Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

27 June 2007 Issue #25

Sunday morning, a fire apparently caused by workers re-conditioning the playing floor at the Blumenthal Sports Complex at Coronado High School, caused an estimated $250,000 damage to the facility, according to Coronado Fire Department personnel.

The fire, which caused heavy smoke in the gym, started in a trash can near the bleachers which bisect the 14-year old facility located at 7^th and F Streets in Coronado. Extensive damage was done to the bleachers, as the blaze burned approximately one-quarter of the movable bleacher area. A handful of championship banners hanging from the ceiling over the site of the fire were also impacted by the blaze.

The more extensive damage to the facility was done by an estimated 5,000 gallons of water, which may have saved the integrity of the structure itself, and cascaded down upon the floor from the high school’s fire control sprinkler system. Immediate efforts undertaken by school district personnel to clear the water from the area may have prevented the floor from warping and remaining playable.

As of press time Monday, efforts were being made to dry the area under the floor using an array of air blowers. The drying effort, which may take as long as two weeks to complete, is aimed at removing water from between a plastic liner under the floor and the concrete below. Mold prevention is a key target in the drying process.

The gymnasium, which is one of the few in San Diego Country which has adjacent, full-sized basketball courts under one roof, was undergoing extensive maintenance to the floor. The playing surface had been stripped of an accumulation of nearly a decade and a half of floor finish and had been sanded down to bare wood. The entire floor was in the process of being repainted and then re-finished, which would have had the effect of making the playing surface lighter in appearance and more playable after repairs are made.

Coronado firefighters arrived on the scene at 8:30 am, followed almost immediately by school district personnel including CHS Athletic Director Sandy Ferguson, former CHS Head Basketball Coach Sandy Dillon, Coronado Unified School District Facilities Supervisor Jim Mazurkiewicz, and Head Custodian John Coolidge. CUSD Assistant Superintendent of Business Affairs Scott Buxbaum was onsite shortly thereafter.

If all goes well with the drying efforts and the original floor re-finishing and painting plans can proceed, the facility may be ready for the beginning of the 2007-08 school year, which begins Tuesday, August 28^th. The next varsity sport activity in the facility will be the beginning of the CHS Girls Volleyball practice, which according to the California Interscholastic Federation website can begin Monday, August 13.

Star Sighting in Coronado

My father Joe Axelson and I were grabbing a late lunch at the Rhinoceros Café in Coronado last week and found ourselves seated immediately adjacent to the actor Gary Sinise and his family, who were vacationing in Coronado. Sinise, best known for his roles in TV’s “CSI: New York” and as Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump,” is a Chicago native.

But most importantly, Sinise is a Cub fan and was pleased to be updated on the Cubs vs. White Sox score of that afternoon’s games between the two Windy City rivals.

Sinise is also an Emmy and Golden Globe winner and an Academy Award nominee for his ‘Lieutenant Dan’ role. His family attended the Padres vs. Red Sox game Friday night and was present for the Lamb’s Players Theater production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Saturday evening in Coronado

The 54-year-old Sinise, in addition to his acting credits, is co-founder of Chicago’s prestigious Steppenwolf Theater Company. He has appeared numerous times on the WGN-TV broadcasts of Cubs games and when asked last week, said that he is a fan of inter-league play in Major League Baseball.

ESPN Names Spurs Duncan ‘Best Power Forward Ever’

Deep within the bowels of the ESPN Campus there apparently resides a group of people who make policy decisions on a variety of issues that later spew forth from Bristol, Connecticut into the sporting public’s consciousness. It appears that the latest pronouncement from the ESPN monolith, including ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN Radio and presumably “ESPN The Magazine,” is that San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan is the National Basketball Association’s ‘best power forward ever,’ and in addition, ‘one of the best big men of all time.’

Duncan has been the cornerstone of four NBA titles for the Spurs over a nine-year period. The 6-foot, 11-inch, 260-pound Duncan, was also NBA MVP for both the 2002 and 2003 campaigns. The Wake Forest graduate and psychology major earned the NBA’s Finals MVP in 1999, 2003 and 2005, so Duncan does come to the discussion accompanied by some serious credentials.

For my money, Maurice Lucas for whom the term ‘power forward’ was invented is the all-time best at the position. Playing primarily for the Portland Trailblazers during the Bill Walton era, Lucas in addition to being his team’s enforcer during the day when the NBA was much more physical, was a ferocious rebounder and the owner and practitioner of one of the best mid-range jump shots in the game. Lucas also had another element in his favor and that was the fact that his contemporaries were scared to death of him.

Back in the day when the NBA Finals were played on tape delay after the conclusion of 11:00 pm local news, Gus Johnson roamed the frontcourt for the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards). The 6-6, 235-pound Johnson, a rare blend of power and pure athleticism, was one of the first of the NBA big men to play consistently above the rim. His complete game which included scoring ability, showmanship, defense and rebounding earned him five NBA All-Star appearances.

Joe Axelson mentioned in the column above and the winner of more than 500 games as an NBA general manager, said that with an important proviso, Johnson would be his all-time power forward pick. “If you could guarantee that Gus was healthy, I would take Johnson over all of them,” Axelson said. Johnson’s career was shortened by knee injuries, but still spanned 10 seasons. His No. 25 jersey was retired by the Bullets/Wizards.

Though he later deservedly earned a reputation as a prima donna, Elvin Hayes was a great at power forward for the Washington Bullets, and also the San Diego and Houston Rockets. Hayes at 6-11, had an unstoppable turnaround jump shot and when motivated to do so played excellent off-the-ball defense.

A unique Hayes statistic was that he played for exactly 50,000 minutes in the NBA. As soon as Hayes reached that milestone, time out was called and he was presented with the game ball and promptly retired. I was the public address announcer for the game. The sentiment of the Houston Rockets coaching staff at the time was pure glee that the ‘Big E’ was hanging ‘em up.

Basketball historians will also inject the names of Bob Pettit, Dave DeBusschere, Maurice Stokes and many others into the ‘best of’ discussion. Duncan, nicknamed ‘The Big Fundamental,’ deserves to be on the list when the topic arises. The point is, don’t let ESPN dictate the conversation. Keep in mind that among all of their networks, ESPN has thousands of hours of programming time to fill and a seemingly endless number of lists and rankings emerge to fill time on the never-ending hours of Sports Center. So the point is, don’t let the broadcast production assistants in Bristol re-write ‘history,’ which almost always seems to be benefit the modern-day player.

Baseball Topics and A Padres Overview

Having grown up in Chicago and watched Cubs baseball on WGN TV from an early age (I also was a devotee of “The Garfield Goose Show” starring Frazier Thomas, but that is a story for another day) I’ve been hooked on the game. And, on the Cubs too. That may or may not be a character flaw, but let’s assume for the sake of this column that it just means I grew up in the Midwest and leave it at that.

So, I watched with amusement and bemusement the torrent of local coverage regarding the recent altercation between Padres pitcher Chris Young and Cubs first baseman Derek Lee. That story was followed shortly thereafter by the trade of Cub catcher Michael Barrett and a lot of cash to the Padres in exchange for catcher Rob Bowen and minor leaguer Kyler Burke.

By all accounts, both Lee and Young are class acts. The 6-5 Lee and the 6-10 Young probably combined to form the tallest pair of combatants seen this side of the NBA. Lee, one of the best hitters in the National League, took umbrage at having a 90 mile an hour fastball thrown at his head. Young either did or did not intentionally aim the pitch at Lee, depending on your team allegiance and affiliation.

The San Diego media immediately rallied to Young’s side in the verbal and print barrage that followed. My guess would be that if any of the media types from our town had a 90 plus mph fastball bearing down on them head-high, that the fur would fly.

Barrett in the past two years had been in three high profile scuffles, two of them with members of his own pitching staff. Good catchers tend to be team leaders, not a divisive force on the bench and in the clubhouse. The Padres will soon discover, if they haven’t already, that Barrett is a below-average defensive catcher, with five errors and eight passed balls for the Cubs in 55 games so far this season. In his first game as a Padre, Barrett was credited with a passed ball and struck out three times in four official at-bats.

Barrett, a right-handed hitter, has occasional power and won the Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive catcher in the National League in 2005. But keep in mind that the Cubs made the trade with their backup catcher Henry Blanco on the injured list. That’s how badly the Cubs wanted Barrett in another location.

Add Padres

In all sincerity, entering the All-Star break first year Padre Manager Bud Black has to be a favorite for Manager of the Year honors. Until recently, the Padres had the best record in the National League and currently carry a record of 42-33. This success on the field comes despite being ranked dead last in the Senior Circuit in team batting average (.245) and in a tie for 27^th out of 30 MLB teams in on-base percentage.

The flip side of the coin is that the Padre pitching has been phenomenal, leading all of Major League Baseball with an earned run average of 3.03 and on-base average with .299. Defensively the Padres are tied for the fifth slot in fielding, so the old baseball maxim of winning with pitching and defense holds true yet again.

To progress deep into the post season, the Padres have to beef up their offense production, presumably through the acquisition of either a power hitting third baseman (How do you like that Josh Barfield for Kevin Kouzmanoff off season deal with the Indians right about now?) or a corner outfielder that can supply a threat in the middle of the batting order.

Black has more than met his managerial expectations to this point in the season. Let’s hope he gets some assistance from the front office and club ownership for the playoff stretch drive. As good as Black appears to be at his job, he doesn’t have the talent depth to win it all at this point.

July 4 Recreational Activity Reminder

Another jog to the memory (no pun intended) that the Independence Day 15 K Run and 5 K Run/Walk is rapidly approaching. To review, the races start at Tidelands Park at 7 am. Event proceeds benefit the Islander Sports Foundation as well as Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School sports.

The fee to enter the race now is $30 and day-of-event registration is $35. Entry fees include a colorful commemorative t-shirt for all participants. Both races feature a flat and fast course. To register for the event, please go to www.kathyloperevents.com or call 619-298-7400 for additional information.

However, if swimming, not running is your thing, you might consider attending The 49^th Annual Coronado Rough Water Swim, which will be held at Central Beach, with the course laid out northwest of the main lifeguard tower.

If you are a particularly adept runner and able to complete either course in time, you could perhaps compete in both events, but that might be stretching the point a bit.

The first swimming event is for youngsters and is the 250-yard swim at 8:30 am, followed by a 400-yard swim for 12 and under swimmers which begins at 8:45 am. The mile swims for various age categories begin at 9 am, with the Open Swim slated for 9:30 am.

This year’s event is being conducted by the Coronado Navy Swim Association. They can be reached at ocean92118@yahoo.com. The entry fees range from $20 to $40 depending on when you register and the event in which you are entered. Registration for the Rough Water Swim is being handled by active.com.