LB SIRENS CHARITY FOOTBALL GAME

On Saturday, September 29, 2012, the Long Beach Sirens will be taking on the Orange County Sheriffs in a charity football game. This will be the second game of a football doubleheader. The first game is between the Santa Ana Police Department and the Orange County Sheriffs. The first game's kick-off is at noon and the second game will start at approximately 1:30. These two games will be played at Eddie West Field in Santa Ana.

If you came out last year, you were treated to an entertaining and exciting football game. This year you will get twice the entertainment. The entertainment and excitement is great but these gals are taking the field for a cause. We all have to remember that this is for a charity. Come out and support your team but most importantly the money that is raised through tickets and food will go to a worthy cause.

WILSON HIGH SCHOOL AT TUSTIN HIGH SCHOOL

Last night Wilson High School traveled to Tustin to take on the Tustin Tillers. The Tillers are the defending CIF Champs and ranked #1 in the CIF Southwestern Division. Tustin is a big, strong team that can come at you with speed and power. They are such a big team that their kicker is close to three hundred pounds.

Even though I am an alumni for Lincoln High School, Brooklyn (PSAL Football Champs 2011), I have come to support Wilson High School Football for one reason. My nephew is a junior on the Wilson High School Football team (see number 65 above).

When I arrive at Tustin High, I look up and down the sidelines for number 77, that is my nephew's number, and I can't find him. I then notice that he is wearing number 65. After the game I ask him why he is wearing 65 and he said that the school did not have a white 77 jersey, so he had to be 65. OK, so I now have to adjust to find 65 instead of 77.

This game was so one-sided, they eventually went to a running clock in the fourth quarter. The first half saw the Tillers gain 200 yards on the ground to Wilson's 60. The Tustin offense runs their version of the wing-T. They run it to perfection. They have so many options to choose from. You have Devontae Young and Terence Martinez to choose from and if Quentin Roberson, the QB wants to keep it, he has phenomenal speed and a real good ball carrier. This is all being run behind a very talented and large offensive line. Tustin's David Maka, 6'5" 330,who has an offer from UCLA, is the cornerstone of that O-Line. Below is my nephew going up against Maka in the fourth quarter.

Watch the below highlight reel....






The Wilson Football team has a lot of outstanding athletes and they definitely can be competitive. The offense is using their version of the Oregon spread with a no-huddle. This definitely needs to be fine tuned because it appears that it takes way too long for the plays to be called in. Against a big team like Tustin you want them on their heels and you want to keep them sucking wind. By taking too much time in getting the plays called, Wilson was allowing Tustin to get set and prepare. Not sure what was done during practice but this past week should of been preparing a no-huddle offense that mimicked a track meet with very little time between snaps.

The defensive side was chasing too much. Tustin runs a wing-T and they run it well. You have to throw eight men in the box and you have to be patient. On all of their big yardage plays, you saw the runner cut back to an empty space. Playing against a wing-T is about containing the run and not chasing the runner, especially with the backs that Tustin has. Not sure what was done at practice but you have to hammer the point home, down lineman DO NOT CHASE, STAY AT HOME. You want to instill on the down lineman that their job is to be a sig alert, a traffic jam, anything to stop the cutbacks and empty space.

Wilson lost 42-15 but the players should not hang their heads. This was a very good Tustin team.

LOOK OUT BELOW

It is now September and the Yankees are tied for 1st place with the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays are only a game and a half behind.

The Yankees have had their share of injuries which I definitely feel is one of the major culprits of this Yankee slide. Their pitching staff has not had the full complement of pitchers for the whole season. It is hard when you have to hope that CC and Kuroda will win every start.

You listen to the sportscasters and they are all saying that the Yankees will be fine. I say that they are not making the play-offs. I am not saying that they are a bad team, I am saying that they have had their share of injuries which has caused this slide. Injuries are part of the game and you just have to deal with it.

Even if Pettite, Tex, Nova and Rodriquez come back, the damage to the team has already been done. Let's look at the facts...

The Yankees are 24-26 since the All-Star break.

Over the last 14 games the Yankees have averaged 3.2 runs a game, a team batting average of .215 and they have only hit 14 home runs. The glaring statistic is that they are batting .198 with runner's in scoring position and their team ERA is 4.57.

This is not the direction you want the team to be going in at the start of September. They needed to be playing better baseball just to stay alive until the rest of the troops come back. They have dug themselves a hole that is going to be a little tough to climb out of.