November 17, 2007 | 11:02
pm
What has gotten into the youth of today?
The YouTube video at the end of this blog comes as a result of a halftime show last week at Ripon High School up in San Joaquin County.
Seems like the cheerleaders (not the one pictured, who has enough troubles of her own) thought it would be a good idea to cheer up the crowd after a crummy season by flashing their backsides during a routine to a Britney Spears song. On their undershorts were the letters, I-N-D-I-A-N-S-1, which spelled out the school's mascot and, I presume, a simple way to get the eighth cheerleader involved.
November 17, 2007 | 10:44
pm
Mira Costa's Falyn Fonoimoana is not your typical sophomore volleyball player.
Earlier in the season, the 6-foot-4 outside hitter verbally committed to USC. Last summer, she traveled to Poland to take part in a beach volleyball event and she has been a member of the U.S. Under-14 and U-18 national teams.
Despite all of that, she somehow elevated her game on Saturday night at Cypress College.
November 17, 2007 | 10:22
pm
No team has dominated City Section girls' volleyball like Palisades. Between 1973 and 1993, the Dolphins won 19 section titles, including 14 in a row.
The current crop of Dolphin seniors were in danger of being the first Palisades class to not win at least one title. They avoided that dubious honor, however, when they beat Venice, 3-0, Saturday for their first City championship since 2003 and the program's 24th overall.
November 17, 2007 | 9:52
pm
Colin McKibbin scored four goals and Myles Christian had 11 saves as top-seeded Newport Harbor defeated second-seeded Northwood, 11-3, to win the Southern Section Division I water polo title Saturday at William Wollett Jr., Aquatics Center in Irvine.
The dominating victory by Newport Harbor gave the Sailors their 12th section title and turned back Northwood in its second consecutive championship game appearance. The Timberwolves lost to Sea View League rival El Toro last year.
"All year we've been stagnant. We didn't come out hard and we had to finish teams in the second half or overtime," McKibbin said. "Finally, we got this mindset that we had to put teams away. We've been trying to reach perfection all year."
November 17, 2007 | 9:12
pm
The play of Manhattan Beach Mira Costa sophomore Falyn Fonoimoana was so dominating Saturday night that at one point the Mustangs’ student section began to taunt their opponents, chanting, “You can’t stop her ... You can’t stop her."
The truth was, Redondo couldn’t.
Fonoimoana had 17 kills to led Mira Costa to the Southern Section Division I-AA championship with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 victory over the Sea Hawks at Cypress College.
November 17, 2007 | 9:02
pm
I arrived at Friday’s Pac-5 Division playoff between Newport Harbor and Notre Dame so early that the main entry gate to the stadium was locked and under heavy protection by yellow-jacketed security guards. It actually marked the first time I had to wait outside a locked gate for a sporting event since Paul Lo Duca bobblehead day at Dodger Stadium (curse you DePodesta!).
At least I wasn’t the only one waiting on the dimly lit sidewalks of Sherman Oaks. About a dozen parents and grandparents were already waiting in line when I arrived and were engaged in a friendly chat about their respective schools’ chances. Thanks to my sophisticated eavesdropping skills, I heard a couple Newport Harbor fans say it took 3 1/2 hours to make the drive up to the San Fernando Valley.
November 17, 2007 | 8:58
pm
Will Mira Costa get over the Redondo section final hump? It sure looks that way.
The Mustangs have taken a 2-0 lead in games. Mira Costa (31-0) and ranked No. 1 in the nation, won, 25-19 and 25-18, at Cypress College.
Sophomore Falyn Fonoimoana is leading the way with 10 kills. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter is a powerful spiker. In the second game, a Redondo player ducked out of the way of one of her kills.
The Mustangs have the swagger and are signing and dancing as they retake the court for what they hope will be the decisive third game.
-- Jaime Cardenas
November 17, 2007 | 8:18
pm
Palisades reclaimed its status as the top City girls' volleyball team Saturday after a four-year absence.
The top-seeded Dolphins (25-8) received 15 kills and two blocks from senior outside hitter Alex Lunder
and six more kills from senior middle blocker Teal Johnson to roll past
second-seeded Venice, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21, in the Championship Division final
match at Occidental College.
November 17, 2007 | 7:50
pm
Facing each other in the finals for the third year in a row, top-seeded La Canada defeated second-seeded Montebello, 11-8.
Max Scott scored three goals in the first quarter as the 2005 champions opened a 4-2 lead. Spencer Borisoff extended La Canada's lead to 6-2 at halftime with two of his three goals, and the first of Nathaniel Vail's three third-quarter goals made it 7-2.
The best Montebello could do was to pull within 7-5, and the Spartans eventually stretched that lead to 10-5.
Taylor Roszkos had eight saves for La Canada.
Montebello, in the finals for for the fifth consecutive year -- winning championships in 2003, 2004 and 2006 -- got five goals sophomore Erick Gonzalez.
-- Martin Henderson
November 17, 2007 | 7:43
pm
Mira Costa, the nation's top-ranked team, according to PrepVolleyball.com, and Redondo are on the court, warming up for the main event of today's Southern Section championship matches at Cypress College. The match will start at 7:30.
Last year, Mira Costa beat Redondo Union twice in the regular season but lost in the Division I-AA finals, only to bounce back and beat Redondo on its way to a state title. This year, the Mustangs (31-0) once again swept the Sea Hawks (30-5) during the regular season ... will history repeat itself?
We're about to find out.
If you want to watch the match, it will be shown on a tape-delayed basis on FSN at 10 p.m.
What has gotten into the youth of today?
