January 2010 Archives

Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley returned from an official visit from Miami (Fla) Sunday indicating that he was still undecided on a college choice according to an article published by Miami's Rivals.com site. The article, written here says that Shirley will be choosing between USC, Miami (Fla), Arizona and Washington on National Signing Day Wednesday.

Arroyo Valley wide receiver Damon Ogburn committed to Idaho State today after officially visiting the campus this weekend according to AVHS coach Marcus Soward. Soward indicated earlier in the week that Ogburn was blown away by the Idaho State coaching staff when they visited the campus. The All-Sun wideout was also offered by San Jose State.

Got a text message from Arroyo Valley head coach Marcus Soward this morning confirming the commitment of linebacker Ofa Fifita to Fresno State. Fifita, a three-star prospect according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com, chose the Bulldogs over Nevada, Colorado State, Hawaii and UNLV.

"This feels awesome right now," Soward said. "Ofa actually committed last night. Pat Hill came by the school a couple of days ago and was really impressive. He was a great guy who capitivated everyone - he was joking around with the secretaries and really made a good presentation.

"Fresno State is a very good program that goes to bowls and plays the upper-echelon teams and more importantly, they graduate players. That's what I really enjoyed about what he said."

Fifita visited Fresno State last weekend and was scheduled to go to Hawaii this weekend before pulling the trigger. His commitment marks the third straight year that the Hawks have had a player commit to a Division I FBS school, joining defensive end Keenan Brown (San Jose State) and quarterback Robert Fuller (Utah State) from two years ago and freshman All-American offensive lineman Michael Philipp (Oregon State) from last year.

"When I came here two years ago, my goal was to give kids the opportunity to go to college and hopefully, get them to graduate from college," Soward said. "If they do well and make it to the pros that's great, but getting them a college degree is what I want. There's plenty of talent around here and recruiters are picking up on it. If we hit the books a little harder around here this will continue."

Another Hawk, wide receiver Damon Ogburn, has also received Division I interest and could sign Wednesday. He is down to Idaho State, an FCS school that he is taking an official visit to this weekend, and San Jose State, where he has already visited. Soward expects to know Ogburn's decision Sunday when he comes back from Idaho State.

Fifita's commitment is also the third from a county player to Fresno State, joining Rancho Cucamonga quarterback Greg Watson and Los Osos wide receiver Sean Alston.

This is what we got on the Sun side heading into National Signing Day Wednesday. Let me know if there is anyone that has to be added.

Jamil Austin, RB, Colony -- Portland State (FCS)
Everett Beed, DL/TE, Serrano -- San Diego State
Jered Bell, DB, Colony -- Colorado
Gary Berwick, OL, Rancho Cucamonga - San Diego (FCS)
Steven Bethley, DB, Don Lugo - Montana State (FCS)
Dionza Bradford, RB, Serrano -- UNLV
Anthony Brown, RB/DB, Kaiser -- USC
Ronald Douglas, RB, Chaffey - Sacramento State (FCS)
Ofa Fifita, LB, Arroyo Valley - Fresno State
Manase Foketi, OL, Mt. SAC (Sultana) - Kansas State
Ricky Howard, TE, Chaffey College (Hesperia) -- Iowa State
Andrew Hudson, DL, Redlands East Valley -- Washington
Jim Jones, WR, Aquinas -- UTEP
Alejandro Maldonado, K, Colton -- Oregon
Derrick Malone, DB, Colton -- Oregon
Nick Martin, OL, Los Osos - UTEP
Damon Ogburn, WR, Arroyo Valley -- San Jose State
David Peterson, OL, Redlands East Valley -- San Jose State
Bryce Quigley, TE, Granite Hills -- San Diego State
Bobby Ratliff, WR, Etiwanda -- Washington State
Angel Santiago, QB, Etiwanda -- Army
Kenneth Scott, WR, Colony -- Utah
Tyler Shreve, QB, Redlands East Valley -- Utah
Corey Sims, DB, Upland -- Sacramento State (FCS)
Randall Telfer, TE, Rancho Cucamonga -- USC
Jordan Thomas, DL, Redlands -- San Diego State
Sebastian Tretola, OL, Cajon -- Nevada
George Uko, DL, Don Lugo -- USC
Jay Waddell, WR, Hesperia -- San Diego State
Tony Washington, DL, Los Osos -- Oregon
Greg Watson, QB, Rancho Cucamonga -- Fresno State

Serrano running back Dionza Bradford apparently is back with UNLV, recommitting to the Rebels last week after an official visit to the school that he originally verballed to over the summer.

Bradford, a first-team all-CIF and second-team all-Sun selection, verbally committed to UNLV coach Mike Sanford in July along with Serrano teammate Everett Beed but decommitted in November after Sanford was fired. Both Bradford and Beed committed to San Diego State in December after an official visit to the campus but changed back to UNLV and new coach Bobby Hauck last weekend according to Rivals.com

Beed is still solid with San Diego State after an official visit to Arizona State according to Rivals. com.

Pete Marshall originally published this in the Daily Bulletin's blog, but here it is in case anyone on this side is interested.

The Chino High School Preseason Varsity Baseball tournament, one of the premier baseball tournaments in the county, is looking for a team to fill a recently vacated spot in its tournament, which will have games on March 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 16th.

Teams interested in filling the spot can contact Chino baseball coach Bob Sheehan at 909-627-7351 ext. 3706. Yucaipa is the defending champion of the tournament, defeating Chino 3-2 in eight innings in the title game last year.

Included among the instructors is Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jeremy Reed, a Bonita High School graduate. For information on the event, call the OHS student store at (909) 988-7411 or email Sweeney Sr. at mikesweeney42@hotmail.com.

The Chino High School Preseason Varsity Baseball tournament, one of the premier baseball tournaments in the county, is looking for a team to fill a recently vacated spot in its tournament, which will have games on March 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 16th.

Teams interested in filling the spot can contact Chino baseball coach Bob Sheehan at 909-627-7351 ext. 3706. Yucaipa is the defending champion of the tournament, defeating Chino 3-2 in eight innings in the title game last year.

Pacific wrestler Samantha Cardoza won the 108-pound title at the CIF-State girls Southern Regional wrestling championships this past weekend at Covina Northview High School, heading a list of county athletes participating in the event.

Cardoza defeated Oceanside's Kalin Knight-Alvarez in the final, with Redlands East Valley's Alexis Rodriguez finishing third. Upland's Gabriella Gongora finished second in the 154-pound division to La Serna's Jackie Williams while Sultana's Sarah Bollinger took third at 132 pounds.

Redlands East Valley, buoyed by three placers in Rodriguez, Lauren Chavez (5th, 103) and Jase Osterblad (8th, 114), had the highest county team finish, taking 13th with 55 points.

A source within the Rialto Unified School District indicate that the findings regarding the inquiry into the Rialto High School girls basketball program will be released shortly after Superintendent Dr. Harold Cebrun returns from a conference in Monterey later this week.

The inquiry into the program and head coach Michael Anderson started after the family of former player Diamond Smith met with school and district officials about problems between Smith, a standout player for the Knights for three years, and Anderson -- who led Rialto to a share of the Citrus Belt League championship last season and the CBL lead going into Wednesday night's game at Redlands East Valley. Smith has transferred to Carter since the meeting according to her mother, Betsy Wilson.

Wilson accused Anderson of recruiting from outside of RHS' enrollment zone, a charge that prompted the inquiry. However, Anderson has gotten support from parents of players still within the Rialto program.

"Michael Anderson is a great person and has done a lot for my daughter and the Rialto community," said Kimberly Dobard, mother of junior forward Brittani Walker. "He is a great teacher and the team has done great since he's been the coach. He's given my daughter opportunities that she might not have had."

The CIF-SS office, through e-mail correspondence with Director of Communciations Thom Simmons, has indicated that it will wait for RUSD's findings before deciding whether or not to launch an inquiry of its own.

"Neither Rialto High School, Rialto Unified School District nor the family involved has asked us to intercede in any way at this time," Simmons said via e-mail. "As is standard operating procedure whenever an accusation is brought against a school or a member of that school's athletic department we allow the school the opportunity to do their due diligence first and only intercede if their is a feeling that more needs to done whether that be in terms of investigations and/or sanctions applied. It is my understanding that the school district is conducting their own investigation and we will respect their process."

Forgot to put these in last week, so I'm making it up for it this week. My apologies ladies. Division V is where the ballers play apparently, as five county schools are in the rankings - led by No. 1 Los Osos and No. 3 Redlands East Valley.

No real changes here, as Ontario Christian remains No. 2 in the Division 6 poll while Granite Hills and Serrano are back-to-back at No. 3 and No. 4 in the Division IV poll.

The High Desert teams continue to regulate in the lower divisions, with Granite Hills and Oak Hills maintaining their No. 1 and No. 3 rankings, respectively, in Division 6 while Hesperia is No. 2 in Division 5. Montclair seems to be making a movie in Division 3, where the Cavaliers have surged to No. 4.

After an inexplicable drop in last week's rankings, Cajon moved up to No. 4 in the Division I-AA poll, setting up a meeting with D1-A No. 2 Summit Saturday in Fontana. Besides that, it was pretty much the status quo as far as county teams are concerned.

Nothing too crazy this week, as Eisenhower remains No. 1 in Division II-A while Chino Hills and Summit retain the No. 2 spots in D1-A and D2-AA. Saturday will have an interesting matchup, as the SkyHawks host Division I-A No. 4 Cajon.

Eric Sonderheimer's high school notebook for Monday led off with the story of Etiwanda quarterback Angel Santiago's verbal commitment to Army and the factors that went into that decision. It can be read here.

According to USC's Rivals.com site, Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley said that he is going to announce his college choice on Fox Sports for National Signing Day next Wednesday. The article, which can be accessed here with a Rivals.com subscription, also outlined his official visit to USC this weekend and his plans between now and National Signing Day.

Shirley confirmed that he is visiting Miami (Fla) next weekend and also confirmed that he's scheduled an in-home visit with new USC head coach Lane Kiffin for the day before NSD. Shirley also discussed his trip, notably his interactions with USC defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who showed him tapes of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks.

"It was the whole nine-yards," said Shirley. "Just being compared to (Derrick) Brooks is an honor. I think I'd be comfortable on either side - (SAM or WILL)."

We'll continue to keep you posted on Shirley - the top uncommitted prospect left in the county - as we head closer to Signing Day.

I would take these picks with a grain of salt because, quite frankly, I've stunk during the playoffs thus far. That being said, I have a theory on picking Super Bowl participants which I call "The Middle Ground Theory."

I've noticed that in recent years that of the final four NFL teams, the Super Bowl matchup tends to not me the least desirable or most-desirable matchup according to ratings. For example, the ideal matchup last year would have been Pittsburgh-Philadelphia (battle of Pennsylvania, Steelers vs. McNabb, etc.) and the least-desirable matchup would have been Arizona-Baltimore. While Pittsburgh-Philly was the favored matchup according to point spreads, Pittsburgh-Arizona is what we got.

In 2007, New England-Green Bay was the most desirable matchup and the favored matchup according to point spreads, as it would have been the undefeated Patriots playing Brett Favre in perhaps Favre's final game (yeah right) in a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI. The least desirable matchup would have been San Diego-N.Y. Giants more than likely, even though I guess you could hype the Rivers-Manning draft day trade drama. So what did we get? New England-New York Giants.

Janae Sharpe didn't provide much drama in breaking the Rialto High School scoring record Friday, rolling to 32 points in a 78-34 victory over Carter. Sharpe only needed to score 16 points to beat Okeme Oziwo's record, but doubled that to finish the game with 1,562 points for her career. Sharpe also has seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals as Rialto remained undefeated in the Citrus Belt League.

Riverside Preparatory School announced Friday that it will be fielding a football team during the 2010-11 school year, according to a press release sent by principal Shawn Bell. The school is located just outside of Victorville in Oro Grande and has an enrollment of 358 through grades K-12. Players interested in playing for the Silver Knights can call the school's enrollment center at (760) 843-5556 or visit this website.

Rialto junior guard Janae Sharpe is 16 points short of setting the Rialto High School scoring record for both boys and girls, according to a phone call from Knights assistant coach Larry Claunch. Sharpe, who has 1,538 points in 2.5 seasons with the Knights, will likely break the record tonight, as the Knights play Carter.

The record is held by Okeme Oziwo, a 1996 graduate of RHS who went on to star at Arizona State - where he recovered from a devastating car crash to become a starter for the Sun Devils - and the Harlem Globetrotters after his time with the Knights. Tonight's game is at 6 p.m. at Rialto High School.

Ontario Christian, a perennial CIF contender, is looking like a decent bet to play for a title, as the Knights are ranked second in the Division VI poll. Besides that, Granite Hills and Serrano are looking good in Division IV, as they are ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

The High Desert is leading the way in soccer (which isn't unusual at all really). Granite Hills (No. 1), Oak Hills (No. 3) and Silverado (No. 5) are ranked high in Division VI, while Hesperia holds down the No. 2 spot in Division V.

This week's installment of the rankings sees Summit and Ayala ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in Division I-A and Etiwanda leading a contingent of county teams in DI-AA with a No. 4 ranking. Cajon strangely fell from No. 5 to No. 8 in that division despite not losing a game.

A few days late, but I thought I'd put these out here for public consumption. Eisenhower remains No. 1in Division II-A while Summit and Alta Loma take the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively, in D2-A. Chino Hills remains No. 2 in DI-A as well.

Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley - a top 150 recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com - has kept his poker face pretty well throughout the recruiting process, as it has been tough to get a read on the 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker's intentions.

"I have a lot of schools I'm looking at right now," Shirley said. "I wouldn't say that there's one school that's my favorite right now."

Shirley has been frugal with his official visits, taking one to Washington in October and another to Arizona in November to go along with several unofficial visits to USC and UCLA. But the next two weekends will see Shirley on the road, as he heads to USC this weekend and out to Miami (Fla.) in the last weekend before National Signing Day on February 2.

The Ayala Extravaganza, one of the top one-day girls basketball showcases in the Southland will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at Ayala HS and have nine different games going on throughout the day into the evening. One of the featured matchups will take place at 3 p.m., as two-time defending CIF champion Cajon takes on Harbor City Narbonne -- one of the top teams in the Los Angeles City Section. The Cowgirls are currently ranked No. 8 in the CIF-SS Division I-AA polls.

Ayala, the No. 3 team in DI-A, plays DI-AA No. 6 Lynwood at 6 p.m. while Chino Hills plays Perris in a matchup of teams ranked in D1-A at 4:30 p.m. Alta Loma starts off the proceedings with a 9 a.m. matchup against Pasadena Blair.

The complete schedule for the Extravaganza, with all games held at Ayala High School:

9 a.m. - Pasadena Blair vs. Alta Loma
10:30 a.m. - Walnut vs. Anaheim Magnolia
12 p.m. - Playa del Rey St. Bernard vs. Vista Murrieta
1:30 p.m. - Lakewood Mayfair vs. Fullerton Rosary
3 p.m. - Harbor City Narbonne vs. Cajon
4:30 p.m. - Chino Hills vs. Perris
6 p.m. - Ayala vs. Lynwood
7:30 p.m. - Diamond Ranch vs. Ventura
9 p.m. - Long Beach Poly vs. Burbank Bellarmine-Jefferson

All-Sun first-team quarterback Angel Santiago, the most potent dual-threat quarterback in the area in my opinion, verbally committed to Army this week according to a text message sent to colleague Clay Fowler by Etiwanda coach Steven Bryce. A writeup in Fowler's blog can be found here. Santiago is the second county quarterback to commit to a service academy in the last three seasons, joining Big Bear's Kriss Proctor, who committed to Navy in 2008 and just finished his sophomore year as the backup quarterback for the Midshipmen.

In addition to T.J.'s previous post about REV's Chris Mecate (seeded third) winning the 119 pound title at the Five Counties Wrestling Invitational last Friday, there were seven more wrestlers from the county who placed at state.

The were three county wrestlers placing in the 112 pound class, as Oak Hills' unseeded Ray Delgado was second, Sultana's unseeded Matt Welch was fifth and Ayala's unseeded Andrew Delgado was eighth.

At 135 pounds, Victor Valley's unseeded Chris Swayze took seventh, while Carter's Chuck Wilson, also unseeded was eighth at 140. REV's sixth-seeded Andrew Hudson took seventh at 215 and Sultana's fifth-seeded Manny Mazariegos was third at heavyweight.

There were eight wrestlers in each weight class seeded prior to the event, and the top eight placed. As far as I can tell, Mecate, Hudson and Mazariegos were the only county wrestlers who were seeded, yet not only did they all place, but five others from the county who were unseeded placed.

Looks to me like county wrestlers are deserving of a little more respect than what was given to them at the seeding meeting.

A day after Tyler Shreve committed to Utah, Redlands East Valley offensive lineman David Peterson committed to San Jose State according to scout.com. Peterson was a first-team all-CIF and all-Sun selection and a three-year starter for the Wildcats, playing primarily at center this year.

Redlands East Valley junior wrestler Chris Mecate continued his impressive season, taking first place in the 119-pound division at this past weekend's Five Counties Tournament at Fountain Valley High School according to an e-mail sent to me by his father, Perry Mecate.

Mecate, ranked third in the state coming into the tournament, bested the two wrestlers ranked ahead of him Saturday, defeating No. 2-seeded Bryan Grubbs of Carlsbad La Costa Canyon 3-2 in the semifinals and No. 1 seeded Zach Zimmer of Clovis West 3-1 in the championship match to grab the title.

Redlands East Valley graduate Ronnie Fouch and Redlands graduate Coy Glass will cross paths once again, as both are transferring to Division I-AA Indiana State to vie for the starting quarterback position.

Fouch's transfer from the University of Washington is outlined in this story by the Seattle Times. The 2007 Ken Hubbs Athlete of the Year spent three seasons with the Huskies - a redshirt season in 2007 and two seasons as a backup in 2008 and 2009. Fouch saw considerable time as a redshirt freshman in 2008 once starting quarterback Jake Locker went down, completing 113 of 250 passes for 1,339 yards, four touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He played sparingly behind Locker this past season and was likely going to fill the same role had he stayed at Washington.

He also would have been pressed by two recruits - redshirt freshman Keith Price and true freshman Nick Montana, the son of Hall of Fame Joe Montana - brought in by new coach Steve Sarkisian, who took over for Tyrone Willingham after the 2008 season.

In transferring to Indiana State, Fouch can play right away according to NCAA rules, a reason he cited in the Seattle Times story.

"I had a positive experience at UW," Fouch said. "Nothing negative happened, and there's no negative reason why I left. I left just to go somewhere where I could get a lot of playing time and compete and get a chance to be on the field. I didn't have any conflicts with the coaches. It's just a matter of me being happy and on the field and I felt like this is what would make me happy, being on the field and playing."

As for Glass, the move to Indiana State is part of a busy three years since graduating from RHS. After playing two years at Riverside Community College, Glass enrolled at Hofstra, which has since dropped football. Glass, also a 2007 graduate, led Redlands to its last Citrus Belt League championship in 2006, guiding the Terriers to a 12-1 record and the CIF-SS Inland Division semifinals.

Redlands East Valley quarterback Tyler Shreve switched his verbal commitment from Colorado State to Utah after taking an official visit to Utah according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. The story can be found on the Tribune's blog, along with this quote by Shreve.

"The coaches seem like good guys, it's a similar system to what we have at my high school and I enjoyed hanging out with the players," he said. "I could see myself being there in Salt Lake no problem."

Shreve committed to Colorado State in October but will join a surging Utes program fresh off consecutive Top 20 finishes. He'll join Colony WR Kenneth Scott, Riverside North WR Dres Anderson and Norco athlete Joseph Smith as members of this Utah recruiting class.

Wildcard week was unkind, as only Arizona's OT win prevented me from getting the goose-egg. I feel as if I'll be better this week. Or more accurately, hope I will be.

NEW ORLEANS (-7) over Arizona
Baltimore (+6.5) over INDIANAPOLIS
Dallas (+2.5) over MINNESOTA
SAN DIEGO (-7.5) over N.Y. Jets

Last week: 1-3
Overall: 128-127-4

When I was covering the REV-Redlands boys basketball game tonight I overhead the REV public address announcer announcing that Wildcats senior girls basketball player Dreanna Underwood set the school record for career points scored last night in REV's 50-43 victory over Miller on Tuesday night.

Underwood, a four-year starter who is averaging 18.1 points per game for REV, took a bit of a breather Wednesday against Redlands, only scoring eight points in the Wildcats' 52-35 victory. But breathers have obviously been rare for her.

In the midst of call-in chaos tonight I got a call from Rialto Unified School District Director of Communications Syeda Jafri saying that Don Markham has been approved to be the next Rialto football coach by the RUSD school board. So the double-wing genius is officially back. Clay Fowler will have a story on it in tomorrow's Sun.

Got swamped yesterday and didn't release this one. Sorry guys. As you would expected, St. Margaret's dominated the superlatives, with RB John Muryama, LB Michael Schmall and head coach Harry Welch sweeping the Offensive POY, Defensive POY and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Rialto senior Giordan Porter pulled a unique doubleheader this past Saturday. Porter, a star wrestle for the Knights and a standout offensive lineman for Rialto this past football season, wrestled for the Knights at the Estancia tournament in the morning/early afternoon before heading to Corona High School to play for the San Bernardino All-Star football team in the Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic that evening.

Porter, who wrestles in the heavyweight division, has been a force on the mat this season, moving his record to 22-0 after winning the heavyweight division and the Most Valuable Wrestler award at Estancia Saturday. According to an e-mail by Rialto wrestling coach Todd Harris, Porter has pinned 21 of 22 opponents and defeated the 22nd by a technical fall.

As one would expect, division champion Palm Springs dominated the superlatives, with QB Michael Karls and RB Nephi Garcia splitting offensive player of the year honors, LB Christian Spears splitting defensive player of the year with Kaiser LB Josh Shirley and Steve Fabian winning coach of the year.

As you would expect, division champion Temecula Chaparral dominated the superlatives, with Antoine Arnold sharing the co-offensive player of the year honors with Vista Murrieta's Derrick Brown while Matt Lester and Darius Guillory shared defensive player of the year honors. Chaparral coach Tom Leach also won the coach of the year honor.

These were released Monday by the CIF-SS offices. Colony RB Jamil Austin and Etiwanda QB Angel Santiago shared the offensive player of the year honors while Upland LB Tim Helton grabbed defensive MVP honors. And predictably, Upland's Tim Salter was the coach of the year.

I've always appreciated the hard work put in by high school students when their school is hosting a wrestling tournament. If they're not selling something, cleaning something or putting something away, they're working at one of the tables mat-side.
Now on the surface, this is a great gig. Even though you're working, you have a great seat next to the mat. Rim of the World High School students Callie Fuller and Garrett Martin were working the table at the middle mat at the Beresford Invitational, with great views of the championship matches. Both were working so hard, I didn't see them get up from their table for at least a couple of hourse, except when two wrestlers collided with the table.
Now, these were just any two wrestlers. They were heavyweights. One, Cajon's Brandon Rucker, is at the upper end of the heavyweight range, 285 pounds. He was facing Charles Wood of South Torrance who was lighter than Rucker, but was no lightweight either. While both were standing and locked up, they crashed into the table, sending Fuller and Martin reeling backwards, knocking the table over, spilling a soda among other things in the process.
"I was shaking for a while afterward," Fuller admits.
They righted the table, and got back to work. Kudos to Fuller and Martin, just two of the unsung heroes who help make high school wrestling tournaments happen but sometimes get a little too close to the action.
Is there workman's comp for table crews?

The recruiting for Arroyo Valley linebacker Ofa Fifita and Arroyo Valley wide receiver Damon Ogburn is picking up steam, as both players have received offers recently according to Hawks coach Marcus Soward.

Soward said that Fifita has just been offered by Fresno State while Ogburn, a fast-riser after a dominant senior season, was offered by UNLV. Ogburn will be on the San Bernardino County all-star team in tonight's Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic at Corona High School.

Both players will be taking an official visit to San Jose State next week, part of a busy January. Two weeks from now, Fifita will head to Fresno State while Ogburn will be at UNLV, while the weekend of Jan. 29 will see Fifita visiting Hawaii and Ogburn visiting Idaho State.

Nice final week got me before .500. Was going to write more on these picks, but it's late and I just want to get them in.

CINCINNATI (-2.5) over N.Y. Jets
Philadelphia (+3.5) over DALLAS
NEW ENGLAND (-3) over Baltimore
ARIZONA (even) over Green Bay

Week: 9-5-2
Overall: 127-124-4

I was tempted to bump Boise State up because of Alabama struggling a bit against a Texas team with a backup quarterback, but I can't do it.

1. Alabama (1) - Colt McCoy or no Colt McCoy, Bama did what it needed to do - win.
2. Boise State (6) - Broncos get nice win over a TCU team that some thought should have been playing tonight.
3. Texas (2) - Tough break losing Colt McCoy.
4. Florida (5) - Tebow went out with a bang against Cincy.
5. Ohio State (8) - Buckeyes conquered some of their BCS demons with Rose Bowl win.
6. TCU (3) - Fiesta loss aside, still a banner year for the Horned Frogs.
7. Cincinnati (4) - Got bombed by a Florida team that would have beaten anyone it faced in that Sugar Bowl.
8. Iowa (13) - Win over Georgia Tech in Orange Bowl part of big bowl season for the Big Ten.
9. Penn State (9) - Got nice win over LSU in Capital One Bowl.
10. BYU (11) - Destroying Oregon State is enough to get Cougars into my top 10.
11. Virginia Tech (12) - Looked good in pulverizing Tennessee.
12. Oregon (7) - Loss to Ohio State part of a tough bowl season for Pac-10.
13. Georgia Tech (10) - Saw triple-option offense derailed by Hawkeyes.
14. Nebraska (23) - Nebraska's blowout of Arizona might have been the single-most impressive performance of the bowl season.
15. Pittsburgh (17) - 10 wins and a top 15 performance? Not bad for the Panthers.
16. LSU (14) - Tough loss to Penn State in the mud.
17. Wisconsin (21) - Badgers looked impressive in beating Miami at Champs Sports Bowl.
18. Miami (Fla) (15) - Had a hard time with Wisconsin's pass rush.
19. USC (25) - Trojans now have won 7 of their last 8 bowls under Pete Carroll (edit from before).
20. Mississippi (NR) - The Rebels win the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year.
21. Central Michigan (22) - Chippewas go OT to end MAC's bowl losing streak.
22. Utah (NR) - Utah has nine straight bowl wins now after beating Cal.
23. Oklahoma State (16) - Choked out by Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl.
22. Oklahoma (NR) - Disappointing season ends on a high note in Sun Bowl.
25. Oregon State (18) - Blowout loss to BYU ends good season on bitter note.

Receiving consideration: Clemson, Stanford, Navy
Dropped out: No. 19 Stanford, No. 20 West Virginia, No. 24 Arizona

Rialto High School, in coordination with the Rialto Unified School District, is looking into the girls basketball program after allegations of misconduct against head coach Michael Anderson by the family of former player Diamond Smith.

The San Bernardino boys basketball team is back in Southern California after spending Dec. 27-31 in Logan, Utah playing in the Cache Valley Electric Holiday Classic. But as far as Cardinal coach Darin Graham is concerned, a lot of them wouldn't have minded staying in snowy Utah for much longer.

According to Rialto Unified School District's Director of Communications Syeda Jafri, legendary coach Don Markham will be named the next football coach at Rialto High School pending school board approval.

"It's on the agenda for the school board meeting on Jan. 13," Jafri said. "Don Markham's name has been submitted for the job."

Markham, who has won 309 games and five CIF championships during an illustrious high school football coaching career, will be making his second stop at Rialto High. He coached the Knights in 2000-2001, leading Rialto to a 13-9 record and the only two playoff berths in the school's history. He left for a six-year stint at Bloomington before spending the 2008 season coaching American Sports University in San Bernardino to a 10-4 record.

More on this to come.

So close to .500 I can feel it. And I also left these in the drafts folder.

BUFFALO (-8) over Indianapolis
CAROLINA (-9) over New Orleans
Jacksonville (+2) over CLEVELAND
DETROIT (+3) over Chicago
New England (+7) over HOUSTON
Pittsburgh (-3) over MIAMI
MINNESOTA (-8) over N.Y. Giants
San Francisco (-8) over ST. LOUIS
Atlanta (-2) over TAMPA BAY
Philadelphia (+3) over DALLAS
ARIZONA (-3) over Green Bay
Kansas City (+10) over DENVER
OAKLAND (+10) over Baltimore
SAN DIEGO (-3) over Washington
Tennessee (-6) over SEATTLE
Cincinnati (+10) over N.Y. JETS

Week: 9-7
Overall: 118-119-2

Redlands East Valley coach Kurt Bruich brought his staff in to prep the San Bernardino All-Stars in their Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic matchup with Riverside County. But he also brought in an ace in the hole second to none, as his father, legendary Fontana and Kaiser coach Dick Bruich, will be helping out with the planning.

Talked to Serrano defensive end Everett Beed this morning, as he was one of the San Bernardino county all-stars present at this morning's media day. During the conversation, Beed confirmed that him and teammate Dionza Bradford committed to San Diego State after an official visit to the school two weekends ago.

"We're committed," Beed said. "Dionza is all San Diego State. We really liked what they had and we liked that there are going to be four High Desert guys there."

Bradford and Beed join Hesperia WR Jay Waddell and Granite Hills TE Bryce Quigley as Aztec commits. They both initially committed to UNLV but decommitted after the Rebels' coach, Mike Sanford, was fired in late November.

Beed did leave the door open for a future change, as he indicated that he is taking an official visit to Arizona within the next month. However, he reiterated that it would take a lot for the Wildcats to sway him.

"I want to see what Arizona has to offer," Beed said. "But San Diego State is a great place and I'm committed to them."

Sorry I haven't been posting lately - between holidays and basketball tournaments, haven't had much opportunity to blog. But I'm back and I'm bad after having gone to the Media Day for the I.E. All-Star Football classic at Corona High School.