Wait Until Next Year

The longer your team plays into the postseason and advances in its port, the harder it is to accept when it finally loses. So I felt the pain a bit sharper when the Dodgers dropped the National League Championship Series to the Phillies on Wednesday, missing out on a trip to the World Series. Actually, the hurt really set in on Monday, when Jonathan Broxton blew the save and Philadelphia took a commanding three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series before clinching the title in the fifth game.

Longtime Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo (who was the team photographer when I worked for the ballclub many years ago) posted several shots on his Facebook page shortly after the game. This one says it all.

I suppose if the Dodgers had beaten the Phillies and then lost in the World Series, then it would have been even harder to stomach. But I’ll take the heartache at the end any day over the season-long torture of being a Giants or Padres fan.

I still hold out hope for the Angels – my second-favorite team – to give it their best shot, but it sure looks like a Yankees-Phillies World Series. If that's the case, I’ll still watch, because I love baseball. But I’m not really as interested. This World Series is the post-game show.

As Dodger fans have said for decades after so many seasons have come to a heartbreaking conclusion, dating back to the 1940s and ‘50s in Brooklyn, “Wait ‘til next year.”...

While we wait, there’s good reason to think a bit more about football. The prospects of an NFL team returning to our area figure to take a huge step forward today. Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the environmental impact exemption, which clears the stadium project from its current legal battles and will allow developer Ed Roski and partners to start to move forward with the stadium project in the City of Industry.

The next major step will come immediately after the season, when Roski is able to court NFL teams to move to the new Los Angeles Football Stadium. I wouldn’t be surprised if a verbal deal is already in place. I’m open to just about any organization moving to Los Angeles, except the Raiders, who should stay in Oakland where they belong. They are an undeniable dysfunctional organization, and would only put a black eye on a great new start for professional football in Southern California…

The CIF is scheduled to approve re-leaguing proposals today, and the most likely scenarios move Claremont High from the Baseline League to the Sierra League, beginning in 2010-2011. The move is supposed to provide relief—especially in the major sports of football and basketball—but the Wolfpack will have its hands full against the likes of Charter Oak, Chino Hills, Ayala and Damien/St. Lucy's high schools, and probably South Hills (or it could be Glendora). This doesn’t look like the relief Claremont wanted… stay tuned...

I’m not ready to say I jumped the gun on my predictions of Richard Brehaut taking over as the UCLA quarterback. He hasn’t emerged as the starter, but he has looked pretty good in his brief time on the field. His body language shows the confidence that the Bruins need in their quarterback, and his mechanics look to be far superior to those of Kevin Prince and Kevin Craft. As soon as Richard gets a better feel for the offense, including the way he judges his offensive line protection, he’ll be in the lineup for keeps…

In the 26 previous years of our fantasy football league, I’ve always managed to put together a pretty competitive team, and I’ve even finished first a number of times, including last year. Well, not this year… The season is six weeks old and I’m already looking ahead to next year. It’s just one of those (really bad) seasons…

Finally, this blog isn’t just about sports. I learned recently that the annual Victoria’s Secret college vote is well underway, with the winning school being added to the campus collection of logo merchandise (yes, they have a campus collection). Looks like Claremont is well represented, as Harvey Mudd College has an insurmountable lead. And Scripps College is in third... Start ordering that lingerie with the Claremont mark soon…

Odds and Ends - October

This weekend marks the fourth game of the season for the UCLA football team as it travels to Stanford. It will likely put to rest my earlier prediction that Richard Brehaut would be the Bruins’ starting quarterback by the fourth game. I’m not giving up hope that he will be the quarterback by the weekend – just not in the starting role. Unfortunately, unless Coach Rick Neuheisel decides to have Richard split duty with senior Kevin Craft, then the only way Richard takes over the job is if Craft is injured or has a terrible game. Neither seems like a good outcome for Bruin fans. Let’s just hope the coaching staff wants to see their true freshman QB in a game situation and that he has the opportunity to shine…

Son Sid and a group – including Karli Moore – are headed to Palo Alto for the game and to hang out with Megan Moore and friends, who are also going to the game. And I understand UCLA freshman Lauren Seligman is headed north for the game and weekend activities, too. Ahh, I loved college road trips. Hope it’s a great time…

Along with the UCLA-Stanford game, this should be a great college football weekend, with USC taking on Cal on the road at Berkeley. SC freshman Kristen DesCombes is driving up with friends for that game, while Cal alumnus Gordon, along with Sus and Jack, will be at the Homecoming game for the Bears… I love college football season and look forward to being at the Rose Bowl the next two weeks for Bruin games against Oregon (Oct. 10) and Cal (Oct. 17)…

Friday nights are alive with plenty of high school football. Claremont, which won only two games over the previous two years, is already 2-1 and is hoping for two more wins before starting Baseline League play on Oct. 16. The Wolfpack’s Oct. 9 Homecoming game is against Chino High, which is coached by Claremont High graduate Greg Setlich (although he and his family are legendary in Chino)…

Son Sam is having a blast as part of the CHS ASB group organizing a lot of the Homecoming activities. Today he donned his sports coat to introduce the court at the Homecoming rally on campus. Doesn’t seem that long ago that I was doing that stuff…

Hopefully the baseball season will still be going for a few more weeks for the Dodgers, who have sputtered down the stretch against inferior teams. Even though they’re guaranteed a spot in postseason play, it would be awfully embarrassing to lose such a huge Western Division lead and finish second in the division to Colorado, who they have owned throughout 2009 entering the regular season’s final weekend. More importantly, it would be a discouraging way to enter the playoffs, where the teams that seem to have the most success just happen to get hot at the right time. The Dodgers were very hot just over a week ago, but right now they can’t hit the ball…

Can’t say I am terribly surprised that the 2016 Olympics have been awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After all, this will be the first Olympic Games ever held on the South American continent. I was surprised, however, that Chicago was the first of the four final cities to be eliminated from consideration. When the voting reached its final round, Rio received more than twice the votes as runner-up Madrid. Maybe the USOC will finally put Los Angeles back into the running for 2020...

Happy birthday Len…

Enjoyed celebrating Jim and Andi's "100th" birthday last week as they both hit 50 (actually, Andi's birthday is today!). Judy Devens Seligman joined the club a couple days ago, as did Danny Brehaut. Cheers to all of you half-century-old New Year's Eve babies...

This is also the final weekend of the Los Angeles County Fair, which concludes Sunday, Oct. 4. I get the impression that the experiment of extending to five weekends is getting mixed reviews, but it’s really tough to give a fair evaluation in this economy. Hopefully those people making the hard decisions will consider the event a success, despite the tremendous challenges this year…

I enjoyed my visits to the Fair again this year, not only doing the house announcements before the End of Summer Concert Series shows, but as a participant in Upland Day (including a ride in the parade) and also watching Jack Harper honored as a community hero at Claremont Day. Upland High's band is among three finalists to win a spot marching in the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade. Those are the kinds of activities that really get local people involved and make the Fair special. Another high point was the annual Child Development Center auction, which is still going strong after its inception in 1992, when I was part of that first organizing committee (and still working for the Dodgers at the time). A year after that I was back working at Fairplex and putting together slide shows for the CDC auction…

Very sad news came from the Fair over the past couple of days. Our prayers are focused on Wendy Talarico and her family right now. Wendy, who replaced me when I left Fairplex in 2000 and has been the public relations manager there ever since, gave birth to a healthy son just a little over a week ago. But shortly afterwards, it was discovered Wendy has a unique heart condition and suffered what was reported to be a heart attack. She’s currently in critical condition, battling with all she has as she awaits a heart transplant. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

End of the Season

Odds and ends as we enjoy one last weekend at the beach as the summer comes to an end. It’s nice that the Southern California coastline is less than an hour from home, but a world away (and 20 degrees cooler). It makes for a great escape. Along with our annual week at Newport, we’ve been very fortunate to have generous friends who allow us to stay at their incredible place on Balboa Island, As always, thanks so much...

And an even bigger thanks to the DesCombes for including Sam on their trip to Kona. Sam and Jack have spent the week entertaining each other endlessly while Jack’s oldest sister Lauren is interning in New York City and sister Kristen is rushing sororities in her first week as a freshman at USC. I look forward to hearing the stories from Hawaii, especially to know if the boys ever worked up the nerve to actually talk with Leighton Meester, the Gossip Girl actress who was sunning at the pool while vacationing at the same resort…

The diminished crowds at the beach are a good indication that summer is winding down (although you wouldn't know by the temperatures). There were still a lot of people out on the sand, but the boardwalk was considerably lighter than it was just three weeks ago. Looks like people were at Newport to get away from the sizzling temperatures hitting Southern California this week, and not so much for the weekly rentals. It appears that season is just about over…

Of course, there are plenty more signs that fall is upon us. Labor Day is just ahead and schools will all be back in session. In fact, some have already begun, which I still think is a little early. August and September are historically the hottest months of the year in Southern California, and you’d think the schools would want to stretch summer in to September. The old traditional schedules make a lot more sense to me, and I’m glad the Claremont school district hasn’t buckled to those who’d rather start earlier. It’s August and it’s summer. Let it stay that way…

Sam will take a day to rest after his return from Hawaii before jumping back in the pool for water polo two-a-days, and then the start of school Sept. 9. Meanwhile, Sid kicks off the fall semester at Cal State San Marcos on Monday, although he’s also taking a class at Palomar College that started last week. Given how hard it is to get classes at universities because of cutbacks from the state budget shortage, it’s become necessary for students to try to pick up a few general education classes at the local community college, too.

Hope Sid and his friends are doing better following the recent tragic death of one of their fraternity brothers. Their benefit carwash last weekend drummed up more than $2,000, and the memorial service was scheduled for Saturday.

With Labor Day comes our annual fantasy football draft Sunday evening at the Robinson draft headquarters. This will be the 27^th year of the Iggy Biggie Football League. We were doing this a long time before it got popular. The majority of our owners have been here since the early years, including several of us who were among the charter group that held our first draft in 1983 at the Kinsey home in Claremont. The picture above is from 1985 at Dave's old place on Baseline, with our fancy draft board. Our draft has changed a lot since then, but it’s still one of the most fun events of the year. Draft night is the best, because it pretty much determines how each of us will watch NFL football over the next four months. I guess I ought to do a little research soon if I want to defend my championship…

Labor Day weekend represents a couple more milestone events this year, too. For the first time ever, dating back to 1922, the Los Angeles County Fair will open on Labor Day weekend. With hopes of taking advantage of people looking for something to do over the holiday weekend, the Fair opens on Saturday, Sept. 5, and will be open through Labor Day before resuming its normal Wednesday through Sunday schedule all the way through Oct. 4. That’s five weekends – and 23 total days of the Fair. Way back when I worked there, we had several years when the Fair was 24 straight days. Those were tough. These days, I'm there to do the house announcements at the grandstand before the concerts, but I'll miss a few of those this year for other special events, including football games, Beth's class reunion and nephew Jeff Bosson's wedding to Jackie Linton...

With the Saturday opening, the Fair’s annual premiere party will be on Friday, Sept. 4. This is a great fundraiser for their Education Foundation, complete with a lot of good food and tons of award-winning wines (and beer). Even at $125 a pop, it is well attended and worthwhile.

Throughout the Fair, local communities have their own special day. Claremont Day is Sept. 24, and Upland Day is Sept. 30. There are community celebrations for most of the nearby cities as well. As part of the celebration, each city honors a community hero, and one of those in the spotlight from Claremont this year will be longtime friend Jack Harper (see this story). He’s a deserving recipient, considering all he’s done as a teacher, administrator and coach at Claremont High, as well as his skill as a team owner in the Iggy Biggie Football League…

Among Jack’s many jobs at CHS is as the defensive coordinator for the Wolfpack football team. CHS kicks off its season with a scrimmage against Capistrano Valley on Sept. 4 and then the official season opener on Friday, Sept. 11. The non-league highlight of the season comes on Friday, Oct. 9, when Claremont hosts Chino High and great friend and coach Greg Setlich, a 1977 Claremont High grad who grew up in Chino and has been a fixture in that community for most of his life...

Upland High opens against A.B. Miller on Sept. 4. Word on the street is that a new quarterback transferred to Upland during the past few weeks and will challenge for the starting job. I haven’t had confirmation from anybody with the program, so I don't have details and I am not sure who it is. But the guy who told me is reliable. Sounds like a situation straight from the “Friday Night Lights” television series (by the way, the best show on TV)… I know a number of the kids playing for Upland (and Claremont, too) this year and wish them all well. You can be sure to find me at a prep football game every Friday night over the next few months, and I'll post a few observations along the way…

Another former Claremont High 1977 graduate looking forward to Labor Day weekend is Danny Brehaut, whose son Richard will officially put on the powder blue and gold uniform for the UCLA Bruins when they host San Diego State on Sept. 5. Right now, Richard is penciled in as the No. 2 quarterback behind Kevin Prince. I’ve had the chance to see a couple of Bruins’ scrimmages, and it’s hard to give a true evaluation of Richard’s progress. When he’s been in there, he’s looked pretty good. My take is that coach Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow would prefer for Prince to succeed so that Richard can red-shirt and take more time adjusting to college and gaining a better command of the playbook and the speed of Pac-10 football. But the times I’ve seen him, Prince has not looked good, and that seems to be the consensus among those watching practice every day. Last year, when Kevin Craft bombed, UCLA had nowhere else to turn for relief, since Craft was already the third-string QB. This year, if Prince gets hurt or is ineffective, the coaching staff has options. I still think they’d rather preserve Richard’s red-shirt year, but I get the feeling Craft hasn’t exactly been knocking anybody’s socks off in practice. So Richard may get his shot as a true freshman after all, although not with the fanfare of Matt Barkley over at USC. If not this year, then I don’t think it will be long (although I stand by my prediction that he’ll be starting by the fourth game this season)...

I look forward to spending Saturdays at the Rose Bowl during the fall watching the Bruins. Those season tickets were an exceptional 50^th birthday present from my wife. Thanks Beth. And I look forward to spending time with my dear longtime friends the Moores (yep, more CHS ’77 grads) at the UCLA tailgate parties and games. And despite what I’m sure will be Jim’s protests, I’ll try to visit the Coliseum for USC games on some of those other Saturdays when UCLA is on the road…

Speaking of college football, did you ever notice how when local kids go away to play at a university outside of Southern California, you rarely ever hear about them unless you make an effort to follow them or they otherwise establish themselves among the nation’s elite? They probably gain notoriety in their new locations, but not at home. Most seem lost to the Southern California hometown media...

The start of September also means the final month of Major League Baseball’s regular season. I still remember when I worked for the Dodgers, and they trailed the Braves by a game in the 1991 NL West standings. Both teams were spectacular in September -- each winning more than 20 games during the month and tied for first entering the season’s final weekend. The Dodgers closed the season by losing two of three games at Candlestick Park and finished a game behind Atlanta—the first of many consecutive division championships for the Braves. Naturally, it was heartbreaking for us Dodger fans (and employees). I just hope that they don’t leave us frustrated this year, after a largely successful season. There are too many signs that they could crash early. The pitching has actually held together better than expected, despite not having a staff ace (although the starters have struggled lately, except for Randy Wolf, who has been great). What is especially frustrating is that the Dodgers don’t hit with runners on base. James Loney, Russell Martin and Rafael Furcal have been awful offensively, although their numbers don’t look that bad. Even the team batting numbers are respectable, but that’s because they pad their stats with big 11-4 wins, and then come back and barely win, 3-2 in 12 innings the next day. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp have carried the offense, but Manny hasn’t been Manny, and lately he’s shown considerable ineptitude in the outfield. He’s not the Hall of Fame hitter that he was last year and before he was caught cheating this season. The Dodgers have played better with Juan Pierre in the lineup, but it’s hard to bench Manny or any of their other outfielders. Los Angeles has a favorable schedule over the final month, but they have to play a lot better baseball all the way around if they want to keep playing in October.

Hope you had a chance to watch the Visitors video in the previous post.

I’m ready for some football… but first let me enjoy this one more summer weekend at the beach.

Support CHS Baseball: Buy Dodger Tickets

Claremont High families and friends have the opportunity to save on the purchase of tickets to several select Los Angeles Dodgers games and also support the CHS baseball program.

Through a program called Ticket Booster, you can buy tickets to Dodger games on Aug. 19, Aug. 23 or Sept. 19, and save any shipping or handling costs that typically come with ordering tickets.

In addition, a portion of each ticket purchased will be returned to the Claremont High baseball program.

Prices quoted below are face value, except the field box, which is actually less than face value.

Simply provide the information requested on the order form posted on the Claremont High Baseball Web site and e-mail it to ian@ticketbooster.org. Ian at Ticket Booster will coordinate the receipt of your check.

Details can be found at the CHS Baseball Web site.

Looking into the Crystal Ball

A big part of being a sports fan is the intrigue and mystery that surrounds the news that takes place off the field. No, not reports about steroid use and felonious activities, but the gossip of front office rumors that keep us all guessing.

This is the stuff us sports fans love. It’s our chance to play general manager and propose our own trades and free agent acquisitions. And it’s why fantasy sports are so huge and why people care about watching the NFL and NBA drafts on television.

With baseball’s non-waiver trading deadline upon us next week, the NBA still in its free agent signing period, and NFL teams soon headed to camp, the rumor mill is burning. Sports talk radio is full of the latest hearsay, and Sports Center and Baseball Tonight are focused on the latest trade buzz. Media “experts” are doing their best to scoop their colleagues about the next big player move. Most of the major media conglomerates like ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports have sections on their Web sites dedicated to rumors of the day. My favorite is MLB Trade Rumors, a site that is updated regularly every day with the quick-hitting speculation about player transactions. I read somewhere that some players have learned they were traded by reading this site.

A couple of major deals have already taken place, so I better jump get my predictions in now. Here's a look into my crystal ball for some useless predictions, based only on hunches. No reason for this, except to show my brilliance if any of these actually come true. And if they don't, well nobody cares anyway. This is the only way I can play G.M. until our fantasy football draft, but that’s more than a month away. Here goes…

• The Dodgers will land a starting pitcher and probably a reliever. They could use both, but they shouldn’t give up any of their current key roster parts to get either. Remember, the team is comfortably in first place and already likely headed to the playoffs, barring a late-season collapse. But post-season baseball is all about pitching, and it’s important to be able to send a reliable ace to the mound. Chad Billingsley had a great first half of the season, but he doesn’t yet stack up with other No. 1 starters. Clayton Kershaw is the hottest pitcher in baseball right now, and someday may be among the elite. But I’d rather have an experienced veteran starting the first game of the playoffs. But, if L.A. can’t pick up a legitimate top starter, then these guys are not bad fallbacks…

• Despite all the experts thinking he’ll be dealt to the Phillies, Toronto’s Roy Halladay will be traded to the Dodgers – or he won’t be traded at all. I get the impression Ned Colletti will go hard after the best pitcher in baseball, offering prospects and maybe a current major leaguer. It would be a huge mistake to deal Kershaw, and I doubt he’ll be included. I just have this feeling he’ll pull this off – like he did in acquiring Manny Ramirez last year…

• If Toronto declines, then the Dodgers will focus on Cliff Lee of the Indians. It appears that an offer of prospects would get the deal done for the American League Cy Young winner. He definitely wouldn’t be a bad guy to have, either…

• After that, I don’t think there are many other No. 1 pitchers on the market. Most of the other guys that would be logical targets are on teams still in contention (Roy Oswalt, Justin Verlander) or injured (Jake Peavy). If that’s the case, then the Dodgers will likely pursue a back-of-the-order guy, like, Bronson Arroyo or, ehmmm, Brad Penny (okay, maybe not him)…

• I have limited guesses on the reliever. There are many available, and so it will probably be a matter of cost. My guess is that they’d try to get a guy who hasn’t been overworked this year, since most of the Dodger bullpen is already getting up there in innings pitched. Maybe George Sherrill of the Orioles or one of the Cincinnati relievers, like Francisco Cordero (although the Reds claim to be buyers and not sellers, even though they may be the worst team that I watched play against the Dodgers this year, along with the Mets)...
  

• The Angels won’t make a move, except for maybe a middle-reliever…

• Lamar Odom will finally come to his senses and sign with the Lakers. Ever notice that he has his moments when he seems to forget his surroundings – like those times he doesn’t pay attention to the clock or just disappears at some games. This is one of those cases. He’ll be back. Why wouldn’t he?...

• Allen Iverson won't be a Clipper...

• The Los Angeles Football Stadium proposal in the City of Industry will clear its final hurdle before the end of the year, and the Roski Group will soon start courting NFL teams. My guess -- the Chargers and the Jaguars will both be playing in Los Angeles within a few years (yep, two teams)…

• And by the fourth game of the year, true freshman Richard Brehaut takes over as quarterback of the UCLA Bruins.

Now that I’ve put those out there, I’ll take credit if any of these come true.