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By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Everyone knew UCLA had a premier quarterback recruit in Josh Rosen. He’s 6-foot-4 with a very strong arm and he threw 100 touchdown passes at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower. But he’s also a freshman and Coach Jim Mora Jr. hadn’t announced who would start Saturday’s opening game against Virginia Tech. Maybe Rosen, maybe the more experienced Jerry Neuheisel. There’s no doubt now who’ll start the second game and a whole lot more. To say Rosen was sensational...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Culver City High opened the 2015 football season with a hard-fought loss to West Torrance High, 22-0 before a very lively home crowd spirited on by the Centaur cheer team, dance team and marching band at Jerry Chabola Stadium on a balmy summer evening, Friday, September 4. Culver is starting a new era with a talented sophomore quarterback at the helm to compliment its perennially impressive defense. This combination gave more than a silver lining of hope for the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When I was 28 I was assigned to the Laker beat at the L.A. Herald-Examiner by sports editor Bud Furillo. I was thrilled but I had no idea what was in store for me. Not only did I fly on the team plane where I got to know Chick Hearn very well but I occasionally filled in for the regular Dodger beat writer in the summer and that got me into the world of Vin Scully. This week Scully revealed he’s going to broadcast Dodger games again next season, his 68th year in t...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Culver City High girls volleyball has won the Ocean League title the past two years. But they are not resting on their laurels as they prepare for the 2015 fall season. Confident, eager and hungry, the Centaurs have their sights set on a CIF division championship. Under the three-year guidance of head coach Joe Manzo, the team has improved its won-loss record each season while compiling an overall record of 68-28. Equally impressive, they have won 21 of 24 league...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Cody Kessler compiled impressive statistics last season as the USC quarterback. Impressive enough that you’d think NFL teams would want him. But the NFL was only lukewarm on Kessler. Maybe he wasn’t tall enough. Maybe they found faults. For whatever reason Kessler didn’t declare for the NFL draft and returned to USC for his senior season where’s he’s regarded as a candidate to win the Heisman trophy. That alone gives the Trojans reason to be optimistic about the...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When Brett Hundley enrolled at UCLA three football seasons ago he was walking on campus when a coed called out “here comes the savior.” The incoming freshman seemed humbled as he said “I’m not the savior. I’m just trying to find my way here.” In three seasons, however, Hundley did appear to be a savior. In each season UCLA beat USC, reversing a trend that lasted a decade. Hundley then said he had accomplished what he could in Westwood and entered the NFL draft a...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Realizing they're in a torrid stretch drive to complete the 2015 season, the Dodgers traded for second baseman Chase Utley on Wednesday. The 36-year-old Utley has been a longtime star player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He hadn't been productive earlier this season but has been outstanding recently after recovering from an ankle injury. He's had 15 hits in 31 at bats. He has $6 million remaining on his 2015 contract but the Phillies are going to pay $4 million...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor In a few months Kobe Bryant will begin the 20th season of his remarkable Laker career. Next season he won’t have a contract. So what does he do? There are four ways he can go – retire, sign another Laker contract, play in a foreign country or sign with another NBA team. Piecing together information I’ve received from numerous sources, I’m ruling out that he’ll cash in as a free agent and play for another NBA team. The NBA salary cap is soaring and even though Ko...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor As a baseball season goes along players often grow together as a unit. A team can flourish as individuals learn each other’s skills and weaknesses. I’m reminded of the Dodgers’ infield of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey which was together for a decade. My, how things have changed. The Dodgers completed a complicated three-team trade the other day and as I tried to figure it out I got a headache. The Dodgers have four new pitchers and some...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The last time I wrote about the Angels I realized they weren’t playing well but said it was too early to count them out. Since then they’ve made a dramatic bid for a successful season. They cruised through July and are in a position to win their division or finish second and qualify for a wild card playoff berth. But Tuesday night I watched on television as they lost to the Houston Astros, 10-5. On the post game show Mike Scioscia was interviewed and he did...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The summer of 2015 has not been a vacation for the Culver City High School athletic department and its athletic facilities. And that's a good thing... for the administration, the hundreds of Centaur student athletes as well as the middle school programs and outside permitted clubs. The new synthetic lacrosse and multi-purpose field is finally complete and has been in use since June. The fall teams and most other programs have been practicing throughout the campus...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Clippers had a humiliating end to their recently completed season when their second unit couldn’t contribute enough to succeed at the most crucial time in the playoffs. Fatigue was a factor as the Clippers lost a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter of a Game 6 loss to the Houston Rockets at Staples center. The Clippers then lost Game 7 in Houston and could only wonder what might have been. The Clippers set out to improve their depth in recent weeks as o...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor DeAndre Jordan was lured to a contract agreement with the Dallas Mavericks by the team’s aggressive recruiting during the NBA’s free agent signing period. However, the contract couldn’t become legal until July 9 via league rules. Then the fun began. Jordan had second thoughts. He was at his home in Houston when he called teammate and close friend Blake Griffin and shared his concerns. Griffin suggested that Jordan should call Coach Doc Rivers. With a chanc...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor A sports columnist usually takes a stand on issues. The hope is the column will be read and whether or not the readers agree with the point they’ll have something to think about. As sports editor of the Observer I encourage my columnists to present their opinions too. We try to give readers an opinion they probably won’t get in our rival papers. But today it’s different. In doing research for this column in the last few days I realized I don’t feel strong...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Well, here’s a most unusual story to begin the 2015 college football season. Hip hop music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, the father of UCLA defensive back Justin Combs, was arrested by UCLA police and charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (a kettlebeck) and one count of making terrorist threats Monday following a confrontation with Bruin assistant coach Sal Alosi. A kettlebeck is a piece of weightlifting equipment. It has a handle with a sharp...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter "My mom was sleeping so I woke her up and told my dad to turn on the TV. Then it came on: "With the first pick of the sixth round the Arizona Diamondbacks select Tyler Mark." "It was easily the best feeling in my life." It was the moment of truth for former Culver High right-handed pitcher Tyler Mark as he described being chosen in the recent Major League Baseball draft on Tuesday, June 9. He was the 166th player selected overall. The ace of the staff, Mark played...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor When I realized the deadline for this week’s paper was Wednesday and the NBA draft was Thursday I was quite disappointed. I wouldn’t be able to comment on the Lakers’ selection until the following week. Then I had an idea. There had been so much interest, so many conflicting rumors in what the Lakers were going to do that there would be considerable reader interest in a description of this process. So. Hopefully, I was right and you’ll read on, At the beginni...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Padres were on the verge of beating the Dodgers Sunday in San Diego. With the winning run on base in a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning Juston Upton hit a drive to deep centerfield. Within seconds the game would be over. Instead, Dodger rookie Joc Pederson raced back, somehow caught up with the ball and caught it. “The catch of the year in major league baseball,’ the announcer said. If Pederson hadn’t made that catch Bud Black would probably still be the Padre...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Okay, this season is over. The Golden State Warriors are champions – well deserved because they had the best regular season record with 67 wins and then proved in the playoffs they’re for real. Now let’s think about next season. Many teams who fell short will try to improve their rosters with trades, free agent signings and the upcoming draft. The first example came Tuesday when the Clippers made a trade that brought in Lance Stephenson, an outstanding defen...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor The Lakers have apparently lost a piece they were counting on to solve the puzzle created by compiling the worst record in their history. Kevin Love, the former UCLA star, says he’s going to remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers next season despite his inability to play in the current NBA Finals due to a shoulder injury. Love can opt out of his Cleveland contract and test the free agent market at the end of this month. The Lakers tried to acquire him when he l...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The 2014-15 Culver City High Senior Student Athlete of the Year banquet was well attended and joyous as awards were given out for Teams of the Year, Athletes of the Year, academically achieving students and top athletes for their respective sports programs. Fifty four students were awarded the Dave Sanchez Award for a GPA of 3.5 and above over their four years at Culver City High. Seventeen students received the Jerry Chabola Award for seniors that do an...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter It was a packed house on Monday evening as the Culver City High baseball program held its annual awards banquet at the Elks Lodge #1917 just east of Sepulveda Blvd. on Washington Place. The event showcased the 2015 season, touched on the summer season approaching and honored six special senior classmen. Parents, family members, coaches and players from the Centaur frosh/soph, junior varsity and varsity squads enjoyed a SoCal styled outdoor barbeque menu of...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor There’s a suggestion going around on radio sports talk shows that LeBron James should play for a different NBA team every year to spread out the championships. It’s silly of course. He isn’t going to change teams every year. But considering that he will be participating in an NBA Final for the fifth consecutive year, three with Miami and two with Cleveland, which was horrid before he joined them, you get the point. Put him on any team and that team becomes elite....
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor Because this newspaper is on the Westside we tend to care more about the local teams. More Dodgers coverage than Angels, for example. But it was different last year and it continues to be different this year because Angels telecasts draw three times as many viewers as Dodger telecasts. That’s what surveys show as 70 percent of the potential Southern California audience can’t get Dodger telecasts that are available only on Time Warner. It’s evident that a lot o...
By Mitch Chortkoff Sports Editor It was my first Dodger game of this season and on Sunday I knew I’d see many old friends in the press box. The first one to greet me was Vin Scully, who I’ve known For a lot of years. “It’s so good to see you, Mitch” he said. “Great to see you too Vin,” I said. “But, unfortunately I can’t hear you on the telecasts because I don’t have Time Warner Cable. “Neither do I,” he replied. Unbelievable, isn’t it? The legendary announcer, now in his 66th year describing...
