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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
29 Aug 2007 Issue #33
Logistically the toughest short-term challenge in the new
2007-08
Admittedly that’s not too tough a tour of duty as people (including Your Natterer) actually pay to use the facility, but when trying
to coach a sports team, different is not necessarily better. In their first
return workout to the Blumenthal Sports Complex Monday, the team spent 20
minutes finding the built-in floor stanchions that support the volleyball net
poles.
In addition to that good news, Lahr returns five players from last year’s
squad, including senior outside hitter and All-Eastern League First Teamer Christy Mebust. The
squad’s other senior returner is Kelsey Fitzgerald,
who due to an injury to her right shoulder, spend most of last season hitting
kill shots with her left hand. “Kelsey is returning to the middle position at
about 100 percent,” Lahr said. “She’s returned to her right hand and is at full
strength.”
Other returners include Kelsey’s younger sister
sophomore Kori Fitzgerald, and juniors Maddie Boomer and Rachel Ricker.
The squad carries 11 members at the varsity level, including incoming freshman Shelby
Couture, a product of the CMS sports program and club volleyball. “She
earned her spot on the varsity,” said Lahr of Couture. “Her power and
volleyball sense on the court have improved and I’m looking forward to
developing her talent at the varsity level.”
Lahr plans to run a 6-2 offense, which provides for two setters to share the all-important
responsibility of moving the ball into the attacking zone for the Islanders.
“Sophomore Krista Baszak and junior Melissa
Humphrey will be our new setters this year,” Lahr said. “Between the two we
will have the leadership and the technical setting technique down. I’m looking
forward to having them push each other for the position and to have them teach
each other also. One is a much more aggressive leader and the other is a more
technically proficient setter. Between the two, it will be very good for the
team.”
The girls volleyball program has experienced a huge
surge in popularity of late, with 55 players competing for 11 varsity spots and
14 each on the JV and Frosh/Soph squads. “For the
first time this year we had freshman cuts, which was difficult,” said Lahr. We
had 27 freshmen try out for the teams.”
“I think we will have a really strong team,” Lahr enthused. “We have a lot of
potential and more on-court varsity and club playing experience than last year,
which makes me feel good. We look like a well-rounded team and I’m pretty
excited.
Boys Water Polo Wins Scrimmage Against RBV
In the least-surprising result of the new CHS sports
season, the Islander Boys Water Polo Team defeated
CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess saw his club get off to a relatively slow
start, but they picked up the pace as the game progressed. “We had positive
moments and moments when the coach had to rub his chin and ponder what was going on. For the most part we have a solid group of
kids who need to learn to play together a little more. That’s typical of any
team in any sport at this point in the season.”
Last year as a sophomore, Jackson Hummeldorf
made the difficult transition from field player to goalie, when incumbent net
minder Kyle Pokorny became ill. With the new
season at hand and Pokorny now joined by junior
transfer Justin Parsons in goal, Hummeldorf is
headed back to his original slot. “Due to the situation with our goalies,
Burgess allowed his team to ease into the first week of the season, with ‘ease’
being a relative term. “We didn’t do a Hell Week,” Burgess said. “I thought our
conditioning was pretty good. We were rusty in our anticipation and we didn’t
excel in that area. And we were a little slow in our transition both ways, from
defense to offense and offense to defense. The best part was that they got a
game under their belt. It gave me a chance to evaluate the kids. I’m happy with
where I thought we would be. It gave me a lot of material to plan this week’s
training. All 15 kids played and everyone got a good look.”
The team has scrimmages left at
CHS Football Team Has Successful Pre-Season Outing at San Diego H.S.
Despite opining that ‘You don’t win scrimmages,” Islander
Football Head Coach Bud Mayfield was pleased that the Good Guys wearing
green scored three times and the Cavers from San Diego High School managed to
dent the scoreboard only once, when the two teams played Saturday night at
Balboa Stadium.
“We scored twice on offense and once on a Curtis Perkins pass
interception return,” Mayfield reported. “Defensively we looked very strong.
Offensively, on our opening drive we went 70 yards on 11 plays without a
penalty or a mistake. That was nice to see on the opening drive of the season.
We didn’t throw a pass on the drive. A scrimmage is about contact and
consistency.
The 2007 version of the Islanders will feature the one-two running punch of
tailbacks Ricardo Oberwager and Kyle
Brown, who were named Co-Captains by their teammates at the recent
conclusion of Hell Week. “It’s unusual to have two running backs as captains,”
said Mayfield. “They are very similar backs and they are interchangeable.
That’s how we played them. Kyle threw an incredible block for Ricardo in the
game, which isn’t something you expect from a fast running back.”
Quarterback Mason Mills, who started the last five games of the 2006
campaign returns as the team’s signal caller.
“The offensive line was okay,” Mayfield said. “The whole team has a ways to go.
The kids played hard and they did well under the circumstances for a game this
early. When the kids play hard, we can always instruct and correct.
Now it’s off to
Add in snorkeling, trips to the Pearl Harbor Memorial and the “USS Arizona,” a
tour of the “USS Missouri,” football practices, and outrigger canoeing and you
have a full five-day adventure. “We have a full schedule and we’ll have a lot
of fun there,” Mayfield said. “This will be the first game Kapa’a
plays in their new stadium and I’m sure they will be excited.”
Following the trip,
“Padres Essential” Book Review
It’s a rare occasion that Your Natterer
receives a free book to review, but such was the case recently when “Padres
Essential” (Triumph Books, 229 pages, $19.95) by
“Padres Essential” provides an honest review of the franchise’s tough moments,
including the early struggles fielding a competitive team and the imminent, but
ultimately unexecuted move of the franchise to
The fun element of the book for baseball fans will be recalling Padre names
from the past including Cito Gaston, Kurt Bevacqua, and Nate Colbert
to name a few. Randy Jones receives his just due as the first Padre to
garner national attention with his Cy Young Award winning season in 1976. That
year Jones completed 25 games, a mark that by current day standards is
unthinkable.
The tome is not without its flaws, however. I read my copy while watching the
Cubs vs. Diamondbacks game over the weekend, which is to say the content while
enjoyable, is pretty light fare. If you like your history presented in a
linear, chronological fashion, then this book isn’t for you. Center hops in and
around the Padres past, while many of the same anecdotes are presented two or
three separate times. Tony Gwynn’s concept of home
videotaping his at-bats, which he credits his wife Alicia for executing, is
mentioned in Gwynn’s foreword and at least two
additional times in the text. If you are a picky reader with a good short-term
memory, this concept of telling and re-telling will drive you to distraction.
In addition, the inside leaf of the cover jacket lists the milestone of
Hoffman’s 300th career save. What about Save No. 400 or Save No. 500
which was achieved earlier this year? Perhaps that missed update can be chalked
up to lazy editing.
Since I’m a relative newcomer to the
Another interesting fact I gleaned from “Padres Essential” was that Graig Nettles, who is one of the most
under-rated third basemen in baseball history in my book, is an alumnus of
Many of the book’s data pages are readily available if you have a decent
computer and know the basic elements of Google
Search. However, Center closes “Padres Essential” with a chapter on Jerry
Coleman, which is worth the purchase price of the book. Most of the Padre
faithful tend to overlook the fact that Coleman was a great player with the
Yankees, as well as a distinguished military hero and not the broadcaster he is
today. Also of interest is Center’s All-Time Padres Roster, which while it
doesn’t contain any surprises, is a nice look back at the franchise’s best
players.
On balance “Padres Essential” is worth the purchase price if you are a die-hard
Padre fan or just a baseball fan. Statistics and history are key elements to
the enjoyment of baseball and Center has supplied a goodly amount of both for
the reader.
Padres Trivia
Q. From “Padres Essential” by