Sources say that USC defensive lineman and former Mountie Hebron "Loni" Fangupo, suffered a broken ankle in last Saturday's game against Washington State. He will be out for the remainder of the 2009 season, will have to wear a protective boot and is using crutches.
I really thought Loni would be able to get through this, but you don't want to risk putting his career in jeopardy. He's a tough player but that injury looked really nasty. I'm glad it's not anything career ending. The position he was in was just asking for a back injury.
I wish you the best, Loni and hope you can "fight on" next year and continue creating chapters in your life story.
The Mounties played a hard fought, but very sloppy game on Saturday in a 24-14 loss. They just couldn't get anything going offensively. Credit the Saddleback Gaucho defense for matching the Mountie defensive intensity, but more is expected from the Mounties.
It took the Mounties a while to get Jesse Canada into the mix and when they did, it was for big yardage. Quarterback Tyler Vanderzee said he felt fine and felt like he was able to go with the flow, but I think they didn't use their weapons effectively.
They didn't use their run game as effectively as they usually do and maybe it was the Gaucho defense, maybe it was lack of trust in Vanderzee, but they tried to incorporate the wildcat offense which didn't really work. It worked from a yard away to score, but really felt like it was going away from what the Mounties have done all year.
Maybe it was the absense of Matt Faulkner at QB. Vanderzee has played in big spots, but just didn't seem to get in a flow.
The defense was spectacular, but got a little bit careless at crucial times. Except for the flea flicker in the first half, the Mounties were able to stop just about every trick play the Gauchos drew up. But again, a big personal foul on Bruce Irvin (You really can't blame the guy for playing with passion and aggression, but the refs did) and a facemask call when the Mounties seemingly had the goal-line stop to win the game cost the game.
It's just one game and at the end of the day Saddleback has an outstanding squad, but it was a very winnable game that just slipped through the Mounties' hands. It was a very close game and on any other day the Mounties could get away with these mistakes, but the Gauchos were able to take advantage.
They have a bye-week coming up and plenty of time to regroup and get healthy. Coach Jastrab will let thim ponder on this loss, fix the mistakes and have them ready for the next game against Citrus.
Ron Artest said that if the Lakers don't win a championship this season to blame him.
Will do.
He's off to a good start by hooking up Lamar Odom, a key piece to the Lakers championship run, with Khloe (the bootleg sister) Kardashian.
Well today was the lovely couple's wedding after a great month of getting to know each other. Reports say that they married this soon so they can film the wedding for "Meet the Kardashians." However, Lamar made sure to arrange a prenuptual agreement, just in case Khloe ends up not being the girl he thought she was a month ago.
Lamar is going to bring in an extra circus now.
I'd like to think this would work out like Reggie Bush's relationship with Kim Kardashian, without the E channel at his practices or all his games, but I don't know if that will happen this time. While Kim kept out of Bush's way, she is also basically the star of the show. She had her own business to take care of while Bush handled his. Khloe probably has a lot more time on her hands and could use a piggy-back from Lamar to get her celebrity status up a bit becuase "taking over Miami" doesn't seem to be working for her.
I really hope this doesn't become a huge distraction and Lamar can still be (at the very least) his mediocre self becuase anything less will hinder the Lakers championship run.
I hope Artest doesn't try to hook up Jordan Farmar with Tiffany (I Love New York) Pollard next.
Those of you who missed the USC vs. Washington State game tonight, missed Hebron "Loni" Fangupo, the pride of Mt. SAC go down in agony.
Loni made a tackle inside and was caught in an awkward position. As he came down, five trojans landed on top of him as he twisted backward like when playing limbo.
In the position he was in it looked like it might be a back injury, but my guess is that it's his shoulder that he injured last season. One of the strongest men I've had the pleasure of interviewing was down on the field, thriving in pain as the medical staff came to assist him. After a commercial break, he was still down as they soon after carted him off the field.
Loni, being the warrior that he is, stood upright and signaled to the crowd "fight on."
It was horrible to watch, but knowing Loni, he will come back and fight on. Playing for USC was his dream and I know he will not let this deter him from living out his dream.
I will keep you guys posted whenever I hear word of his progress.
It happens in every game. No matter what, one pitcher is going to suffer the fate of leaving the mound unhappy.
The manager or coach makes that long walk from the dugout to the mound, and even he has his head down most of the time. Once he gets to the mound, he literally takes the ball out of the pitcher's hands, makes him take that long walk of shame, and calls in for someone in relief.
When a player gets taken out of a basketball game, there's usually a feeling of anger and while the same feeling occurs in a pitching change, an even bigger feeling of disappointment can be seen in the pitcher's eyes.
When a player gets taken out of a football game for a miscue, he's still running on adrenaline and can still be seen pacing around the sidelines. When a pitcher is taken out, the adrenaline is gone. He has to wait for the manager to make the long walk, give him a pep talk and take him out. By the time he's in the dugout he has all the time in the world to think about his mistake.
No matter where you play the game, no matter how much a pro gets paid, the biggest jerk-athlete can be humbled by this experience.
I wrote an article in the Mountaineer about P.E. cuts at Mt. SAC and although it's happening to all the divisions at Mt. SAC, like athletic director Joe Jennum said, "This one hits closer to home."
Upon meeting me it might not look like I do any type of exercise, but since attending Mt. SAC I've taken a couple basketball courses and weight training as well. I'm glad that P.E. is a required course becuase after leaving high school, my stomach was almost leaving my shirt.
I think I took my high school P.E. classes for granted. Like any other American, I love my double double with animal style fries. I love Tommy's. I love The Hat. If I hadn't been playing baseball and basketball all my life, I'd be on Maury seeking help from a fat camp.
Over the past year I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know these Mt. SAC coaches who teach these classes. They all share a passion for athletics. When they're not conditioning their athletes, they're helping average joes like me and you get at least a smidgen of exercise in our unhealthy lifestyles.
It's probably going to get worse before it gets any better, and smaller programs like athletics, like drama, and like JOURNALISM get first dibs on cuts and get hit harder becuase it's not math and science.
It's sad that our economy is this horrible and we're all paying for it somehow or another.
Milton Bradley of the Chicago Cubs was banished from the team for the rest of season. For what, exactly? Well they're working on it, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the fights with manager Lou Pineilla. Or smashing his bat at home plate. Or maybe criticizing the fans for booing him. Possibly the mental lapse he had when he threw the ball into the crowd with one out left. Well it can be for any and all of those reasons, but mommy has finally come to his defense.
Bradley's mother, we'll call her Mama Bradley, spoke about the suspension saying that Bradley "Lives, eats and sleeps baseball."
She said he'll go back to Chicago if they let him back.
I'm sorry Mama Bradley. We had Milton here in L.A. for a couple years and 'though we really rooted for him to change and hoped he'd succeed, he just can't control himself. There was a point where he apologized and it seemed like he was really trying to change his attitude.
It's been years later. He's in Chicago now and still the same problem.
Mama Bradley, you raised a wonderful baseball player, but he has an upside down attitude.
I really hope he can come back and do great, but I've seen this episode before. We're all going to change the channel soon.
This story shows the scary side of sports journalism.
There's always the chance that you get tackled on the sidelines by a football player when shooting photos. (Trust me. 240 lb football players through lens may be closer than they appear)
There's always the chance that you want to get an interview from Joe Montana and this 350 lb Samoan stops you. (Trust me. It's very scary to see a giant meaty forearm almost hit you in the face) But then there's this:
After Tom Brady and Gisele Bunpchinkljopknh (whetever) got married they had a post-wedding party in Costa Rica where two photographers were allegedly shot at by Gisele's body guards.
The photographers are suing for 1 million dollars in damages.
I didn't grow up in the nicest part of California, but I've never been shot at. If I ever got shot at during a post-wedding party, i would hope it would at least be at Don Vito Corleone's daughter's wedding, not Tom Brady's.
I'll stick to shooting football games where things don't shoot back.
Washinton Redskins rookie Robert Henson no longer has a Twitter account after he bashed the Washington fans for booing their sorry team. The fans were called "dim wits" and Henson went on to say, "Who are you to say what's best for the team when you work a 9-to-5 at McDonald's."
This guy has played as many downs as you and I have this season and if he's not careful, he's going to have to look for a 9-to-5 very soon.
This morning Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants was sentenced to two years in prison followed by two years supervised release for criminal gun possession.
I'm not going to act like I know the laws of New York, but it is a sad day in the sports world and a sad story to tell.
The poor guy shot himself in the leg in a night club and is now going to serve two years for it. I can't even imagine how Burress must have felt when hugging his family for the last time before heading to serve his time.
I can't even imagine what he's thinking, going to jail for shooting himself.
He shouldn't have put himself in that position, but life is coming at him fast now. He went from Superbowl hero to criminal.
Just last night, my buddy and I went old school and pulled out the Madden '08. He picked the Giants, and now that I think of it, coincedentally I played with the Michael Vick Falcons!(Wow. that literally just hit me) He was torching me with Burress and I did the same to him with Vick. It's sad how two talented young athletes can have their careers altered by bad decisions.
I wish Burress the best. It's sad how a small incident can be life changing. Good luck, and hope to see you in Madden 12.
Headline on ESPN for Notre Dame's starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen. No one gives a crap about Notre Dame or Jimmy Clausen. My focus is on the turf toe part of the headline.
Nothing serious, huh? Tell that to Ladainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers. When they got turf toe, the poor guys could barely run their routes and struggled to gain a couple yards!
Nothing serious? Tell that to Darren McFadden of the Oakland Raiders. Ok, so the Raiders weren't going anywhere last season anyway, but that doesn't mean that this young rook couldn't have had a great year. Turf toe basically ruined his season.
Nothing serious? Tell that to Lions back-up quarterback Daunte Culpepper. He tried to make one last hurrah and was trying to beat out rookie Matthew Stafford for the starting spot, then BAM! Turf toe hit. Matthew Stafford is now the starting quarterback for the pitiful Lions.
Nothing serious? Tell that to Shaq when he hurt his 3 ft. toe with the Lakers. (Maybe it wasn't turf toe, I'd like to call it Court Toe. It kept him out either way)
Turf toe has ruined the season of several athletes and fantasy football owners alike.
I'm sorry, Clausen. Good luck next year becuase I can almost guarantee the fighting Irish will have to fight without you for the rest of this season. You can give it a shot like the rest and get the life tackled out of you, but I'd let the back-up go in for you.
On Oct. 3 when the Los Angeles Dodgers play their second to last game of the season against the Rockies, Dodger Stadium is going to have a star wars theme for the game. This gives opportunity for crazy Star Wars fans and crazy Dodger fans to finally unite as one. these are the top five fears I have for that day:
5. A streaker runs onto the field in a Chewbacca mask.
4. Announce the game backward Vin Scully will.
3. This game will inspire Matt Kemp to go to the Dark Side and sign with the Yankees next season.
2. Drunk Dodger fans vs. Wookies in a fist fight.
1. Manny Ramirez will find it funny to come up to bat with a light saber and cut through a fastball to strike out and end the game.
The Mounties are 2-0 this year, but there's this sense of worry because they're not wining the games by 40 points. It doesn't matter how you win, what matters is that you win.
Coach Jastrab knows how to produce winners. He's been to the state title game the last two seasons and the players have been transferring to D1 schools like USC, UCLA, BYU and Tennesee. He knows what he's doing.
Matt Faulkner has done a pretty good job at quarterback and is getting a grasp of things. He was new to Mt. SAC and had a rough first game but had a nice bounce-back game going 18-for-25 and a touchdown to Jesse Canada.
Talking with Faulkner, he's a very confident player and he seems to feel comfortable with the weapons around him.
If he can stay within himself and just manage the game, keep the turnovers at a minimum and keep handing it off to the three-headed monster at running back, he won't have to be the aerial beast that Nick Lamaison was last season.
Speaking of that three-headed monster, they certainly have a nose for the end zone. With yet another great offensive line this season, Burton Iosefa, his brother Lancer Iosefa and Bryce McBride have been able to share the carries and produce effectively.
Burton has gotten the most of the carries and has already found the end zone three times this year. When he lowers his shoulder and there's someone in the way, you won't see a pretty little spin move. It's him vs. the defender and the defender is most likely going to take a seat on the grass.
That running game will open up the pass a little more for Faulkner and as the season goes on they'll be clicking on all cylinders.
With Bruce Irvin putting pressure on the opposing QB (Irvin's leading the team with five sacks and 14 tackles after just TWO games) the defense will be there all season.
It was fun watching Mt. SAC score like crazy last year, but smash mouth football that leads to a win is just as pretty to watch as the 60-yard touchdown pass that leads to a win.
It was a spooky night at Dodger Stadium last night. From the moment we took off from my brother's house, my nephew and I had a weird feeling about the game. The setup was just like last time; blanket night, upper reserved level seats, middle of September and my nephew had school the next day.
The date was Sept. 18, 2006. The Dodgers hosted the San Diego Padres. It was Japanese heritage day and the samurai's fighting at home plate should have given us an indication of the crazy game we were about to embark on.
Most of you know this story. It was the bottom of the ninth and the Dodgers were down 9-5 when the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs to tie the game at 9-9.
I was there for 8 and a half innings of the game when my brother decided that we had to leave because my nephew had school the next morning.
I boldly told him, "We can't go Joe, they're gonna hit four home runs right now and get back in it." He laughed at me as we walked down the stairs.
My dad took a bathroom break before we left and the marvelous mustached man, Jeff Kent came up to bat. From outside of the bathroom, we heard a crack of the bat and 15,000 fans went crazy! (I was actually there ESPN. Don't try to tell me that a capacity crowd of 55,000 went wild. There were maybe 15,000 tops by that time of the game.) Kent had hit a home run to make it 9-6. I looked at my brother and told him, "See it's happening already! four home runs!" He laughed.
As we walked to the car, we heard the crowd go wild again, and the home run song was playing. J.D. Drew had just followed Kent's home run with one of his own! I told my brother, "We can still go back and catch the end, lets go!" By that time we were in the car and Charlie Steiner told us by radio that Trevor Hoffman was coming in. So my brother said, "Hoffman's in. Now it's over." (Oh how wrong you were dear brother)
We were driving in the lot, listening to the end of the game by radio now. Hoffman threw his first pitch to Russel Martin, and Martin promptly put it in the left field seats to make it 9-8! At this point everyone in the car is laughing as I yell at my brother to turn the car around.
Marlon Anderson was next and he made it four home runs in a row. Charlie Steiner was going nuts and the Dodgers went into extra innings. We got to my brother's house and the Padres had scored in the 10th inning, but the Dodgers had one last chance. We went in his house, turned on the TV, only to see Nomar Garciaparra hit a game winning 2-run hom run.
Haven't forgiven my brother 'til maybe now.
Last night wasn't exactly the same, but we sat in the upper reserved level again. This time we were on the first base side though. We got a blanket, but this time it wasn't a faded blue. There were no Japanese samurai, but Paul Wall threw out the first pitch. (just as strange as fighting samurai) And the game went late on a school night, but this time I was staying parked in that seat, even if everyone left home without me.
Somehow the dreadful Pirates were beating us 3-2 in the ninth when Matt Kemp hit a single to center field to bring in Andre Ethier from second base. We went into extra innings again. The game went all the way to the 13th inning when some guy named Doumit brought in a run for the Pirates. My brother played around and said, "lets go," but there was no way we were going to leave this time. It was past 11 p.m. and the Dodgers were up to bat. Furcal got on base by hitting a line-drive off the pitcher's butt cheek and then Ethier came up to bat. I pointed my cap in the same direction it was in during the 9th inning rally, sat in the exact same position, put my phone in my right pocket facing outward like it was in the 9th and kept saying, "Hit it over the right field fence. Hit it over the right field fence." First pitch he saw, Ethier cranked it over the right field fence to win the game! They beat him up at home plate and we were there to see it all this time. This blanket was a lot warmer than the last one, and this time I didn't cringe at the sound of Charlie Steiner's voice as they replayed the home run call on the radio. It was deja vu all over again, but this time I can truly say I was there.
I'm sure many of you saw Serena Williams lose her cool during the U.S. Open. She yelled at the line judge and told her that she wants to "shove the (expletive) ball" down her throat. She then was deducted a point, the match point, to lose.
After the match, she had a press conference and said she doesn't know why the lady would feel threatened and she's never been in a fight in her life. Well if I were four feet tall, and an angry woman holding a tennis racket threatened to shove an (expletive) ball down my throat, I'd feel a bit threatened too.
Serena might not see it, but here are my 5 reasons why Serena might be seen as intimidating in the tennis world..
5. She has a devastating backhand.
4. She's not Maria Sharapova.
3. She has a sister who looks just like her, with just as devastating of a backhand.
2. She's twice as buff as Andy Roddick.
1. She's the most imposing long-haired celebrity to come out of Compton since the late, great Eazy-E.
Love Serena. Think she got robbed, but take it easy on the judges.
On September 11, I had no idea of the impact. I was about 13 and thought it was just another sad news story. I had no family in New York, so it didn't affect me directly.
I remember my fourth period teacher in jr. high tell the class, "This is going to be talked about for years to come. It's not going to go away any time soon. We're living through history right now."
All I had seen were a couple clips in the morning before I headed off to school, so I really had no idea of the impact or how severe it was.
I've always sort of lived in my own little world; my own sports world. When I got home and found out my Dodger game was postponed due to the attacks, it was starting to hit me that it was something big.
I remember games were postponed for almost 2 weeks, and without sports to watch, all there was, was non-sports news.
I watched as new develpments kept coming in and different theories amassed.
For the first time I learned the significance of the World Trade Center.
I learned of the tragic stories of the New York locals. I could feel the sadness through the light coming off the screen.
For once in my life, I couldn't hide behind my security blanket. I couldn't escape from the real world and just watch my baseball games. It was real life, and not even sports could provide an escape.
Luckily, after things had settled down a bit, and we knew as a country what we were facing, not only did I welcome back my security blanket, but the entire country saw hope in sports.
I remember when baseball came back the following week, there was a feeling that even though we just suffered tragedy, we will not let our lives stop.
The national anthem meant so much more after 9/11 and you could feel the energy every time it was sung.
The Dodgers were scheduled to host the San Diego Padres for a 3-game series starting September 11, and it didn't happen.
I lived by that season schedule. I planned around that schedule. To me 9/11 lasted for a week that there were no sports for me to follow. It felt like time did not move.
When baseball started again and life started to move again, time started to move again.
So the sports world paused on 9/11 and to me, not until the week later did I see 9/12 because that's what was on pace in my schedule.
My schedule was thrown off for a little while, but once we faced the Padres like planned, 9/11 was finally over and I was ready to face 9/12.
John Stockton and David Robinson were great, Michael Jordan was the greatest. At 3:30 p.m.(PT) today, these three will be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as this might be the most memorable ceremony ever. Today, the greatest basketball player of all-time will finally be formally recognized as such. The man who is a world-wide icon, will finally take his spot in basketball greatness. Having to wait five years, only by hall of fame rules, but he was a hall of famer from the first time he blessed the court with his presence. Loved by many, hated by few, respected by all. That cliche applies non better than to Mr. Jordan. He'll be joined by maybe two players who have the most reason to hate him. John Stockton never won a championship because of him, and Robinson had to wait for him to take a break before he won his. Jordan embarrassed both equally; he embarrassed all equally. No one matched his level of play and maybe no one ever will. No one will ever do all that Jordan did. No one can blend the iconic status on and off the floor the way he did. That's what makes him the greatest. Five will be inducted, but only one will be the most memorable. It almost isn't fair for the rest to go in at the same time as Jordan; not only becuase he should be remembered alone, but because no one might remember the rest of them going in. Jordan was his own man, and probably should have gone in by himself. Would it have been unfair to the rest? To some degree, yes, but Michael deserves it. To have anyone mentioned in the same breath is almost criminal. I love our players of today, and on any other day I'd argue for my hometown hero in the city of angels, but today reality has its time to fly, and it must fly with "air" Jordan.
Don't blame God for this one, AI. This should be interesting. A team filled with guards. Might work in pick-up ball, lets see what Memphis tries to do with it. Will AI accept coming off the bench, or will he cry until he replaces Mike Conely at point guard, a position that AI obviously can't handle. Find out soon on the, Iverson Doesn't fit in any Team Show.
Former Editor-in-Chief for the Mt. SAC online newspaper, Mountiewire.com. I love all sports, so I'm really going to write about whatever sports topic interests me.
If you're looking for stats, look for a stat sheet. If you're looking for game stories, read the Times. This is an interesting perspective on interesting stories. Period.
