Adieu

adieu
1.
another term for goodbye.
noun
1.
a goodbye.
"he whispered a fond adieu"

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Yup. I'm gone.

The 2014-15 St. Mary's school year has begun and for the first time in seven years, I am officially not apart of it.

Previously in St. Mary's Athletics, in case you missed it, I announced at Awards Night I would not return as Athletic Director.

I've kept it pretty low key, partly because I didn't want to answer questions about why I was leaving, and also because I didn't want it to look like I needed or wanted the attention. But yet, I am writing this blog post. Go figure.

Why now? My best guess at an answer is to officially close this "Bryan Cheung Era" of St. Mary's Athletics.

FLASHBACK SOUND FX

It was a morning in late August of 2007. I wore my favorite blue dress shirt, tied a tie (or my Dad did), and gelled my hair. I had the first day of school jitters all over again.

I pulled up to the white zone at Our Lady of Guadalupe on 910 Broadway. I entered through the office as a faculty member. Crazy stuff for someone who graduated from that same site eight years prior.

Mrs. Ng, the principal at the time, walked me towards the classrooms. She introduced me to this student who said good morning to me. And from that point forward, it pretty much changed my life.

I had coached at St. Mary's and had a small sense of how the athletic turnout was, and I made it my mission to get as many students out there playing as possible.

The first big milestone was Cross Country 2007. We had arguably the most runners of any school in CYO. Grade after grade, boy after girl, you all showed up and ran. And I am pretty sure not too many of you ran the year before. But you came out and participated. From that point forward, I knew I was going to be part of something special.

100 different teams, three new sports and 11 championships later, it's time to say goodbye.

So many memories, people slipping and falling at Cameron House, the All-Star Sundays, the countless practices and games, highlights, Awards Nights and of course Epic Video. All great times that I will never forget and times that I will reminisce about on a daily basis.

And like I share with every graduating class or team that I have coached...Sure, championships are nice. But in the end, you remember the relationships you've made, the times you joked around at practice, running laps, consoling each other when something goes wrong. Those memories will last the longest.

One of my favorite things about my time at St. Mary's as A.D. was watching the alumni see each other at events. Seeing parents become friends because their kids play on the same team. Going out to games and seeing support from students from other classes or graduates watching a game that they have no connection to other than the fact they once wore that same jersey.

To answer the basic question, why did I decide to leave?

It hit me one night when I sat at my computer chair in the spring and felt like the time was right. Nothing negative happened that led me to my decision. And by no means was this an easy decision to make. Moving on is pretty much changing my entire life because as much as I did outside of working for the school, St. Mary's, for better or worse, was my life for the last seven years.

At the end of the day, I felt like I gave all of me (cue music) to the school I could give at this point in my life, and it was time to move on to the next chapter.

I apologize to the students and families that I could not see you or your child all the way through 8th grade. But know that I will be there in spirit and look forward to visiting when I can.

As corny and cliche as this sounds...without you, there is no Bryan Cheung, no participation and no great seven years. All the parents, students, faculty members, friends who have supported the program from day one, I cannot thank you enough for all the contributions.

I encourage everybody with ties to St. Mary's to continue to support the school and the Athletics program. Despite the rocky roads, in the bottom of everyone's hearts, we all know how special St. Mary's is to each and every one of us.

What becomes of the blog? I might pop in from time to time, but I hope coaches and whoever is in charge continues to post updates on our great teams.

TBH, which is to be honest, I'm so proud of what we were able to build and I find it hard to believe that there will be anything in my lifetime professionally that will ever top this golden era of St. Mary's Athletics.

In closing...If I was able to impact your life, in a good way hopefully, to become the person you are, then I'm proud to have been part of that growth. It's been my pleasure and honor to have served as your Athletic Director for the past seven years.

Like I said at Awards Night, you all have no clue how much you mean to me and how much more you have done for me than I have ever done for you.

Don't be a stranger, I'm not hard to find. And someday, we shall meet again.

Thank you all for the kind words and for being part of my story.

And of course, thanks for participating.

Final Farewell, Class of 2014

Most of the graduates from the St. Mary's Class of 2014 will begin high school Monday. We wish them nothing but success and luck in the next chapter of their lives. We take one final look at their St. Mary's careers as they reflect on the past nine years.

Ice Bucket Challenge

Who challenged me? Who did I challenge? WATCH!!!


And you can donate by going to: http://www.alsa.org/donate/

Throwback Thursday

One of my favorite old pictures of all time, do you even know who this is?

 

Funny video

Courtesy of the Oakland A's, the better baseball team in the Bay Area.

Throwback Thursday

No reason why this picture was chosen other than we needed a Throwback Thursday picture.

2014 Boys All-Star Game

Post about myself

Note: As much as I may crave attention, I have been pretty low-key about my post-St. Mary's future. Someone was nice enough to write a little blog post about me, and he insisted I post it, so here it is...

The End Of An Era
By Donald Lee

Most of you reading probably don’t know me, but my name is Donald Lee.  I was a graduate of St. Mary’s in 1988.  I was in school at St. Mary’s before all of the current St. Mary’s athletes and even some of your coaches were born!  As a former athlete and coach, I’ve been fortunate enough to see many generations of the athletic program and wanted to give Bryan some praise.

I was surprised to read that Bryan is leaving St. Mary’s as athletic director.  I talked to him briefly but did not inquire why.   This decision was probably a tough one given how much time he dedicated to the kids and the athletic program at St. Mary’s.

I hope that as Bryan leaves St. Mary’s Athletic Program that every athlete and coach that worked for him gives him a hearty thanks.   Bryan brought the program into the 21st Century with the blog and his various videos including the highlights.   As someone that does some basketball highlight videos
personally, I know it takes a lot of time and effort.  You have to watch the video, cut the highlights, put the voice over in and then upload.  It does not happen overnight.

Bryan stepped in and somehow revived the program and I saw the enthusing that existed before around 1998 to 2000 when I was still coaching.


Whoever becomes the new Athletic Director will have big shoes to fill.  But perhaps St. Mary’s will have the new gym finally built (been waiting for years) and the program will really take off.

In the mean time, I hope everyone gives Bryan a big pat on the back for a job well done!

Brandon Lee Valedictorian Speech

Pay attention to who he says hi to at 0:26-0:28

 

EXCLUSIVE: School-Wide Knockout 2014

Belated Happy Birthday

To Waldo Wang who celebrated his birthday yesterday, July 6th.

Throwback Thursday

Can you spot the noob?

Timmy

The Edwena Reflection

Edwin and friends

By Edwena Wong

Congrats guys and girls.

Sadly, I'm not a St. Mary's graduate like my brother or all my cousins, but it still feels like I am. I still feel like I'm apart of this class because you guys helped me feel welcomed even after I left and I love you all even more for that.

It's not difficult to say that I love St. Mary's more than any school I have ever been to, because we grew up together, laughed together and cried together.  Through this long journey to high school, I realized I didn't need to be with you to know how much I still belonged to this school.

Everyone is writing about how Bryan came into our classroom with a stack of papers every week but honestly I don't remember any of that. All I remember was my first year of St. Mary's sports. It was basketball and only basketball. I thought that basketball would be the only sport that I would play, never to think that I would be playing soccer or volleyball.

But I did, and never for a second did I go back and say wow that was a horrible season.  We didn't win much in the early years, but it was so much fun that it didn't matter. You never need to think about whether or not you want to play a sport at St. Mary's, just do it. I promise you that you will never ever ever regret it.

The first sport I ever played was basketball, I loved basketball. I loved everything about it. I loved attending games. I loved going to practice and I loved all the scrimmages. Basketball was my main focus.

Bryan asked me to play soccer,  but I don't remember much about it. All I remember was that I was the only girl on the team. Looking back, I found this to be very funny. During one soccer game I was just wandering around the field and right before the game started, these two little boys came up to me and whispered to each other, "Is that a girl?"

"Oh my gosh, it's a girl!"

In 3rd grade, Bryan would constantly ask me to play volleyball but every time he asked, I refused. Until one day in 4th grade, Cynthia asked me to play and I thought that it wouldn't hurt to try. After I played, I was like, "Man I suck, I'm done."

But I continued.

After a few seasons, Mr. Yu (Jonathan's Dad) went up to my mom and told her that I had potential. He told her to look up some volleyball clubs, and she did as soon as possible. I wasn't excited and thought to myself that I would never have a career in volleyball so why try? WRONG! Always try kids.

I played a year of club volleyball and wanted to get onto a better team. But I also knew that tryouts for that team would also be around the time of the volleyball championships when I was in 7th grade. I still can't believe that we made it that far since we only won a few times in the past few years.

And can you believe that we won the championship? Well it happened..

In my 8th grade year, I tried out for the same club and I made a travel team (the team I'm on now), which means I will be going around the United States for volleyball tournaments.

It was such an exciting time for me because just before I made the team, we had just won the CYO championship again!

When I think about our championship game, I realize how far we have gotten from when we had first started, and it really is unbelievable. But that's what happens when you play a St. Mary's sport, you grow. You grow into something that you never thought was possible.

And this summer, my club volleyball team is going to the Junior National Championships, better known as the Junior Olympics. You have no idea how far I have come from that day when Bryan encouraged me to play volleyball. I wouldn't say that that day was the best day of my life, but growing into someone like this was undoubtedly the best experience of my life. Never doubt yourself, you will never believe what you are capable of. Future St. Mary's students, just please please please try a sport. It doesn't have to be volleyball, but that's what inspired me.

Lastly, thank you Bryan Cheung for being the best person I know. You are my distant uncle. But I'm just gonna call you my uncle because that's what you mean to me. I am so glad to have found St. Mary's Athletics, as this program has practically shaped my life.

Now all it is for me is volleyball day in day out. And I love it. I know it may seem weird but I love it.

Again thank you Bryan for always being there. Thank you for all you have done to help the school and thank you so very much for being the best athletic director in the history of athletic directors.

To the St. Mary's class of 2014, you will forever remain in my heart as one of the most important group of people in my entire life. You guys have no idea how much I miss you all, leaving St. Mary's was so difficult but it wasn't up to me. I know through the years that I wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but I was so lucky to have you all there no matter what. I know that you will always have my back and surely, I'll forever have yours.

St. Mary's is like chipotle, chipotle is my life

- Edwena 

The Justin Khuu farewell

The 8th grade boys won the CYO Pre-Season Tournament in 2013

By Justin Khuu

Five years ago I was asked to be the assistant coach for a bunch of 4th graders.

At the time I did not think much of it, just another team to coach - boy was I wrong.

Throughout the years I have pushed them hard and expected many great things from them and I was not disappointed. If you asked the kids "What's something that you'll remember of coach Justin?" They'll tell you that I always yelled at them because of a poor performance and was never satisfied.

The reason why I was so harsh was because I knew they could do better, I knew they had the ability to do whatever they wanted as long as they put their minds to it, and I was right.

They have many playoff and championship appearances, as well as a championship ring to show off.

Year after year they were able to make it to the playoffs, if not the championships. The crazy kids that made up this team were always focused on one thing "to win."

Whenever people looked down on them and believed their season would end, they would come back to show them what they're made of. The perfect example would be their 7th grade year. That season, we lost to a team twice during the regular season, but when we faced off again in the playoffs, these kids played their hearts out and won in arguably the most exciting game of their careers.

To my team, I'm extremely proud of you guys for your achievements throughout the years. I hope that my harsh words did not impact you negatively and that you realize that I was hard on you guys because I knew what you were truly capable of.

Ryan, Garrick, Thomas, Joseph, Aaron, Audi, Raymond, Jason -- each of you guys brought something special to the team. You all will forever hold a special place in my heart. I thank you for all the effort you guys have put in to each season, I thank you for all the laughs and fun times that we had, and I thank you for allowing me to coach you guys.

It saddens me to say that this is our last year together as a team and that there is no "next year." Remember that you all are great, not just basketball players, but great people too. I know that you all will go on to do many great things. You guys can achieve any goal as long as you put your mind to it. I am glad to have been able to call myself your coach.


To Bryan...

In the 5th grade, our coach was somebody I barely remember. All I remember is disappointment.

But in the 6th grade, when Bryan became my coach, it was the start of something great.

Basketball was something I was never truly great at, and it still isn't. But as a coach he always pushed us to work harder, to do better, and to excel.

This was what brought us to our championship victory in 2007. I remember I came to practice early and he had me work on my free throws for what felt like an eternity. That practice surely paid off as I remember I made most, if not all my free throws in a game my 8th grade year. I remember that game because a kid bear hugged and slammed me in to the ground. I later found out that his name was also Justin.

But after that, I had such confidence in my free throw abilities that I still believe I'm a free throw "god", and I can trace it all back to Bryan.

Another memory was during the championship game in my 8th grade year, where the opposing team was taking out the ball on the opposite end of the court. Bryan yelled "GO GO GO!!!" and I just sprinted down and intercepted the inbound pass, only to fly out of bounds, haha.

I later remember Bryan telling me he never expected me to get down there and actually stop the pass.

Throughout the years, Bryan has taught me many things, but the most important lessons I learned were not one's of basketball. They were life lessons that helped to shape the person who I am now.

He would always give me sound advice when I needed it most.

When I had a problem or I needed to shape up, Bryan had no issue with being upfront with me and telling me how to correct myself.

Without him, I would not be who I am today. I am happy that I am able to share with my final year here with him as the athletic director.

Not only was Bryan the St. Mary's Athletic Director, he was my coach, and most importantly, my friend.

State of the blog address

So...

Everybody (about five people) has been asking me what will become of the blog now? The answer is, absolutely nothing will change...for now.

I still have a few reflections to post, but I thought we would take a break for a day or two. If you haven't read them all, just click the links to the left, I think all of them were beautifully written.

Two more to go, one from Justin Khuu and then another from his cousin Edwin.

Looking ahead to the future, whoever comes along, I will give he or she the option of continuing the legacy of the blog.

For now, a few other things to get to...

• Have you been watching the World Cup?
• Do you know who won the Stanley Cup?
• Were you happy to see the Heat lose?

Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of their summer.

And Sunday, my final farewell, at least in the regular season in Oakland with Derek Jeter...<3 div="">

Leslie's last word about the 8th grade girls

Courtesy: Alex Nguy (Leslie's cousin)

By Leslie Truong

For those of you who have seen me coach only at games...what you see is an intense, loud and passionate basketball coach. For you to understand why my girls became the way they are, you must also understand my St. Mary's story.

I was not always this way. I was once the shy girl who cried about going to school and was too scared to even tell people my name. When I started playing basketball in the 4th grade, I had no idea what I was doing. My team finished the season 2-6, including one win that ended with a final score of 2-1. 

I was no athlete to brag about and I was scared about boxing out against the bigger girls, playing aggressive defense, and driving to the basket. Sound familiar?

Then I got a new coach in the 5th grade who coached me until I graduated from St. Mary's. He taught my team how to be fast and most importantly how to become fearless competitors. Aside from our wildly successful tenure as a basketball team that Bryan will never talk about because it was before his time as athletic director (three consecutive hard-fought championship wins in 1998, 1999 and 2000), I carried so much of what my St. Mary's coach taught me into my life off the court. I became confident, motivated and the complete opposite of shy, and I truly believe that my St. Mary's basketball experience had everything to do with shaping me into who I am today.

When I met my girls in their 5th grade year (2011), I saw in them potential that most people didn't see. It was the same thing when I met Becca their 6th grade year and Lily this year. Every girl had the potential to become more aggressive on the court, to become fearless, and to become champions. I knew their potential because I saw in them the same drive and determination that I had when I was an athlete at St. Mary's. 

They worked hard and it was not easy for me as a coach either. We went through countless disappointments as a team throughout the years. I went through hours of pondering about how I can help each girl believe in herself as a basketball player, just as my St. Mary's coach did for my teammates and I. So much of what they needed to do to improve was more than just basketball fundamentals, it was also mental. 

We started seeing great results as early as 6th grade, but still, I had to be hard on them. Even when they played a decent game, I would tell them that they have to be better in the next game. That's because I knew they wanted to be better than just good. They wanted to be winners.

Now they can legitimately call themselves winners, and I don't say that because we won a championship this year. Winning isn't everything in sports if you're talking about just the score, but without the score, I believe winning is everything.  

Winning to me means working hard to overcome your obstacles and feeling successful, whether you win or lose a game. My girls are evidence of that. They have all transformed into incredibly confident and focused athletes.

Now my 8th graders are moving up to high school and I never thought the day would come for me to say "good-bye." Even though they might say that they'll miss me since I'm not going to be their coach anymore, that's actually not true.

Kelly, Jamie, Fiona, Victoria, Becca (and Lily for next year) - I will always be your coach even if I'm not the one yelling at you to run your suicides faster. 

I will always be your coach because I will never stop cheering you on and believing in you, whether it's in basketball or anything else you pursue in life. 

All I ask is that you always work hard and never give up on yourselves because what you accomplished with me as your coach at St. Mary's is proof that you can always find a way to win.

Jason Ng reflection

By Jason Ng

When I was in 2nd grade, I witnessed a man coming into our classroom every once in a while handing out papers to Ms. Chan, and then leave without a word. On the last day of that school year, that same man came in, but this time he actually spoke. 

He told us that starting in 3rd grade, we would be able to participate in this program called St. Mary’s Athletics. At first, I thought playing sports was pretty cool.  But I never would have thought that this man, The Person, better known as Mr. Bryan Cheung, would change both the school and the lives of many here at St. Mary’s.

A few weeks back, we were given an assignment to write an essay about an event that changed our personal values and beliefs. I decided to write about my 7th grade basketball playoff game. That game gave me the punch I needed to prove to myself that I do have the potential and ability in making a big shot or achieving other goals in life. We were tied in the final minutes and I was able to drive to the basket and make the big shot. So the recap is…no basketball…no playoff game, no playoff game…no big shot, no big shot…no life lesson punch. 

Throughout my entire career, I mainly focused on basketball. That was the sport that I wanted to play day and night, 24/7. My love for basketball had begun with Bryan encouraging us to form a team and compete with other schools. I continued to play basketball with the guys until now. Today, I am beyond thankful for those opportunities.

I’m sure that most of you have known me as a person who only played basketball. Honestly, I wished I could’ve done more. Growing up at St. Mary’s, my parents were very busy with their jobs and I never got the full support of playing another sport besides basketball. For those of you who are reading this and have the complete support of your parents in playing more than one sport, take that opportunity. Playing sports builds not only muscle and strength, but also character, values and friendships. You don’t want to be looking back at your time here at school and wondering about what you may have missed.

I never knew sports and athletics would impact my life this much. I thought of it mostly as just being able to hang out more with friends and being able to consistently stay fit. But basketball also gave me confidence in my work and ability, helped me learn about respect and build on my leadership experience.

Sadly, as a member of the Class of 2014, we are the last graduating class to participate in the Bryan Cheung era. It has been an honor and blessing to have Bryan as the Athletic Director during our time here at St. Mary’s.  I told Mr. Cheung this before and I’ll say it again. I always wondered what I would be like if Bryan never came to St. Mary’s. I’m pretty sure that I would have turned into a full out nerd, but luckily that didn’t happen.

I love you Bryan and for all the miracles that you have brought to this school. Good luck on your future endeavors. St. Mary’s was given a blessing the second Bryan took that job.

I would like to thank all of you who contributed to my successes and helped me on my journey to become great. Without the support and love of my classmates, coaches, parents, and friends, I would probably be a nerd who works only on homework just goes home every day. Basketball has given me another life outside of school and I consider this a blessing. 

Well, that’s the story of my life (my St. Mary’s career and Raymond’s favorite song). You all have a special place in my heart and I hope that my experiences will inspire you to do great things just like me. 

I love you all!!! 

All of you have the potential to make a positive impact on the people you come across, and hopefully, they’ll continue the chain. 

- Jason Ng

Jamie Kemi looks back

Jamie and friends following the 7th grade championship game in 2013

--By Jamie Kemi Zhao

Wow! Can’t believe you guys are all grown up and will be moving on to the next stage of your life. Felt like it was just yesterday when I first went to watch your basketball games. 

Even though I only coached you guys for two years, all of you improved tremendously. Coaching you guys was fun, but at times was tiring because you guys fooled around too much. But at the end of the day, you guys do make me proud. I know I’m very harsh on you guys during games and practices, but trust me…high school sports will be far worse. It will require a lot of time commitment. But don’t let that stop you from playing sports because it’ll be worth it at the end! 

Like I said at Sports Awards Night, I really hope and wish all of you will continue to play sports in high school. It doesn’t have to be basketball, soccer or baseball. There are many types of sports that are fun, and you should give it a try. Don’t ever say you’re not good enough for the team! 

And don’t ever compare yourself to the others that are more athletic. You have your own special unique skill that others won’t have and vice versa. Remember what I always said in practice about basketball? 50% PHYSICAL, & 50% MENTAL!

Just because you’re not athletic or good at a sport, remember you still have 50% mental skills that will make you a great athlete. Always have confidence in yourself in whatever you do. Don’t ever doubt yourself and just go out and TRY IT. 

Remember to always give it your 101% in all the things you do. Stay humble, be nice, and be good. 

Wishing you guys all the best through your high school journey! Remember to enjoy it, but don’t slack off! I’ll always be here, so don’t be shy and say Hi! 

- Jamie Kemi Zhao

A Victorian reflection

Victoria with former teammate Tina, teammates Fiona and Ivy after her second volleyball championship

By Victoria Huang

Wow, I can’t believe we graduated.

After years and years of waiting for this moment, it has finally come. Looking back at my six years of having the pleasure to play sports, I think it’s been very memorable.

All the ups and downs, I’ll remember most of it forever, I hope. I faintly remember the first time Bryan Cheung walked into the classroom. He had a stack of papers that read “St. Mary’s Athletics Newsletter”. I had no idea what it was about. He went on and on about how when we get to 3rd grade, we can join sports. And I’m glad I did.

Some memories that stick out to me are that when I was in 3rd grade, I made my first shot in basketball, and I remember it being a headline of the newsletter. I felt so proud and I probably still have that paper. Even though it’s just a paper, it carries a lot of emotions. Then in 6th grade, we got second place in the basketball championship game.

This year was the most amazing one I’ve ever had. I can’t believe how fast this year went by and I don’t know if it was the anxiety towards graduation or the thought of going to high school.

In volleyball, I don’t even know where to start. Back in 4th grade, we could barely serve the ball over the net and we could only sometimes simply bump the ball over. Now we can bump, set, and spike. In the preseason, we won all three tournament games, then went on to win the tournament championship as well. It started out as winning no games to ending the regular season 7-1 and winning the championship in 7th and 8th grade!

In my last basketball season at St. Mary's, we played the hardest we could’ve ever played. We got to the championships and won first place! That’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Bryan is an amazing person. He gave us the chance to go out and do different things. He inspired me to try new things. Sometimes, he says some harsh things. But that really pushed me to try harder. Some advice to the younger kids: Join everything you can and try it. Just try it. It can’t hurt you. You won’t regret it.

Last, but not least, my classmates are not just my classmates or friends, they are my family. I’ve grown up with most of them and they really and truly are my family. We all love each other as a sibling would. It’s funny how sometimes we would call each other “brother” or “sister."

I won’t forget all the great times I’ve shared with you guys and I’m glad to call you my classmates and friends.

I will miss you all. I love you guys very much.

--Victoria Huang

Congratulations Class of 2014

Courtesy: Jason Ng

Ray

Raymond running Cross Country in 2008

By Raymond Lee

I’m really sad that I have to say I am graduating from St. Mary and moving onto high school.

I had so many memories here. It only seemed like yesterday when I was a kindergartener and I looked up to the big kids. Now I am one of those big kids.

Some of my best memories were winning a basketball championship with my 5th grade team, all the awards night that I went to, being at school with all the people I love, and many other things but it is too long to list all of them.

This next section I would like to dedicate it to Bryan Cheung. I am deeply saddened that he is no longer going to be our athletic director, but I wish him the best in his future. I had many memorable times with him, but I will only talk about one. This memory actually meant a lot to me.

Our basketball team played horrible in a regular season game. We almost lost to a team that was even worse than us. But we managed to pull it out in the end. As always, our coaches would talk to us about our game and they were pretty mad.

But when it was Bryan's, he was extremely mad at us. I can remember him saying, “You guys played like (crap) today.”

Although this felt very offensive, I took it as motivation to motivate me in playing basketball better.

Lastly I would just like to thank everyone that helped me with my journey of going through school in St. Mary. This is from the bottom of my heart, and I truly mean it when I say it. I totally would not have made it if it weren’t for you wonderful people that helped me.

If it weren’t for you guys, I don’t know what I’ll be like. I could be one of those bad kids you see on the streets. One last thing I would like to say, I truly love all of you guys so much and you guys will always be in my heart, never to be forgotten.

- Raymond Lee

Andrew's 8th grade girls reflection

By Andrew Tio, 8th grade girls basketball coach

When Leslie asked me to join her in coaching the 8th Grade girls team, I hesitated.  Sure, it could be fun, but they'd probably also tease me a lot.

It was!  They did.

The year started off a little shaky.  I was worried the first couple of practices.  Some of these girls didn't even know which hand they like to shoot with! They had some confidence issues. Plus, they were best friends so practices would have a lot of giggling.

Leslie and I pushed them. They worked hard during every practice. They hung tight against tough and taller teams.  They won games.  They ran a lot and won more games.  Louisville drill goals increased and they won some more! They held their planks longer, and at the end of the season they were 7-1.  Every girl had a game where she was MVP.

The girls played a fantastic playoff game, each one of them playing the best I've ever seen them play.  Wonderful passing.  Great communication. Amazing confidence.

Then they won the Championship.  I was so happy and proud of what they had accomplished.  When they won, you could see Leslie and all the girls give each other a huge hug.  You might also see me standing to the side.  This was their moment.  They worked hard together, for each other, over the last few years.  I think Leslie and the girls could have accomplished all that they did without me.  Still, I'm proud and grateful to have been a part of their team.

Ladies, congratulations!  I'd like to leave you with advice that we've been telling you the entire season.  Hopefully you'll remember them in your future endeavors.

Lily, breathe (see you next year)
Victoria, be confident
Kelly, believe in yourself
Becca, stay on your feet
Jamie, take your time and don't rush
Fiona, look for your opportunities and take them

Keep having each other's backs

Andrew

8th Grade Week

It is 8th grade week as we count down to their graduation this Friday...Hopefully tomorrow we will have some interesting blog posts from coaches and students looking back at their time at St. Mary's.

Sincerely,

The Person

Awards Night Recap

For those of you who missed it...WHY?!?!?!

Winners for the evening.

Rookie of the Year - Nabiyou

Boys Hustle Player of the Year - Michael

Girls Hustle Player of the Year - Kelly

Boys Most Improved Player of the Year - Calvin

Girls Most Improved Player of the Year - Christine

Girls Volleyball Most Improved Player of the Year - Victoria

Lady Byng Awards - Ryan and Victoria

Girls Volleyball Player of the Year - Edwena

Boys Basketball Player of the Year - Jonathan

Girls Basketball Player of the Year - Fiona

And nothing happened at the end of the show.

Thank you everybody.

Final thought on Awards Night

We are less than 24 hours away from the biggest night of the year. I can tell you I am very excited and there are a lot of surprises planned for Sunday night.

Be sure to bring some money to buy raffle tickets to support the Athletics fund, and most importantly be ready to have a good time.

There will also be multiple chances throughout the evening to win some money. Bling bling.

Some things of note...

The doors will close at 7:30 p.m. and will not reopen until 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. If someone is picking you up, tell them to anticipate picking you up around 9 p.m.

If all goes well, we should all be out by 9 p.m. However as you well know, that is usually not the case.

For those who do not stick around to the end, if there is ever a year to stay to the end, this is the year to do so.

Pound sign can't wait...See you all tomorrow evening.

Flashback Friday

Back to 2011, check out the Intro Video for that night.

Throwback Thursday

We count down to Awards Night with a special Throwback Thursday edition of the first ever video open for Awards Night. Let's throw it back to 2010.

Sports Awards Night Awards Nominations Special

Awards Night Nominations

All nominees for Awards Night will be announced some time tomorrow on the blog.

STAY TUNED!!! And for now watch all the highlights you have missed.

All-Star Sunday Results

ALL-STAR GAME
The team of Victoria, Rebecca, Lily, Michaela, Kelly and Cecilia beat the team of Edwena, Fiona, Jamie, Becky, Christine and Sharon 41-27.

BOXSCORE: Fiona 8, Jamie 14 (Two 3s), Christine 2, Victoria 4, Rebecca 4, Lily 8, Michaela 13, Kelly 13, Cecilia 2

COACHES GAME
The team of Larry Wong, James Chiu, Brandon Lim, Tommy Lin and Jamie Zhao beat a team of Leslie Truong, Justin Lee, Gavin Chan, Brandon Lee and Henry Deng 49-40.

BOXSCORE: Leslie 10, Justin 10, Gavin 4, Brandon 2, Henry 11, Larry 4, James 27, Brandon Lim 6, Tommy 11

GIRLS ALUMNI GAME
The team of Sophia Nguyen, Isabella Mayfield, Tiffany Ye, Jamie Zhao and Fiona beat a team of Leslie Truong, Clarissa Lee, Tiffanie Vuong, Tina Leung and Natalie Manning 43-37.

BOXSCORE: Leslie 23, Clarissa 4, Tina 6, Tiffy 4, Fiona 13, Jamie 2, Tiffany 7, Sophia 18, Isabella 4

3 POINT SHOOTOUT
Jamie beat Michaela 9-8 in the final round of the 3 point shooting contest.

BOXSCORE
Round 1 - Jamie 10, Michaela 7, Christine 6, Victoria 5, Fiona 3
Final - Jamie 9, Michaela 8

2-BALL
Leslie and Rebecca take home the Coach/Player 2-Ball trophy over James and Sara, and Brandon and Cecilia.

BOXSCORE

Round 1 - Rebecca/Leslie 18, Sara/Jim 14, Brandon/Cecilia 14, Tiffany/Jamie 13, Tina/Kelly 12

Final - Rebecca/Leslie 26, Sara/Jim 9, Brandon/Christine 8

ULTIMATE KNOCKOUT CHALLENGE
Fiona outlasts Thomas and Aaron for the Ultimate Knockout Champion crown.

Girls Basketball and Baseball Highlights (Final One)

8th Grade Championship Ceremony

Who wasn't thanked...Hmmm...

8th grade girls flashback

This might've been the game that really showed that the 8th grade girls had the potential to do some good, if not great things.

We go back to 2011.

Girls All-Star Sunday

Sunday, May 25, 2014

• 1 p.m. – 3 Point Shootout

• 1:45 p.m. – Coaches Game

• 2:30 p.m. – School-Wide Battle Royal

•  3:15 p.m. Girls Alumni Game 

• 4 p.m. – Coach/Player 2-Ball 

• 4:45 p.m. – School-Wide Knockout

• 5 p.m. – All-Star Game

Note: Please arrive 30 minutes prior to event. Event times can start up to a half hour earlier.

3-point Shootout Contestants

Michaela Wong, Christine Weng, Fiona Tsui, Victoria Huang, Jamie Lei

2-Ball

James Chiu – Sara

Tina Leung – Samantha

Tiffany Ye - Justina

Leslie Truong - Rebecca

Brandon - Cecilia

Leya - Becky

All-Star Game

6th, 7th and 8th grade girls

More to come.

Thanks for participating in baseball

Courtesy: Leslie

The 8th grade baseball season ended Sunday at West Sunset. Thanks for participating.

Both baseball teams surrender 13 runs

The 6th/7th graders played their closest game to date in a 13-6 loss, while the 8th graders were on the short end of a 13-3 loss.

First, the 8th grade baseball team took another loss, but there were some improvements in the batters' box.

Many of the players swung the bat well and made really good solid contact. The team also drew five walks scored three runs.

The main issues were the same issues in the previous games. The team really needs to have better base-running knowledge, make simple plays, and communicate.

Ryan pitched a complete game and has improved a lot throughout the season with his new curveball.

Catch them tomorrow in their final game at West Sunset.

As for the 6th/7th graders, a brutal 1st inning contributed to their closest game of the season.

Michael, who got the start, had an off day, and had trouble finding the plate as the boys surrendered their 2-0 lead and ended up going into the 2nd inning down 8-2.

They were very patient at the plate and drew a lot of walks and scored all six of their runs off of wild pitches.

But the early hole was too much to climb out of and they were dealt another loss.

Unless their rainouts are rescheduled, the season for them comes to an end.

8th Grade Girls Basketball Championship Highlights

8th grade girls win the championship

8th Grade Girls take home the championship

One of the lasting images from the 8th grade girls championship Wednesday night at St. Emydius will be the entire team gathered together on the court, just seconds after the final buzzer, embracing each other in a big heartfelt group hug.

The backdrop — a scoreboard with no time left, as they a celebrated 29-17 championship victory over OLP.

In their final game in a St. Mary’s uniform, the 8th grade girls walked off as champions, completing an improbable yet incredible basketball career for the class of 2014.

They used a 9-0 2nd quarter run to take a 10 point halftime lead, which the girls never relinquished.

Fiona, who along with Victoria was part of two (0-8) teams to start their careers, scored 6 points and had three assists.

Fittingly, every girl on the team scored.

Like their playoff game, they got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, and held a 3-2 lead after one.

Defensively, they were sharp and quick as usual, but the girls had trouble getting good looks at the basket. Much had to do with the height of OLP, as they were able to block a lot of shots from the St. Mary’s girls who were physically smaller.

It was pretty apparent Kelly played with some nerves in the 1st quarter as she was tentative every time she touched the ball. On one sequence, she was left wide open at the elbow of the free throw line as the entire gym was yelling “shoot.” 

Even though she missed the shot, Lily was their to grab the rebound and put it right back up, and that opened up the scoring in the game.

The girls struck fast in the 2nd quarter as Jamie hit a 3 pointer as part of her game high 8 points, and Rebecca, fresh off the bench, followed it up by hitting a lay-up off a Fiona pass right off an out of bounds play, making it 8-2.

Then it was Fiona who took it upon herself to go coast to coast twice on two beautiful drives to the basket to make it 12-2 heading into the break.

OLP hung around in the 3rd quarter and in the early stages of the fourth, cut the lead to 7 points. But every time the score got close, the 8th graders answered back and kept their lead around digits the rest of the way.

Kelly scored 4 points, and Victoria also added a bucket.

It’s hard to fathom that the bulk of this team scored only nine points in a playoff loss last season. 

In the two 2014 post-season games, they averaged 32 points a game.

Lily, a 7th grader who was added to the team, because they needed a sixth player, grabbed almost every rebound in sight and finished with 7 points and 11 rebounds. In her three years playing basketball at St. Mary’s, she has three championships, and this third one will probably be the most special one for the team’s center.

At the beginning of the season, she was a step slow around the basket and had trouble making the simple lay-up. She was the classic middle school basketball player who had the height but was unable to use size as an advantage. 

Not anymore. Because on a team that doesn’t have a true post player, Lily made up for all of that and she brought her game to another level down the stretch.

The person most responsible for molding Lily into who she is today is none other than the 8th grade girls coach Leslie, who had knots in her stomach the entire day. She’s been with this team since 5th grade when they won just two games. Four years and two championship game appearances later, she’s the proud coach of an 8th grade team closes their St. Mary's basketball careers as champions.

It's also the first championship Leslie has won as a coach.

As 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh pointed out this year, "The greater the challenge, the greater the reward."

And this team had a lot of challenges.

They've had countless post-games that lasted close to half an hour, if not more, as they dissected all their mistakes and shortcomings. They've lost last second heartbreakers on missed shots or blown defensive assignments. In a game during their 6th grade year, they scored one point in a loss. They’ve been through so many low points and disappointments.

But in the end, as cliche as it is, this team stuck through it as a team and no matter the difficulty, there was always some belief that they could have a fairy tale ending.

And on this special night, they wrote the final chapter.

Garrick hits a home run

Garrick hit the first home run for St. Mary's since 2011, but it wasn't enough as errors absolutely turned a winnable game into a 13-3 loss.

The 6th/7th grade committed 9 errors, while the other team only recorded one legitimate base hit.

Routine grounders turned into absolute nightmares. If one of the fielders got it cleanly into the glove, their throw would end up completely offline. And at times, when the throw was to first, the first basemen had trouble handling it.

Allen started and pitched three innings and Michael came in and completed an inning of relief.

Benjiman did catch a pop up in the 4th inning.

Unless the rainouts are reschedule, this was the last 6th/7th grade baseball game of the year.

8th Grade Girls Playoff Highlights

Huge 2nd half sends the 8th grade girls to the championship

The 8th grade girls will have the opportunity for a storybook ending, as they punched their ticket to the championship for the second time in three years with a 36-15 victory over St. John.

Nerves got the better part of the girls in the 1st quarter, as right off the jump ball, they were slow to get to a loose ball by the basket, and the other team took advantage and scored the first two points of the game.

That trend continued midway through the first and the girls were in a 8-3 hole.

Following a timeout, Jamie banked in a 3 pointer to cut the lead to two, and the girls started to create some momentum the rest of the half.

They held a 12-10 lead with 10 seconds to go, but couldn't grab a rebound, and the other team tied it up at 12-12 heading into halftime.

Then came arguably the two best quarters the girls have ever played in their St. Mary's career. All six of the girls wearing red shifted into high gear and a tie game at the break became a 21 point laugher when it was all said and done.

In the second half, the 8th grade outscored St. John 24-3, including a 12-0 run in the 3rd quarter that put the game to bed.

There was no slowing the girls down even after they built their lead. It was a fast break clinic in the 4th quarter as the girls executed so well in transition, highlighted by Fiona and Victoria both going coast to coast with impressive lay-ups.

Jamie led the team, which saw every girl score, with a game high 13 points. Fiona had 8 points and Lily 7 points.

After a disappointing loss in last year's playoffs, the girls had their best regular season to date going (7-1), and will have a chance to close out their St. Mary's career with a championship title. Game time Wednesday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at St. Emydius.

Fiona and Victoria, who have been with the team since 3rd grade, will be wrapping up their sixth and final basketball season. The two girls started their career a collective (0-16), not winning a single game in their first two seasons. Jamie was also part of the 4th grade team that went winless.

These girls have worked so hard and for so long, and a win in their final game will be nothing short of a fairy-tale ending.

GAME NOTES: A nice crowd showed up for the game with celebrities Mr. Lee, Miss Pendleton, Al Lee, Isabella, Ryan Kwong, Jason Ng, Jason Zhao and Jacqueline all in attendance...Kelly scored 4 points and Victoria and Rebecca both added a bucket each...St. Mary's girls 8th grade basketball teams have made the championship game nine times in the last 10 years...It will be Leslie's fourth championship game appearance as a coach...This will be Lily's third straight championship game appearance...The girls last appeared in a basketball championship game in 2012.

8th grade make a lot of catches in latest game

Despite another loss, the 8th grade baseball team played a pretty good game in the field, catching numerous pop flies throughout Saturday's game.

In the 11-1 loss, Joseph caught three alone at shortstop, while Alex and Jackie both snagged one in the outfield.

Ryan, who started and pitched three innings made two catches for outs, including one in the first inning where he had to dive to the grass to catch a ball.

It was only 2-0 after the first, but several errors in the second inning opened up the game.

Raymond scored the only run for the 8th graders in the top of the fourth when he crossed home following a pop-up by Audi that wasn't caught by the other team.

As for the 6th/7th graders, they forfeited for the third straight time, because two players were missing.

6th/7th grade loses heartbreaker in OT, season ends

Free throws, free throws, free throws.

They'll haunt the 6th/7th grade girls the entire off-season.

After the other team hit two free throws to send the game into overtime, the 6th/7th graders went 1-for-8 from the free throw line in the OT period, and fell short of advancing to the championship in a 24-23 heartbreaking defeat.

The girls actually could've sealed the game in regulation, but made crucial mistakes down the stretch.

Clinging to a two point lead, the 6th/7th grade girls grabbed a rebound with 9 seconds left and had a chance to run out the clock. But instead of staying calm and composed, they rushed the ball up court and dribbled right into one of the other team's defenders. A jump ball was called, and with the possession arrow not in their favor, the girls were forced to play defense for the final 5 seconds.

Off a screen, one of the other team's best players took the ball and dribbled freely down the court. As she took off for a runner, Michaela got her across the arm and the shooter was awarded three free throws.

So with a chance to win the game, the best free throw shooter on the other team hit shots one and three, to tie the game and force overtime. The second shot was halfway in, but luckily it rimmed out of the hoop.

In overtime, Michaela hit the only free throw of the extra three minutes to give the 6th/7th grade girls a 23-22 lead.

With under two minutes to play, it was another costly turnover that led to a fast break lay-up by the other team and the 6th/7th graders found themselves down a point.

Jacqueline was fouled with under a minute left, but missed two free throws. And prior to that, Sharon had a chance to extend the team's lead, but she also missed both shots.

With less than 10 seconds to play, Becky's 3 point attempt just fell short and the girls had to get a steal with 4 seconds left in their season.

They caught a break when the other team turned it over as the ball fell right into Becky's lap. She tossed it up-court to Michaela who was fouled as time expired.

Michaela had a chance to win the game, but both her free throws went in and out, as the girls' season came to a sad end.

It was an unfortunate end to a really good season by this collective group. With a few new players, they were a mistake or two away from playing in the championship.

As a whole every girl on the team improved throughout the season, but in the end, it was the inexperience and little things that couldn't put them over the top.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: Big thanks to Lily, Annie, Benjiman, Rebecca and Allen who were all in attendance at Friday night's playoff game.

HIGH LIGHTS!!!

Girls Playoff Schedules

Thank you Mark Jackson...

GIRLS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

6th/7th Grade Girls
Friday, May 9, 7 p.m. vs @ SVDP

Championship Game: Tuesday, May 13, 6:15 p.m. @ St. Emydius

8th Grade Girls
Saturday, May 10, 4 p.m. vs @ St. Emydius

Championship Game: Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 p.m. @ St. Emydius

Monday morning pictures

Curry holding court

Can you tell whose back of the head that is on the left?

The hallway outside the Warriors practice facility

Warriors interview section

Practice courts

He is done talking

Curry off in the distance

The writings on the wall

6th/7th graders clinch a playoff berth

Bryan said to Michaela as she was eating her lunch that she needed to score 20 points. And if that happened, her team would win the game and clinch a playoff spot.

She did one better.

The 6th grader scored a career high 21 points, and absolutely went off in the 3rd quarter, extending a 10 point halftime lead into a 20 point lead at the end of three.

With no fear, she ate up the other team's defense, hitting shot after shot. For good measure she also banked in a 3 pointer.

It was a revenge game for the girls who lost by just a point in the tournament to this same team. A little more than two months later, they won by their most lopsided margin of the year.

So much improvement and in such a short amount of time.

After following the loss, win, loss, win pattern, the girls have put together their first winning streak of the season, two.

Although a little comical that it's only two, the win was enough for them to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in their division.

Sharon had one of her best games of the year, scoring four quick points in the 1st quarter. In her first year, she's dramatically improved and has done a good job grabbing rebounds.

Emily also scored two points.

Even though she didn't show up on the scoresheet, Jacqueline did a great job diving on some loose balls and collected several rebounds. She's had a strong last two games. So maybe as Jacqueline goes, so does the team.

Now it's onto the playoffs where they'll need to beat a team they've lost to earlier in the season.

It bodes well that the team they beat Friday night, was a team that had beaten them before.

Let's hope the trend continues.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: Former classmate and one time CYO basketball champion Adrianna attended the game. As did Isabella, who regrets not playing basketball this season, but has assured everyone she will sign a contract for next season

4th/5th graders drop final game

The 4th/5th grade girls were on the losing end of a 18-2 defeat in their final game of the season.

It wasn't until the 4th quarter that the girls were able to score, a Justina steal and lay-up.

Like many other games this season, the girls were physically outmatched and were easily out-rebounded on both ends of the court.

Their season was rough, as they wrapped up the year with just a forfeit win. It was expected after losing two of their top scorers in Sofia and Veronica.

But without them, other girls on the team were forced to step up and play bigger roles on the team. Aislinn, Annika, Samantha and Sara all scored for the first time in their careers.

Tiff Ye wore glasses during the game.

8th grade girls finish the season (7-1)

The 8th grade girls owned the 3rd quarter and outscored their opponent 12-0 in the third frame to wrap up the regular season with a 21-16 victory.

It got a little dicey in the 4th quarter, since the girls didn't score a single point after controlling the third. The other team went on a 7-0 run to close the game, but the cushion the girls built was enough for win number seven of the year.

They wrap up the regular season with their best record in team history at (7-1) and will more than likely finish second in their division.

Jamie had a game high 8 points, hitting two 3 pointers, while Kelly chimed in with 7 points before almost fouling out of the game. Initially it looked like she had five fouls, but there was an error at the table, as she was able to stay in the game, having only committed four fouls.

There were a few quite nifty passes in the game. Fiona set up Lily by the basket for an easy lay-up but couldn't get the shot to fall. But a few minutes later, Rebecca made the almost exact same pass to Lily. This time she didn't miss and she even drew a foul for the and one.

Part of their 12-0 run in the third featured something the girls have really improved on this season, looking up and heaving the ball downcourt in a controlled manner.

Kelly and Jamie were both able to pick up easy buckets as the girls extended their 9-5 halftime lead.

Up next for the girls will be a playoff game against the three seed, which is unknown at this time. They've held victories against everyone in the division except for the first place team, so whoever they play, they will have beaten already once.

But that doesn't equate to a victory.

The girls have done a great job this year, but all that is irrelevant come playoff time, because it's win or go home.

Once again the scoring was pretty distributed as five of the six girls got on the scoresheet.

Fiona scored 3 points, Lily 2 points and Victoria 1 point.

Down and out

Warriors Game 5 Rehash

So a little Game 5 Warriors vs Clippers rehash.

First, you spelled Warriors this way, not Worriors...

Ok, onto the game. I am going to pull up the most popular re-racked post I have ever posted. And it bogs down to simple basics of the game of basketball.

• Make your lay-ups. If you watched the game, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were monsters around the hoop. Anything close, they were able to convert, and a few of them were And 1s. David Lee did play well for the Warriors in spurts, but there were a few times he couldn't make his lay-ups. One time he got barely touched by Chris Paul, and he couldn't finish the And 1, and yet he hit just one of two free throws.

• Make your free-throws. Clippers were a little over 75% while the Warriors were a little above 69%. Not the biggest difference but it was key in the game. When the Warriors wanted to do "Hack-a-Jordan," Jordan went to the line and hit 3-out-of-4. So the strategy stopped. I believe Jermaine O'Neal and Maurice Speights both decided to go 0-for-2 from the line in the first half.

• Don't turn the ball over. Only 13 for the Warriors and 12 for the Clippers, but the Warriors turnovers came in bunches and at crucial times. Curry had four of them in the 1st quarter, and the Warriors trailed by 10 points after one. They played catch-up the rest of the way. And then in the 4th quarter, on multiple possessions, Curry was just careless.

So at the end of the day, the Clippers best players played better than the Warriors best players. Paul and Griffin hit enough big shots in the 4th quarter, Curry did not. And also Curry couldn't even get off a shot sometimes.

He needs to be more aggressive and the Warriors need to find ways to get him more shots.

I think the Warriors can win Game 6, in fact, I would pick them to win Game 6. As long as they follow those three keys.

Playoff Picture

As we stand, two out of the three St. Mary's girls teams will have a shot at winning it all this year.

Right now, the 8th grade girls sit in second place in the division and will likely stay there regardless of their final game. But the last thing they want to do is back-pedal into the playoffs so having a good final game is necessary for them stay sharp heading into the biggest game of the season.

Their record right now stands at (6-1).

The 6th/7th grade controls their destiny.

With a win, they will clinch a playoff berth in their first year together as a team.

A lot of people have stepped up their game, but they will need to play their best game of the year this Friday night if they want to guarantee themselves a post-season berth.

If they lose, they will need to hope Holy Name loses their final game.

Otherwise, thanks for participating.

We'll get to the baseball teams and their playoff chances in another post.

And we are tied...

This is a cool video

Maybe you should check it out.

I am giving away a free Warriors t-shirt to the first person to contact me (email or tweet) and tell me who scored the game winning goal for the Sharks in Game 3. If you are reading this, that means the t-shirt is still up for grabs.

UPDATE: Jason Ng has won!

See, it pays off to visit the blog.

 

Lights!!!!!

Highlights Preview

Spot the Noob

We haven't played this game in a while...So let's "Spot the Noob!"

And it's not Logan Couture...

Go Worriors!

In case you missed the Warriors and Clippers from this afternoon, here are the highlights and postgame reaction.

A day in pictures...Go Sharks

A day in my life in pictures. Every now and then I get spoiled and get the privilege to attend sporting events for free. In fact, I even get paid to be there. Perks of being a sports producer which I do not take for granted. I snapped some low quality pictures of my day covering Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Sharks and the Kings.

SELFIE...KINDA...

Ummm...

The walkway for when the Sharks take the ice

The Sharks interview background

The Tank getting ready

The view inside the glass prior to puck drop

More arena before it opens

Spot the Noob

Right outside the Sharks dressing room

Defenseman Jason Demers does an interview with us before warm-ups.

Where the Kings broadcast crew does interviews

Not the best view but why complain right?

Turn your head to the right cause I am too lazy to rotate the picture

It was very loud

5-0 Sharks

A disappointed Kings bunch leaves the ice after a 6-3 loss. 

Sharks Head Coach Todd McClellan at his post-game press conference.