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The rebirth of the composure and character was defined for Culver City High girls basketball on Saturday night, February 20, at Del Goodyear Gymnasium. The Centaurs rallied from behind to upset Long Beach power Millikan High, 72-69 in the second Round of the 2016 CIF Division 1AA Playoffs. Kailey Tooke, Culver's leading scorer for the past two seasons, had her finest game as a Centaur. It wasn't that she scored an unprecedented 46 points or dominated the backboards, it was her manner and...
Last week at the NBA trading deadline the Clippers acquired 6-foot-9 forward Jeff Green from Memphis. It is being viewed as a trade that will help the Clippers because they’re finally replacing Matt Barnes, who they sent away at the start of the season. I’ve written that the Clippers made a mistake in trading Barnes because he was both a reliable shooter from the corner and a tenacious defender. When opponents concentrated their defense on Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, Barnes would go to one...
The No. 14 UCLA women's basketball team will play their final two home games of the regular season this weekend when they host Arizona on Friday at 8 p.m. and No. 9 Arizona State on Sunday at 11 a.m. Both games will be played inside Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. The lady Bruins are 20-7 overall and 12-4 in the Pac-12. If they expect to stay in the top bracket of the Pac-12 and get a high seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament they need to win one of the two games against the Arizona...
The Culver City High girls basketball team overcame a big deficit at home and upset Long Beach power Millikan High on Saturday evening, February 20, at Del Goodyear Gymnasium, 72-69, in the 2nd Round of the CIF Division 1AA Playoffs. The Centaurs were led by Kailey Tooke's sublime 46 points, 28 coming in the second half after the Culver girls trailed 45-30 at halftime. Heaven Cooper added 11 points, Kate Suyetsugu 5, Windy Yoon 4, Alexis Arancibia 4 and Amy Yoon 2. Culver City will now travel...
The Super Bowl is over. The NBA took a mid-season break. Baseball is on my mind today. Spring training has begun and my memories are vivid of the 12 times I went to Dodgertown in Vero Beach to cover the start of another season, It’s a great time of the year because of the optimism it creates. No team has lost a game yet.. They all think they won’t lose many. A sportswriter loves an opportunity like this where players are open to be interviewed. They’re not grumpy like many are during the seaso...
With two league games remaining the 2015-16 Culver City High girls basketball team is favored to take its fifth consecutive Ocean League title. They took control of the league last week with consecutive convincing home wins over two rivals: El Segundo and Santa Monica. As expected, visiting El Segundo gave the Centaurs all they could handle before Culver won the game going away in the second half, 55-43, on Wednesday, February 3. Two nights later celebrating Senior Night at Del Goodyear...
Right after the Carolina Panthers lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 last Sunday the quarterbacks met on the field. “I know how hard this is,” Payton Manning told Cam Newton. “I’ve been the losing quarterback in a Super Bowl.” Manning said something else about fulfilling obligations after the game before a large group of media members. Newton didn’t get the message. He was asked 16 questions while on stage for a session that would be seen all over the world. He gave six questions a...
It's been a challenging year so far for the 2015-16 Culver City High girls basketball team. They fought through a tough preseason and incurred their first Ocean League loss in five seasons a few weeks ago at El Segundo High. The young team has clearly been struggling to establish its identity. Regardless, the Centaur girls are quietly on a six-game winning streak. Following two non-league wins they have swept their last four Ocean League contests and are back into a first place tie with El...
The 2015-16 Culver City High boys basketball team just may have turned the corner in Ocean League play. The Centaurs have won two out of three games after having suffered three tough league losses opening the season. The Centaurs' most impressive win of the year came at Lawndale High on Friday, January 29. It was a tight-scoring affair that got sabotaged when Culver scored 32 points in the third quarter to blow the game wide open for a very satisfying 79-61 win. Ten Centaurs scored as they...
As the Clippers ponder their decision about Blake Griffin they have to take into account the franchise’s history. They cannot escape the reality that there’s been a lot of trouble in the past when Donald Sterling was the owner. It’s always something with the Clippers, or so it seems. Sterling would refuse to honor contracts of coaches he’d fired. A lot of time was spent in court. A new era began with wealthy new owner Steve Ballmer and a coach, Doc Rivers, who had an NBA championship on his res...
It has been reported that Clippers forward Blake Griffin suffered a broken hand from punching a member of the team's training staff in a restaurant in Toronto on the team's current trip. The following is a joint statement from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Doc Rivers: L.A. Clippers forward Blake Griffin suffered a spiral fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand throwing a punch on Jan. 23 in Toronto. This conduct has no place in...
For at least 15 years I tried to ignore rumors about the National Football League coming back to Los Angeles. We’re busy here at the Observer Newspapers. We don’t have time or newspaper space for rumors. With Culver City High sports coverage, the NBA, the Dodgers, UCLA and USC and a little hockey we’re not inclined to spread gossip about something that may or may not happen. But last week something did happen. The Rams have left St. Louis. They’ll play the next two seasons in the Coliseum and th...
It was a most remarkable run that ultimately ended eight miles due west at El Segundo High. That's where the Culver City High girls basketball team saw their 41-game Ocean League winning streak come to an end as the Centaurs lost to the Eagles, 55-46, on Friday, January 15. The winning streak began in January 2012 with an opening league victory over Morningside High and continued through last Wednesday, January 13, 2016 when Culver calmly dismantled Lawndale High, 52-29, in this season's league...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The future looks bright, tall and fast. The 2015-16 boys basketball season has been a successful launch for 9-6 Culver City High as they prepare for their Ocean League home-opener this week against Lawndale High. After a fast and furious 96-90 win at North Torrance High last Friday, January 8, the Centaurs are suddenly drawing attention on the Westside, in the South Bay and beyond under head coach Adam Eskridge and his staff. "This is my fourth year as the team's...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Have you ever had a close relative or a favorite neighbor who broke your heart by moving to another city? And then came back for a joyous reunion? Los Angeles football fans know the feeling. The Los Angeles Rams, formerly of the LA Coliseum and Anaheim Stadium, were granted permission to leave St. Louis and return here Tuesday by a 30-2 vote of National Football League owners. In addition, the San Diego Chargers, who also began in Los Angeles, were given the opti...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter No one said it was going to be easy. The Culver City High girls basketball program has enjoyed unprecedented success, league titles and a CIF Division II Championship during the past four seasons. However, this year's 2015-16 team has entered a different kind of world: the one called "rebuilding." Head coach Julian Anderson, blessed with a steady influx of talent, has fostered and elevated the program's winning ways since 2009-10. Seven years later the team is...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Clippers have earned a reputation for being a talented team that can’t close out games. They blew a 19-point second half lead in their second round playoff series last season against the Houston Rockets, lost the game and then failed to reach the Western Conference Finals. They lost two close games to the defending champion Golden State Warriors this season after coming close to a victory both times. In a game at Staples Center they were 20 points ahead. T...
By Mitch Chortkoff It's not a pleasant subject among NBA folks. But it can't be ignored. Teams hopelessly out of playoff contention can benefit from falling even further behind because the lower they go the better odds they'll have for the annual draft lottery. The Lakers are one of those teams. So some fans cringed among those who cheered when the Lakers went on a three=game winning streak in the last week. Included was a rout of a struggling Phoenix team which was held to only 22 points in the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor This could be it. Or maybe not. Well, they’re saying it is going to happen. So perhaps. I’m writing about the possibility that on January 12 we’re going to find out if there’ll be a National Football League team or two in Los Angeles next season. That’s the day a meeting of NFL owners is planned and various sources say a vote will be taken on the Los Angeles matter. If we’re to believe what’s being speculated a team receiving the proper number of votes will have...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Basketball fans admired Jerry West when he was in his 20s and 30s. First, he and Elgin Baylor were superstars who introduced the NBA to Los Angeles. Then in 1972 he and Wilt Chamberlain led Coach Bill Sharman's Lakers on a 33-game winning streak, which has never been equaled, and then the NBA championship. Finally, West became the Lakers' general manager and presided over six more championship years. He made the most spectacular front office decision in Laker...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It was 1996 and I was in Honolulu covering the Lakers' training camp. It was an especially important one because General Manager Jerry West had made a spectacular move which resulted in the acquisition of rookie guard Kobe Bryant and center Shaquille O'Neal. In the first few days of the camp I found O'Neal to be outgoing, easy to interview, establishing the foundation for a friendship we have to this day. Bryant, who had been a high school phenom with no college...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Pete Rose’s appeal for reinstatement was denied by new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred last Monday. Rose, 74, hoped for the opposite result. But it’s time for him to realize any commissioner would reject a future appeal because the truth is Rose has only himself to blame for being banned. Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 that prevented him from working for a major league team or its minor league affiliates. But for 15 years he denied that he gambled on...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Dodgers, who have lost out on David Price and Zach Greinke, would like to add 23-year-old Jose Fernandez to their starting pitching rotation. The trouble is there’s strong competition. The Miami Marlins say Fernandez isn’t available but they’ve listened to offers from the Dodgers, Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros. Fernandez is a quality pitcher who would replace Greinke as the Dodgers’ Number Two starter behind Clayton Kershaw. The most in...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter With each season at Culver City High there's always a student/athlete who leaves an indelible mark on the playing field. Sophomore quarterback Jonathan Martin realized that standard as he played an integral part in the Centaur's successful 2015 football season. Martin was named starting quarterback a few days before the season began. After a rough opening game against West Torrance High he quickly put his stamp on the team as it averaged 40 points per game for...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Kobe Bryant and Luke Walton were teammates on the Lakers for nine years. Bryant says he's not surprised that Walton has done so well this season filling in for Steve Kerr as coach of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Bryant saw Walton's potential many years ago. "I often told him you're the next Phil," said Bryant, who of course was comparing his teammate to their then-Laker coach, Phil Jackson. "You were both average players with a messed-up back."...
