Ranking your favorite sports
It's one of those summer days where I'm sitting in the office coming up with another top ten for y'all to chew on. How about this, the top ten sports in the SGV you want to read or follow most. No. 1 is easy, obviously football sets the tone for everything else, but what follows may or may not surprise you, so here goes.
1. Football - Absolutely and without question, this is the straw that stirs the drink in high school athletics.
2. Baseball - I am convinced this is the area's No. 2 sport. Not just in terms of talent across the SGV, but in fan interest, blog participation and readership.
3. Boys Basketball - In Orange County and other area's this is No. 2, but not in our backyard. There are still the Glendora's that keep the SGV on the map, but boys hoops in this area ain't what it once was. But obviously, still popular regardless.
4. Girls Basketball - Girls soccer and softball are closing in, but girls hoops still gets the nod at No. 4. Bishop Amat has obviously helped in that regard along with Walnut, Covina and others. While it's not a very big blog topic, there are more fans at girls basketball games than any other girls sport.
5. Softball: You can make an argument that softball is closing in on girls hoops in this area. Well attended crowds, solid history here, and it was a better than expected blog topic.
6. Girls Soccer: Yes, the girls before the guys. Girls soccer is the most participated girls team sport in the country at the moment. Club soccer is booming and there is a lot of reader interest. But my problem is the best girls don't always play because of club commitments. But it's still a sport that draws lots of reader interest and was a better than expected blog topic.
7. Wrestling: With Northview and South Hills, wrestling is still a huge thing. Back in my day, though, gyms were filled during big dual meets, but not as much today. I lived during the days of "Vision Quest." the best wrestling movie ever made. But as far as reader interest goes, not what it once was.
8. Track & Field: This gets better later in the season. It's big during Arcadia, Mt. SAC, and the postseason. Like wrestling, mostly individual and you wind up covering the same standouts every week.
9. Boys Soccer: This might irritate some people, but this is where boys soccer is. I hardly ever get complaints about boys soccer coverage, it's rarely talked about on the blogs, and part of that is because the SGV isn't a hotbed for boys soccer like it is in girls. For me personally though, boys soccer is one of my favorites.
10. Girls Volleyball: I'm finding this is a sport on the rise in the SGV. Places like Bonita, San Dimas and Los Altos showed a lot of passion. We'll definitely do more with girls volleyball this fall.
Others to consider: Cross Country, swimming, girls and boys water polo.
Comments
There was 1 female player that received a D1 scholarship that did not play High School last year. RC from Los Altos. Most female players list their High School and Club accomplishments when sending out letters to prospective schools.
On the boys side you may have had a handful of players that did not play because of the new Academy League. Which by the way had their final games televised by ESPN last Friday and Saturday.
Posted by: sgv dad | July 22, 2008 9:28 AM
fred: where do you get your information that the best girls soccer players don't play high school because of club committments. take a look at the U-16/17/19 Region 4 ODP girls teams. All those girls are playing HS and they are the elite of the club elite.other than that, your ranking of girls soccer as # 6 is probably right on the money..effpee
Posted by: effpee | July 22, 2008 7:06 AM
How many wrestling duals did you actually attend this past year? Judging from your lack of coverage, I would say not to many. You have one of the top female wrestlers in the world and you have
n't written one article on her.
Posted by: wrestlingfan | July 21, 2008 10:55 PM
mom? thats because both of those sports are BORINGGGGGG spectator sports.
Posted by: boring sports | July 19, 2008 11:08 PM
In my opinion, I think that girls softball should be ranked right behind boys baseball, especially after a year like we had this time around.
Allot of the schools played very well this year, and some of them made it deep into the playoffs.
Also, many of the crowds at some of these games were really big due to the interst of developing rivalries in the SCV amoungst some of the local schools.
The only disapointing thing for me relating to the girls softball games, is that some of these venus are way to small.
Thses schools should consider developing the venues a bit more by expanding both the bleacher seats and allowing for more space for the influx of the the growing fan base.
If you happened to have attended any of the Amat games this year, you would have noticed that the JV field was probably a better venue to watch a game from because, it was not a "cramped" area, and you didn't have to walk over bats, helmets, softballs and the other teams jocks (do girls wear jocks ?? ha ha ha) just to get to you're seats.
And BTW, good luck finding a seat if you arrive late to a game.
Im sure that allot of the other schools have similar problems with thier venues so perhaps an effort should be made to develope these sites a bit more.
Posted by: jcaz | July 18, 2008 7:44 AM
I have to agreed with Diaappointed mom. All the blogs is mostly of football. Where is volleyball, cross country, girls tennis or boys waterpolo. Its nothing but football here. You should watch a boy waterpolo game. Way fast moving then and football game.
Posted by: ucsdprospect | July 18, 2008 1:41 AM
fred
how bout u do a top 10 o-lines in the sgv can u reply with your thoughts
Posted by: bearcatfaithful | July 17, 2008 11:25 PM
Swimming and water polo never even get any decent coverage in the paper, no less make it into the top 10 list. How could they with no exposure????
Posted by: Disappointed mom | July 17, 2008 1:12 PM