Sorted by date Results 1301 - 1325 of 1841
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The 2015 holiday season arrived early for Nolan Martinez and his family, precisely on Wednesday, November 11. That's when the Culver City High senior signed a letter of intent to attend San Diego State University on a full athletic scholarship to play baseball starting in Fall 2016. "My family was really excited. We went out to dinner after I signed. I was glad that it was finally official. Thankfully the process is over and I'm glad of the choice I made," began...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Dave Roberts, welcome to the Dodgers and you’d better win a World Series during the next three years. That is plainly what the new Dodger management expects from their manager who has agreed to a three-year contract. After all, Don Mattingly’s Dodgers won a division championship three straight seasons and had a winning record in all of his five years and then was replaced. No World Series win, you see. Rumors began Sunday and the Dodgers officially announced the...
By Steve Finley Culver City has a lot to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving week. It has a great school system, beautiful tree-lined neighborhoods, safe parks, an upscale mall, attractive shopping centers and Mike Cohen. Cohen, who is affectionately called Mr. Culver City, has earned that nickname through hard work and dedication to the city. He retired last year as the Sports Editor of the Culver City News and as one of the city’s top real estate agents. Although he officially retired h...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The slivery new moon in the cool November sky signaled an end to the 2015 Culver City High football season. Coincidentally, it was Friday the 13th as the Centaurs lost their CIF first round Western Division playoff home game, 45-20, to the Pacifica High Tritons at Jerry Chabola Stadium. The game started off as a slugfest when Pacifica and Culver traded two touchdowns each in the first quarter. It ended as a fleeting memory for the Centaurs. Seven turnovers,...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor A new season, a new general manager, new hopes. That’s what was behind the Angels’ surprising trade last weekend which resulted in the acquisition of Andrelton Simmons, one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. The Angels traded Erick Aybar, a fixture on their team since 2008, and also gave their two best pitching prospects to the Atlanta Braves. Why are they getting only one player and giving up three? Well, there’s an important reason. Simmons is signe...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It's rare that an NBA game so early in the season would attract the attention this one did. But I decided to devote my entire column to the Clippers' 112-108 loss to the defending champions on November 4 after digesting all the facts from that contest in Oakland. The Clippers have a reputation of getting close but not quite close enough. They've never won an NBA championship but I believe they're creeping up toward the possibility that they could get one while...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Culver City High is back in the saddle again as the Centaurs were crowned 2015 Ocean League Football Champions after beating Beverly Hills High, 41-6 on a relatively chilly Friday night, November 6, at Jerry Chabola Stadium. A lively home crowd celebrated Senior Night. As a result, the Centaurs will host Pacifica High of Oxnard in a first round CIF Western Division playoff game on Friday the 13th. They have now made the playoffs in six of the seven seasons under...
The Culver City High Centaur football team will host the Pacifica High Tritons from Oxnard in a first round CIF Western Division Playoff game starting at 7:00 p.m. this Friday, November 13, at Jerry Chabola Stadium. The Centaurs clinched the 2015 Ocean League title by finishing 4-1 in league competition after beating Beverly Hills High 41-6 on Senior Night at home. Culver took care of matters by scoring four touchdowns in the second half after leading only 14-6 at halftime. Culver City and...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter What a difference a game makes, a team makes, an unexpected opportunity makes. The Culver City High football team is suddenly in the driver's seat to capture the 2015 Ocean League title following its 35-26 homecoming game victory over Hawthorne High. The Centaurs are also the beneficiaries of a just-announced league ruling concerning Lawndale High forfeiting two league victories this season, over Culver and Santa Monica, due to incomplete and erroneous information...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The reason Culver City High is suddenly close to becoming the 2015 Ocean League football champion is that Lawndale High has forfeited four victories, including league wins over Culver City and Santa Monica. Coupled with Culver’s victory over Hawthorne last Friday the Centaurs prevail in tiebreakers. With a win over Beverly Hills this Friday Culver would become the champion and most likely would receive a first round playoff home game. The South Bay Daily B...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor This is Los Angeles. The Lakers have won 16 NBA championships. The Dodgers haven’t won a World Series since 1988 but they’ve won their division the last three years. LA fans expect quality. And why not? Our teams can afford what it takes to produce winners. But what’s happening now can’t be happening. Can it? The Dodgers have new owners who had the highest payroll in baseball history in the just-concluded season. But the team wasn’t real good. There were obvi...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor We all know about the Clippers' history. They took a back seat to the Lakers for so many years. The Donald Sterling era was forgettable. But in the last few years they've become better than the Lakers. They hired Doc Rivers, a coach who has won an NBA championship. With Steve Ballmer, an energetic owner, they were a threat to go all the way last season but collapsed horribly in Game 6 of their second round series against Houston. Same old Clippers. That was the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Lakers’ annual goal used to be winning the NBA championship. They succeed 16 times to become one of the elite franchises in league history. That was then and this is now, The Lakers haven’t won a playoff game (not a championship but one game) in the last three seasons. They were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs, then didn’t qualify, then didn’t qualify again last season when they had a franchise low of 21 wins and 67 losses. Here we go again. The...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The Culver City High football team dominated archrival Santa Monica High, 49-0, on Friday, October 23 as the Centaurs rallied around their new starting quarterback. The Centaurs spoiled the Vikings' homecoming game played at Santa Monica College on another warm autumn evening. Santa Monica, usually a strong opponent, has an 0-8 record this season. "It was a team effort. It was great to get a shutout. To give up zero points while scoring 49 is a great...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor So the Dodgers didn't reach the World Series and speculation immediately mounted that Don Mattingly would be fired. What about the new guys in charge who ripped apart a roster that won 94 games last season? I'd place a lot of blame on them. New ownership came to the Dodgers willing to spend heavily in contrast to former owner Frank McCourt. But spending isn't enough if you don't spend wisely. The Dodgers' 2015 payroll was the highest in major league baseball...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Culver City High football team's 42-31 loss at El Segundo High on Friday, October 16 was a very bitter pill to swallow. The Centaurs jumped out to a quick lead that held up for three quarters against the undefeated and defending Ocean League champion Eagles. A few seconds before the third quarter ended Culver quarterback Jonathan Martin left the game with a season-ending injury following a long run in which he was tackled from behind just three yards shy of the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As the athletic director at USC Pat Haden was giving Stave Sarkisian every opportunity to solve his drinking problem. Was he being a good boss? Or was he ignoring the long-range problems that could result from keeping Sarkisian longer? When Sarkisian didn’t attend a practice last week, apparently from an alcohol binge, and then fired him, it appears that Haden gambled and lost. This was the second time this season that Sarkisian had embarrassed the university b...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter "We left the game with a positive feeling about our team and how far we've come in a short amount of time," said Jahmal Wright, Culver City High head football coach. The Centaurs drove up the coast on Friday, October 2, to Port Hueneme to completely overwhelm Channel Islands High 54-30 with speed, line strength, big-play offense and another stellar defensive night from Mekhi Ware and company. Wright continued: "It was a long road trip and our goal was to go up...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The scoreboard was flashing constantly throughout the warm Friday evening at Jerry Chabola Stadium as Culver City High and Lawndale High lit it up for the 2015 Ocean League home opener on October 9. It was a grand offensive affair that saw Lawndale outlast the Centaurs 48-41 as both teams combined for over 1,000 total yards. The differences in both attacks were stark. Culver was effective by using the combined efforts of multiple players. The high-ranking...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor At the start of another Laker season General Manager Mitch Kupchak told the media last week this would be a season of laying a foundation. “Every season the Lakers have hopes of winning a championship,” Kupchak began. “But realistacly we’re developing DeAngelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson this season. Then, hopefully we’ll add free agents next season.” The plan is to build up to being a championship contender. But when? Kupchak’s speech was ho...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The 2015 season is still young but the Culver City High football team's 34-21 victory over University High on September 25 may have been the turning point as they evened their record to 2-2. There will be one game remaining before Ocean League play begins. The offense led by quarterback Jonathan Martin had its third productive game in a row. The Centaurs scored five more touchdowns to run the season total to 16 while averaging 36 points per game over the past...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The 2015 Culver City High football team traveled to San Pedro High on Friday night, September 18, as decided underdogs to the South Bay power currently ranked sixth in the CIF Los Angeles city section. A high-scoring battle of contrasting styles ensued into the fourth quarter and despite losing the game, 44-33, the Centaur players and coaches came away excited about the future of the program. "There's not too many times as a coach that I'm happy with the team for...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor I’ve gone through most of the baseball season believing the Dodgers have too many question marks to win the World Series. Too many players coming and going throughout the season, Two great starting pitchers but no other one on the elite level. What if Kershaw or Grienke lose a playoff game? I think it’s unlikely any other starter could get them through several very important games against quality opponents. But lately I’ve seen two likely division winners falte...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Before another NBA season begins soon let’s pause and honor two great players who helped make the league what it is today. Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone died in the last few weeks. Both were giants who possessed extraordinary basketball ability. “Moses Malone was a fierce and noble competitor. He will always be linked with Laker playoff history” was a statement from the Buss family. “The NBA lost a giant and I lost a true friend,” said Clippers coach Doc River...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The hint of a late ocean breeze graced the Culver City High football team as the Centaurs visited Peninsula High in the Rolling Hills Estates of Palos Verdes for their second game of the 2015 season. The Centaurs scored six touchdowns with a touch of vengeance and readily beat a stubborn Peninsula High squad, 41-28 on the warm and hazy Friday September 11 afternoon. The Panthers, who won in a 19-14 upset at Culver City last year, scored on a 15-yard run in the...
