| Seth Davis: Postcard from Gonzaga
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Here in this sleepy town in the Pacific northwest, a basketball hoop still hangs over the driveway of the house where John Stockton grew up on, appropriately enough, Superior Street. After Stockton graduated from Gonzaga in 1984 and became a star with the Utah Jazz, he purchased a small, three-bedroom house next door. That house would hardly merit a spot on MTV's Cribs, but as Gonzaga coach Mark Few drove me past it last Friday, it provided a snapshot not just of Gonzaga's past, but also its present. "Do you see Stockton much?" I asked Few. "Oh, yeah," he replied. "I just got done working out with him." You see, John Stockton may have graduated from Gonzaga, but he never really went anywhere. The same is true for Gonzaga.
'Beckham transcends the sport'
Australian football may be forever in the debt of David Beckham after 'Becksmania' enticed 80 000 fans to watch an international club friendly. Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-3 loss to Sydney FC was immaterial. It was the prospect of watching the international football phenomenon strut his stuff for the first time in Australia that attracted the fans in their droves to Sydney's Olympic stadium on Tuesday. Only Australia's World Cup final eliminators have drawn more home fans than the 80 295 at Tuesday's exhibition. Charismatic Beckham didn't disappoint his legion of admirers, stroking home a signature "Bend it like Beckham" free kick in the first half and even getting steamed up enough to earn himself a yellow card for a square-up tackle. .
Fans are losers in NFL Network impasse
The NFL knew it had something special when its scheduling formula spit out a Packers-Cowboys matchup this season. While the league could never have anticipated they would rank as the top teams in the NFC, it did know the value of tradition and could document each team's enormous drawing power on national television. So when the schedule maker divvied up 2007 games among the league's television partners, it decided the Packers-Cowboys would not go to Fox, the network of the NFC, or the prime-time packages on NBC or ESPN, a trio which anted up $2.41 billion in rights fees this season. Instead, the NFL delivered the game to its own fledgling NFL Network, which will deliver the game to only one-third of the country. It's part of the league's plan to help transform an ugly duckling into a cash cow.
Basketball signups end Thursday
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Monday, November 26, 2007. Valley Press
Youth basketball registrations are currently underway. Divisions are available for boys ages 5-17 and girls ages 5-16. The registration fee is $51 and the deadline is Thursday. Adult basketball league registration is also available for ages 16 and up. Games will be played on Monday and Wednesday nights. There is also a 35 and older league that plays on Sundays. Team fees are $400. For additional information, call Randy Autry at 267-5611. Volleyball Revolution Volleyball Club tryouts will be held at Vasquez High School on Saturday. Ages 15-16 will tryout from 9-11:30 a.m., 17-18's from 12-2:30 p.m., and 12-14's from 4-6 p.m. The tryout fee is $15 for each participant.
Warriors want to drink from big cup
The St. Charles West Warriors hockey team is the first from St. Charles County to advance to the finals in one of the three Mid-States Club Hockey Association playoff tiers four times.After three trips to the Wickenheiser Cup finals in this decade, the Warriors were 0-3 in trips to the finals. But last season, they beat Clayton in a shootout to capture the Founders Cup, the county's first Mid-States postseason hardware.But this year's team has higher aspirations. Like challenging for the Suburban North Conference title and earning the right to compete in the highest playoff tier: the Challenge Cup. First-year head coach Brad Schneider and his two assistants, Bill Heisse and Harris Schiff, want to help the Warriors get to Scottrade Center."It's a nice honor, it's always nice to win that last game, but these seniors had played for the Wickenheiser Cup for two years so they were used to being at the (Scottrade Center) competing for something bigger," Schneider said."As far as the coaching staff goes, that (Challenge) is our goal.
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