2016: Jerry Ralph is Most Traveled Head Coach
Jerry Ralph made history earlier this week when he was announced as the head football coach at El Camino High in Oceanside, becoming the first to lead five different San Diego Section programs. Ralph has compiled a 123-76-2 Â (.614) record in 18 seasons, beginning in 1997 at Santana, followed by stints at St. Augustine, Del […]
Read More2015-16 Week 10: Playoffs Open on Quiet Note
Open Division teams, representing the elite of San Diego Section basketball as determined by the power ratings system, don’t get under way in the  playoffs until Friday (Girls) and Saturday (Boys). Divisions I-V begin play tonight (Girls) and tomorrow (Boys). Several factors go into the power ratings, administered by assistant commissioner John LaBeta, who heard some complaints […]
Read More2015-16 Week 9: Seedings, Playoffs Coming Fast
Assistant commissioner John LaBeta will be up into the early morning hours Saturday and, hopefully after a few hours sleep, at it again when the sun rises. Basketball’s most important weekend is at hand. LaBeta is the ratings maven for the San Diego Section. The regular season ends Friday night and teams will have until […]
Read More1963: Playoff Operations Snafu
Who saw the game and who didn’t commanded almost as much attention as Kearny’s semifinals playoff victory over Escondido. President John F. Kennedy’s death and the resulting week’s postponement generated several more days of pregame coverage by area media outlets and contributed to a building buzz about the game. And some unforeseen problems. The estimated attendance of 17,000 was the largest […]
Read More1963: Death of a President
On Nov. 22, 1963, my address was an apartment at 2742 B Street in the Brooklyn-Golden Hill neighborhood. It was about 9:30  on a Friday morning. I had a free day until covering the Escondido-Kearny playoff that night in Balboa Stadium. I don’t remember if I was watching television or listening to the radio, but within minutes […]
Read More2016: Legendary Coach Ed Sanclemente, 92
Lewis Edward Sanclemente, 92, passed away  recently, leaving behind a multitude of friends and admirers and memories of a lifetime spent in or around baseball. Ed Sanclemente grew up near the University Heights playground, where he shagged baseballs for young slugger Ted Williams and honed a game that would take Sanclemente to national championships on two levels. Sanclemente played for […]
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