Tim Peterson and some wierd looking hippie dude like the Dodgers
I didn’t know picking La Mirada as the number one team in the Southeast Division would create such a stir. Aren’t we still in August? Isn’t Zero Week still three weeks away? I mean it’s not like we tabbed Lynwood.
Apparently the crime that we committed was not picking West Covina number one. Yes we know the Bulldogs are good. They’ve won back to back championships and still are one of the elite teams in the division. But they lost a huge part of their offense in running backs Chris Solomon and Jimmy Frazier and key defensive players in Justin Meaders and Lonzell Barnett. So we looked at what La Mirada had coming back and there you go.
How hard did we slap West Covina in the face? How much did we disrespect them? How much did we dismiss the Bulldogs as a contender? We placed them number two. Yeah two! Wow I can just see Coach Mike Maggiore’s motivational speech now.
“Did you see what Mid Valley Sports did to us? Did you see where they put us in their poll? NUMBER TWO! YEAH THAT’S RIGHT NUMBER TWO! Now let’s get out there and show them who’s boss! LET’S GO!”
I’m sure he’s losing sleep over where we picked them. But seriously our polls are strictly for entertainment purposes only.
But the one thing that nobody can argue. It’s number one in everybody’s poll. It’s the undisputed king every year. Nobody can touch it and our recent division polls proved it once again. It wins the title every season and just keeps getting better and better. It’s not even close. The sport of football itself. NFL, college and high school- it doesn’t matter. It’s all anybody really cares about.
Heck we could run a pee wee football story next to a high school baseball or basketball story and football would take more hits. It’s just the way it is. Would anybody complain if we changed the name of our site to Mid Valley Football?
I don’t see it coming to that because it would be almost impossible to ignore the other area high school sports but honestly our site hits would increase.
It all starts for keeps on Thursday night August 23 with Bonita hosting San Dimas in the Smudgepot. That game will get the entire spotlight this year. There are really no other area games scheduled for that night so all eyes will be fixed on that one.
The next night features several key games including Arroyo at Los Altos, Baldwin Park at El Monte, Rio Hondo Prep at Arcadia and West Covina against Covina at Covina District Field.
I’m not a big fan of the season starting this early. It’s a disservice to the kids to put them out there in what could be triple digit temperatures. But it’s football so I won’t complain too much.
So who’s going to win? Well that’s the beauty of it. Nobody really knows until they hit the field. In the Mid-Valley Division the Mission Valley League may be as wide open as its ever been. Arroyo is the defending champ but Steven Rivera is now playing quarterback for Whittier College. El Monte has Brandon Martinez and Abel Barajas coming back and has its eyes set on a title. They’re making a lot of noise in South El Monte and there’s always Rosemead’s defense. I’ve even heard people honking for Gabrielino and everybody is talking about Mt. View’s performance at the SGV Shootout.
Can Northview unseat San Dimas in the Valle Vista? Has Covina fallen as far as some have suggested?
I’ve heard Alhambra, San Gabriel, Montebello, Schurr and Bell Gardens all mentioned as favorites in the Almont. Sierra Canyon and Paraclete are the big boys in the Alpha League, which is making its debut in the Mid-Valley. And in the Rio Hondo, anybody can win…well actually no. That one we do know. Nobody will touch Monrovia.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com.
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