Despite its small enrollment, it has become evident that Coronado High School has become an important stop for Division I college recruiters. Last week Islander rising senior Kevin Couture inked a scholarship offer from USC to play baseball for the Trojans. This past season, Couture, a fine pitcher/shortstop, helped lead Coronado to a spot in the San Diego CIF Division III finals for the first time in the school’s history.

Coronado, 21-12, was also ranked No. 18 in Division III in the state of California by CalHiSports.com. For his role in the team’s success, Couture was recently named to the All-State Baseball Small Schools Team by the same publication.

Two of the highlights of the 2004-05 CHS sports season were supplied by the wiry right-hander. Couture pitched a no-hit, no-run game last season against Western League rival Point Loma. In a Division III playoff game at Mission Bay, Couture hit a come-from-behind grand slam homer that led the Islanders to victory.

Annually a handful of Coronado athletes earn Division I scholarships, with roughly three times that many graduates continuing to play their sport "at the next level." A note to all college sports coaches and recruiters – be sure to make Coronado a stop during the year to check out the dazzling array of Islander athletic talent.

Earlier this week, the Coronado Aquatics Club started a four-week special mini-session for junior players, ages 11-13. The program includes introductory training and local competition and costs $150.

Included in the fee are a USA Water Polo membership and a CAC water polo team shirt. The training session runs through August 20, with workouts scheduled for 7:30-8:45 am weekdays and 8:30-9:45 Saturdays.

You can register on-line at nadoaquatics.com, or in person at the Coronado Aquatics Complex on the Strand. For more information, please contact Coach Dave Throop at 619-851-9734.

Like most writers, Your Natterer keeps an idea file close at hand, where I throw articles, letters or E-mails for future reference. While reading this next stop in the column, keep in mind that with the possible exception of baseball and the Tour de France, track and field probably has the most arcane set of rules and regulations in all of sport.

In an early-spring E-mail exchange with CHS Head Track Coach George Green, yours truly made the mistake of questioning Coach Green on the distance of the hurdle events for boys and girls. Thinking I had logic on my side, I assumed the distances would be the same. But in fact, Boys run 110-meter hurdles, while girls run 100-meter hurdles.

Coach Green supplied the following explanation. "The idea is to make the short hurdles a similar event for boys and girls. Since boys are generally larger, faster, and have a longer stride, the hurdles are placed further apart and are higher than for the girls.

Each event is over 10 hurdles and it’s about the same degree of difficulty for a boy and a girl to get three strides between each hurdle. The three strides allow them to clear each hurdle with the same lead leg, with the girls’ height at 33 inches and the boys’ height at 39 inches. For some reason, collegiate hurdle heights are the same for girls as high school, but higher for boys in the high hurdles only, which are 42 inches. The hurdle heights in the intermediate hurdles are 30 inches for girls and 36 inches for boys for both high school and college, but the distance is longer in each case (400 meters vs. 300 meters in high school)."

I guess I lost that exchange. Armed with those bits of information, you can win free beer all night long in trivia contests at any pub or bar in the country.

For the second July in a row, the Tour de France, or perhaps more to the point, the Tour de Lance Armstrong, has kept me glued to a cable network that heretofore was a mere speed bump on my remote control. Now after a complete indoctrination covering many hours of cycling through scenic France, I’m starting to understand the concept.

As an occasional bike rider, I was once ‘caught’ in a speed trap pedaling down the Strand and the police officer informed me I was riding at a pace of 13 miles an hour. By contrast, Armstrong finished the 2,233 mile Tour course this year in 86.25 hours for an average speed of 25.9 miles per hour, which included steep, arduous climbs in both the Alps and the Pyrenees. Just on an athletic level, winning the Tour de France seven straight times is an incredible accomplishment.

Add this to the fact that in most people, the level and spread of the cancer that Armstrong experienced 10 years ago should have claimed his life, making his seven-year winning streak that much more impressive. Armstrong made yellow a fashion statement and vacationing in France during the month of July trendy.

His lasting impact on the American sports psyche will be interesting to follow as the years pass. In a recent "USA Today" internet poll, 24 percent of respondents said they would be ‘very interested’ in the Tour de France next year without Lance; 32 percent said they were ‘somewhat interested’ and might follow the Tour; while 44 percent said they had no interest in the Tour de France without Armstrong. Not exactly a glowing endorsement for the 102 year old event, at least from this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Personally, I think his greatest life accomplishments may be yet to come and outside of sports. This is a man who has caused the sale of 50 million plastic wristbands at $1 each, the proceeds from which go to fight cancer. Here’s hoping Armstrong can lead the fight against cancer in a similar fashion to the way he conquered the world of cycling.

As a life-long Chicago Cub fan, I believe that I can recognize baseball mediocrity when I see it and it resides in resplendent abundance in both San Diego and Chicago this season. At this writing, my Cubs are 50-48 and in third place in the National League Central division. The Padres are 50-49 and in first place in the NL West, a division inhabited by teams owning three of the worst five records in the league.

The Cubs have the misfortune to be in the same division as the St. Louis Cardinals, who have earned the league’s best record and the Cubs are effectively out of the divisional race. But it should be noted tat the Cubs are better at mediocrity than the Padres, at least this season, as Chicago won the season series with San Diego 4-3.

For my money, Bruce Bochy is best manager in baseball. To have the Padres leading the division this late in the season, with their level of talent, means that somebody is doing something right. I think the lion’s share of the credit should go to Bochy.

Next, I think second baseman Mark Loretta and pitcher Jake Peavy are top-line talents, who would start and make major contributions on any team in baseball. If Loretta had played last season in a major media market such as New York, with his .335 batting average, 47 doubles, 16 homers and 76 RBIs, writers and commentators would have demanded that he be admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame now. Unfortunately, due to a hand injury, Loretta has played in only 46 of the team’s 99 games in 2005.

Peavy is currently 8-4 with a 3.42 earned run average, which is very respectable. Last year he led the National League with a 2.27 ERA, which is outstanding.

A small step down on the talent ladder is right fielder Brian Giles, the Granite Hills High School product, who is having a good 2005 campaign after a disappointing 2004 season. A very good player, he likely wouldn’t hit third in the lineup for most major league teams as he does with the Padres.

The recent acquisition of Joe Randa from the Cincinnati Reds will shore up an under-performing third base slot, previously inhabited by Sean Burroughs. The Padres will have to spend a lot of money to re-sign the 35-year-old Randa, who will be a free agent.

Third base is by definition a power offensive position and Burroughs has only hit 11 career homers in 1,487 Major League at bats. His numbers in 2005 included a .255 batting average, 15 RBIs, one homer, five doubles and two triples. Those numbers are not enough to keep Burroughs with the Padres.

The team’s basic personnel problem is that they have three good-hit, no-field players they are trying to find playing time for in Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko and Xavier Nady. All three are well below average outfield defenders, while only average defensively at first base. Frankly, all three are prototypical American League designated hitters, temporarily on loan to the National League.

Nevin and Klesko both have large contracts by Padre standards, while Nady has youth on his side. Nevin and Klesko are both 34, while Nady will turn 27 after the conclusion of the current season. At press time, Padre General Manager Kevin Towers was attempting to trade Nevin for the third time in three years, this time to Baltimore.

Many knowledgeable Padre fans from Coronado are hoping that the third effort to trade Nevin is the charm. Nevin’s ‘me-first’ attitude during his seven seasons in San Diego, has worn thin with fans. While the community was caught up in the wave of euphoria that accompanied the opening of Petco Park last season, Nevin was more concerned that his personal home run totals were down, due to the size of the new playing field. In short, he’s not a team guy.

Another source of concern for the Padres playoff fortunes is emanating from catcher Ramon Hernandez, who is having a fine season, but is a free agent come season’s end. Hernandez sustained a left wrist injury that has forced him to miss several games and has him publicly querying whether or not it might be better for him to have season-ending surgery now, rather than face the off-season free agent market as damaged goods. Believe me that when a team leader, and catchers are typically team leaders, has that approach to the game, it reverberates negatively throughout the clubhouse.

The obvious solution would be for the Padres to sign Hernandez to a long-term contract now, but the seven-year veteran of the Athletics and Padres may have his sights set on testing free agency.

Nobody said it would be easy, but I’m hoping the Padres sustain their pennant drive and make the playoffs. The good guys who work hard and contribute daily, like Bochy, Loretta, Peavy and Giles, deserve to have their efforts rewarded.