The MSV (Audiocast #2)

MSV, otherwise known as the Mountaineer Sports Voice (The 30 Minute Experience) features random talk of everything going on in and outside of Mt. SAC sports. Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeff Gilbert and Mountaineer Sports Editor James Choy discuss random topics ranging from:

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(Please consider using QUICKTIME as your audio player)
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MOUNTAINEER SPORTS VOICE (Off-Campus News)

Interview with Giovanni Lanaro


News on Mt. SAC Women's Soccer & Football

MOUNTAINEER SPORTS VOICE (Off-Campus News)

Jeff's Big 5 Stories of the Day

Marion to LA for Odom/Cook?

NFL Picks - Jeff, James, Gio

Send an email to mtsacsports@gmail.com for comments/remarks/questions.

The Mountaineer Sports Voice (Audiocast)

The first audiocast of the semester is finally here!

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON BELOW TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIOCAST

(Please consider using QUICKTIME as your audio player)
Click HERE to download QUICKTIME.


MSV, otherwise known as the Mountaineer Sports Voice (The 30 Minute Experience) features random talk of everything going on in and outside of Mt. SAC sports. Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeff Gilbert and Mountaineer Sports Editor James Choy discuss random topics ranging from:


SEGMENTS:

1. Intro - Introduction of the show
2. Blogs - What is it?
3. Who is Jeff Gilbert? - Identifying with Jeff of his life and his job at Mt. SAC
4. NFL: The New Orleans Saints - Jeff's analysis on the team, Drew Brees, what next.
5. Mt. SAC Women's Soccer Team: Coach Melinda Bowen, Falisha Ramirez, The Cerritos Game, Veronica Wilheim, Alicia Gutierrez
6. The Los Angeles Lakers - Mitch Kupchak - Should he be fired, Andrew Bynum - Good enough?, Lamar Odom - His mentality + his ability?, Kevin Garnett - The failure to acquire him, Boston Celtics - Rulers of the Eastern Conference, The Showtime Lakers - Identifying the ultimate team, Jerry Buss - DUI? Hawaiian Tropics' Judge?


Sound-off and express your thoughts and feelings here or email us at mtsacsports@gmail.com.

The Ultimate Test Begins for Women's Soccer

I'd like to assist in giving the women's soccer team some added motivation in staying focused against Cerritos on Tuesday, Sept. 25. I have some suggestions that I hope will help the players from reading this entry:

1. Never make the coach angry. You wouldn't like it when she's angry.

2. This is the first conference game. Starting the conference in the loss column wouldn't look pretty. Added that, you're going against probably the best team out there in Cerritos.

3. Lob the ball to Falisha Ramirez. Ramirez's size and quickness can overwhelm the Cerritos' defense. Get the wings and the midfielders up at the center when Ramirez passes it over. If the women can force the Cerritos' defense to scramble.


Mounties Julie Rizo skies in the air veering her head towards the net for a goal against Santa Monica, Fri. Sept. 21. (James Choy / Mountaineer)

4. Keep Veronica Wilheim healthy. She's the X-factor. If she's able to hold off the Cerritos' offense, it'll be a close one but advantageous to the Mounties.

5. If the ladies play the way they did against Santa Monica, nobody will stop them. It was a total team effort and the onslaught never let up throughout the entirety of that game.

6. The fans/family who come to cheer for you at an away game want to keep the hometowners quiet by screaming when you score.

7. I did some research: http://www.cerritos.edu/hpea/athletics/sports/w_soccer/2007/releases/sept_07/sept_17_07.asp
Read all about them, if this helps at all.

A winning streak is a very good thing. Over-confidence from the winning streak could be a bad thing. I hope the women aren't feeling that way at all.

Kill 'em.

The El Camino 'Rain' That Never Should've Came

What can we say and feel about the Mounties losing a heartbreaking game against El Camino this past Saturday?

Was it the turnovers, fumbles that cost Mounties' coach Bob Jastrab his first conference win? Was it the defense in the backfield at times seemed lost in position (two occasions where an El Camino receiver was left wide open)?

Or maybe did the El Camino defense do a good job denying Mounties' receivers Matt Austin and Aiona Key to get their two or three combined touchdowns that they're succumb to getting since the beginning of the season?

Or should we revisit the famous words of Milli Vanilli, "Blame it on the rain?"

Before the beginning of the season, the Hilmer-Lodge stadium was a pretty sight. It was nothing but greenery seen from one end zone to the other. The once scorching 100+ degree heat beared its rays down on the fluffy grass, hot but healthy.

Then Mother Nature decided to soak us all, soak our hair, our clothes, our players, our field, in an unfortunate way.

At 6-0 in the first quarter, Mounties quarterback Kevin Craft was at the El Camino four-yard-line and had a rusher approaching on the right side. Craft turned to veer away from the rusher and went to toss a floater over the opponent's head, but oh Mother Nature ... she came, soaked the football and caused Craft to lose grasp of it, landing in the hands of the El Camino rusher, and intercepting it for big yardarge.

At times, the rain came down pretty well and seemed the game would turn into a frenzy of turnovers, a true messy football game.

But it was more exciting than expected, but sadly not in the Mounties' favor.

Realistically, the Mounties should have won this game. If Mother Nature had not brought us the much needed rain that Southern California needed, the Mounties would've won. If only the rain had come down later in the afternoon or some other time than during the game, it might've been a different story.

But oh what about the penalties? Penalties were rampant back and forth. But penalties are always a part of the game.

Nevertheless, it stands as it is ... a loss for the Mounties.

Here's something interesting, Craft switched his repertoire from a Peyton Manning type player to a Vince Young type? Craft rushing downfield? Craft scrambling left and right downfield like a slick Steve Young for a first down?

A side note: Craft had 215 total yards passing in the first half.

Despite the loss, Craft showed poise during the closing seconds of the game and had the offense prepared to shock the stadium with a come-from-behind win ... a pass that would hopefully hit either Austin or Walker or Key.

Sadly, it floated a tad too high .. a tad too far.

31-26, the final score.

After the game, I stepped out onto the field to feel my feet sink into the smushy grass, and I discovered the thick soil dried up, caused from the second-half disappearance of the rain and the sun shining through the moving dark clouds.

Credit to El Camino for capitalizing on the Mounties threat to score at the end, but they were the ones that should've lost.

As for the coaching staff, its back to the film room to see and fix what was broken on Saturday. With another home game coming next weekend, let's hope Mother Nature don't spoil the game again.

The Men and Women of Foot Power

Sept. 21 VS Orange Coast


Sophomore Aldo Luna kicks the ball from the left wing and lifts it to the center in hopes of an assist vs Orange Coast. (James Choy / Mountaineer)

Freshman Gilbert Navarro has some nice speed. He also comes from my alma mater, Walnut High School. He was pretty much all over the field yesterday against Orange Coast and was both passing well and lunging for the net also.

His teammates Karlos Gonzalez and Cameron Sims happened to be at the right place with their goals. It seems when the ball airs to the center from the wings, there's a certain spot where Sims is at that routinely has him scoring, or it could be just plain coincidence.


Freshman Cesar Barajas maintains control of the ball and scurries past the Orange Coast defender in hopes of kicking it to the center. (James Choy / Mountaineer)

It's amazing to see the passing and the moving of the ball flow so efficiently with the Mounties. The players seem to know their spots and at times know their spacing and zone. The one-on-one matchups are always fun to watch. You always want to see how badly an opponent's ankles' snap as the dribbler coasts by them.

The defensive protection and the ability to control the tempo was significant to the Mounties' win and as long as this stays as status quo, they won't be stopped.

-------------------

Sept. 21 vs Santa Monica

Women's Soccer Coach Melinda Bowen, otherwise known as Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, led her Amazon Mounties to an overwhelming 8-1 win.

Sophomore forward Falisha Ramirez once again goes terminal and handles the Santa Monica defenders like flies smothered flat from a flyswatter.


Forward Falisha Ramirez leans into the ball and moves to get by her in hopes of scoring a goal. (James Choy / Mountaineer)

How does a woman with her height (is she six feet?) run so fast and move so quick?

Her two goals, one coming from a corner kick assist and the other, a perfect header straight into the net was almost uncontested at the time. It's like the goalie just froze and didn't know where she was.

Bowen made sure to use her bench frequently to keep the ladies fresh and to give reserves a chance to show their stuff.

Like the men's team, the women have good passing flowing around. The defenders did well on keeping the backfield protected, especially from co-captain Veronica Wilheim. Her fundamentals are solid and her one-on-one abilities are nice. She pretty much held ground for the defense and for facilitating the midfield.

Teammate Shani Ibarra, who played left wing in the first half, came in the second half with the job to help dish out passes in getting the midfielders to move the ball.

The little things that roleplayers do to help get the offense moving is often overlooked, but in this case appreciated and noted. It's these little things that help players like Cassie Molinari, Tosha Davda and others to do their part in attacking the goal.

Let's make a bold prediction ... Mounties win by two against Cerritos. That's my call.

The Mounties, at this point, are averaging almost six goals per game. As long as the defense stays protected, Cerritos will have a hard time getting setup in the offense. Most of the time it could be the constant passing from the Mounties that disrupts Cerritos' ability to gain control. When the weak spots are exposed and pressed against, watch out ... Bowen will make sure that the ladies take full advantage of that.


If I'm wrong of this outcome - I will humbly say I was wrong.

Till then, let the women of Mt. SAC do what they do best, win.

The Weekend Thoughts

After the heartbreaking loss against Orange Coast in which the women's volleyball team went to five games, they make a statement and win beating Rio Hondo only allowing them 28 points in the first two games and then finishing them off in the third with a 30-27 win on Sept. 14. This was a much needed win after Coach Maria Dennis left the gym after the Orange Coast match seemingly angry. But with back-to-back games, how do these ladies stay so well-conditioned? With the volleyball season just getting underway in conference play, you have to admire the tenacity and the hard work these athletes put in day in and day out.

Men's water polo coach Marc Ruh has to be feeling very optimistic this season with his new squad comprised of 14 freshmen and six sophomores.

The two freshmen, William Brown and Mikey Edwards are giving the Mounties good offensive production with sophomore returners Matt Escobar and James Um providing the experienced play.

Despite the loss in the final match of the Mt. SAC tournament, the team is now 7-2 overall and so far looking good as the next conference match versus Cerritos awaits followed by the Cal Baptist tournament Fri., Sept. 21-22.

Men's soccer coach Juan Sanchez has to be pleased with the furious offensive onslaught his Mounties are displaying scoring an astounding 11 goals in their game against Feather River.

The passing and distribution of the ball continues to flow as the secret of the Mounties' success. Provided that, the offensive attack of Victor Cardenas and Gabriel Tinoco aids firepower in the midfield and the forward spot including the always-dangerous Julio Sora and Cameron Sims.

Credit goes to Goalkeeper Luis Ocampo and the Mounties' defenders for preventing any goals scored against them having only given up as much as only one goal since the start of this season.

Not allowing Richland, last year's number one team, to score a single goal is a sign that this squad that Sanchez has gathered is indeed a much poised and well-rounded team than last year. Taft and Orange Coast awaits.

Despite only 14-of-28 passing, sophomore quarterback Kevin Craft threw for two touchdowns and passed for 242 total yards for the Mounties after having to leave the game with a cramp muscle. The fumbles and the team defense however couldn't shake off the Palomar offense as they controlled the tempo for most of the first and second quarter.

This is not the way the Mounties would like to start their football season with an 0-1 record after pushing through the two previous opponents with an average of 60 points produced.

Hopefully, the offense will be ready for El Camino this Saturday at the Hilmer-Lodge Stadium as they resume their interdivisional play.

The Cellphone Charger Mystery

Sept. 14, 2007

I took a brief day off from sportstalk for today's entry--so I thought I share with you all a day in the life of me, Mr. Sports Editor ... enjoy!

Wednesday, I took my charger for my cell phone to the newsroom because I needed to get my battery restored. I brought it to work, forgot to attach it to my cell and left it somewhere ...

I spent the whole day consumed working on the paper, thinking about my next blog entry, ad invoices to fill out, assigning photographers to the games and assigning stories to my wr-- wait, I'm the only writer for sports! ARGH!!

So I ran about campus the whole day distributing the recent issue that came out and running here and there ... getting food, meeting with folks at different locations doing the daily business that I normally do.

Later after finishing my campus chores, I settle back in the newsroom having brief discussions with my adviser, my editor-in-chief, and my other co-workers all of the upcoming issue info.

(Sighs) Too much going and doing during the day.

The day grew on and day soon began to turn early evening, I decided to retire and go home for the night. I come home and I look at my cell and see my battery life at 22%.

I gasp. I totally had forgotten ... What did I do with it? I get my keys, leave the house, take off back to campus and run back to the newsroom--WHERE'S MY CHARGER AT? How do I get back in the newsroom?

At 10:37 pm, I called security to get me back inside the newsroom to search frantically for my charger ... nothing. ARGH!!! No cell phone contact!!

The night ends and nothing is successful with the search.

I sleep ... I wake up.

Thursday morning.

I look at my battery life at 11%.

I slowly stroll back for another day at work on campus.

I go to the Marie T. Mills Aquatic Center to check the pool to see if I misplaced my adapter there. I might've misplaced it there from swimming during the day before .... As I gaze at the pool, I see how refreshing the water looks and how all the fortunate swimmers happily and gaily swoosh through the blue water. I stand there momentarily thinking how good it would be to dip and take a swim.

But all I could think about was my charger. Phone life now at 9%

I talk to Coach Doug Todd (who was coaching his folks in the pool) ... he seen nothing. I talk to Coach Mike Goff, he tells me nothing. He refers me to go see Gabe, the supervisor of the pool facility at his office to find my charger.

I turn back and I see the remaining athletes swimming about and exiting the pool.

I look at the water again ... I miss the water.

I realize that I have an editorial board meeting today -- so no swimming for me scheduled.

I spend two hours that morning searching, looking, scanning, scavenging ... but to no success, I could not find my charger.

I met with one of the runners during the finish of cross-country practice and she referred to me to one of the athletes on the team who has a human interest story for my forthcoming issues.

So I tell my acquaintance, "Get me his name, number, email and I'll get with him soon."

I gain a little something good at least for my search of my charger, a possible story pitch.

I spent the rest of the day doing my usual errands, meetings, work in the newsroom.

There was a big crash/accident today off Bonita/Temple involving two vehicles. I was rushed over to the scene to cover the story and get interviews for it. Wow, breaking news story soon to be recorded and posted! (Stay tuned). For an hour I'm at the scene getting all the info I can.

I trot back to the newsroom to go back to my usual agendas but now with this accident report, I'm immediately re-organizing my notes/facts to get this story prepared for the weekend. Then I forget about my things-to-do for the day and exhausted go through that.

The afternoon wears on and the night approaches. I'm feeling somewhat weary ... probably from being in the newsroom too long.

After phone calls, tasks to take care of and cleanup of the newsroom, I'm ready to exit campus for the night and go home. I figure I go see Coach Sanchez or Coach Bowen at soccer practice to see what's happening with the soccer folks this evening.

I get ready to leave the newsroom and decide I'm a little hungry so I go into the editor's room to get my day-old teriyaki rice bowl I left in the fridge and lo' and behold ...

... my cell phone charger!

It was inside the refrigerator--how in the world did that happen?

I smile as I take it out of the refrigerator and happily wrap up my day headed into a restful weekend.

Ahh... the life of a sports editor has many interesting discoveries.

I'm looking forward to the men's water polo tournament to see how well the guys do--kill em guys!

I'm mindful also of all the programs with their away schedules this weekend as well.

My battery life on my cell phone is at 1% ... and I go home now ... happy.

Players will Develop Despite Volleyball Loss

Sept. 13, 2007

If I'm Coach Maria Dennis, I shouldn't be angry or mad.

The women's volleyball team lost their match to Orange Coast 30-27, 28-30, 30-26, 21-30, 11-15 on Sept. 12.

It was indeed a heartbreaking loss. The ladies played hard and showed flashes of brilliance.

However, there were many instances of miscommunication and unforced errors. Some plays in which players didn't respond instantly after the defensive digs and also some plays in which the formation on the floor during a Orange Coast attack was seemingly out of place. There were some inexcusable mistakes that was committed during the game, but something each of the girls need to work on and handle by themselves individually.

At least that's the way how I seen it.

But did you see the Orange Coast women? You have to admit they were beatable but on the offensive attack they seemed pretty good. They have size and the ability to spike on a low soft set.

I knew everytime when they tapped a light and low set, their front court would leap and bomb on their overhand kills, and they did just that.

A few questions that I have is:

1. Why didn't they have both Brianna Fischer and Michelle Purper together playing the two front and keep Kelsey Duling, Valerie Varela and Lori Magnusen in the back? Having the two giants on the floor simultaneously would've been both a formidable offense and defense as well.

Putting Jennifer Goodsell with the twin towers would've provided an offensive front court that would've made Orange Coast cringe.

2. How come the Mounties don't work on executing the soft sets with the hard spike provided from both Fischer and Purper?

Purper dismantled the opponents when she repeatedly ran that setup play in the home opener match. Pretty much whatever Purper threw down Chaffey wasn't able to return.

The Mounties all throughout the match had no defensive return/response when Orange Coast let their two giants ran the play all night ... in some instances the Mounties defense seemed ... defenseless.

But then again that was Chaffey and this was Orange Coast.

Orange Coast was great but their defense was not superb.

The ladies are a team still developing at this time but this loss I believe was a humbling one. The expression on the girls' faces after the match was of disappointment and of anger, very obviously shown.

4/5 of the team is comprised of freshmen. I'm not going to hold that against them. Coach Dennis and their coaching staff are good at what they do and will eventually get over this hump.

Keep your head up ladies, everything will be alright.

I'll make the call right now ... Mounties will win their next match.

Destination: Rio Hondo.

Kill 'em girls.

Who Gets the Shine for Mounties Football?

Sept. 12, 2007.

Yes, they're 2-0 and so far everything is everything with the big, bad boys.

But it's extremely hard to determine who or what it is that's keeping Mounties football clicking in all cylinders.

You could say that the coaching staff is solely responsible in tuning up the guys and maintaining them well--showing them the way, feeding them the proper lessons, polishing them in shape, raising the volume of toughness in their mental mind, chiseling them to physical perfection.

Yeah you could say that.

But what about Johnny Sione's boys? Should we credit those big burly guys who represent the first line and last line of defense for the team?

If anyone, they sacrifice their lungs, their bodies, their legs ... everything they do, the defense ... the job they do is, "We fight so that they'll cease to fight."

Let me tell you, I have the utmost respect for people who play defense and who's jobs are to defend and hold down the opposition---especially on behalf of not just the team they play for, but also for the many that sit in the stands cheering, ranting, screaming and shouting sharing that same pride ... people that want to be out there in the gridiron once again ... and those up in the press box who dream of one day being out in the field for one moment, just once, to be there taking one for the team.

What's the saying, "The best offense is a good defense ..." (Is that correct?)

Yeah you could say that.

Then you walk on down the lineup and you see the offensive line, the people who sacrifice themselves play-by-play fighting every down to protect the players 'chosen' to lead the way and take the ball to the touchdown destination. These guys who breathe, pant, sweat, hunch over in labored pain surpass all that keeps them down. These guys in the offensive line are the ones who show us, "We'll go down for you so that you can go do your job and help us to win."

To the average novice fan who knows nothing about football they might say a lineman is characterized as massive, extremely large, (for some) overweight, slow, dumb.

To my eyes, a lineman is passionate, devoted, heroic, sacrificial, loyal and obedient. They let the leader take charge of him and he trusts the leader.

You scan around the offense and you see the tailbacks, the ends, the receivers and you say, "Yes. Those are the ones who are responsible for the Mounties' success." Head Coach Bob Jastrab says the receiver core is deep and any from the group can step in and give you what you need in the scoring department.

But when you have guys like Aiona Key and Matt Austin or Eric Walker and Lester Thomas, who fly, shift, turn, weave, shift and then flee ... these are the ones who are given ... to take the ball and run. They're the soldiers who are responsible in performing the mission of seek and score. Each of these guys are there to say, "I will score or die trying."

Yeah you can say that.

SIDE NOTE: A little recognition and special thanks to Asst. Coach Iona for doing his job ... assisting ... in helping to lure Aiona Key from Boise to Mt. SAC. Good gosh that guy has Reggie Bush-esque moves when he runs with the ball!

The question though is, "How can you have everything if you don't have someone to lead the fleet of troops?"

Mr. Kevin Craft, front and center.

Who in the world is this guy? Where does he come from?

I can tell you what Mr. Craft isn't. He's not some fresh-outta-high school American pretty boy that walks around boasting and grinning how great he is. He's not the stereotypical figure you'd see in movies, TV shows with limited intellect and gets all the girls he feasts his eyes on.

Kevin Craft is the leader. He is the one that tells the team, "I'll take you there." He's the guy who will find his freedom, pass it on (to the receiver, tailback etc) and say, "I facilitated this plan, now you lead us to our destination."

He completes 31 passes of 45 attempts for 415 yards passing throwing four touchdowns in his debut as a Mountie.

A week later, he completes 28 passes for 35 attempts for 392 yards passing this time throwing six touchdown passes.


So the question to you readers is ...

Who is responsible for the success of this team? The coaching staff? The defense? The receivers, ends, tailbacks? The quarterback?

Who?

When you have all the elements coming together and staying well connected, who cares? If this is the status quo to the team, keep it at that but slowly and steadily stay tuned up and be prepared at anytime to unleash the beast.

You have to love Mounties' football ...

Yeah you can say that.


But be warned oh happy fans.

One loss could submerge the positivity that's flowing around the squad. Maybe not.


But who is praised for this recent success?

What can you say?

A Day With Coach Bowen & the Women's Soccer Team

Mon, Sept. 10, 2007

I took a visit to go see Coach Melinda Bowen for a brief interview regarding the women's most recent win against Richland that took place yesterday.

I visited her office at about 3pm to be introduced by her two assistant coaches. With Coach Bowen out on an errand, I sat and waited momentarily but then was visited by three of the captains, Falisha Ramirez, Veronica Wilheim and Crystal Lizama came (thanks for the interview) along with Coach herself.

We introduced, sat down and I was gladly invited to sit and see the conversation between the coach and the captains regarding soccer business

By recording this session, it was interesting to sit and hear the many different conversations and to just witness the things that go on with soccer. In one discussion, there was talk of the status of one of the players who had suffered a head injury in Sunday's game against Richland. The injury was in actuality more vicious than what it sounds. The player went to get a CT scan and it showed that there was no signs of any serious injury. I happened to see her that afternoon and she seemed fine. The Mounties' handled Richland by the way, 4-2.

For about 15-20 minutes we stuck around in Coach Bowen's office listening to preparations. The coach decided first to do a chalk talk session, then some light jogging to keep the legs rested and conditioned for the ladies and then some drills for the goalies and the red shirts.

During the chalk talk session, the coach went over some formations, gave some lessons on finding open paths to the goal, and how to utilize the field during forward approaches.

Emotions ran deep later in which news of one of the players' mom was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Thoughts and prayers go out to that player and the family. My heart went out to her seeing her tear up ... All was quiet after the news of this announcement. I don't know what to think about what was going on through the players' minds, but I wonder if this somehow ignited a sense of drive or a reinforcement in going out tomorrow and winning. I looked around and this silence was ... I really don't know.

The one thing I found interesting leaving the interview is when Coach Bowen explained to me about life and soccer. She explained how life consists of many ups and downs and by identifying with some of the problems that her players are going through, there are ways in showing how to appreciate and to view their lives in a different perspective with sports. For a couple minutes, the interview just turned into a real deep conversation ... and I just sat there nodding my head, gazing and digesting her wisdom ...

I felt good leaving the facility meeting the team for a day and seeing what it's like being at practice. Added that, envisioning a group of beautiful women clad in uniform, training and conditioning and preparing for war is intriguing. Some sharing laughs with others to lighten the mood while others with their gamefaces silent and focused. I tend to think of Amazon women ... warriors prepared for battle ... Coach Bowen as Athena, Greek goddess of war and wisdom directing orders with her two assistant coaches, holding fort like war captains.

Off to Rio Hondo!

Kill em.


- END.