Straight from the Sports Desk

We've come to the time of year where some NFL fans are getting set for playoff fever while others are wondering why they still follow their beloved team.

The 2007 NFL regular season came to an end on Sunday. For the Redskins, Seahawks, Jaguars, Steelers, Giants, Buccaneers, Titans and Chargers, the journey to the Super Bowl starts next Sunday.

For the Cowboys, Packers, Colts and Patriots, they have one more week before they hit the ground running on the road to glory.

All of the playoff-bound squads have their eyes set on claiming 2007's top prize. However ...

On the other end of the spectrum, the Dolphins -- who went 1-15 in '07 -- claimed 2008's golden egg months ago. They have the luxury or infamy -- depends on which way you look at it -- of selecting No. 1 overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. They have the task of dissecting the college ranks and select the next big thing in April.

With overall records and tie breakers -- such as strength of schedule and head-to-head meetings -- into account, this is how the top 8 picks should round out. The Falcons, Raiders and Chiefs are currently tied at third. There will likely be a coin toss to determine who will end up with the third pick between the three.

1. Miami (1-15)

2. St. Louis (3-13)

3t. Atlanta (4-12)

3t. Oakland (4-12)

3t. Kansas City (4-12)

6. N.Y. Jets (4-12)

7. New England (from San Fran.) (NE 16-0) (SF 5-11)

8. Baltimore (5-11)

It's going to be a busy time for NFL franchises -- those in the playoffs -- and those staring the long process that is called improvement.

Posted by Ray Aspuria at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (624)

It was a difficult challenge for our four sports writers to narrow down the 12 top local sports stories of 2007.
One athlete whom we considered —but was not selected— was Del Norte High's Kelsey Hintz.
In the spring at the all-county track tourney held at Fortuna, Kelsey set the all-time H-DNC pole vault mark of 12-6. Earlier that day she had won the 100-meter dash and also pole-vaulted 12-4 —breaking her 12-3 mark from 2006 meet. Other athletes (Nina Carson, Mallorie Franco, Bailee McCulloch, Alana Nulph, Skyler Rice and Jack Lamb) at that meet each won at least two white stars, but setting any all-time positive mark deserves some recognition ... so this blog wants to acknowledge Hintz's vault.

Posted by Neil Tarpey at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (611)

When was the last time that an NFL player — a LINEMAN — was carried off the field on his appreciative teammates' shoulders at the end of a game?
B.Y. (Bryant Young) was a tremendous and persistent warrior in the trenches for 14 years. The guy played hurt, was routinely double-teamed and still made good tackles, timely sacks, and added emotional stability to the 49ers. I still can see the game he wrecked his knee, with Coach Steve Mariucci kneeling on the field next to BY, gripping his hand. Now, as others have written, with BY retiring after this Sunday's game vs. the Browns, the link to the '94 Super Bowl champs is broken. I now have to accept that the crimson and gold basically stink ... except for Patrick Willis, who looks like the real deal ... fast, strong, and as sure a tackler as there is (#1 in the NFL) ... so with Ronnie Lott long retired, and BY about to join him, I think I will pay attention to #52.

Posted by Neil Tarpey at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (148)

Need more proof to why Oakland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan should be fired at season’s end?
Here’s reason No. 1: the Raiders defense has become an undisciplined bunch of ragamuffins. On a series of plays before halftime against Jacksonville last Sunday Warren Sapp was hit with three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and his eventual ejection.
Now I know, that’s a bit of a contradiction in itself. Oakland disciplined? Please ...

Then there’s reason No. 2: Jacksonville trampled the Raiders D for 201 yards on 28 carries — a whopping 7.2 yard per carry — and three touchdowns.
That embarrassing performance gave the Raiders the unenviable designation of the 31st ranked rushing defense.
To date, the Raiders effort — or lack thereof — of stopping the run reads like this: 147.6 yards per game given up (an average of 4.9 yards per carry) with a total of 24 touchdowns.
Only the hapless Dolphins are worse, letting teams average a total of 158.6 yards per game, but a lower touchdown ration (17).
Now here’s reason No. 3: The 49-11 loss to the Jags was the worst loss the Raiders have taken in the Al Davis era.
That alone should give head coach Lane Kiffin and the big boss Davis a reason to pull the trigger on giving Ryan the boot.
What may be Ryan’s only saving grace is the D’s adequate pass coverage. Out of 412 attempts, teams have only been able to complete 246 passes (59.7-percent) with 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. This gives Oakland the No. 10 rated pass defense, which is quite good ... until you put it into perspective.
Teams have pounded away at the Raiders on the ground 453 times this year. With so much success running, teams shy away from taking the fight in the air, giving Oakland a bloated pass coverage rating.
It’s the inability to stop the run on defense that continually makes Oakland the butt of many NFL jokes and that’s why there’s no saving this Private Ryan, not in Oakland.
Rob has had four years to implement his schemes and to date, they haven’t worked.
Granted, last year the Raiders had a defense few wanted to play.
Oakland was ranked first against the pass and 25th against the run.
However, the year before that the Raiders were ranked 18th against the pass and the same No. 25 against the run.
And don’t even tell me Ryan had to do his job with a questionable group of players.
So what if Oakland lost starting defensive end Tommy Kelly earlier in the year with a torn ACL. Who cares if his defense doesn’t have a quality safety opposite of Michael Huff or a man beast at tackle alongside Sapp.
It’s Ryan’s job to make sure the parts of the machine work.
He has done a fine job turning linebackers Kirk Morrison (four INTs) and Thomas Howard (six INTs) into respectable pass coverage defenders. Ryan also has the hand in making Nnamdi Asomugha a shutdown corner.
Now, if he can do that, why can’t he fix the leaky run defense?
He’s responsible for creating unfavorable matchups and confusing opposing offenses.
The only thing he has confused are fans and players alike.
Ryan has gone back-and-forth with the man-to-man schemes — the system Oakland employed primarily last season and made the D respectable — to zone defenses this year creating favorable matchups for the opponents to pick and choose when and where to score.
Ryan sure has the look and pedigree — he’s the son of the legendary Buddy Ryan — to be the Raiders’ defensive coordinator but his ideals have yet to translate onto the field.
It’s time for this rollercoaster of a coordinator to get what he deserves, a Janikowski kick to the ... on his way out the door.
The man was given his fair shake at the job, it’s time to move on — quickly.

Posted by Ray Aspuria at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (465)

We had to wait 20 minutes, but after halftime HSU finally looked like the team we all expect to see.
The Jacks hammered Willamette in the second half Friday, scoring 57 of their 95 points after the break. HSU went into the post and defended Willamette better in the second half, which gave them a huge edge.
Cy Vandemeer and Devin Peal were dominant in the post and Grayson Moyer's shot was perfect — literally. Moyer went 5-5 from the field, including 2 3s.
It's gotta concern HSU fans though that Wood is saying the Jacks are still looking for an identity. And it's showing on the court.
HSU had to switch, again, from its full-court press, hi-tempo style, to a zone defense Friday. They managed to get 14 steals — a good stat by any measure — but what happens when they play a team that has players who can hit the outside shot all game, or one that has a good post game.
We'll see tonight when Seattle takes the court. Seattle's deep and talented, and you can bet they'll take any advantage they can get.
If HSU can't force turnovers or get out into transition, it'll be a tough game for the Jacks to win.

Posted by Sean Quincey at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (566)

When the San Francisco 49ers traded their 2008 first-round draft pick to the New England Patriots last year to grab Joe Staley, they did so without a second thought.

The Crimson and Gold was coming off a 7-9 season and improving upon that was first and foremost, hence the trade to land an anchor on the offensive line as Staley. What would a first-round pick really be worth if the team were able to finish .500 or better.

When they say hindsight is 20/20, boy did they mean it in this case.

San Francisco sits at a pretty 4-10.

New England on the other hand is in the pursuit of perfection at 14-0 and are one of the favorites to take home the Super Bowl title this year.

When you think about it though, even if the Pats don't go 16-0, lose in the playoffs, not win the Big Dance, they're still winners. And they have San Fran to thank for that.

It's almost a foregone conclusion Bill Belichick's crew will not only be celebrating another championship, but hard at work scouting what will be a top-5 draft pick.

How unfair is that? A team that runs roughshod over the league gets its greedy mitts on a potential superstar come April. Remember the whole "Spy-gate" thing? When NFL commish Roger Goodell said the Pats would lose a first-round draft pick this year if they made the playoffs? That all became irrelevant once the Niners took a nose dive towards NFL oblivion.

Come April, college studs like Glenn Dorsey (LSU's mammoth defensive lineman), Jake Long (Michigan's people mover at offensive tackle), Chris Long (Virginia's own Howie Long -- yes, the Long's are Howie's sons), or -- what appears to be the most anticipated collegiate star Arkansas running back Darren McFadden -- could walk up to the podium and flash a New England jersey to the crowd.

Just when you thought the Patriots had enough weapons, come April, they'll potentially have one more warhead to add to the arsenal.

It's similar to Microsoft mogul Bill Gates hitting the super jackpot in the lottery, the rich keep on getting richer.

Then there's the possibility of New England listening to every single bidder for their top-5 pick in the draft. From all indications, the Cowboys appear to be the most interested in McFadden, and if the Patriots are smart -- which they are -- they'll ask for a king's ransom when it comes to potential trade talks for the pick.

Either way, New England makes out like a bandit. San Francisco, on the other hand, could use that pick they so effortlessly gave away last year.

This could go down as the most genius move in the NFL for the Pats. It's just another piece of the puzzle for New England. A puzzle towards an almost unstoppable dynasty. And unfortunately for them, the 49ers may be remembered for a long, long time, as the team that gave the Pats they key to league dominance.

Posted by Ray Aspuria at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (808)

The NFL Pro Bowl selections were announced yesterday and I bet there are a number of fans and players alike wondering what happened.
While there aren't enough roster slots to get every all-pro in, some of the selections have people scratching their heads.
Here's a list of 10 guys who should have been mailed a ticket to Hawaii this year:

1. Charles Woodson - Cornerback - Green Bay Packers: When C-Wood was in Oakland, he was given his ticket to Hawaii based on reputation for the last two years. He's a four-time all-pro and to be honest, only two of his invites were legit. However, this year, the former Wolverine and Heisman Trophy winner has been on a tear. Can someone please explain how his defensive-backfield mate Al Harris (35 tackles, 2 interceptions and 9 pass deflections) gets a nod over Woodson (57 tackles, 4 interceptions and 9 pass deflections)?

2. Fred Taylor - Running back - Jacksonville Jaguars: Despite Mo-Drew taking a lot of the snaps at RB as well, Taylor has 1,091 yards on the ground averaging 5.1 yards per carry and four end zone visits. He's a tough inside-the-tackle runner who still has the speed to break away despite being 31 years old, an age when running backs usually slow down.

3. Kellen Winslow - Tight End - Cleveland Browns: Need a reason why Anderson is doing so well at the helm of the Browns' offense? Look no further than Winslow. He's got the speed and the hands to make a big play every time he's targeted. He can also block, something that has been underrated this year. He has posted similar numbers to perennial all-pro Tony Gonzalez, yet he doesn't even get a whiff of Hawaii?

4. Mario Williams - Defensive End: Houston Texans: Remember all the verbal lashing Houston got for taking Super Mario over the likes of Reggie Bush and Vince Young? Look who's laughing now. The North Carolina State alum has been on a tear this year destroying opposing quarterbacks. His numbers (53 tackles, 13 sacks and 6 tackles for loss) alone should have got him in.

5. O.J. Atogwe - Safety - St. Louis Rams: Most of the Pro Bowlers this year got there based on their numbers. You'd be hard pressed to find another safety with Atogwe's stats (69 tackles and 7 interceptions). He's on a struggling team, but the former Stanford standout has been everywhere for the Rams' defense. In fact, he's the guy who caught Brett Farve's record-breaking interceptions.

6. Keith Bullock - Linebacker - Tennessee Titans: If there's a ball carrier in his way or a ball sailing in his direction, Bullock will make a play, period. Since his selection in the first round almost 8 years ago, he's been a staple in the Titans' defense and this year (80 tackles and 4 interceptions) is no different.

7. Thomas Howard - Linebacker - Oakland Raiders: The former safety has had a breakout season this year. Touted as too slow and bad at reading offenses, the former UTEP stud has quited his pre-draft critics (84 tackles and 6 interceptions; 2 of which returned for touchdowns). He's another player stuck on a bad team, but that shouldn't discount his play making ability. There aren't too many linebackers in the NFL that can run as fast as he does (timed at 4.41 at the NFL combine).

8. Nnamdi Asomugha - Corner back - Oakland Raiders: Its hard to make the Pro Bowl when no one throws it to you. While his numbers this year don't adequately show his ability (32 tackles, 1 interception and 7 pass defensed) the former Golden Bear has developed into an almost extinct NFL player -- a shutdown corner. No one has challenged him this year, in fact, Peyton Manning only threw his way once last Sunday.

9. Barrett Ruud - Linebacker - Tampa Bay Buccaneers: After two years of relative obscurity sitting on the Tampa bench, the former Corn Husker has shown up in a big way for the Bucs. Like his other NFC counterparts who are going to Hawaii, Ruud is a tackling machine (108 tackles, 3 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions). Perhaps his only solace is he's young (24) and can make the team down the road.

10. Marques Colston - Wide receiver - New Orleans Saints: Ok, seventh round draft pick, rookie last year, no one knew who he was. Then he exploded for 70 catches, 1,038 yards and 8 touchdowns. There's no sophomore slump for the former Hofstra standout. He's hauled in 87 catches for 1,092 yards and 9 touchdowns. And yet, he can't even make it as a reserve? Like Ruud and several snubs, he's young (24) and if he continues playing well, he'll more than make up for it in the future.

Posted by Ray Aspuria at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (697)

Last week the San Francisco Giants announced that they are taking steps to be more like the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets — by acquiring a stake in Fox Sports Net Bay Area.

Giants officials hope that the move will bring in more money, which will mean the Giants can stay in the top 10 in MLB salaries. If you wish to know more about that, read this Mercury News article. But the reason I mention this today is because you'll be noticing some changes at FSN in the coming months, and they could affect you, the North Coast viewer.

Last year, Comcast — the cable company that serves most of the Bay Area — bought a 60 percent stake in FSN Bay Area. As such, the station will be renamed around the beginning of baseball season, something to the effect of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

I was initially concerned about what this meant for us here on the North Coast, because Comcast is not our cable provider. I feared that meant a possible disapperance of Bay Area sports from SuddenLink Cable. But my fears were assuaged by a representative from FSN, who told me by e-mail that all existing agreements will remain in place.

And for North Coast hockey fans (all six of us), this deal is already turning into a good thing. This week, FSN Bay Area has begun showing "bonus" coverage of out-of-area hockey games. Thursday, for example, the Sharks and Coyotes will be preceded by the Canadiens and Capitals.

This initially came as quite a pleasant surprise to me, as I am often hockey-starved up here in Humboldt. But after thinking about it, it wasn't really surprising at all. Comcast is heavily into hockey back east. The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia has the words "Welcome to Comcast Country" in big letters across the top of the arena. So they are filling the air with hockey, a welcome change from the 1,247th airing of Christy Brinkley and Chuck Norris selling you the Total Gym workout system.

The only potential bad news for Giants fans is that you may still see fewer games next year than last. FSN Bay Area is not the only station Giants games air on. The team also has a contract with a Bay Area broadcast station, which last year was KTVU Fox 2. Many of the KTVU games were shown on either KBVU Fox 2 or MyTV Channel 5, both owned by the Eureka Television Group. This year, the Giants signed a new deal with KNTV 11, an NBC affiliate. The local NBC station, KIEM Channel 3, will likely not show Giants games, because they are required to air the NBC prime-time programming. It is unclear yet if the Eureka Television Group will still carry those games. A call to the Eureka Television Group was not returned after business hours on Wednesday.

Other changes surely remain in store at FSN Bay Area, and they remain to be seen. But remember, change is not always a bad thing.

Posted by at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (832)

Anyone else curious why HSU didn't announce Doug Adkins' resignation earlier? I wish Adkins all the luck in the world, but in terms of HSU's future, it would have been better to announce it a month prior.
They could have had a new guy in there before the new year. Merry Christmas, HSU.
As it stands now, HSU will announce a new coach in late January. If you're at all familiar with the recruiting game, that's like getting onto the field with a minute left and you're down four touchdowns. National signing day is early in February. Yes, HSU will not get any top-flight recruits, but it's still hard to pitch to a head-less program to even second-tier guys.
HSU is saying a selling point for the position, like any head coach, is that person's ability to attract talent. Well, scratch the first year for whoever takes the job, and when HSU's record suffers, it will put him in a hole for the next season, too.
Should it factor into HSU's decision that they can bypass some of these issues by promoting someone from the current coaching staff? They've been recruiting all along, not to mention it could save HSU a boatload of dough.

Posted by Sean Quincey at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1043)

After watching four of the five Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 Conference girls basketball teams Saturday night, this much is clear.

There's no clear cut favorite to claim the top spot in the league.

All four -- Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna and McKinleyville -- showcased the talent and skill to knock each other off on any given night.

Here's what impressed me the most about each squad:

Arcata -- If Karen Pontoni keeps her "I'm going to score no matter what" attitude, the Lady Tigers can run the gauntlet. Her ability to find lanes with her vision and ball-handling skills make her a threat to be reckoned with.

Add Lydia Banks post presence into the mix and you have a very potent team. Banks fights for rebounds and has a nice shooting touch as well. Her free-throw shooting form is something to see ladies and gentleman.

Eureka -- They may be without Kelly Kime but the rest of the roster makes up for it.

Nikki Powell shows she has the ball-handling and interior skill to score from almost anywhere on the court. Not afraid to mix it up with other players in the paint, the Lady Loggers have a scoring threat who will on only get better as time goes by.

Allie Greene and Sarah Visser show an almost unmatched tenacity. Both are not afraid to throw their bodies in the line of fire to score or grab a board.

Fortuna -- From top to bottom, this year's group of Lady Huskies are a well-oiled, cohesive unit.

It's difficult to single out one individual from the Husky roster. One player may shine one night and then, a totally different player will be in the spotlight on another night.

From Shylo Wantt, Mallorie Franco and the Ozard's, Fortuna boasts a highly potent offense as well as a suffocating defense.

When she's on, Wantt is a very dangerous scoring threat. Not only can she get to the basket, but she can hit from beyond the arc.

Franco shows she can both penetrate and control the paint on offense and defense. And there's another thing. She's one of the quickest girls on the court.

McKinleyville -- As long as Sage Romberg is on the court, the Lady Panthers will be a power.

Romberg can handle the ball, draw double teams, rebound and block. She also has a form jumper to boot. Perhaps her only weakness is her slender frame. That could prove quite costly against the more powerful types like Franco, Banks and Powell.

But one cannot ignore Romberg's supporting class.

Hailey Depute and Aliesha Brown always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. Both players are willing to put their bodies on the line in order to collect a loose ball or a rebound. Take that attribute and add the fact they can both shoot, bada-bing, bada-boom, you've got a nice combination.

Chelsea Roane's outside shooting is also something to keep your eye on. Get lazy on defense and she'll hit a trey. If she gets going, like Wantt, Roane will keep on draining.

After Saturday night's games during the 30th annual Evans Mechanical Brad Warze Panther Classic basketball tournament, it's easy to see why several coaches are excited to get conference games going.

Posted by Ray Aspuria at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1007)

So we're putting the pages to bed right now after another day full of December Delirium around the North Coast, and I thought I would share a few thoughts from what I saw night.

You won't see my byline in the paper on Saturday, but that was because I was running around taking pictures at the Logger Classic and the Crusader Christmas Classic. As such, I got to see parts of three games. I started out at Jay Willard Gym, watching the Arcata and Analy boys in an all-Tiger battle.

At first, the word "battle" didn't seem like the right way to describe it, as Analy took it to Arcata early and led 17-1 after a quarter. That's not a misprint, I didn't forget to type a second number in Arcata's score. They had one point, a free throw by Kalani Robles. Arcata seemed to have no answer for Analy's two big men, 6-foot-6 Henry Gill and 6-foot-10 Ryan Wheeler.

To their credit, however, the local Tigers dug in, went to a flowing 2-3 zone and outscored Analy 15-8 in the second quarter. But they still trailed by nine at the half and I left for St. Bernard's thinking Arcata was likely done.

The Lady Crusaders were taking on Brookings, and the star of the night was Amanda Malfatti. Malfatti is making her mark on Crusader Athletics this year. She played both soccer -- where she was the best girl's goalkeeper in the conference but was inexplicably left of the official all-conference team -- and volleyball (for the first time) this fall. On Friday, she only scored 30 points -- 14 in the fourth quarter alone -- as the Crusaders routed Brookings.

I, of course, didn't get to witness her late explosion, because when that game hit halftime, I went back to Eureka High, expecting to catch the first quarter of the host's game against Mt. Diablo. But as I walked through the doors of the gym, I looked up and it said Analy 52, Arcata 51, 5.8 seconds left. I looked downcourt, and Arcata was about to inbound the ball. Talk about timing! After each team took a time-out, Arcata got the ball in the hands of their playmaker, Jordan Bianco, then this happened:

The fearless Bianco went right at Gill, but Gill knocked the ball away cleanly to preserve the win. And while it may have hurt for Bianco and his teammates, their perseverence was astounding, and they have no reason to hang their heads. Any time you have a shot to win at the buzzer after scoring just one point in the opening quarter, you must be commended.

Finally, the host Loggers took the floor against Mt. Diablo, and I have to say that I was impressed, though I only watched a quarter. A week ago at the AIBT, I wrote that the Loggers looked "lost" without Greg Allen. Heck, they nearly lost to an Anderson team that Fortuna had blown out 73-45 the previous day. But this week they're an entirely different team. Allen's back on the court, but everyone else was playing leaps and bounds better than what I saw last week. And now they can win their own tournament today.

Posted by at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (456)

Well folks, we've finally done it. We've entered the world of cyber-content.

The Times-Standard this week is launching a blog, and the Sports Desk gets to have our own little corner where we share thoughts, information and opinions about the world of sports, both local and national.

We might post our gut reactions to a thrilling Big 5 basketball game one of us was at, or blast the 49ers and Raiders for yet another bonehead move, either on or off the field -- there are plenty of each. Some posts will be short, others will surely be way too long, but the idea is for this blog to have a much looser, less formal attitude than the pages of the Times-Standard's C Section, where we can write less like sports reporters, and more like sports fans.

We hope that you will enjoy it and interact with us, commenting with your own thoughts -- which we will respond to if the mood strikes us. Excerpts from the blog may eventually appear in the paper as well. It's an experiment in progress, and we welcome any feedback or suggestions.

Erik Fraser
Sports Editor

Posted by at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (211)

Well, that's just awesome. It turns out that former Giants head trainer Stan Conte, by all accounts a good, honest guy who is of no relation to Balco founder Victor Conte, may have inadvertently set off the entire Balco scandal, and by extension, the Mitchell Report, and by extension (hopefully), the cleansing of baseball.

I have not read the entire 409-page Mitchell Report, but fortunately, ESPN.com has dissected every inch and found some interesting things. Mark Fainaru-Wada, who was half of the S.F. Chronicle team that wrote "Game of Shadows" before landing a job at ESPN a couple of months ago, reveals some interesting stuff about what the Giants knew about Barry Bonds, Greg Anderson and potential steroids in the Clubhouse.

Let's go back to August 2002. Bonds had just broken Mark McGwire's single-season home run record the previous year, and the team was on its way to the World Series that October. According to the Mitchell Report, an unnamed Giants player approached Stan Conte, telling him that he was considering using steroids and that Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer and a daily clubhouse presence, was able to provide them.

Conte told the player not to use steroids, then went to tell General Manager Brian Sabean about Anderson's link to steroids. Sabean had the nerve to suggest that Conte confront Anderson -- to which Conte indignantly and correctly responded that that was NOT his responsibility.

According to the report, Sabean did not confront Anderson or tell team ownership. He told Mitchell's investigators that one reason he stayed silent was so that Conte would not be perceived as a snitch. But if Conte had been concerned about that, he wouldn't have gone to Sabean in the first place.

The only action Sabean took was to have Conte contact a local DEA agent, who reported back to the team that he found nothing to link Anderson to steroids. That was apparently good enough for Sabean: if the DEA finds nothing wrong, then nothing's wrong.

Let's face it, Sabean didn't have much motivation to act. His team was firing on all cylinders, led by its superstar Bonds. If not for a couple of ugly innings in Game 6, the Giants would have won the 2002 World Series. If he blows the whistle, that all goes right out the window. So he keeps his mouth shut. But in an amazing coincidence, the DEA began to investigate Balco that very month. One of its two sources was a local DEA agent. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I find poetic justice in that. When the Balco grand jury was in session, Stan Conte was one of the people called to testify. One of the Bay Area papers wrote a piece about how he did not deserve to be put through this -- like I said, he was a good guy caught in the middle of a bad situation. But today, Stan Conte stands vindicated by the Mitchell Report as the guy who tried to stand up for what was right. And though it didn't unfold the way he may have hoped, in the end, his stand led to the Balco investigation, which led to the Mitchell Report. You da man, Stan.

Posted by at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (707)

Perhaps lost among the Wildcats 9 shutouts in 13 games this year is the fact that Ferndale has an enrollment of 163 students ... by comparison, St. Pat's/St. Vincent — whom the Wildcats shutout for the Class A title — has an enrollment of 663 ... that 500 more students than Ferndale, so way more potential football players ...
In fact, no other Class A football team has less than 400 students (e.g., Sacred Heart: 471, Salesian: 587), so it emphasizes even more the high-quality of Kim Jorgensen's 2-way football players.

(These enrollment stats were from the NCS 2007-08 Football Classifications sheet, effective 6/1/07.)

Posted by Neil Tarpey at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (5755)

Will Greg Allen play for Eureka in their own tourney? .... the Loggers have lost 4 of their 5 starters from the 2006-07 team, so they really need Allen to score ... should be a great one up at Mack with the Panthers, undefeated Fortuna and Arcata (5-1) showing off how strong they are before Big 5 season gets underway ... what about Del Norte's Robyn Suzuki saving the game by blocking (she is only 4-foot-10) a Ferndale 3-pt. attempt on Tuesday ... a game that had legendary Ferndale football coach Kim Jorgensen (in his role as the school's A.D.) keeping the shot clock ... Kellen Maynard is Wildcats new head coach—I think he'll be a good one ...

Posted by Neil Tarpey at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1417)