Sports Today 1/16/09

Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy's team but did little else since. Too caught up in his own system, in his own way, and can never make up his mind on a quarterback. Yes, he did win a title...but somebody else put the pieces together.

I called this Andruw Jones deal a disaster the moment he signed. Yet Scanlan will still deride my ability to make a sound call regarding baseball. Jones is currently auditioning for an open spot with the band "Bow Wow Wow"

If all our kids and people we work with could be like Dwight Howard. Howard's attitude and work ethic makes the an unbearable NBA bearable.

(Note: If Howard should get caught with ten keys of grass in the backseat of his car in the near future, please disregard this post.)

Does Temple City Basketball miss former coach Rich Hollinger?

The TC Boys are off to an 11-5 start this season and playing well under new coach Eric Chen, but Hollinger not being head coach is just part of a sea of change taking place at Temple City.

Some were incumbents on staff, some just contributors to the program but in the last few years the Home of the Camellias has had a major face lift.

Since 2007: (Prin.) Ray Plutko, Mike Mooney, Sam Bustillos, Doc Martin, Rich Hollinger have left the sidelines. And with the recent exiling of Randy Backus expect a large portion of the football program to be gone as well.

Sports Today 1/14/09

Manny Ramirez could be staying for 72 million over three years with a huge signing bonus

Mark Sanchez says he’s going, Pete Carroll says he should stay

LaDainian Tomlinson might be going, but should have gone last year

Manny had no place left to go, this is an easy one to call...

Pete Carroll was taking heat on local radio for being selfish in regards to saying he thought Mark Sanchez needed to stay.

Note to Critics: Pete Carroll is the head coach at USC, he can and will easily replace Mark Sanchez

Note to Critics Two: To those who are saying Matt Cassell didn't even need to start a game at USC to be ready for the NFL, and that Carroll shouldn't be saying that Sanchez has a lack of experience. Does anyone remember how long Matt Cassell has sat behind Tom Brady and matured to get ready for just this moment?

Ladianian Tomlinson needed to be traded a year ago, or allowed to walk, or whatever. If the Chargers had kept Michael Turner and paired him up with Darren Sproles how awesome would they be right now?

...Then again Norv Turner is still the head coach...

What you think?

Wheeler Resigns at La Canada

Long time La Canada football coach Rich Wheeler has resigned.

Wheeler’s twelve years with Spartan program are marked with a pair Rio Hondo League titles in 2000 and 2004. His overall record was 67-61-5. His last great season was in 2005 when La Canada finished 9-3 overall and reached the second round of the playoffs.

“You always knew when playing when playing La Canada it was going to be a long hard nosed ball game,” said former Temple City head coach Randy Backus. “And that never say quit attitude was a reflection of Rich Wheeler.”
Read the rest of this story at www.midvalleynewsonline.com

Do you think Wheeler was a success at LC?

Mid Valley News
All Southeastern Team
Player of the Year: Chris Allen
Most Valuable: Dominique Barnes

Offense
QB: Chris Allen, Charter Oak: The complete package for a high school quarterback and displayed even better leadership.

RB: Dominique Barnes, Burroughs: Had the best season of any running back in the Southeastern Division. He was the man for the Indians.

RB: Ricky Johnson, West Covina: Starred in the post-season for the WC.

RB: Brandon Stansell, Rowland: One of the keys to Rowland’s great season.

WR: B.J. Oyefeso, Rowland: You defend him in the red zone.

WR: Derrick Price, Bonita: Not a defensive guy, he’s all offense. Just put the ball in his hands.

WR: Brandon Taylor, Diamond Ranch: Another Panther playmaker.

OL: Mike Saenz, La Serna: Stud lineman also made all CIF.

OL: Albert Cid, West Covina: Johnson didn’t get all those yards on his own.

OL: Jordon Lawrence, Burroughs: Think Barnes, see above.

OL: Matt Chan, Charter Oak: All CIF, All Miramonte…Champion.

OL: Graham Vickers, Diamond Ranch: A special part of DR’s special season.

K: Eric Stern, California: Could, could, be kicking on Sundays in another four years.

Defense
LB: Kyle Lengyel, Diamond Ranch: Great linebacker.

LB: Louie Lozano, La Serna: Resident Mid Valley Bad Dude.

LB: Nikolai Crouch, Santa Fe: A mad man.

LB: Bryan Bonilla, Diamond Ranch: Had season worth of hitting in final against CO.

DL: Xavier Molina Williams, Diamond Ranch: Another hitter.

DL: Alex Barrios South Hills: Best of the Husky linemen.

DL: Tyler Perri, Charter Oak: Is it fair to say overlooked.

DB: A.J. Powell. Charter Oak: Can’t say enough, one of the best players around.

DB: Jabril Pearson, West Covina: Great cover skills.

DB: Brandon Sermons, Diamond Ranch: Heading to UCLA, enough said.

DB: Rueben Thomas, Muir: Leads Mustangs, not enough of them on team.

P: Michael Scott (South Hills): Bogan always has a boot.

Scanning Sports: 1/14/09

By John Scanlan

The Baseball Hall of Fame officially means nothing. Well, it’s as official as my mere utterance can be...

Henderson was elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday, but the vote wasn’t unanimous.

Who didn’t vote for Henderson? 70 year-old Corky Simpson of the Green Valley News and Sun in Arizona. First of all, if a writer for the Green Valley News and Sun gets a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame, why doesn’t John Scanlan of the Mid-Valley News? Do we need to change our name to the Mid-Valley News and Sun? Get on it Torosian!...

For John Scanlan's complete column go to http://www.midvalleynewsonline.com/ and go to "Scanning"

Fanview 1/13/09

By Joe Torosian

“This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
--- T.S. Eliot

There’s dumb, and then there’s off the charts dumb.
Educators, academics, people of letters, quote-unquote: The Smart People.
The Smart People scream about money for education and spend it on free lunches for children who don’t need them.
The Smart People scream about money and then promote their own, who’ve reached the top of the pyramid, to an administrative position where they receive six figures to decide the placement of trashcans in the school district.
So what do The Smart People in Temple City do?
(Now remember they are saying the altercation between Randy Backus and a student had nothing to do with his removal as head football coach)
The Smart People in Temple City remove a coach who maintained a quality staff, when they were too brain dead to keep their Golden Son Mike Mooney and the mass exodus that took place to San Marino with his departure.
The Smart People in Temple City removed a coach who financially had his program in the black both years.
The Smart People in Temple City removed a coach (remember the altercation had nothing to do with it) that kept 105 of a 110 players in the program academically eligible.
The Smart People in Temple City removed a coach who had 21 of his 36 players carrying a 3.0 grade point average, or higher.
The Smart People in Temple City removed the coach who led the team in 2007 to its first road playoff victory in over a decade.
The Smart People in Temple City removed a coach, that even after he was suspended did all he could, kept his staff together, and game prepped (this would rate as classy) to see his squad reach the school’s first semifinals since 1998.
The Smart People in Temple City removed as coach the only person on campus capable of coaching its football team.
The Smart People of Temple City didn’t like the language and maybe the forceful energy Coach Backus used.
But I’m sure The Smart People of Temple City have always enjoyed the revenue the football program has produced over the years.
Note to The Smart People of Temple City: You can most likely kiss it all goodbye.
While you have pontificated on goodness and virtue, and wanting something better…you threw Randy Backus under the bus.
You Smart People of Temple City kept him under said bus while rumors circulated about the incident/altercation as it was reported in the local paper.
You did nothing to clarify or relieve the talk.
You have angered loyalists and parents by keeping them in the dark as a good man got rumored apart.
So unless you have Tony Dungy waiting in the wings you are in serious trouble.
Note to The Smart People: Temple City football was special before you got here, I wish I could say it will be special after you are gone.
Then again, is it not the pattern of Smart People?
Smart People idealize, theorize…and then blame others when things go to hell in a hand basket.
What a sad ending...No what a heartbreaking ending.
I didn’t go to Rosemead, but oh, those people are so prideful about Rosemead football. You sense that at Arcadia, it is alive at Arroyo, and it has always been there, since my earliest days as a kid growing up in El Monte we would talk of Temple City football as being extraordinary.
Smart People come in and what do they do? In what they say is fairness, decency, equality (how French), they always seek and result in turning the extraordinary into ordinary.
The clichés are true; When everyone is beautiful, no one is. When everyone is special, no one is special.
This is what The Smart People have done in regards to Randy Backus; They amputated the special.