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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
7 Jan 2009 Issue #1
A
few weeks back we gently chided the CHS Girls Water Polo Team for taking
time off during the Thanksgiving holiday. Of course they continued to practice.
They just didn’t have any games. This past week the Islanders played twice and
along with the CHS Boys Basketball Team playing in the finals of their
own tournament against
Islander
Head Coach Dave Throop provides commentary on the game. “In a game that
saw us put up 35 shots, while converting only five, says a lot about our
ability to generate offense. However, the technical issues that have been
concerns of the coaching staff, reared their ugly
heads in the game. Timing of shots, lack of movement away from the ball and
location of shot selection had a lot to do with our offensive production. We
made a good team dictate when and where we’d attack, rather than move to create
opportunities for ourselves. In the process, we made a really good goalie look
great.
Defensively
we gave up a lot by positioning and more so than in most sports, the subjective
nature of water polo is predicated by positioning in
relation to the goal and the ball. It’s the only way to allow officials to
adjudicate the game and maintain flow. It was the little things that we’ve
discussed and stressed as a group that added up to give us our first loss of
the season. As I discussed with the group, it was ‘Death by 1,000 Cuts’ rather
than any one particular play or moment that cost us.”
In
the game, goalie Alex Adamson was credited with six saves and two
steals. Kathryn Bailey led
The
following day was a more conventional home game, the
excursion to
Throop
discusses the Los Al game. “The loss was the first for the Girls Water Polo
Team at the BBMAC and it was a game that we came out playing hard. But I think
we confused activity for accomplishment as (former UCLA Head Basketball Coach) John
Wooden warns against. We turned the ball over 13 times, the most of any of
our games this season. The problems had more to do with our hesitation to move,
drive and attack the goal away from the ball than anything the defense was
trying to do.
Los
Al to their credit was one of the more active defensives we’ve seen and they
did a nice job confusing our ball handlers. We took 24 shots and converted six,
but we need to be more decisive in our attack. Young scored four goals, Ronimus had a goal and four steals and Shelby Couture
scored a goal. Adamson had nine saves and an assist in goal.”
Far
from being discouraged, Throop sees his club’s 5-2 record and the training they
put in over the holiday break as positives. “For many of the team members, this
is their first taste of holiday training, as we only have nine members of our
group of 20 with any varsity experience. Many of the nine athletes were backups
or roll players last season. We have been working hard quantitatively and
qualitatively and their attitudes and attendance have been outstanding. Coupled
with the level of training and the competition we’ve faced, coming out of the
winter recess, I believe we’re primed as well as any group I have been around.
Our losses have given the team the ability to see the causality of why things
need to be done a certain way and the negative effects of not doing those
things properly. The games and training are going to pay dividends down the
road.”
The
Islanders are off this week, but return to the pool Wednesday, January 14th
when they host The Bishop’s School at the BBMAC.
CHS Sports Schedule This Week
After
the long holiday break, we’ll now bring you up to date on the CHS varsity game
schedule for the coming week:
Tuesday, January 6
– The Girls Varsity Basketball Team hosts
Wednesday, January 7
– All of the CHS teams are off.
Thursday, January 8
– The Boys Varsity Soccer Team hosts Christian at 6 pm.
Friday, January 9
– The Girls Varsity Soccer Team travels to San Dieguito
Academy for a 5 pm game; the Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball Teams have a
Friday night away doubleheader, with a the Girls scheduled to play at 6 pm and
the Boys at 7:30 pm at Crawford.
CHS
Cross Country and Track Head Coach George Green wrote recently to let us
know that he has formed an AAU Youth Track and Field club named the Coronado
Track Club. The group was formed to allow
For
more information on the Coronado Track Club, please contact Coach Green by
phone at 435-3633 or go Islandertrack.com for details.
Register for the Boys Lacrosse Clinic
Along
a similar line of thought of off season workouts, a reminder that the Coronado
Boys Lacrosse Clinics will be held on five consecutive Saturday mornings at
the CMS field, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 14. Clinic times will run from 2 – 3 pm.
The
clinics are designed for boys in third through eighth grades. For new players
the clinics present an excellent opportunity to learn skills and the strategy
of the game. The clinic fee is $110 per player, with checks made payable to
Coronado Schools Lacrosse. Included in the fee is a U.S. Lacrosse
Association membership, a
Players
provide a stick, cleats and shoulder pads. Helmets, gloves and arm pads are
available to be loaned on a first-come, first-served basis, although a deposit
is required. Clinic registration dates are Jan. 10 and 11 from 8-10 am and Jan.
17 from 2-2:45 pm. Registration will be held at the
Sproles and Scifres Help
Chargers Prevail and Advance to
Paraphrasing
from last week’s Nado Natterings
(quoting myself is always fun and there are no plagiarism concerns), the
prevailing thought was that if San Diego running back LaDainian
Tomlinson and tight end and primary pass catching option Antonio Gates
were physically healthy, the Chargers fueled by the home crowd would prevail
over the Indianapolis Colts. Some of that actually happened, including the most
important part, with the Chargers winning in overtime 23-17.
Gates
was huge when it counted in the fourth quarter and in overtime, catching a
total of eight passes for 87 yards. Tomlinson, despite updates from the
Chargers public relations staff at halftime that he was healthy, was limited by
a groin injury to five carries for 25 yards and one touchdown. He battled, but
couldn’t play the entire second half.
The
Chargers were carried by a career effort from running back Darren Sproles, who accounted for an amazing 328 total yards,
plus the game clinching 22-yard touchdown run in overtime. Sproles,
who earned himself a boat-load of money on last Saturday’s performance in his
free agent year, rushed 23 times for 105 yards, caught five passes for 45
yards, returned three punts for 72 yards and made four kickoff returns for 106
yards.
In
his own realm, Charger punter Mike Scifres,
who inexplicably has never been named to an NFL Pro Bowl, may have exceeded
even Sproles’ amazing performance. Keep in mind that
from a statistical perspective, when it is said that a punt travels ‘x’ yards,
that the measurement is from where the ball was snapped, not where the punter
kicks the ball. One of Scifres’ six punts went 67
yards, which would take me three tries and a helium-filled ball to accomplish.
All
six Scifres punts were returned for a skimpy total of
six yards, and all were downed inside the
Thus
ends the good news. The Chargers in essence are entering Week Three of the NFL post
season, as they had to defeat the Denver Broncos at home to back their way into
the post season.
Sproles, for all his quickness and open-field running ability, is Reggie
Bush in a Chargers’ powder blue uniform. He is not an every down running
back and is simply not built at 5 feet and 180 pounds to take the punishment
doled out to a runner who consistently carries the ball into a human traffic
jam 25 times per game. The Steelers have the defensive personnel to stop Sproles and force Charger quarterback Philip Rivers
and his receiving corps to attempt to beat them with the passing game. With
Gates banged up (with a high ankle sprain and accompanying Achilles tendon
injury) that will be a tough assignment.
Monday
morning’s Caliente line has the Steelers favored by six points. For the
Chargers to win they have to have no turnovers from Rivers and they must put
constant pressure on