While skimming through the schedules...
....I noticed some things that caught my attention:
* Blair's schedule is unusually thin. I see on my contact list here that Blair has a new football coach. Naturally when I saw only one nonleague game (Sept. 12 at West Covina, 7 p.m.) I wondered what happened to the other four nonleague games? Couldn't schedule any more games? Did some teams bail out? Or was this one of those cases where the new coach will have to play catch up? (I can relate to that. Kinda)
I hear Blair will be the old Blair and some are hoping they're not.
It's never easy for a new coach no matter the sport to come in and start basically from scratch. New coaches don't just have to worry about playbooks and pads, but also the logistics behind being a head coach like making sure insurances papers are signed and physicals are taken, etc.
The turnover is high over there considering Randy Backus has been coaching the Rams for 15 years.
*Speaking of Backus ... Coach is excited about his nonleague schedule. Temple City is playing the top teams from the Almont League (Alhambra) and Mission Valley League (Arroyo).
The Moors and Knights are going to be two physical teams that will challenge Temple City. Other Rams nonleague opponents include San Gabriel and Rosemead, both teams which present "unique schemes", according to Backus. Temple City's hell week begins a week later than most on Aug. 25.
As they say, Fear the 'Mead ... We'll see.
* I'm psyched about Arcadia at St. Francis in Week 2. That's a 7:30 p.m. start. Right off the bat we'll see which team truly does belong in the top 5.
* Just from taking a quick glance, I gotta say San Gabriel and South Pasadena have one of the toughest schedules west of the SGV.
The Matadors face South Pasadena, Temple City and San Marino before they head into Almont League play and try wrestling the top spot away from Alhambra, Bell Gardens and Schurr.
The Tigers take on Alhambra and the Matadors in nonleague play before they avoid walking the plank in the Rio Hondo League.
Does this sound right to you or am I just dehydrated?
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About this blog
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Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools. Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe. E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com. |
Miguel, welcome aboard
HERE IS GOOD STORY TO COVER!!!
PHS BULLDOG OFFENSE GUARD BOYKINS WILL FACE HIS COUSIN, ARROYO VALLEY OF SAN BERARDINO DL ALEX BOYKINS IN THE FIRST FOOTBALL OF THE 2008 SEASON!!!
GOOD PART ABOUT THIS MATCH-UP THEY WILL BE GOING HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST EACH OTHER!!!
Maybe the trio will rent a building in Olde Town and have a remote video feed pumped in. The GPS in the Rolls will surely start flashing
"Security Alert" Security Alert" as they approach 1905 N. Lincoln.
This arrival by far tops when Mission Viejo rolled into TC. Their JV team had not 1 but 2 busses, neither looked like the Grey Dog, but were totally cherry, luxury rides. Between Smith and Gretzky they can afford to land the Concorde on Villa Ave and jog in from there.
GA,
Don't trip, you did get it right. We'll be hosting Oaks Christian (not Charter Oak) on Sept. 12. Hopefully they don't punk the PUSD like they did last time when they FORCED the district to relocate the game to PCC instead of playing it at 1905 N. Lincoln.
It's going to be AWESOME to see Will Smith, Wayne Gretzky, and Joe Montana pull up their Bentleys, Aston Martins, Ferarri's, Rolls Royce's or whatever the hell they're driving up into NW Pasadena. Hell, we may even have to install a helioport across the street on the baseball field. LOL!!!
Stang Fan,
my bad, all Oaks definitely ain't the same.
Miguel,
Like Fred I too am excited about this year's mathup with DR. They are actually one of the few teams on the east side to step up and play a really tough schedule, theirs is no joke.
And we aren't playing Charter Oak, we're playing Oaks Christian......BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
friend of the vikings,
CIF for Blair.....uhhhh, good luck with that. Pasadena carousel of coaches? That's pretty funny, and somewhat true, however Tip did something at Blair that hasn't been done in a LONG time...all respect is due to Coach Tip.
Miguel, welcome to the area. It looks like you will need to confirm the Blair schedule with their new coach. The additional four games mentioned by Friend of the Vikings are against teams that already have 10 games on their schedules, none of which include Blair, at least according to CalPreps. So, something sounds amiss. Muir's 3 game pre-league schedule is a real killer; for a group of five games, there are no weak opponents on the schedule for either Monrovia or TC. Why have so few coaches in this area provided CalPreps with the info they requested for their pre-season predictions?
Hey Goldenarm,
You're probably right. Muir arguably does have the toughest nonleague schedule with Diamond Ranch and Charter Oak. I know Robledo is excited about the Muir-Diamond Ranch game.
That TC-Monrovia game should be a fun one as always.
Keep 'em coming guys....
p.s. and of course I meant Harry Welch, not Henrry. I had a brain fart yesterday, but I should have known better since I'm formerly of The OC.
Miguel,
Great job diving into it all!
As far as TC we close out preleague with La Salle and open RHL play with longtime rival Monrovia. The Wildcats were on the other end of the schedule last year -as the season finale.
I would say Muir gets the award for toughest preleague, facing Diamond Ranch, Oaks Christian (42.5 07 power rating) and Venice. Lightest preleague could be South Pas with Glendale Hoover and Keppel.
Hello friend of the vikings,
Any chance you can have the coach e-mail me with contact info?
miguel.melendez@sgvn.com
Not sure about Hollywood and Santa Paula (they're near Ojai so that'll be a long drive for them) but Whittier Christian and St. Margaret's are good teams.
The Heralds in the past have always had a great running game.
St. Margaret's, under the direction of Henry Welch, is a powerhouse in its division. The Tartans from what I remember still have a very balanced attack. They can explode on the ground and exploit you in the air.
I don't think they'll go undefeated this season but they'll give everyone a run for its money for another divisional title.
Having covered a share of St. Margaret's football games at the Register I can tell you guys Welch runs a tight ship over there and is well-respected among the players, parents and coaching staff.
blair football schedule
@west covina
@holloywood 3pm
santa paula 7pm
@whitter christian 7pm
@st.margret's 7pm
GO VIKINGS !!! NEW COACH AND NOT FROM THE PASADENA CAROUSEL OF COACHES.A NEW ATTITUDE, WITH VISION AND CONFIDENCE. AS A PARENT I'AM EXCITED FOR THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM AND THE DIRECTION ITS GOING. TIP GOT US STARTED AND THANKS TIP BUT COMBINE THE NEW COACHING STAFF WITH WHAT TIP BRINGS!!! THEY ARE TALKING C.I.F CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. HOW LIKELY IS THAT, BUT WE SHALL SEE