“What’s that? Oh, the Mets are back in the playoffs…Awesome, looking forward to crushing Dodger dreams in October.”
By Joe Torosian
“The Earth has a fever.”—Al Gore
Kick it!
Right off the Top: With Carolina opening the NFL season in Denver tonight…Can prep stadium announcers avoid sharing the score of this game?
It’s called a DVR…and most of us have them.
I hammer this point every year, it’s a PSA that needs to be repeated over and over…I despise Thursday night high school football for this one reason.
“We have an update from Dodger Stadium…”
“In the third quarter, Oregon leads USC…”
And the one that really grinds my gears…
“If you’re recording tonight’s playoff game, you might want to cover your ears…” At which point you’ll hear the announcer giggle and then give the score.
Guantanamo is too good for people that commit such crimes.
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Former Cantwell quarterback Matt Valencia will start for the Whittier Poets on Saturday against Whitworth College…Former Arcadia running back Bradley Mills is on the Whitworth roster.
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A feeling…call it a hunch (Ba-dum chi!)…is saying, don’t write off Sam Bradford.
Bradford threw for over 3,700 yards, 19 touchdowns, and had a passer rating of 86.4 while playing for Chip Kelly in Philadelphia. Bradford played entire seasons in 2010 & 2012 and before ripping up his knee seven games into 2013 he’d thrown for 1,600 yards, 14 touchdowns, and a passer rating of 90.9.
He missed all of 2014 and 2015…It is a big mistake to give up on this guy…He’s fragile, but so is Carson Palmer.
The Vikings may have salvaged their season with this deal.
…And some are actually saying (NFL Network) that Shaun Hill is a better fit than Bradford. I’m a Rams fan, I’ve seen Shaun Hill, studied Shaun Hill…Shaun Hill is not Sam Bradford.
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How come Glendora doesn’t have a “G”?…Azusa has an “A”…Monrovia has an “M”…Burbank has a “B”…Duarte has a “D”…Heck, even Hoover has an “H” (of course, it looks like the victory bell at Rydell High)…How come Glendora doesn’t have one? Am I missing it?
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After the New York Mets (and the Cleveland Indians) my whole desire this baseball season has been to see a major collapse by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The San Francisco Giants have not co-operated…thanks for nothing…thanks for making no stinking effort at all to derail the Dodgers…
Then a thought occurred to me…The Giants are usually at their best against the Dodgers when they have nothing to play for. When they revert to their Johnnie LeMaster form of the 70’s & 80’s and play spoiler…
So what I’m thinking is this…they’re tanking now to be a better thorn in the side of the Dodgers later this month…
…Unfortunately for this theory to play out the Colorado Rockies are going to have to go on a serious run. So basically…it’s not happening…The Dodgers are going to win the West.
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Joe T.’s High School football novel is available through Amazon.com
“A literary snapshot of what goes on over the course of a high school football season…an awesome read and a story that truly will transcend time.”—Jim Singiser, AD/HC Arroyo Knights Football
“Thrill, dread, anxiety, love, agony, success, and failure; basically all the emotions you feel as a football player/coach as you do in life, all wrapped up in a single book.”—Marc Paramo, HC Rosemead Panthers Football
“I read the book and really enjoyed it a great deal. I would think coaches and parents could Learn a lot.”—John “Coach” Kentera, former sports talk host at Mighty 690 & Mighty 1090
On this date in 2006, Temple City defeated Arroyo, 35-14 at North Field. Dwight Broadnax rushed for 242 yards, scored two touchdowns, and picked off a pass. Linebacker Joe Reasner (Bad Dude) was in on nine tackles and registered three sacks.
Paul Aguilar scored two rushing touchdowns for the Knights.
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Last Add Dodgers: I’d like to thank them for dealing Jharel Cotton to the Oakland A’s for Josh Reddick…He had a heck of a start for my fantasy team yesterday.
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Monrovia and Arcadia have met 35 times in football. The first time was in 1954 and the Wildcats won 40-0. The last time was a year ago in a 60-45 shootout at Salter Stadium (Is it still called, Salter Stadium?)
This is the eleventh consecutive meeting between the schools (Wildcats lead all-time: 21-14) but Arcadia has not won at Monrovia since 2007 when Troy Amhaz rushed for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 41-20 victory.
M-Town won the schools six meetings in the 1950’s (1954-1959) but Arcadia got its first win on November 18, 1960. The Wildcats were riding a 17-game regular season winning streak but the Apaches were playing to secure their first playoff birth.
Estimates say 14,000 people were in the stands that night, along with another 2,000 standing, to see Arcadia at home score a 26-13 victory and earn a playoff date against Anaheim. (“Fog Game” at La Palma Stadium, Apaches lost 13-12).
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I know, I can be ridiculously hypercritical about some things in sports…like stadium announcers & Time Warner…but has anybody noticed the level of common, pedestrian, analysis on the NFL Network (mainly the morning show)?
It’s hard to watch sometimes because their conclusions seem to have no nuance or thought and always are the most basic…whatever.
I’ve been trying to find a good Los Angeles Rams podcast. If you know of one, send it my way. I’ve listened to Rams’ podcasts with good production, but like I just said about the NFL Network, the guys talking sound like idiots to anyone with an ear for sports.
The one I heard Wednesday afternoon was done by two guys who opened their show by saying they didn’t watch the fourth preseason game. One guy said , “It was the fourth preseason game…Meh…who cares.”
His partner said he was out and missed the Rams first two drives of the game. Meaning he missed the best part of Jared Goff’s performance and was now ready to critique Jared Goff.
They couldn’t DVR it?
Believe it or not…I watch very little political talk because it’s stupid and goes round and round…I no longer listen to sports talk on the radio because it’s as unbearable to hear as the NBA is to watch.
I can understand someone making a mistake…but preparation…there’s no excuse for not being prepared…A football coach can make a mistake…A coach can be caught in a lurch between going for two or one…But to say he skipped film? Skipped a coaches meeting?
They don’t do that…so how can somebody who intends to comment on what players do, not be equally diligent?
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Last Add Vikings: They seem to like former Rams quarterbacks the way we used to like former Vikings quarterbacks. I wasn’t much of a Bob Lee guy, but…Oh, I was always a Steve Dils fan.
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You’re going to see history tomorrow night when South El Monte plays Walnut…The teams have never met before.
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Last Add Stadium Announcers: Now if the announcers were reading off scores just to be mangy, cheap, dirtbags…I could live with it…I could almost come to respect it and laugh with them…But that’s not the impression they give. When announcers read scores it comes across as if they feel they are giving us all scoop, scoop that we have to hear…Nobody thinks they’re more like God on earth than Politicians, DMV employees, and Stadium Announcers.
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Gary “Not Big Hands” Johnson didn’t ruin his chances of being President of the United States by not knowing anything about Syria and Aleppo…He was never going to be President of the United States but he did kill his chances of making it to the debate stage…Bummer, because it might have equaled the fun Alabama fans had watching USC play last week.
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Last Add Sports Talk: When the Rams were in St. Louis there was a podcast called “Rams Addiction”…The guys weren’t entertaining but they were prepared and gave great information.
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Midbits (same as ‘Tidbits’)
Midbits: Cal State Los Angeles offering segregated housing to African-American students.
Midbits: Longtime area DC Donald Bernard (the DC of the 2003 & 2011 San Gabriel Matadors) turns 39 today.
Midbits: Still waiting for newly minted Texas A&M fan, Andy VillaTheDevil to deliver his 22 push-ups.
Midbits: Before the “Tim Tebow is keeping someone else from getting a shot” rants kick in…Remember the Dodgers once upon a time drafted a pitcher, Bill Bene (Speaking of Cal State LA), who was so bad they couldn’t even let him throw against live batters…Terry Mulholland kept getting work…and talent evaluators at some time thought sending Sid Fernandez to the Mets for Bob Bailor was a great idea…Of course, we all remember Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields…You know what Lasorda would say about all of these…
“Ain’t my f-bombing fault! Campanis, he’s the f-bombing guy!”
Midbits: 10 years, LOL!
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MLB GAMES JOE T. HAS WATCHED THIS SEASON (Minimum 5-innings)
New York Mets: 105
Los Angeles Dodgers: 17
San Francisco Giants: 14
Los Angeles Angels: 8
Quick Pitch (Watney/Ryan): 80
The Dude abides…
635
Psalm 128:1
Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com
Author of “Tangent Dreams: A High School Football Novel” available through amazon.com …and “The Dead Bug Tales” available this fall.
Follow Joe on Twitter @joet13b
“Joe T.’s Scoreboard” is found at www.midvalleynews.com every Wednesday & in the hard copy of the Mid Valley News, published every Wednesday.
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