gaddy resembles in size, skill and feel for the position --- is a sophomore for Coach Ben Howland.

In the first 24 minutes of the game in the Staples Center the Lakers have looked every bit like a team that could win an NBA title in June.

The Lakers hold a 15-point advantage over the Trail Blazers at intermission and were in front by as many as 22.

Kobe Bryant hasn't forced shots and his teammates have shown that as far as "supporting casts" go, they're better than most.

As for the Greg Oden vs. Andrew Bynum matchup, it's fizzled, not sizzled.

Oden looks out of shape and too heavy and got a couple of quick fouls. But Bynum couldn't score when matched head up on the rookie.

I'll be back after the game.

Here you go, with three weeks yet to go in the regular season . . .

UPPER BRACKET
No. 1 seed Poly (Moore/No. 1)
vs.
Esperanza (Sunset/No. 3)

Mater Dei (Trinity/No. 2)
vs.
Crespi (Serra/No. 2)

Tesoro (South Coast/No. 1)
vs.
St. John Bosco (Trinity/No. 3)

Los Alamitos (Sunset/No. 1)
vs.
Jordan (Moore/No. 3)

LOWER BRACKET
No. 3 Notre Dame (Serra/No. 1)
vs. Lakewood (Moore/No. 4)

Mission Viejo (South Coast/No. 2)
vs.
Edison (Sunset/No. 2)

Compton (Moore/No. 2)
vs.
Bishop Amat (Serra/At-large)

No. 2 Orange Lutheran (Trinity/No. 1)
vs.
San Clemente (South Coast/No. 3)

If you had left Veterans Stadium with a little more than fiveminutes to go Thursday night, you'd have thought the Los Alamitos was cruising to a Sunset League victory with a 13-point lead over Edison.

But an incredible chain of events . . . all but one of those (a nifty run for a first down by Clark Evans), going against the Griffins . . . put the Edison Chargers into position to win the game but Paul Richardson knocked down Matt Viles' pass into the end zone as time ran out and Los Alamitos held on, 23-19.

The Griffins are now clearly the team to beat in the Sunset League but none of their final three league games, vs. Fountain Valley (Halloween, at Orange Coast College), Esperanza (Nov. 7 at Valencia High in Placentia) and Newport Harbor (Nov. 13 at Gahr) is going to be anything approaching easy.

And, as a very nice 60th birthday gift for their coach, John Barnes, the Griffins remain one of seven unbeaten Pac-5 teams.

A reunion for the Paramount High 1988 CIF Southern Section championship team will be held next week.
A dinner celebrating the team will be held on Oct. 23, with the team members being honored the next evening during halftime of the Pirates' San Gabriel Valley League game with Warren.
For more information, contact Paramount athletic director Mark Kemp at (562) 602-6067, or go to the school's athletic department website at www.piratesathletics.com.

No details. Just got the via a Robert Morales text.

There is still another half to play but the streak is going to hit 74.

The Braves are a good team, FYI.

Auburn Jimenez just banged in a field goal from 51 yards away. Wow . . .

Just starting second quarter and St. John Bosco is driving again . . .

Wow . . . that didn't take long.

Keith Price and Austin Mahr hooked up for a 65-yard touchdown on a screen pass on the first play from scrimmage and the host Braves are up on St. Paul, 6-0.

In a word: explosive.

It took only 1:20 of the first quarter for the Jackrabbits to cover 80 yards and jump up on the host Lakewood Lancers.

I'm not at Lakewood High (I'm at St. John Bosco for the game vs. St. Paul to kick off at 7:30) but I'm getting cell phone reports by PT staffer Robert Morales, who is covering the game for us.

Apparently, Melvin Richardson and Daveon Barner did some real estate pounding on the first possession.