The first one's out of the way

The Mounties women's soccer team were able to get their first win this year against Southwestern College.
There was a bit of panic after losing their first two games, especially after the high bar they set last year.
Alex Loakes almost went down, but the girl's got heart and stayed in despite an injured ankle.
She tried to downplay the injury, but she was carted off the field. She really had to be in pain!
She ran back onto the field and showed the type of leadership that you love to see in sports. Scored the first goal to kind of take some pressure off the team, and really helped the offense get going.
I talked to coach Bowen and she said they've had to adjust to a couple of big injuries such as sophomore midfielder Christina Carriaga's, who played a big role in thier run last season.
Defender Taylor King has had a chance to move up in the offense due to the injuries and seems to be comfortable in that role.
She had at least 4 shots on goal that I counted, and on any other day they might have all gone in. They still have Jennifer Rivera out there, and although it seems like the team isn't running through her as much as it did last year, the potential for a big spurt is still there. She can't be contained for too long, and when she decides to explode, WATCH OUT. The girl is special on the field.
The team effort is certainly there. I love seeing a team that not only wants to win, but has fun playing the game. It's great to see the whole team get up and congratulate the player coming out of the game and really form a welcoming atmosphere on the sideline.
It's great to see a head coach who shows confidence in the players and teaches them to play the right way.
Hopefully this win catapults the team to a big run like last season's.
Their ball movement isn't quite like it was last season, and maybe it'll take them a little bit of time to really get into championship form, but I know coach Bowen will set all of that straight and the girls will respond soon enough.

Top 5: Flashback of Japanese Influences

Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners recorded his 2,000th career hit in a MLB uniform today. I have always been a great supporter of Ichiro and am happy for his milestone hit. This personal record for the "Japanese Samurai" has sparked me to think of my top 5 Japanese influences and moments growing up. See if you remember any of these:

5. Pokemon

In my generation, Pokemon was one of the biggest phenomenons to hit the United States. Before Yu Gi Oh cards were the hot gift to get your kids, Pokemon cards were the big ticket to pleasing your kids. Parents will concur. I'm sure a lot of them remember having to scramble for these cute little Pocket Monsters.

4. Joe Isuzu

When the Japanese car makers, Isuzu, started making a push for more attention, they hired a goofy looking actor named named David Leisure to do commercials, and Joe Isuzu was born. His character was a car salesman who made outrageous claims about how amazing Izusu was, and made claims like, you can buy a car for 6 dollars, or buy an Island with the money you save. Growing up, there was not one commercial break that didn't feature Joe Isuzu at some point and as a kid I thought they were hilarious.

3. Hideo Nomo

Any true Dodgers fan will remember Nomo Mania. Maybe not quite like the manias of Hulk or Fernando, but as soon as this man touched U.S. soil, media cameras drowned him in a way that not even A-Rod will ever feel. Not only were local media on him, but media from all over the U.S. AND Japan followed his every move. Not only was he able to control the media, but he had an amazing career with the Dodgers. Nomo was known as the "Tornado" for the way he'd twist his body before he pitched the ball. He filled stadiums and helped put Japanese baseball on the map. I'll never forget his no-hit performance at hitter friendly Coors Field against the Rockies, nor the way he'd contort his body in a confusing matter and fooled opposing hitters. He's an L.A. legend and his success helped pave the way into the league for players like Ichiro and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

2. Haikus

First poems I learned

Influenced love of writing

Owe a lot to them

1.Super Mario Brothers

My number one Japanese-American influence was the Super Mario Brothers video game created by Nintendo.

Some of the best times I had as a kid were while playing this silly little video game. Had a lot of great times with old friends, built strong friendships and learned to have fun with other people. I grew up surrounded by adults, and Super Mario Brothers was a game that helped kids, including myself, bond with other kids. To me, there will never be a better game that Super Mario Brothers.

Some of these things might sound silly to you, but they were truly memorable things in my life, and without a doubt had tons of influence on millions of people.

I write this in sort of a nostalgic way, hoping that it'll take some of you back to the good ol' days.

Congratulations Ichiro. And thank you.

Meeting the Montanas

Way before Hannah, and hitting his prime just after Tony, was a man named Joe who also carried the name of one of my top 3 square-shaped states of all time, and lit up the NFL. He dominated the sport of football like maybe no other will, and solidified himself as arguably the greatest quarterback in history.

Brought up as a San Francisco Niners fan, Joe Montana was on my Mt. Rushmore of sports heroes growing up. He was right between Michael Jordan, Mike Piazza and Bugs Bunny. (I was 8 when Space Jam came out. Are you kidding me! Combining my favorite cartoon character with my favorite sport was epic!)

Super Joe hasn't done much lately. It's doubtful that he'll be dancing on channel 7. Probably won't be belittled into sharing a house with reject stars on VH1, but once in a while he'll make public appearances at local community college football stadiums. Guaranteed.

Nate Montana plays the coveted position of hall of famer's son at Pasadena City College.

Young Nate had the privelage of playing his first collegiate game ever, at Hilmer Lodge Stadium against our very own Mounties.

Did the Mounties know he was Joe Cool's son? Ohhhhh you better believe it. Poor Nate was on the ground more than a person doing Wii Fit Yoga.

Anyway, Mounties won and it was time to do my journalistic duties and interview the brutalized Montana kid. He was cool as can be. Knew the right things to say and handled the interview as if the loss hadn't affected him. I thanked him for the interview, and watched the son of greatness run away into the brutal California sunset.

After a couple more interviews, I noticed a casually dressed man who glowed like Dr. Manhattan and had a crowd around him like the Fonz. It was Joe Montana. The football Icon in the flesh!

As a sports fan I almost wet my pants, but once I gained composure, I put on my reporter hat and walked right over to the legend. The awkward confrontation went like so:

Me: Hello Mr. Montana

Super Joe: Hi there

Me: Would you mind if I asked a couple of questions for the school paper?

Super Joe: I'm sorry, I'm here for my son and I don't do that stuff. I let him take care of the questions.

Me: Oh ok. Thank you anyway.

Ok. Fair enough. I understand why he wouldn't want to talk. He's freakin Joe Montana! He can talk to or not talk to whoever he wants.

It was really tough for me though. One of my Rushmore heads was right in front of me and I just couldn't leave empty handed. I couldn't ask for an interview again, that'd be stupid. So since he didn't want to talk to me as a journalist, I tried it as a fan. I looked in my backpack and I saw something I never thought I would see at that moment. It was a Sharpie! I ran to Joe Cool for one more shot at a perfect moment with one of my heroes. I asked him for an autograph.

He politely said no. Wamp Wamp. What an ending.

There I was, holding a Sharpie and a game program, alone in the world while my head was spinning like Sidewinder.

I was almost scared to put that picture of him up (above) in fear that copyright laws might reject me from putting it up.

I was rejected twice by the greatest of all time. Just might be the greatest rejection of my life.

Best Injury Ever!

I would have never thought that one of my earliest blog entries would be about Nascar, but this story is exceptionally amazazing! (Yes. Amazazing.)
Carl Edwards, that backflipping bandit of Nascar suffered a broken foot yesterday from (drum roll please) PLAYING FRISBEE!
"I know this probably sounds ridiculous to a lot of people and I could hardly believe it myself," said Edwards.
Ridiculous?! I'm glad you acknowledge it, Edwards, but goodness gracious sakes alive, this goes beyond ridiculous!
It wasn't even ultimate Frisbee, which probably would still sound ridiculous, but I mean, he was just playing frisbee with friends!
You can't help but chuckle when something like this happens.
Apparently Edwards ran into one of his friends, and his friend got WWE fever and got Edwards in an ankle lock. Well, not really, but that would have made more sense.
One of his friends dove into his leg while trying to get the Frisbee. Awesome.
He could have at least said he was playing with his dog, tripped over his dog, lost his balance, jumped over a pile of venomous snakes, dodged a tree and smashed his foot on a cinder block.
Or at least that his friends were Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis, and they were at the beach, and while running away from these two beasts, a piece of seaweed caught his foot and he tripped and sprained his ankle. (If I were playing ANYTHING with Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis I'd probably end up hurt somehow.)
I don't know how you break your foot playing Frisbee. It's borderline unbelievable.

It's better than when Arizona Cardinal, Martin Gramatica hurt his leg celebrating a field goal!
It's better than when Chicago Cubs star and steroid hall of famer, Sammy Sosa, went on the disabled list for getting back spasms after sneezing!

It's better than when Detroit Tiger's pitcher, Joel Zumaya was out for the season for splitting his finger playing Guitar Hero!
It's better than when Forrest Gump got shot in the but-tocks!
It's better than when Jean Girard broke Ricky Bobby's arm for not wanting to admit he loves crepes in Talladega Nights!

It's better than when then Cincinatti Red, Ken Griffey Jr. got a pinched testicle! (Ah! Well, maybe it's a tie with Griffey)
It has to be the greatest injury ever! You have to really put in a lot of effort to break your foot playing Frisbee, and Edwards did.
Ricky Bobby kept racing while his arm was wrapped like a frickin gordita, and Edwards has said the injury won't hold him back from racing either.
What a trooper.