Sporting an opinion

It's a big week for the Ontario Reign, which are about to exist as an actual hockey team and not just some office space and a logo (which, by the way, just lost in The Hockey News' logo contest). The ECHL will allow teams to begin meeting and practicing Wednesday night at 6 p.m., and two defensemen were just added to the list of names in Reign camp.

Darren McMillan and Dan Knapp are expected at that first meeting tomorrow night. McMillan (career stats) is a 6-foot, 216-pound defensemen coming off a year in Germany and two years in the CHL. Knapp (career stats) is 6-0, 190 and just finished a four-year career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Word is that a couple of last weekend's Open Tryout contenders have also been invited to camp, but no names yet ...

The team's first practice is going to be this Friday at 10 a.m. at Center Ice Arena in Ontario, and open to the public.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once again, the Ontario Reign have made it to the next round of The Hockey News' online logo contest. Once again they're the early underdog.

The Reign's final four opponent is the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, whose logo to me is a poorer take on what the San Jose Sharks were going for about 20 years ago, and have scarcely tinkered with since.

So it's not a bad logo -- but is it really better than the Chicago Blackhawks' logo, which beat the Sharks in the first round (67% to 33%) then somehow lost to Rimouski 57% to 43% to advance to the Final Four? I'm further disinclined to vote for the Oceanic since "Oceanic" is not a noun; were the "Waves", "Whalers" or "Sharks" (since that's what's in the logo) already taken? The city of Rimouski sits on the river St. Laurent north of Quebec, which is about as far to the other side of the continent as you can be from the Inland Empire. So while I'd like to say there's no middle ground on this vote, I'd be lying through my baleen ... better hurry up, too, as the Reign are losing 60 to 40% early.

The other side of the bracket has the Detroit Red Wings going against the Montreal Canadiens. Good luck for either the ECHL team or the QMJHL team that's going up against one of those big boys.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, the Reign foam finger is now available for purchase via ontarioreignstore.com, along with the goal lamp and the lanyard and the opening-night memorial puck. And a bunch of clothes. Go check it out.

Also, don't forget to vote in the Hockey News logo contest. The Reign are trailing the Florida Everblades, 48% to 52%.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

San Bernardino motorcyclist extraordinaire Charlie Venegas led wire-to-wire in the final heat at Industry Speedway tonight to win the state championship, his second straight.

The lowdown, from Jim Short at IndustrySpeedway.com:

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (Sept. 17, 2008) – Charlie Venegas posted a wire-to-wire victory in his fifth and final heat race to accumulate the most points for the event and successfully defend his AMA/USA Speedway California State Championship Wednesday night at Industry Speedway.
It was the third state title overall for Venegas, 41, of San Bernardino. The all-time win leader at Industry Speedway also captured state laurels in 1997.
Venegas, who had nine wins during the regular season at the track in The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center, took four of his five heats races en route to the championship and a major portion of the $5,000 awaiting the top First Division finishers.
The total purse of just more than $9,000 in cash and prizes was the largest in the five-year history of Industry Speedway and the largest in recent memory for the State Championships, which were being run for the 33rd time.
Instead of deciding the champion in a one-race finale, the winner was determined by the number of points each rider earned in his five heat races, with scoring on a 3-2-1-0 basis.
Venegas and Ricky Wells, who had six wins, dominated the track’s regular season, and going into the final round of heat races they were tied atop the standings with 10 points apiece. Venegas had three wins and a third, Wells two wins and a pair of seconds. Behind them were Shaun Harmatiuk and Bobby Schwartz, with 9 points each. And with Venegas and Schwartz in the first heat and Wells and Harmatiuk in the third, the scenarios for the final round were fairly simple.
Venegas left nothing to chance, however. The veteran known as “The Edge” is considered one of the best in the sport at getting away from the starting gate. He showed why in that final 4-lap heat, grabbing a quick lead from Jimmy Fishback and staying in front to the finish, with Schwartz taking third.
That left things up to Wells, and when he got a bad start and found himself behind former state champion Mike Faria, it was pretty much decided. Wells pressured Faria throughout, but could never set up a pass and finished second, one spot ahead of Harmatiuk.
Shawn McConnell won his final two heat races to finish third overall.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Reign may have landed their best offensive threat: Preston Callander comes to the Reign from the Florida Everblades, for whom he scored 57 points in 47 games last season. According to his stats on hockeydb.com, Callander has been playing in Finland already this season. No word yet on how this affects his prospects to be in Ontario come October.

Callander was acquired in exchange for the rights to Michael Grenzy, a former Texas Wildcatter (the franchise that sorta folded and became the Reign).

Update @6 p.m.: It's a rights-for-rights trade and Callander might not report. He's in Finland on a tryout.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ontario Reign's logo march has continued into the second round of the Hockey News' online contest. This week's opponent: The Florida Everblades.

The Everblades (a play on the state's Everglades National Park, combined with skate blades, in case you couldn't figure it out) compete in the ECHL like the Reign. Their logo, while clever, can't match the simplistic class of the Reign's logo. The concept reminds me a bit of what they were going for with the Minnesota Wild logo (which the Reign beat last week, 55% to 45%) by superimposing the shape of an animal onto a different shape - this time, the shape of a skate.

So if you like clever, vote for the alligator-turned-hockey skate. If you prefer a logo that's just a darn good logo, vote for the Reign. Looks like the Reign have dug an early hole, by the way; better get cracking.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ryan Bowness, son of former NHL player/coach Rick Bowness, has been added to the inaugural Ontario Reign roster. The 25-year-old right wing is coming off a four-year career at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in which he had 13 goals and 28 points in 108 career games. Bowness also has 112 penalty minutes in those games.
Rick Bowness is currently an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Reign also added Mike Howe, a forward and former assistant captain at the University of Minnesota.

Check out the full release.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sources tell me the Ontario Reign have added a marquee name -- the son of a former NHL player -- to their inaugural roster. An official announcement is expected soon.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, so Cooley, the tight end for the Washington Redskins, didn't intentionally post a nude photo of himself on his blog yesterday. Really, it was an accident. Just read this post from yesterday:

All apologies from the website. We are very sorry that we showed a penis on our website all day yesterday. That was by no means our intention and we did not want to offend anyone. The picture wouldn't have been up for so long, but we were in the middle of winning a big game. Once again, this was a complete accident and we regret not reviewing the post more closely. Thanks.

Supposedly, he had posted a shot of himself reviewing game notes (in the nude). The latter detail apparently didn't catch his eye quick enough.

Insert "tight end" joke here.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Four Northern California drivers, plus the usual stable of standouts from Industry Speedway, will try to wrest the $9,000 AMA Speedway California State Championship title from San Bernardino's Charlie Venegas on Wednesday.

It's the 33rd edition of the race and the purse is the largest in recent history.

From Jim Short at industryspeedway.com:

Track point leaders Shawn McConnell and Ricky Wells and defending champion Charlie Venegas head the field of riders entered for the $9,000 AMA Speedway California State Championships Wednesday night (Sept. 17) at Industry Speedway. The purse, which includes $7,400 in cash and $1,650 in prizes, trophies and products, is the largest in the recent history of the state championships, which will be run for the 33rd time overall and the third time at Industry Speedway.

The nation's best Speedway Motorcycle venue is in The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center, and it was there last week that the 49-year-old McConnell finished fourth in a main event won by the 17-year-old Wells to claim the regular season championship by 2 points.

Venegas had nine wins this year, boosting his total to 33 in 75 main events since the start of the 2005 season, and a record 11 in 2007, when he capped his year with his second state title. Wells had six wins and McConnell, Buck Blair and Shaun Harmatiuk one apiece this year on Industry Speedway’s 150-yard dirt oval.

Blair, of Huntington Beach, missed the final weeks of the season with a broken left collarbone and will not compete in the State Championships. The 16-rider field won’t lack for competition, though, with veterans Mike Faria and Bobby Schwartz, young stars Neil and Dale Facchini, Russell Green and Jimmy Fishback and Northern California standout Tommy Hedden on hand to compete for the $5,000 in cash and other awards awaiting the First Division winners.

Faria and Hedden, both regulars at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, are among the four riders making the trip south.

The champion will be determined by total points accrued in the heat races. Each rider will compete in five 4-man heats and points will be awarded in the usual 3-2-1-0 manner. Last year Venegas had 14 points on four wins and a second to edge Faria, who had three wins and two seconds for 13 points.

There's also $1,000 at stake for the Sidecar Champion, which will be determined with the traditional 4-lap main event, and that segment of the competition has drawn eight entries including defending champions Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen.
Another $1,000 will be awarded in the Last of the Mohican Challenge Championship, a series of elimination races that narrows the original 4-man field down to two riders for a 2-lap match race.

The support classes that have provided so much spirited racing and entertainment throughout the season also will be represented. Champion Bryan Buffington heads a field of 12 Second Division (intermediate) riders and points winner Tim McGrath is among the eight Third Division (novice) entries.

The Youth Division that represents the future of the nation’s first extreme sport also will be in action. Recently crowned National Champion Brad Pappalardo, a nephew of the legendary Greg Hancock, tops an eight-rider field that will be split into two divisions, over and under 12.

Entrance gates at The Grand open at 5:30 p.m. and racing gets under way at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, students and military, and $5 for children 6-13.

Information may be obtained by calling the Industry Speedway Hotline at 949-640-0455 or visiting the Internet web site at www.Industryspeedway.com.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Greg Biffle should seriously think about asking Steve Carrell to fill in at all his sponsor appearances.

2. A happy Carl Edwards was asked how he felt after finishing third and taking over first place in the Cup standings. With a bottle of Vitamin Water in his hand, he said: "Even Vitamin Water tastes good."

Was that a huge slap in the face or what?

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I read this report that Sidney Crosby is living with Mario Lemieux. A couple weeks ago in Fontana, Nationwide driver Brad Keselowski told me that he lives with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kings phenom Jack Johnson lived with veteran Rob Blake last season, before Blake got traded to San Jose, bought Craig Rivet's old house and now lives down the block from my cousin.

This seems to be the trend nowadays, though for all I know Mickey Mantle once bunked in the guest room behind Joe and Marilyn's mansion.

For the youngsters, it's got to have a profound influence. You get to see your hero/owner/elder teammate off the ice and realize that he, too, puts his pants on one leg at a time. Did Dale/Mario/Rob Blake eat his Wheaties this morning? You better believe Brad, Sidney and Jack will, too. Did the old guys go clubbing or study game/race film at night? It's off-the-job training by osmosis.

I'm sure the older guys love having the kids around, too. Whatever they did to get themselves to this point -- their greatness DNA -- gets passed on to the next generation. (Except in the case of Earnhardt, who can only advise Keselowski to become his sport's next transcendent figure then name his son Brad Jr.)

Rabid fans, however, benefit the most: Stalk one superstar athlete on his way home from work -- and receive two autographs!

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Say it ain't so: The former Orange Show Speedway standout admits taking testosterone - before it was banned.

From http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/racing/09/11/bc.car.hornaday.drugs.ap/index.html:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ron Hornaday Jr., the defending NASCAR Craftsman Trucks champion who is second in this year's standings, admitted using testosterone for more than a year before it was added to the sport's banned list.

Hornaday, 50, told ESPN he received shipments of testosterone and human growth hormone from December 2004 to January 2006, and that the drugs came from an anti-aging center that has been linked to drug-related scandals in the NFL and Major League Baseball.

Hornaday, who won the Camping World 200 on Saturday, acknowledged taking testosterone when shown records from the Palm Beach (Fla.) Rejuvenation Center during an interview with ESPN at his home in North Carolina on Tuesday. He said the growth hormone was sent to his home for his wife's use.

He said he used the testosterone to treat a medical condition that later turned out to be a hyperactive thyroid.

Hornaday provided records to ESPN showing that the drugs were prescribed by doctors at the clinic within a day of his visit. He said he didn't see or speak with a doctor before receiving the prescription, and used it roughly every day for 13 months by rubbing a "pea-sized" amount onto his thigh.

"I couldn't see a difference," he said. "That's why I stopped."

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston told ESPN that Hornaday had not informed anyone in the organization that he was using testosterone and that officials would seek more information from him before the Camping World RV Rental 200 in New Hampshire this weekend.

"It's hard to see whether it's a violation or not," said Poston, who noted that NASCAR's drug-testing policy prohibits the abuse of all drugs. "There are certain prescriptions that drivers can take, and we look at them on a case-by-case basis. If it's not putting other drivers at risk or enhancing performance -- and it's used as intended -- we'll make determinations as they come up."

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not quite the final main event we were expecting, sans Charlie Venegas. Perhaps the field caught up to him, especially Ricky Wells, the 17-year-old from Yorba Linda who won his sixth event of the season. Venegas, of San Bernardino, finished the season with a series-high 10 victories.

The final results, courtesy Jim Short of industryspeedway.com:

FIRST DIVISION
Heat race winners

1. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino; 2. Ricky Wells, Yorba Linda; 3. Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa; 4. Shawn McConnell, Brea; 5. Russell Green, San Bernardino; 6. Jimmy Fishback, Rancho Cucamonga; 7. Shaun Harmatiuk, Garden Grove; 8. Jason Ramirez, Orange; 9. Schwartz; 10. Mike Faria, Reno, Nevada; 11. Venegas; 12. Wells.

QUALIFYING POINTS
Points for the 4-rider heats are awarded on the basis of 3 for a heat win, 2 for second, and 1 for third; the top 8 scorers advance to the semifinals:

Schwartz 8 (3-2-3); McConnell 7 (3-2-2); Harmatiuk 7 (2-3-2); Venegas 7 (3-1-3); Wells 6 (3-0-3); Fishback 6 (2-3-1); Faria 6 (2-1-3); Dale Facchini, Riverside, 5 (2-1-2); Green 4 (1-3-0); Tim Gomez, Hesperia, 4 (1-2-1); Robbie Sauer, Bakersfield, 4 (1-2-1); Ramirez 3 (0-3-0); Neil Facchini, Riverside, 3 (1-0-2); Brad Sauer, Bakersfield, 1 (0-0-1); John Marquez, Menifee, 1 (0-1-0); Eloy Medellin, Yorba Linda, 0.

First semifinal
1. Wells; 2. McConnell; 3. Fishback; 4. Venegas.

Second semifinal
1. Faria; 2. Harmatiuk; 3. D. Facchini; 4. Schwartz.

Last Chance qualifier
1. Schwartz; 2. Fishback; 3. D. Facchini; 4. Venegas.

Main event
1. Wells; 2. Faria; 3. Harmatiuk; 4. McConnell; 5. Schwartz.

OTHER MAIN EVENT WINNERS
Sidecar: Bob Brayton, Midway City, and Dwayne King, Mission Viejo; Stuart Glass, Auckland, New Zealand, and Jack Straw, Torrance.

Second Division: Marvin Sonnier, Bakersfield.

Third Division: Danny Baker, Covina.

Youth: Austin Novratil, Huntington Beach; River McDougal, Bakersfield.

PeeWee: Nicky Reimer, Seal Beach.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today the Ontario Reign announced a partial slate of Saturday giveaway promotions for its inaugural season. I've taken the time to rank all 15 promotions, cynicism aside, remembering that this (more than adept forechecking) is what makes sports fun for the younger set.

15. Glow Shakers giveaway, Jan. 3. I feel an enduring sense of satisfaction every time I pick up the Glow Shaker I won playing skee-ball at the arcade. Somehow, being handed one at the gate isn't quite as cool.

14. Team poster giveaway, Nov. 1. This promotion vaults into the top 10 if you manage to get autographs, and one or more guys develop into NHL mainstays.

tie-12. Undetermined Bobblehead Night No. 1, Jan. 17. Bobbleheads are either hit or miss*, but usually wildly popular. Head coach Karl Taylor looks very bobblehead-able.

(*resident Mavericks fan Clay Fowler tells me that's Dirk Nowitzki. See what I mean?)

tie-12. Undetermined Bobblehead Night No. 3, March 21. See above.

11. Bobblehead Night No. 2: Anti-Valentine's Day, Feb. 14. I'm curious to see what the final product looks like. Also sounds like the perfect break-up gift.

10. Magnet calendar/Thundersticks Giveaway, Oct. 25. Magnet calendars are always useful, but thundersticks bring back bad memories (since I'm a Bay Area guy) of the 2002 World Series.

9. "Holiday" Stocking giveaway, Dec. 20. I love "holiday" stockings. They're just as useful as magnet calendars, with the added bonus of warm and fuzzy memories. You know, of "holiday" time.

8. Cap giveaway, Feb. 28. Did I mention we like the logo?

6. Green Night Collector's Pucks, March 7. Support the environment, leave with a puck.

5. Pink Night Collector's Pucks, Feb. 7. Support breast cancer research, leave with a puck.

4. Affiliation Night, Jan. 25. The Reign will don Kings jerseys against Bakersfield, Anaheim's ECHL affiliate, which will don Ducks jerseys. Until the first 60-mph slapshot, it might feel like you're watching an actual NHL game.

3. Kid's Bicycle Night, Dec. 13. Giving away bicycles for Christmas would rank higher if only it didn't sound too good to be true.

2. Military Appreciation Night Collector's Pucks, Nov. 15. A puck is a kid-sized reminder of our military's tremendous task.

1. Zooperstars, Feb. 6. Maybe you've seen them locally at Cal League games. Maybe you saw them on America's Got Talent. Maybe you're wondering what the Zooperstars are doing at No. 1 on this list. Clearly, you haven't met Tiger Woodschuck and Harry Canary.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six days remain in the Hockey News' logo contest (vote here), which this week has pitted the Ontario Reign vs. the NHL's Minnesota Wild.

In a straight game of ice hockey, I'd have to take the Wild.

This, however, is a logo contest. For my money, the Wild's logo has to be one of the more polarizing, love-it-or-hate-it pieces of artwork in all of sports. Forget momentarily that "Wild" is an adjective, not a noun -- you've got to get over the idea of trees, a star and a moon superimposed on a mountain lion's head with a gaudy forest green/brick red color scheme. Sounds hard to imagine, doesn't it?

The designer somehow managed to pull this concept off, but for my money the colors are just too strong to be placed on the same jersey. Tone down the red, and I think the Wild win this matchup on creativity points. But the Reign's logo is so much classier, it looks like it could belong to a centuries-old British soccer club rather than the Inland Empire's first pro hockey team.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bring your hog, or covet thy neighbor's hog, tomorrow night at Industry Speedway. There will be a Harley Davidson parade plus some games, plus the final night of racing. From Jim Short at industryspeedway.com:

Shawn McConnell will try for his second win in a row, Ricky Wells will be looking for main event victory No. 6 and San Bernardino resident Charlie Venegas will be out to tie his single-season win mark when Industry Speedway drops the curtain on its regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Charlie Venegas will not win 11 main events at Industry Speedway this season; Shawn McConnell made sure of that by winning his first main event in more than three years on Wednesday night. Venegas, a San Bernardino resident, can still tie his record of 10 main-event victories in a season by winning each of the next two weeks. Venegas finished fifth.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speedway motorcycle rider Charlie Venegas, a San Bernardino resident, can set an Industry Speedway record with wins tonight and each of the next two Wednesday nights in the City of Industry.

If you're not familiar with the discipline, click here. If you haven't checked out the Industry track, it's worth a look, sitting smack-dab on top of the L.A. basin. Makes for good nighttime scenery (on a clear night).

The following was provided by Jim Short at IndustrySpeedway.com:

Venegas, a 20-year veteran of Speedway Motorcycle racing, is the winningest rider in the short history of Industry Speedway, with 33 main event victories since the start of the 2005 season (2004 results are not available), and he's been winning at better than a 50 percent ratio the past two years.

The 41-year-old father of three goes into tonight's event with nine wins in a season that will conclude with two more track championship races and the AMA Sports/USA Speedway California State Championship Sept. 17. That puts the rider known as "The Edge" in position to tie or break the record he set in 2007, when he won 10 regular season races and his second State title.

Venegas set his record in 21 races in 2007. This week's event will be the 18th of 20 overall in The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center. But Venegas did not ride in two of those while finalizing the opening of his Golden Gate Speedway in Vallejo and three times has failed to qualify for the main event - among them one that was cancelled. So in reality, Venegas has collected his nine wins in just 11 races.

Entrance gates at The Grand open at 5:30 p.m. and racing gets under way at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, students and military, and $5 for children 6-13.

Information may be obtained by calling the Industry Speedway Hotline at 949-640-0455 or visiting the Internet web site at www.Industryspeedway.com.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interested in playing professional hockey?

Now that the Inland Empire has its own minor-league team, it will host tryouts for anyone interested in filling one of the Ontario Reign's final 12 roster spots. Not that all 12 will be taken - "winners" of the tryout will only receive an invitation to training camp - and you can expect experienced players from around the country to attend. But don't let that keep you from at least circling your calendars: September 27 and 28 at Center Ice Arena in Ontario.

Click here for full details.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)