Sorted by date Results 376 - 400 of 522
The 20th victory was one of the toughest, but the Culver City High girls basketball team emerged with a 33-31 win at Hawthorne Tuesday night. Taylor Tanita’s shot with five seconds left kept Culver undefeated in nine Ocean League games and gave Hawthorne a 6-3 league record. Coach Julian Anderson’s team has a 20-5 record as it heads into a game against Beverly Hills that will conclude the regular season. Then the CIF playoffs will begin. Anderson said the Centaurs are working on developing a k...
I’ve always been honest in telling readers the NFL ranks near the bottom of my sports interests. Most of my career has been in basketball, baseball and college football. So, I write about the NFL today following completion of the annual Super Bowl madness not as an expert, but more accurately as a casual fan. To me, Payton Manning and Tom Brady have set the standard, and I’m surprised when neither one of them guides his team into the championship game. But in recent years a new breed of qua...
When Frank McCourt owned the Dodgers I could never envision myself writing a column like this. But now it’s appropriate. The Dodgers have such a huge payroll for the upcoming season they’ll have a heck of a time managing it. The Dodgers have the largest player payroll in the major leagues and it’s likely to reach $220 million. Then there’s another $25 million in luxury tax. They’re also obligated to pay some guys who are no longer with them, including Andrew Jones and Tony Gwynn Jr. You may h...
The spectacular Culver City High girl’s varsity basketball team improved its record to 17-5, including 6-0 in the Ocean League, with two more victories last week. The Centaurs defeated Beverly Hills, 60-40 and Morningside, 70-20. The Centaurs won the league championship last season and have a current league winning streak of 16 games. “Practices have picked up,” said Coach Julian Anderson. “The players are paying attention to details.” Asked if practices have been harder than the games And...
LA Clippers Are Finding Out Observer Editor When the Los Angeles Clippers built a training facility on the Westside four years ago they were happy with the location. “Most of our players live within 10 minutes,” said team spokesman Joe Safety. “It’ going to be really convenient.” It is, but there’s one hitch. The site at 6951 South Centinela Ave. between Jefferson and Sepulveda originally had a Culver City address with the city’s 90230 zip code. With the emergence of Playa Vista, that changed...
The way the Culver City High boy’s basketball team has been going in a 5-14 season any victory was most welcomed. The Centaurs, who had lost their first three Ocean League games, won for the first time last Friday night when visiting Hawthorne forfeited in a game scheduled for the Culver gym. Hawthorne was involved in a brawl with Morningside in its previous game. Four players were ejected and drew an automatic one-game suspension, leaving them unable to play against Culver City. Hawthorne p...
While concentrating on the Lakers and Clippers the last few months I didn’t see many of UCLA’s basketball games. So, when UCLA played Oregon Saturday for the Pac-12 Conference lead I watched carefully. It was a day to form opinions about a Bruin team that got off to an embarrassing start this season but then went on an impressive winning streak. How good is UCLA? Unfortunately, the Bruins lost to Oregon, 76-67, and were crushed on the backboards. The outcome confirmed what I had thought abo...
Centaurs' Young Makes All-CIF Again Culver City High defensive lineman Deon Young has been named all-CIF for the second straight year. Young is a 285-pound senior who has made a non-binding verbal commitment to Northern Arizona. Teammates Julius Wilson and Stanley Norman were also named all-CIF. Norman is the first sophomore in school history to earn that honor. Young was named Ocean League defensive player of the year. The league’s offensive player of the year was Santa Monica receiver Jason K...
It’s been a terrible year for USC sports fans. The football team that was rated No. 1 at the start of the season slipped so far it wasn’t even rated at the finish. And it was lethargic in a Sun Bowl defeat. There was speculation about the job status of Coach Lane Kiffin but so far he hasn’t been replaced. But basketball coach Kevin O’Neill isn’t as fortunate. In the middle of his fourth season with the Trojans O’Neill was fired this week. The Trojans won their last game but that merely ende...
It has been in the back of the minds of fans and some in the media throughout the early part of the NBA season. It has been a problem magnified by recent developments. Now it’s out in the open. The Lakers are in danger of failing to qualify for the playoffs which they’ve dominated so often through the years. The franchise which has won 16 championships and acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash prior to this season is stumbling through one dismal defeat after another. The loss at home to Den...
That was some basketball competition between Culver City and West Torrance Highs last week. The Culver boys played at home and despite an inspiring fourth quarter comeback lost a 51-50 decision. In defeat the Centaurs held the visitors to four points in the fourth quarter. The girls’ teams played at West Torrance and Culver City won, 50-47. The Culver girls, fresh from a tournament in Arizona, improved their record to 10-4. Ocean League play began Wednesday night and defending champion Santa M...
Santa Monica High football star Sebastian LaRue verbally committed to USC and all throughout his senior Samohi season it was a foregone conclusion he would be with the Trojans in a year. But LaRue played in a recent all-star game in Visalia and was so outstanding in practices there he drew the attention of other universities. College scouts regularly inspect players in all-star game practices. You see, verbal commitments aren’t binding. Nothing is official until a letter of intent is signed a...
In the last few football seasons Oregon and Stanford have been the dominant teams in the Pac-12 Conference. There was no reason to think that would change this season, but somehow a USC team with an inexperienced defense was ranked No. 1 in the nation. I didn’t understand why, and the Trojans finished the season as one of the few teams ever to start at No. 1 and conclude its schedule unranked. Oregon won the Rose Bowl Game last season and Stanford won it this season with a 20-14 victory over W...
Jerome Jenkins, who became the Santa Monica College men’s’ basketball coach in 2008, has settled nicely into the job. Jenkins stepped into the grand tradition of Corsair basketball which was largely the work of legendary coach John McMullen and his players, who produced more than 500 career victories. After McMullen retired it was proper to wonder what would happen to the program. But Jenkins, a former all-conference point guard at LA City College, has established himself too. Jenkins arr...
The Lakers aren’t among the four elite teams who figure to get the coveted top Western Conference seeds for the NBA playoffs this season. The Clippers are performing at an astonishing pace, but doubts remain about their ability to make their high-flying act succeed at playoff time. But on Christmas Day, both teams entertained sellout crowds at Staples Center and brought their fans a lot of holiday cheer. I arrived early for the Lakers’ noon tipoff. At 9 am there was already a lot of act...
Culver City High has had some outstanding girl’s basketball teams in recent years. This season, it looks like Coach Julian Anderson has another one. The Centaurs have a 6-2 record and have overwhelming success in some games. After winning the first quarter from Bellflower High, 27-2, Culver went on to a 60-19 victory. In another non-league game Culver routed North Torrance, 62-39. After losing two of their first three teams the Centaurs have won five in a row and appear to be a challenger for s...
When the Angels signed Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million contract last week they acquired quite possibly the best player in baseball. They also took a considerable risk. Hamilton has had drug and alcohol problems in the past. He was once suspended from baseball for three years and admits “I’ve made some mistakes.” But he’s come back to be an American League MVP and last season he had 43 home runs and 128 RBI for the Texas Rangers. He’s also an outstanding outfielder. With Hamilton,...
With six losses in their first eight non-league games, the Culver City High boy’s basketball team doesn’t have the look of a contender for the Ocean League championship. Defending champion Santa Monica and Inglewood appear to be the class of the six league teams. But there’s hope for the Centaurs to have a successful season. Three Ocean League teams are assured of a CIF playoff berth and often a fourth or even a fifth place team is selected. The Centaurs don’t have a lot of size but the do have...
For as long as I can remember, the Yankees have been the highest-spending team in baseball. Taking advantage of the fact major league baseball doesn’t have a salary cap like the National Basketball Association, the Yankees have bought players without much consideration for a self-imposed limit. Oh, how that has changed. The Yankees didn’t go after the primary free agents in recent weeks as rumors circulated they’re trying to reduce their $210 million payroll to $180 million by 2014. Meanw...
In a new season with a new coach, the Culver City High boy’s basketball players are learning their roles. Junior guard Chris Edwards is quickly emerging as a high scorer. Edwards is averaging 13.4 points per game in the Centaurs’ four contests and has shown Coach Adam Eskridge he can handle the pressure of producing when defenses realize he’s a key offensive threat. Culver City has lost to Brentwood, Mira Costa and banning but defeated Carson, 57-50. On Tuesday in the Santa Monica Tourn...
Before going any further I want to congratulate Jim Mora Jr. on waking up the UCLA football program which had been slumbering for a decade. The new coach raised the culture of UCLA football with his no-nonsense approach and had the courage to install a freshman at quarterback when older ones were available. And also to move Anthony Barr from running back to outside linebacker, where he made a huge impact. Mora instilled toughness and Brett Hundley gave the offense a new dimension, proving far...
It’s a new season and a new era for the Culver City High boy’s basketball program. Jon Chapman, the Centaurs’ head coach the last seven years, has given up the position to concentrate on being the school’s assistant principal. Adam Eskridge, Chapman’s assistant, moves up to head coach. Culver began its season in a 79-65 loss to Brentwood Monday in the Mira Costa Pacific Shores Tournament. Culver fell far behind early in the game, relied on its pressing defense to get closer, but couldn’t...
Former Centaur Basketball Stars Move On The two stars of last season’s Culver City High boy’s basketball team have moved on to college teams. Guard Keilan Horton is off to a fast start, averaging 20 points per game for Santa Monica College even though he isn’t in the starting lineup. “That doesn’t surprise me,” said Jon Chapman, his coach at Culver last season. Forward Aamahd Walker is at UC Santa Barbara, but hasn’t received a lot of playing time in the Guachos’ early games, which isn’t unu...
A vote of confidence for a coach doesn’t often carry much weight. There are many examples of coaches being told they were safe only to be dismissed a short time later The latest example is Mike Brown, the Lakers’ coach who recently received a vote of confidence from owner Jim Buss. Two days later Brown was fired. Now we have USC athletic director Pat Haden giving Trojan football coach Lane Kiffin a vote of confidence. Haden says Kiffin will again coach USC next season. This vote of con...
If you follow the Lakers you’ve probably heard every theory about the selection of Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson as the team’s new coach. I can simplify the matter for you. Owner Jerry Buss decided not to remove power from his son, Jim Buss, when Jackson asked for some authority beyond coaching. I think that’s the whole story – not that Jackson asked for too much money or asked to miss some road trips for health reasons. Jackson did want a salary in the range of $10 million per season, but tha...
