Extreme heat that we're experiencing stirs two thoughts in high school football -- depth and small schools.
Few schools -- even the large ones -- have the luxury of playing a two-platoon system anymore. As new high schools have sprouted like peach trees in the Valley enrollments have been reduced at established schools. And that means smaller squad sizes in football. Clovis High, for example, routinely marched out 80-man varsity teams in the '80s and '90s. But, in recent years, Cougars' teams have been limited to about 40 players.
That figure, of course, would appear enormous to the Avenals, Mendotas and Riverdales of the Valley. With 20-man rosters, they typically have 80-90% of their starters going both ways. And, in 100-degree heat tonight, that will be a breathtaking challenge.
Will have the fingers crossed for Selma High School Friday night when the Bears open the season against Reedley. If you read Wednesday's column, you know Selma is one loss from the Central Section Record of 34 straight, going back to October of 2003.
A couple things I didn't have room to include: The most excruciating loss of last season for Selma was even more painful than simply blowing a 21-0 lead. At the end of the game against Chowchilla, Selma was driving near the goal line with a chance to win in the final seconds. The Bears rushed up the middle on third and short, there was a big pileup, and then they hurried up to spike the ball to stop the clock before the officials could measure. As it turned out, Selma hadn't actually gotten the first down and thus they had spiked on fourth down and lost the game.
That's the kind of stuff that has to happen to keep a 33-game losing streak going.
Another thing not included: Selma hasn't always been bad. They've never been a football powerhouse. When your team loses for a few years you tend to forget the old days. Selma had some good teams back in the '80s. Not terrible in the '90s. Back in those days, Selma and its rival, Kingsburg, used to burn an "S" or "K" into the other team's football field with oil or weedkiller.
Now, that stuff doesn't go on much, for one, because Selma never wins, and two, there has been a push the last decade or so to get rid of anything that borders on vandalism, which I'll reluctantly admit is probably a good thing.
In 1991, according to someone who doesn't want his or her name printed, Selma students waited and waited for Kingsburg's senior class to pull some great prank, until it was late in the week and obvious Kingsburg students weren't going to do anything. So a few Selma students stole the Bear right off the front of the basketball gym to fire up their own football team.
The person who helped pulled the self-prank can't remember who won that year, which is the beauty of high school sports. Matters a lot at the time. Sixteen years later, you can hardly remember your school mascot.
Last week, I watched Fresno State center James Tchana work out with teammate Alex Blair. One thing is certain about Tchana...
Whether or not his college career ends on a high note, he has the ability to one day be a solid basketball coach. He takes to basketball information like a bee to honey... He's technical with his training, working on move after move. Long jump shots. Short. One move, dribble, shoot. Pivot, fake, shoot. He's got it all.
Now he needs to show it in practice, and before that, during preseason practice which starts in mid October.
Tchana will be much improved this season if he can improve his game instincts. In the past, he's struggled to catch the last-second, no-look passes, times when he has no time to think.
Tchana suffered severe dehydration during a late December practice and never returned to the court. He's promised that he's eating better, the cause of his medical woes.
Fowler and quarterback Josh Poytress playing at Liberty-Madera Ranchos is the Central Section's most intriguing matchup of the week.
And it's a baseball thing.
Poytress is the Redcats' golden child, The Bee's Player of the Year in baseball and a future Fresno State Bulldog. He came out of retirement for football, and that's the kicker.
He'll be wearing a target on his chest Friday night, having beaten Liberty three times last spring in tight, intense and emotional baseball games -- the last for the section Division V championship. This football game promises to be emotinoal as well.
Here's hoping Poytress is wearing sufficient padding.
Here's some info on Myles Green, who will walkon this season at Fresno State...
Favorite athlete: Kobe Bryant
Favorite food: Any soul food
What's on his mind during game: Win, play hard
Who taught him how to play basketball: His father, Sean Green
Favorite subject, hobby: Drawing portraits
Also: Green graduated from Capistrano Valley, but he spent his first three years at West Chester High, the rival school of Kevin Bell's Fairfax High... Neither had met before but both Southern California natives knew of each other.
Green is a past-first point guard, a true PG. Last week's verbal from Chris Jones gave Fresno State a defensive-minded shooting guard for the Class of 2008, another Dwight O'Neil. Although Jones showed the ability to play multiple positions in high school, he is projected as a SG in college.
High Fives to football coaches willing to schedule tough within their own division in nonleague play.
Examples this week: Clovis West-Liberty (Bakersfield), Mt. Whitney-Tulare Western, Coalinga-Chowchilla and Fowler-Liberty (Madera Ranchos). Down-the-road seeding rewards to the winners; dings to the losers. But thanks for trying.
The section's playoff selection committee depends heavily on these matches to judge -- not only head to head but league to league and area to area. Without them leaves too much subjectivity in seeding.
There's a big one missing, though: Bakersfield vs. Clovis West. That would be the heaviest of heavyweight nonleague showdowns in the section, the best the region has to offer. But anyone rushing to schedule this series? No way. They'll wait to Thanksgiving.
On Monday night, our Fresno State connection scored six points in 13 minutes of action against America's Best ball bouncers... Through five games, Hernandez is averaging 4.2 points. But can you believe this fact...
He is just 1 for 10 on 3-pointers... Averaging just two attempts a game... Gotta get him the ball more around the arc, and he's gotta to find a better way to get his shot off... He's also averaging 4.6 rebounds per game, including a 10-rebound performance against Panama.
Hernandez is coming off his best season at Fresno State. Last season, he started in 31 games and averaged 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds. He finished second on the team in 3-pointers made (76).
Mexico's basketball team hasn't qualified for the Summer Olympics since 1976. The top two teams in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament will earn Olympic berths, but others could earn a spot in a later tournament.
Fresno State is coming off its worst season in nearly three decades.
It is inexperienced all around with few established players, is missing its defensive coordinator, suffered season-ending injuries to two of their top players on the team in receiver Chastin West and linebacker Ahijah Lane and plays a demanding schedule again.
So why do the Bulldogs think they can be better than last year's 4-8 mark?
Well, for one, they have no choice. No team would say, "Yeah, we're going to stink this year" even if they did sense it.
The Bulldogs have to think positive, and there have been some signs that they're looking in the accurate direction.
Just look at the offense.
Based on practice and scrimmages, quarterback Tom Brandstater has looked sharp at practice with his short-route and deep-ball throws.
Running back Lonyae Miller looks stronger and isn't getting yelled at as much as last season (that can only mean improvement, right?). Clifton Smith provides a good change of pace with his shiftiness.
Tight end Bear Pascoe has been active in all facets of the game, from passing to run blocking to pass blocking. Expect a big season from the 6-foot-5 target.
One must assume the offensive line will only get better, considering they were decent last year and that was with two freshly converted defensive linemen.
And the receiving corps., even despite the loss of its most reliable and versatile option in West, is a solid group, though inconsistent.
In short, the offense should be much improved under new coordinator Jim McElwain.
But of course, its offensive success all hinges on one player. I'll let you guess who.
High school football in the state of Utah has never been confused for what's played in California, Texas and Florida. And, for that reason, it's difficult from our angle to get a true read on Alta of Sandy, Utah, which will play Clovis East Saturday in the final game of the two-day Gridiron Classic at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High.
This we know for certain: Alta is armed with Sausan Shakerin, a 6-3, 210-pound senior running back, rushed for 2,355 yards and scored 37 touchdowns for the 11-3 team as a junior.
And, last week, Alta -- as the state's No. 2 ranked team -- lost 23-20 to the state's No. 1-ranked team, Bingham, before 10,000 fans. And it required 59- and 51-yard field goals by host Bingham to beat the Hawks.
Went to the Grizzlies game Saturday night and came away with a renewed appreciation for Chukchansi Park.
OK, let's do a double take. You're right, the Grizzlies didn't play at the Chuk on Saturday night.
But I was in the Sacramento area with my son and friends, and we decided to hit Raley Field for the Grizzlies-RiverCats game.
And I came away thinking that Sacramento can keep its home field, I like the Grizzlies' just fine.
It started with getting there. Fresno has done a pretty good job of posting signs directing traffic from the freeways to the parking lots.
Not so much in Sacramento, where the first "Raley Field" sign we spotted didn't appear until we were already committed to the off-ramp, and it was pointing us away from the stadium.
We trusted the direction, but the next sign was pretty well hidden. Luckily, we had an inkling of where we were going and found our way to a parking lot.
Which cost us $10 for the privilege of parking about 4 blocks away from the stadium, in a gravel, unmarked, poorly lit lot. Score one for the Chuk and downtown Fresno.
Inside, our group decided that the Chuk beats Raley (which is 2 years older) for concourse, the number of seats close to home plate and scoreboard (can't beat the big, colorful Chukchansi sign).
The view looking out is a tie. The Chuk has some interesting looking downtown buildings looming over it; Raley has a more interesting looking Tower Bridge over the Sacramento River and the more definitive downtown capital skyline, but it's not as close and not as easy to see from some parts of the stadium.
The Chuk's got a pool, but Raley has a big grassy hill that runs from right-center around the foul pole and down a bit of the right-field line. Raley wins on that one, because more people can enjoy it.
Maybe the folks who run the Chuk can take a piece of the staff parking lot behind right-center and turn it into a grass berm?
Senior nose tackle Jason Shirley will sit out the first two games of the football season, Fresno State coach Pat Hill announced this morning.
He did not disclose the reason for Shirley's suspension, but said it was for conduct detrimental to the team.
Shirley didn't practice with the team on the first day of practice August 6 because he missed a 6 a.m. conditioning test. Instead he was forced to push the sled and perform other solitary conditioning exercises that day.
Hill said Shirley hasn't missed a practice this August and that this has been Shirley's best training camp at Fresno State.
Charles Tolbert is at the head of the depth chart the Bulldogs released today. Hill mentioned Mark Roberts and Cornell Banks as players who may receive more playing time in Shirley's absence.
Shirley started seven games last season and played in all 12, tallying 20 tackles and two sacks.
Season-opening routs: Clovis East over Hug-Reno, Edison over Madera and Bakersfield over West-Bakersfield.
And my gut says:
Clovis East: Status quo one year after winning it all. Depth, double wing that no one has an answer for and good defense, although the Timberwolves were burned badly by Hug's big, athletic QB-WR combination of Michael Williams and Courtney Gardner. This pair will torch aplenty in the state of Nevada, also.
Edison: Whoa Tigers! Extremely impressive over a Madera team that could win eight games. And, remember now, Edison is Division I.
Bakersfield: Toyed with a good West outfit. Absolutely loaded offensively.
Nonleague play is critical, ladies and gentlemen, because it will influence post-season seeding. At the end of the day, it could make a difference who's playing at home -- say, Bakersfield, Clovis East, Clovis West or Edison.
Chris Denman: According to The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), the Tampa Bay Bucs, which drafted Denman in the 7th round, had him listed as the backup to right tackle Jeremy Trueblood on 8/8 prior to their first preseason game against New England on 8/10.
Here's what some folks have said about Chris Jones, Fresno State's first verbal committment of the recruiting Class of 2008...
Inside Bay Area
Feb. 27, 2007
Jones earned a spot on newspaper's "All-Mustard Team"
"On the boys side, we head the list with Newark Memorial High's Chris Jones. The junior will be our small forward. He has the ability to bang under the hoop. He can step out and shoot the midrange jumper. When he gets fired up, look out, because he has the ability to drop 30 points on any given night."
Inside Bay Area
January 19, 2007
"Chris Jones is the type of player every coach loves to have. He scores, he plays defense, he is a team-first guy and someone who makes everyone around him better.
"He is a sure fire college prospect and has been the go-to-guy all season for a young Newark Memorial team."
NorPreps.com
July 27, 2007
"Dawn blooms and its time to catch Newark Memorial's Chris Jones with his California Hoops team at The Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. California Hoops gets to play on the main court which seats 18,000 plus, with other squads at the same location relegated to auxiliary gyms.
"Jones appears with a bunch of new, albeit younger and less talented teammates, to face Burley High from Idaho. Jones' squad eventually pulls out a victory and he, of course, plays with his usual intensity."
Fullctpress.net
Aug. 3, 2006
"Strong combo-guard scores in a variety of ways and is a dependable defender."
Word on the street says there's a lack of weight lifting in Edison's football program, that the Tigers' lack of strength and stamina was evident this summer in passing leagues.
If this is true, it will show in the second half against Madera, which I promise you, is big on lifting under coach Randy Blankenship.
Let's pay attention to the halftime and final scores in what's a huge nonleague opener for both schools.
Is he, in fact, being used as an example by Clovis Unified? I believe, yes.
He's a high-profile coach -- and let's be honest here, he's got a little wild stallion in him -- so maybe this isn't such a bad thing. Maybe it's OK to make a statement to other Clovis coaches, if not the Valley.
What's important now for Clovis Unified is this: Beware of double-standard treatment. If the football coach at Clovis or Clovis West or Buchanan or Clovis North makes a similar mistake, the same disciplinary hammer needs to be used.
Some say you can tell a lot about a person through sports. Which sport does he play? How does he play that sport?
Much has been written about presidential candidate Barack Obama and his basketball abilities, but before now, I had never seen him play. Boom. Thanks CNN, AOL and YouTube.
I'm glad to see he has some coordination. He bends his knees, snaps his wrist. Pretty good form.
I wonder if John Edwards and Hillary Clinton dabble in the sports arena.
After suffering through international play for years now, I'm excited to see this new USA basketball team. USA Basketball announced on Monday its 12-man roster for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which will be played from Aug. 22-Sept. 2. Some of the nation's best are on the team and I'm ready to see them ball.
One of the team's glaring weaknesses from the past was its outside shooting and with the additions of Mike Miller (46% FG, 40.6% 3-PTR last season) and Michael Redd (46.5% FG, 38.2% 3-PTR), the team's outside shooting should be solid. I'd like to see one more guy who's great from the outside, but maybe Kobe Bryant (46.3% FG, 34.4% 3-PTR) can be reliable from there. The roster includes:
If you drove south on Hwy. 41 this morning, you couldn't miss the signs along the overpasses.
They alternated along six or so bridges, some saying "Welcome Back" and the others saying "EHS Tigers." The bright-yellow signs were hand-painted with big black letters.
Considering the location of the Edison school district, it appears the Tigers are trying to extend their influence north.
that this following example proves what is wrong with society.
According to a story in The Washington Post, a woman in Maryland left her five kids and dog home alone in squalid conditions while she went to work. The children, ages 6 years old to 6 months old, were left on a dirty, sheetless bed. The dog was chained up without food and water.
She was charged with five counts of leaving her children unattended and two counts of animal cruelty. Each charge involving one of her kids carries a max penalty of 30 days in jail. Each animal cruelty charge gives a max of 90 days in jail.
So the animal was more important than the children?
That's what it seems like as we wait to hear what happens to Atlanta Falcons QB Mike Vick. There has been a huge uproar from this case. Some think it's because he's one of the most recognizable athletes in the country and he's accused of committing a crime. Others think it's because he allegedly treated the dogs with utter cruelty. Others think it's because he's black. And still others think it's because PETA saw a way to draw concern to its cause and took advantage.
All I'm saying is if we're going to treat Mike Vick's alleged treatment of these dogs with this much outrage, we need to treat teen drug-use in the suburbs AND the inner-city, teenage pregnancy, steroid use among high school athletes, nationwide poverty, a booming HIV/AIDS rate, poor healthcare services and so many other issues directly affecting humans everyday -- with even more reverence and rage.
Bear Pascoe had two today, Seyi Ajirotutu had another.
Jake Jorde and Frank Manquero dropped a ball from their safety positions.
If there's one weakness this Fresno State football team has so far it's the dropped passes and interceptions in practice.
No one catches every ball that comes their way, but dang. Marlon Moore got yelled at by offensive coordinator Jim McElwain a couple days ago for dropping the balls that come his way.
You can get open all you want against WAC DB's but you gotta haul in the ball to put 7 on the board.
Fresno State football has a lot of ground to make up to return to the caliber fans expect. How optimistic are you that the Bulldogs will have a winning season?
2007 Bulldogs Football Preview
Schedule & Results