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Monday, August 31, 2009

Welcome back

Welcome back everybody...

So a few things to get caught up on:

--Forms were passed out today for volleyball and soccer -- please bring those back as soon as possible, tomorrow even if you can.

--PLAY, PLAY AND PLAY! The more, the merrier.

PRACTICES

As soon as all the forms are returned, we can get going on practices. Soccer and volleyball start up in a matter of weeks, so as much practice before the games, the better.

This week, we will have soccer on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Whichever team you are on, plan on practicing on at least two out of the three days. Official days will be made available by the end of this week.

For the 7th and 8th graders, and anybody else who wants to show up and get practice in, practice tomorrow at Moscone will run from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Have a good Monday. See you tomorrow.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Taiwan in Little League World Series, Go away Stephen Jackson



Tomorrow at 12 p.m. PT on ABC (Ch. 7), the kids from Taiwan will go for the Little League World Series Championship. This afternoon, they beat Mexico 9-4.

Taiwan has won the most Little League World Series with 17 titles and will be making their 20th appearance in the championship game.

STEPHEN JACKSON WANTS OUT

Not surprising, Stephen Jackson wants out and wants to be traded to the Cavaliers -- where Lebron and Shaq can do everything and Jackson can mooch off them and get a championship. Sound familiar anybody?

Just go away. The Warriors gave Jackson a huge contract worth almost $30 million when nobody else in their right minds would've given him anything close to that. I hope the Warriors trade him and he realizes he is really an NBA roleplayer at best. On the Warriors, he is the man, because who else do the Warriors really have?

On other teams, he'll be lucky to be in the starting line-up. Good riddance.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Countdown to school

The countdown to the first day of school is approaching. So here are some things to chew on...

The first two sports this year out of the gate will be volleyball and soccer. We will start our first soccer practice tomorrow at West Sunset at 12 p.m. Anybody who wishes to play in grades 3-8 is welcome to show up to get back into soccer mode.

Official sign-ups will take place during the first week of school.

GOOD RIDDANCE



Today will be Olivia's last day in San Francisco before moving on to high school in Minnesota. We thank her for participating and wish her the best in all her future endeavors. And even though she is leaving, she still came and helped out at the first few volleyball practices for the 7th/8th grade the last few weeks.

Adieu...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Slide-Show Log



If Emily was a man, she would be "THE MAN."

So a big thanks to Emily who compiled this list, watching the Slideshow -- slide by slide and logging down each time a person was in the slide show. Below is the list. Rewatch it again to make sure your number corresponds to the times you appear on screen.






THE LIST

Olivia - 25
Sophia - 19
Marissa - 18
Derek - 17
Vivian - 17
Brandon - 13
Emily T - 13
Brandon L- 12
Melinda - 11
Shari - 11
Michelle C- 11
Priscilla - 10
Daniel - 10
Jeremy - 10
Serina - 10
Nicholas - 10
Tom - 9
Elliot - 9
Tianna - 9
Mark - 9
Justin L- 9
Kevin - 9
Justin G- 9
Kelvin - 8
Tiffany Y - 8
Brandon K - 7
Cynthia - 7
Beverlyn - 7
Perry - 7
Winnie - 7
Kevin - 7
Timothy - 6
Gavin - 6
Brendan - 6
Catharine - 6
Ryan - 6
Raymond - 6
Tommy - 6
Garrick S - 5
Fiona - 5
Aaron - 5
Simon - 5
Isabella - 5
Jonathan - 5
Sally - 5
Iris - 5
Robert - 5
Willard - 4
Erica - 4
Gavin C- 4
Calson - 4
Miles - 4
Edwena - 4
Tiffany V- 4
Hartman - 4
Elton - 4
Patricia - 4
Katlyn - 4
Steve - 4
Victoria - 3
Grant - 3
Ivy - 3
Hunter - 3
Matthew - 3
Jason - 3
Gary - 3
Emily C- 3
Zachary - 3
Michelle W - 3
Jessica - 3
Anthony - 3
Gregory - 3
Michael - 2
Angel - 2
Assunta - 2
Garrick - 1

COACHES AND STAFF

Tiff- 11
Thanh- 11
James- 10
Bryan - 9
Vinette- 9
Matt- 9
Ronnie- 8
Aaron- 7
Alex- 7
Freddy- 6
John- 4
Tim- 4
Ed- 4
King- 3
Stephanie- 3
Tiffy- 3
Mr. Choi- 2
Justin - 2
Mrs. Mayfield- 2
Diana - 2
Eudora - 2
Mrs. Fiebelkorn- 1
Mr. B- 1
Mr. Ryan- 1
Jeffery - 1
Heather - 1

Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy Birthday




I was in 7th grade when they started Spirit Families, probably the best idea our principal at the time ever came up with. It gave a chance for all the students in the school to get to know at least one person from each grade.

In 8th grade, I got stuck with a little rascal named Andrew. He was about 2 feet tall, big ears and everyone always raved about how cute he is. I used to hold his hand walking to church. And now he is 16...good grief.

He's a bit taller now, and will be playing for Wallenberg's varsity basketball team this upcoming school year. I even coached him for 3 years when he was in 5th, 7th and 8th grade -- two championship appearances and one championship victory in 2007.

Happy Birthday to Andrew.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A local kid, makes it big in soccer

With soccer season around the corner, I thought I'd share an article of a local boy, now man, who went to Lowell and is now playing in England, trying to make it big as a professional soccer player. Unlike other sports in the United States, soccer here is nothing compared to what it is in other continents. Want to be a soccer star? You probably need to get out of the states.

S.F.'s Peterlin acclimating to soccer in England
Courtesy: Tom Fitzgerlad, San Francisco Chronicle



(08-11) 19:35 PDT -- Not even the incessant rain in Liverpool can dampen the spirits of Anton Peterlin, a soccer player from Lowell High who recently signed with Everton of the English Premier League.

He's been enjoying Liverpool 1, the city's downtown, and was preparing to move into an apartment. He spent a month in a hotel, not counting a training trip to Scotland and an exhibition match in Austria.

"It's amazing how much it can rain over here," he said. "I heard that it can rain 285 days a year. But beside the rain, the people are welcoming, at least the ones I've met in the hotel and on the streets."

Peterlin, a 22-year-old midfielder, was offered a contract after attending Cal Poly. Not many Americans sign with the Premier League, one of the most demanding in the world. Peterlin is playing this year on Everton's developmental team, Blues XI, and that kind of experience is rare for an American youngster.

"You could probably list the American kids on the fingers of two hands over the last 10 years who have signed with the Premier League" shortly after college, Cal Poly coach Paul Holocher said.

Peterlin has trained alongside American goalkeeper Tim Howard, Australian midfielder Tim Cahill and English midfielder and team captain Phil Neville.

It was intimidating at first, Peterlin admitted, "but now you learn to play with them and give the respect, as well as putting myself in a spot to show what I've got. All of these players are incredibly gifted but even more dedicated to our sport."

Besides his considerable skill and ambition, Peterlin had something that most American players lack: a European Union passport, which eased the process of joining the English club.

He was born in San Francisco to a Danish mother and a Slovenian father. Anne Peterlin came to the United States on a tennis scholarship to USF. Boris Peterlin is also a fine tennis player, his son said. Anton said he fell in love with soccer playing in the backyard with his grandfather and brother, Sebastian, now a rower for Stanford.

Anton watched Premiership games on TV as a kid, at the home of a friend who admired Manchester United. The youngster's dream job was soon apparent.

"I'm delighted he's getting the notoriety he deserves," said Ernie Feibusch, who has coached Lowell soccer for 44 years. "He was fantastic for us, a real leader. He never got a big head, even though I suspect he knew he was pretty damn good."

In middle school and high school, Peterlin used his middle name, Alex, but switched back to Anton at UC Santa Cruz, he said, because it's "strong and unique" - and the team had three other players named Alex. He transferred to Cal Poly when Holocher, who had recruited him to Santa Cruz, took the job there a year later.

Though not highly recruited out of high school, Peterlin improved significantly every year, Holocher said. In a nationally televised 2008 game against UC Santa Barbara in San Luis Obispo - which Cal Poly lost 1-0 in overtime - Peterlin gave an outstanding performance before a crowd of 11,075, the third largest in Division I regular-season history.

There were Major League Soccer scouts on hand as well. Peterlin had tryouts with the Earthquakes and the Chicago Fire, and both clubs wanted him, but Peterlin always had Europe in mind.

He was invited to a 10-day training session with Everton in March, on the recommendation of Graham Smith, his coach with the Ventura County Fusion in the fourth division of the U.S. league system. Everton coach David Moyes played him with the first team and said he was impressed with "his attitude and undoubted ability."

Don't expect Peterlin to exchange elbows with Man U's Wayne Rooney in the near future, Smith cautions. "I want people's expectations to be realistic," he said. "He's not at a Premier League level. He's a young man who, in terms of football development compared to other players in Europe, is probably 17 or 18. He's on a fast track to catch up."

Peterlin said, "I have been given an amazing opportunity. It's rare because not many Americans get the opportunity with Everton or any English club for that matter."

Players like Howard, Clint Dempsey and others in the Premier League are clearing the way for newcomers, he said. Peterlin, for one, doesn't mind packing his umbrella.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Y.E. Yang beats Tiger Woods, Volleyball tomorrow



Sunday afternoon, Y. E. Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a men’s major golf championship, winning the PGA Championship over Tiger Woods.

I bet not one person reading this watched the end, but it was a pretty impressive feat considering Tiger is by far the best golfer in the world. He even held a lead going into the final round, but out of nowhere, Yang overtook the great Tiger Woods and beat him.

VOLLEYBALL
Tomorrow, there will be a light volleyball workout at Helen Wills at 3:30 p.m. Please show up if you are interested in playing volleyball this season.

8TH GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP TONIGHT

8TH GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS

LATEST LIGHTS

3/15-3/23 Lights

6th Grade Championship

VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP