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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
9 July 2008 Issue No. 27
When millions of buffalo
roamed the American Midwest, Your Natterer attended and thankfully graduated
from Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas. A three-year
public high school, my graduating class had 800 students. Our school colors
were Columbia blue, black and white and we all had school pride. Gooo Lancers!
The football team was good,
the basketball team wasn’t and our pep band had trouble hitting the high notes
on the National Anthem. This brief moment of silence is brought to you by the
Lancer Basketball Pep Band.
Our boys tennis and boys
swimming teams were state champions. This being 1969, there were no girls teams
in those sports, an oversight later corrected.
Years later, I was still
meeting fellow graduating class members for the first time. The strangest story
involved meeting a female high school classmate for the first time, who was
teaching one of our kids in an elementary school while the family was living in
Florida.
Our high school competed in
the Sunflower League (Yes, Dorothy we were in Kansas) and we were in Division
AAAAA, which was where the largest high schools in our area competed in all
sports. If a new school was built, we made room for them in the same league.
Except for an occasional newly-constructed school, the leagues didn’t change
and our big rival was, you guessed it, Shawnee Mission West. We weren’t long on
originality in the Northeastern corner of the state as the Sunflower League
also counted Shawnee Mission North, Shawnee Mission South and later Shawnee
Mission Northwest among the conference membership.
Seventeen years ago, the Natter
Family moved to Coronado and on a whim, I decided one fall evening to go
see the Islander football team play at Cutler Field. Since my Lancers dressed
80 athletes for our home football games, which were played at the 10,000-seat
school district stadium, when the Islanders took the field I thought the
special teams squad had come out to limber up. In fact, that was the whole
Coronado team was arrayed before me.
Somewhat ironically as a
sports columnist now entering my 11th CHS sports season, the leagues
in which the Islander football and boys and girls basketball programs compete
are changing yet again. The football conference, which is still the Central
League, now includes Clairemont (Division III with 1,458 students); Madison
(Division III, enrollment 1,446); Kearny (Division III, 1858); Morse
(Division I, 2622); Crawford (Division III, 1,700); and San Diego (Division I
with 2,964 students). Compare those enrollments with Coronado, which for
football is in Division IV and for the 2007-08 school year had 1,096 students.
Is it just me, or are some of
those enrollment numbers significantly larger than others?
So I lobbed a phone call to
Islander Head Football Coach Bud Mayfield to get his thoughts on the
concept of re-leaguing, which in football will last for at least two seasons.
“We’re used to it because all the time in the old Harbor League or the Central
League now, people were coming and going. Part of this change was because
University City wanted to move to the Western League, even though they didn’t
do well in the Central League. Other teams were willing to swap, including
Morse, which has a great football legacy. This year they are our Homecoming
game, which will be unique. Now they are begging to get into the Central
League. San Diego has been in and out of the Central League. Everybody seems to
think this is fair.”
On the basketball side, the
Central League will expand by one school and now features seven teams including
Christian (Division IV, 426 students); Clairemont, Crawford, Kearny, Madison
and Point Loma (Division II, 2086 students). Before you start feeling sorry for
Christian and their comparatively small enrollment, consider the arrival of
6-foot, 8-inch Vander Joaquim, who is a member of the Angolan National
Basketball Team to the El Cajon campus last fall. Joaquim, who averaged 20.8
points per game last season for the Patriots as a junior, isn’t the first
international transfer to find a hardcourt home at Christian and you can bet he
probably won’t be the last.
“I guess it’s going to be good
for the league,” said Islander Head Boys Basketball Coach Ken Caesar regarding
the re-leaguing issue which applies to both the boys and girls teams. “Adding
another team will be a little different. We don’t know too much about the new
teams. It will help make scheduling easier because we don’t have to find those
extra games. We’ll get two more games in the league.”
Playing against bigger schools
can be a double-edged sword, according to Caesar. “You can look at it as
hurting you because they’re larger schools with potentially more players, but
it will help if you can beat those teams, when the playoff seeds are
determined. At the end of the year, if you have knocked off a Division II team
with that many students, it helps you.”
CIF Division II defending
champion Hoover is moving along to the Eastern League in basketball, which in
theory opens a slot atop the Central League standings. Of the new Central
League members, Coronado, Christian Kearny and Madison made the playoffs in
their respective divisions in 2007-08, while Clairemont, Crawford and Point
Loma did not.
To summarize what we have
learned thus far, Sunflower League enrollment equals ‘simple’ while the Central
League realignment redefines ‘confusing’ and ‘constantly changing.’
Islanders Doing
Well in Summer Football Passing League Competitions
While on the line with Coach
Mayfield, it seemed to be a propitious moment to talk about the Islanders
progress in their passing league games this summer. For the uninitiated,
passing league games consist of receivers, running backs and quarterbacks, but
no linemen are involved. The big guys often attend to lend moral support, but
don’t play.
“We’re looking good, but not
great,” said Mayfield of his team’s summer progress. “We’re looking forward to the
tournament at Southwestern College this Friday and Saturday. Sometimes passing
league is only instructional, but in the tournament we will be actually
competing. Hopefully the tournament will get us going. We’re a skill team, so
this is the kind of event where we should do well. There will be 20 teams or so
in the tournament and the Southwestern coaches are the game officials. It goes
for two days and it’s a recruiting opportunity for Southwestern and helps us
too.”
Last year the Islanders
competed in the Southwestern Tournament and according to Mayfield the team did
well. “We played in the championship game of the tournament a year ago and made
the championship game. We lost to Eastlake on the last play of the game. I’m
looking for that (level of intensity) again this year.”
Mayfield noted the fine play
of tight end Blake Malkemus this summer. “Blake looks very good, but we
expected that. He’s not a traditional tight end, because we split him out a
lot. Running back Christian Page has improved enormously. We were
worried about his receiving ability, but he is catching everything thrown to
him. Keith Englehart plays the slot in passing league and is doing well.
Englehart and Page are getting a lot of catches and doing well.”
Doing the throwing is Mason
Mills, who enters his senior season with more games started at the pivotal
quarterback position than anyone since Mayfield has been at the helm of the
Coronado program. “Mason has the most experience, the most reps and the most
coaching of anyone we’ve had. We’re expecting a lot and we’re holding the bar
high for him. He has come a long way. We will have a small offensive line this
year. We will throw the ball a little more than run it and the burden rests on
him. Mason is capable and has really good receivers around him.”
In the Southwestern Tournament
this weekend, as in all passing league games, the running backs and receivers
double as defensive backs and linebackers. The five or six games Coronado plays
over the weekend will present both a physical and mental challenge to the team.
“Almost all of the kids are
playing both ways,” said Mayfield of his squad. “We’ll bring some substitutes
and still try to win. We’ll see what we can do to manage the situation. This is
the shortest summer for us ever. After the tournament, there is a dead period
(no coaching contacts with players) for the last two weeks of July.”
CHS Summer
Boys Basketball Racks Up Tourney Title
Sunday members of the Freshman
and JV boys basketball squads from Coronado High School won their division of
the ‘War on the Floor’ Tournament played at West Hills High School. The
Islander squad posted a perfect 5-0 record against teams from all over San
Diego.
Players participating
included: Chris Maskevich, Billy Schmitt, Danny Hebert, Chris Banks, Josh
McNeal, Brian Allen, Chris Allen, Jake Nicholson, Brian Beverly, Joe Rodgers,
Brian Turley, and Collin Green. Hebert was named Tournament MVP,
averaging nine points and seven assists per game.
Informal
Cross Country Practices Starting Soon
Evidence that the school years
run together seamlessly is that fact that the CHS Cross Country Teams
are starting informal workouts now that the July 4th holiday has
passed. Both the Islander Boys and Girls squads are defending Central League
champions.
To keep things fresh and
interesting, the runners meet at various spots and times throughout Coronado
during the summer, according to Head Coach George Green. “Sometimes
we’ll meet a Spreckles Park and sometimes it’s at Tidelands. Other times we go
to the beach. Often, we’ll car pool to San Diego for some hill training.”
If running is your thing,
Coach Green is your man. Visit the team’s website at islandertrack.com for
information on the time and site of this week’s workout. While you’re on the
website, check out the more than 2,000 pictures taken of last year’s
championship CHS teams.
July 4th
15K Run and 5K Run/Walk a Success
Preliminary race numbers are
in for the 2008 July 4th Race, sponsored in part by the San Diego
Unified Port District. Enrollment was just short of 2,500 runners between
the 15K Run and the 5K Run/Walk, which is roughly 500 participants more than
last year.
In excess of 200 volunteers
turned out to help conduct the race, with CHS athletes and their parents
serving as course marshals, finish line workers, water station monitors,
timers, T-shirt distributors, fruit cutters and ultimately Tidelands Park
cleaner-uppers. The race is the largest annual fundraiser for the Islander
Sports Foundation and the member teams.
CHS Sailing
Team Earns an Axey Mention
In the 2008 Axey Awards
column (this is a little like referring to yourself in the third person) the
success of the CHS Sailing Team richly deserved a mention for finishing
fourth place in the nation in the Mallory Cup, the Super Bowl of
interscholastic sailing. In my defense, sailing literally covers all seasons
and is difficult to place into a neat category, but their collective
achievement should have been noted.
Team members who competed in
the Mallory Cup competition included: Pike Harris, Cragan Smith, Brian
Smith, Ryan Sullivan, Hans Henken and Karisa Chapa.
Wimbledon
Tennis Men’s Finals A Great Sports Event
Most greatly anticipated
sporting events don’t live up to the hype, but this past weekend the Rafael
Nadal vs. Roger Federer five-set singles final at the All England
Tennis Club was an exception to that rule. Nadal held on to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7,
6-7, and 9-7. The 62-game total represented the most games played in a
championship final in tennis’ Open Era.
For me the fourth set
tie-breaker was the height of the high-level match, with both players hitting
amazing shots with the tournament title on the line. Federer, who is generally
acclaimed to have the best return of serve in the game, was able to break
Nadal’s serve only once in the contest.
The telecast of the match
required some perseverance on the viewer’s part as well. Starting 40 minutes
late due to a rain delay, the match itself was then interrupted twice by rain.
The championship final spanned nearly 7 and a half hours of viewing time from
beginning to end. In my book and the book of several former players, columnists
and commentators, the long suspenseful match was well-worth watching and
perhaps the sport’s best ever, especially considering the stakes involved.