Wednesday, June 19, 2013

209 Sports-an introduction

I bet you didn't know...

1) That Turlock has a professional indoor-soccer team.

2) That one of Oakdale High's most successful sports is water polo.

3) That in the mid "oughts", the United States only had one Formula 1 race car driver, and he is from Manteca.  (He is now in NASCAR.)

4) That there is an independent professional wrestling company that tours the state of California and is based in Modesto.

The Stockton-Modesto-Merced area has had a contribution to the sports nation and in some cases, the sports world.  Also, there are some interesting sports that take place in the valley, but they do not get a lot of coverage.  My hope with 209 sports is to bring some of those to light.  I will draw attention to things sporatically for a while, and see if this idea has a possible market.  I will do an occasional reporting for the first year or two, and do more reporting if this idea becomes a success.  Until it is, I will post scores for the high school football games in this area.  I will also write opinions having to do with 209 sports, as well as football playoff updates.  I don't know if this will be permantly a hobby, or if I will do something more with it.

Teams in the 209 area

Professional Teams
Modesto Nuts (class A baseball team of the Colorado Rockies)
Stockton Ports (class A baseball team of the Oakland Athletics)
Stockton Thunder (ECHL team of the Edmonton Oilers)
Turlock Express (PASL team)

American Basketball Association Teams (Semi-Pro)
Port City Pirates (Stockton)

Independent Professional Wrestling
Pro Wrestling Bushido (Headquarters in Modesto.  Often performs in Modesto and Stockton)

NCAA and NAIA Teams
Pacific Tigers (Division I- West Coast Conference)
Stanislaus State Warriors (Division II-California Collegiate Athletic Association)
UC-Merced Bobcats (NAIA-California Pacific Conference)

JUCO Teams
Columbia Claimjumpers (Sonora)
Delta Mustangs (Stockton)
Merced Blue Devils (Merced)
Modesto Pirates (Modesto)

High School Teams (by league)

Central California Athletic Association
Big Valley Lions (Modesto)
Brookside Christian Knights (Stockton)
Jim Elliot Christian Eagles (Lodi)
Millennium Falcons (Tracy)
Sierra Ridge/Rite of Passage Rams (San Andreas)
Stone Ridge Christian Knights (Merced)

Central California Conference
Atwater Falcons
Buhach Colony Thunder (Atwater)
Golden Valley Cougars (Merced)
Merced Bears
Pitman Pride (Turlock)
Turlock Bulldogs

Modesto Metro Conference (all schools in Modesto)
Beyer Patriots
Davis Spartans
Downey Knights
Enochs Eagles
Gregori Jaguars
Johansen Vikings
Modesto Panthers

Mother Lode League
Amador Buffaloes (Sutter Creek)
Argonaut Mustangs (Jackson)
Bret Harte Bullfrogs (Angels Camp)
Calaveras Redskins (San Andreas)
Linden Lions
Summerville Bears (Tuoloumne City)

Mountain Valley League (non-football)
Delta Charter Dragons (Tracy)
Don Pedro Panthers (La Grange)
Holt Academy Bobcats (Stockton)
Hughes Academy Titans (Stockton)
Lodi Academy Titans
Mountain Oaks Eagles (San Andreas)
Stockton Christian Eagles
Tioga Timberwolves (Groveland)
Venture Academy Mustangs (Stockton)

San Joaquin Athletic Association
Bear Creek Bruins (Stockton)
Chavez Titans (Stockton)
Franklin Yellowjackets (Stockton)
Lincoln Trojans (Stockton)
Lodi Flames
Tracy Bulldogs

Sierra Valley Conference
Galt Warriors
Liberty Ranch Hawks (Galt)
(Note: There are 5 other teams in the SVC, but they are in the 530 and 916 area codes)

Southern League
Delhi Hawks
Denair Coyotes
Le Grand Bulldogs
Gustine Redskins
Mariposa Grizzlies
Ripon Christian Knights
Turlock Christian Eagles
Waterford Wildcats

Trans Valley League
Escalon Cougars
Hilmar Yellowjackets
Hughson Huskies
Modesto Christian Crusaders
Orestimba Warriors (Newman)
Ripon Indians
Riverbank Bruins

Tri-City Athletic League
Edison Vikings (Stockton)
McNair Eagles (Stockton)
St. Mary's Rams (Stockton)
Stagg Delta Kings (Stockton)
Tokay Tigers (Lodi)
West Wolf Pack (Tracy)

Valley Oak League
East Union Lancers (Manteca)
Kimball Jaguars (Tracy)
Lathrop Spartans
Manteca Buffaloes
Oakdale Mustangs
Sierra Timberwolves (Manteca)
Sonora Wildcats
Weston Ranch Cougars (Stockton)

Western Athletic Conference
Central Catholic Raiders (Modesto)
Central Valley Hawks (Ceres)
Ceres Bulldogs
Livingston Timberwolves
Los Banos Tigers
Pacheco Panthers (Los Banos)
Patterson Tigers

Professional Athletes from the 209. (Note: I'm sure this is an incomplete list, becuase I probably do not know who all the athletes from the area are. Also the only fighters and racecar drivers included are those who fight or race nationally.)
Scott Brooks (Oklahoma City Thunder Coach) (East Union-Manteca)
Phil Coke (Detroit Tigers Pitcher) (Sonora)
Nate Diaz (UFC Fighter) (Note: Officially fighting out of Stockton)
Nick Diaz (UFC Fighter) (Tokay-Lodi) (Note: Officially fighting out of Stockton)
Doug Fister (Detroit Tigers Pitcher) (Golden Valley-Merced)
Chuck Hayes (Sacramento Kings PF) (Modesto Christian)
Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers QB) (Pitman-Turlock)
Logan Mankins (New England Patriots OL) (Mariposa)
Doug Martin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB) (St. Mary's-Stockton)
Michael McDonald (UFC Fighter) (Davis-Modesto)
Heath Pearce (New York Red Bulls Soccer Player) (Johansen-Modesto)
Scott Speed (NASCAR Driver) (East Union-Manteca)

Minor League System
Boone Whiting (Pitcher-Memphis Redbirds, Cardinals AAA)

Former Olympians
Erin Cafaro (Rowing) Modesto
Ali Cox (Rowing) Turlock
Suzy Powell (Track and Field) Modesto
Mark Spitz (Diving) Modesto
Tisha Venturini (Soccer) Modesto

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

zzzzz vol. 10 June 2013

THINGS AT CHURCH
Bethel Assembly is doing the annual fireworks booth in the K-Mart parking lot in Oakdale.  The proceeds for this booth go to the youth group.  The booth opens at 9:00 A.M. on June 28th (I believe).  The address for K-Mart in Oakdale is 175 S. Maag Ave. 

If you would like to promote a fireworks booth for your church or program, please leave a comment.

NEWS
(From SFgate.com): A woman got arrested for forging a marriage certificate and perjury in a gold-digging scheme .  Allison Lear was racecar driver named Alexander Djordevic. She was dating him when he got into a car accident.  I don't know if he was a professional driver in any organization, but she tried to make money from his death.  Click on this link for the full story.  http://m.sfgate.com/sfchron/db_106665/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=zuyuEMym&full=true#display

STUPID LAWSUITS
This one is actually a frivolous (sp?) lawsuit.  I make a distinction between the two.  I define a "stupid" lawsuit as one that either has no basis to be filed, and everyone but the plaintiff knows it, or if that person does something stupid and sues (even if technically the plaintiff has legal basis, but it is still stupid, because we used to live in a society that did not reward stupid behavior).  An example of the latter definition is when the daughter of a customer breaks a glass of pickle juice, or whatever it was, and then slips, and the mother sues the grocery store.  The grocery store should not have to be responsible for an accident that the plaintiff caused.  A frivolous lawsuit is one that the plaintiff was actually wronged by the defendant, but is asking for an amount of money that is extremely higher than the correction is worth.  Both have been harmful to our society, in my opinion; and has been one cause of why things are more expensive, amusment parks have closed, and stupid warning signs have been printed on our cup of coffee. (Note: Before you go crazy, I said "one of the reasons", not "the reason".)

(from kcra.com). A woman in Egg Harbor, NJ, named Hyun Lee, is suing CVS pharmacy for $1 million because one of the cashiers gave her a racist receipt.  The cashier put "Ching Chong Lee" on the receipt.  The woman and her attorney considered "Ching Chong" to be racist to all people of Asian descent (as do I). 

The woman was truly wronged.  That CVS employee was truly being offensive.  However, $1 million? Really?  Was she physically hurt? No.  Did this incident hinder her ability to make a living? No.  Is $1 million warranted? Absolutely not!   This could have (and should have) been settled with a couple of free prescriptions and an apology.  Now, thanks to you, Ms. Lee, the prices of everything are going to increase, and the prices at CVS are expensive to begin with.  If she actually took the time to try to settle the matter, then I put the blame on CVS.  However, in this day and age of people suing over the smallest things, she does not get the benefit of the doubt.  Right now, I am left with the impression that Ms. Lee is looking to get rich at the expense of the general public.

FIFA.COM TOP 25 RANKINGS
1. Spain 2. Germany 3. Argentina 4. Croatia 5. Netherlands 6. Portugal 7. Colombia 8. Italy 9. England 10. Ecuador 11. Russia 12. Belgium 13. Cote d'Ivoire 14. Switzerland 15. Bosnia-Herzegovina 16. Greece 17. MEXICO 18. France 19. Uruguay 20. Denmark 21. Ghana 22. Brazil 23. Mali 24. Czech Republic 25. Chile (Note: The U.S. moved up one spot to 28.  Top Asian team, Japan, is 32.  The top Oceania team, New Zealand is 57 [moved up 30 spots])

IF I WERE KING OF SPORTS
When I was watching the NCAA Baseball tournament selection show, I saw that the committee decided Florida deserved an at-large bid at 29-28.  Normally I think the baseball committee is the most objective of all the NCAA division I sports, but I think this year was an exception.  I cried SEC bias when I saw that.  I know records are not everything, but I decided to look up every conference record and see how many teams with better records got passed over.  The count was 74.  Some with significantly better records, like Campbell University at 49-10, and I was told they had a good resume.  Also, Arizona, the defending champion with a 34-21 record, was told to stay home.  Luckily, Florida went two-and-out with losses to Austin Peay and Valparaiso (for those who don't know, college baseball is a double-elimination tournament, which means that a team is eliminated when it loses twice and not once like in basketball).  I apologize for the tangent, but I will get back on point.  I am now convinced that there needs to be a NIT-type tournament.  It bugs me that Campbell won 83% of its games, and was sent home instead of playing in a post-season. 

I would call it the Bias Tournament (because I am convinced that there was some bias that got Florida in).  Every team that has a better record than the NCAA tournament at-large with the worst record would be invited (in this rule, I would not consider the conference regular-season winner as an at-large, but Florida did not win the conference regular-season championship, either).  Like the NCAA tournament, there would be 16 regions with 4 teams each.  There would be 16 national seeds solely based on record.  After that, the teams would be assigned with a combination of record and geography as best as possible, with all 4 teams in different conferences.  Since there are 10 extra teams, the 20 teams with the worst record would be playing in at-large games.  It will work like the NCAA tournament, a regional double-elimination, the winners play in super-regionals, followed by a tournament like the CWS at a neutral-site.  I will put the model on the bottom of the blog.

GOOD SONGS NEVER TO BE RELEASED
I cannot believe I did three of these before I got to my favorite band.  I am going to correct that injustice now.  In fact, I will give you a bonus song.  My favorite Band is Collective Soul.  My sister got me into them when they first came out.  Every song that Collective Soul ever recorded was either written or co-written by lead singer, Ed Roland, except for three.  Two of those that will be featured were sung by different members (the only two songs out of around 75 that Ed Roland was the back-up). 

The first song featured is called, "Dandy Life".  It was sung by lead guitarist, Ross Childress (who is no longer with the band.  He later formed a band called, Starfish and Coffee).  It is on the Dosage album.  Other songs on that album are "Trembled for My Beloved"(can also be found on the Twilight soundtrack according to wikipedia), "Run" (can also be found on the Varsity Blues Soundtrack, and "Heavy". 

Song: "Dandy Life"
Artist: Collective Soul
Album: Dosage (1999)

To listen to "Dandy Life" click here http://youtu.be/r7OMcfW_or4

The second song is "I Don't Need Anymore Friends".  It is sung by Joel Kosche, who replaced Childress on the lead guitar.  It is found on the Afterwards album.  The only hit song found on that album is "Hollywood" (which Fox used to promote one of the seasons of American Idol.)  I personally think this is the best song on the album, and it gets stuck in my head a lot.

Song: "I Don't Need Anymore Friends"
Artist: Collective Soul
Album: Afterwards (2007)

To listen to "I Don't Need Anymore Friends" 

R.I.P. (in alpahbetical order)
-Heinz Flohe (Midfielder, spent most of his career in FC Cologne, member of the 1978 West Germany team) (January 28, 1948-June 15, 2013) age 65
-Joe Glynn (Forward for Division II Bentley University basketball) (?-June 3, 2013) age 19
-Deacon Jones (former NFL linebacker, member of "fearsome foursome) (December 9, 1938- June 3, 2013) age 74
-Kristians Pelss (Prospect for NHL's Edmonton Oilers, once played for Stockton Thunder) (?-June 15, 2013) age 20
-Richie Phillips (lawyer, negotiator for NBA referees and MLB umpires) (1940-May 31, 2013) age 72
-Jean Stapleton (played Edith Bunker on "All in the Family") (January 19, 1923-June 1, 2013) age 90.
-Ottmar Walter (former Striker, played most of his career for FC Kaiserslautern and member of West Germany's World-Cup winning 1954 team) (March 6, 1924-June 16, 2013) age 89
-Scott Winkler (Prospect for the NHL's Dallas Stars) (?-June 12, 2013) age 23

STORY YOU SHOULD READ
http://beta.theriverbanknews.com/section/22/article/408/

4 things I thought of from this:
1) There has to be more to the story.  One of my friend's planted that idea in me, and a Riverbank resident has told me there is more to the story.

2) The Riverbank school board is putting petty differences in the way of doing what is best for the students.  That is unbelievably horrible.  These guys are supposed to act in the best interest of the students, and that includes those who represent the school and the town in football.

3) Riverbank football has only made the playoffs once in the past 10 years, and truthfully hasn't been relavent in the football world since the '70's.  Just when things are looking up, the hopes might be brought back down.

4) What if Oakdale coach Merzon brings Oliver and Patterson in as assistants?  Would the town think anything of it?  Most of the coaches are Oakdale alumni.  Either way, from what I read, these two coaches would be great additions to the Oakdale program if Riverbank fumbles in this drama.

BIAS TOURNAMENT MODEL
1. Buies Creek, NC Regional
(4) At-large #10 vs. (1) Campbell (49-10)
(3) Alabama St. (32-25) vs. (2) Minnesota (32-22)

16. Orono, ME Regional
(4) Old Dominion (30-24) vs. (1) Maine (37-22)
(3) Cornell (23-17) vs. (2) Sacred Heart (34-24)

8 East Lansing, MI Regional
(4) At-large #3 vs. (1) Michigan St. (33-17)
(3) Milwaukee (29-21) vs. (2) Creighton (30-18)

9 Cullowhee, NC Regional
(4) At-large #2 vs. (1) Western Carolina (39-20)
(3) The Citadel (35-25) vs. (2) Stanford (32-22)

5 Dover, DE Regional
(4) At-large #6 vs. (1) Delaware St. (33-17)
(3) Furman (32-25) vs. (2) Delaware (33-22)

12 Nashville, TN Regional
(4) Nebraska-Omaha (27-22) vs. (1) Belmont (38-20)
(3) Sacramento St. (34-25) vs. (2) Georgia St. (35-21)

4 Cookeville, TN Regional
(4) At-large #7 vs. (1) Tennessee Tech (40-17)
(3) Missouri St. (31-23) vs. (2) Ohio St. (35-23)

13 Palm Beach, FL Regional
(4) Jacksonville St. (32-26) vs. (1) Florida Gulf Coast (37-20)
(3) Bethune-Cookman (34-25) vs. (2) Auburn (33-23)

6 Jacksonville, FL Regional
(4) At-large #5 vs. (1) North Florida (40-19)
(3) Southeastern Louisiana (36-24) vs. (2) UC-Irvine (32-22)

11 East Orange, NJ Regional
(4) Navy (28-23) vs. (1) Seton Hall (37-19)
(3) Ball St. (31-24) vs. (2) Rider (35-22)

3 Pittsburgh, PA Regional
(4) At-large #8 vs. (1) Pittsburgh (42-17)
(3) West Virginia (33-26) vs. (2) Kent St. (36-23)

14 Las Vegas, NV Regional
(4) Appalachian St. (30-24) vs. (1) UNLV (37-20)
(3) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (36-24) vs. (2) Arizona (34-21)

7 Normal, IL Regional
(4) At-large #4 vs. (1) Illinois St. (39-19)
(3) Kansas (34-25) vs. (2) BYU (32-21)

10 Beaumont, TX Regional
(4) At-large #1 vs. (1) Lamar (39-20)
(3) Houston Baptist (34-24) vs. (2) Houston (36-22)

15 Bakersfield, CA Regional
(4) Monmouth (30-24) vs. (1) Bakersfield St. (37-22)
(3) Northern Colorado (33-24) vs. (2) Gonzaga (32-21)

2 Hanover, NH Regional
(4) At-large #9 vs. (1) Dartmouth (32-9)
(3) Buffalo (33-24) vs. (2) Notre Dame (34-24)

Here are the at-large matches.  Each match would be one game, winner to the main field.

(20) Indiana St. (26-25) @ (1) Kentucky (30-25)
(19) Tulane (30-28) @ (2) Maryland (30-25)
(18) Gardner-Webb (29-27) @ (3) East Carolina (31-26)
(17) Long Beach St. (29-27) @ (4) College of Charleston (31-26)
(16) Michigan (29-27) @ (5) Northeastern (31-26)
(15) Southern Mississippi (30-27) @ (6) Northridge St. (31-26)
(14) Central Connecticut St. (28-25) @ (7) Radford (30-26)
(13) Holy Cross (28-25) @ (8) Texas-Arlington (31-27)
(12) Marist (27-24) @ (9) North Dakota (25-22)
(11) Pepperdine (27-24) @ (10) Texas (27-24)