Barstow Sports Blog

Like any good reporter, Paul Gutierrez had many, many stories to tell for our Q&A, and there was not nearly enough space in the newspaper to fit all of them.
Here’s a sampling of some of the stories:

• Paul talked about giving the readers behind the scenes information for extra impact. Well here’s the behind the scenes story behind our interview with Paul.
There were really two interviews with Paul. The first one went well but a recording malfunction (i.e. Matt screwed up) meant it didn’t get recorded. There were plenty of notes taken, but not enough to piece together an entire Q&A. Paul was gracious enough to agree to another interview and delivered even more interesting stories the second time around.

• Paul began talking with Sports Illustrated around the time he was graduating from UNLV in 1995. At one point during the hiring process the magazine called his parents home in Barstow. His mom answered the phone and very nearly hung up on them because she thought they were trying to sell her a subscription.
Guiterrez was taking post-undergrad classes at UNLV when he finally got the job. One of the classes was a television production course.

Q: Were you able to finish those classes?
A: It was funny. (Sports Illustrated) called and offered me the job on a Thursday, and the drop date was on a Friday. It was literally in the middle of the semester. I anchored the newscast that night because we had a weekly student-newcast in Vegas. During my signoff I said ‘This is my last newscast. I’m out of here. I got a job at SI.’ And then I dropped all my classes the next day and moved to New York a couple weeks later.”

Q: What was it like moving to New York?
A: It was a different world. It’s definitely the kind of place I appreciate more now then when I was living there. You are literally living on top of each other, there and you don’t see the stars. That’s the thing about Barstow that I missed — you go outside at night and you see the stars. In New York, not so much. You see building. There was a certain vibe and energy in New York that was really cool to be there at that time in my career. There’s no negatives; it was just a different atmosphere. It took literally about a year just to get used to being there.

• Paul once covered a Dodgers spring training game in Port St. Lucie, Fla., that turned into a Barstow reunion.
“I’m in the press box sitting next to John Olguin, who’s also a Barstow High School graduate and was working for the Dodgers PR department at that time, and down on the field is Dino Ebel,” Paul said. “It was three kids from Barstow in Port St. Lucie for spring training. All we were missing was Del Taco.”

• When asked about his favorite articles, Paul listed two different stories from opposite ends of his career.
He was working on a feature on Angels utility player Brian Downing while freelancing for the Desert Dispatch in 1990. Unbeknownst to him, Brian wasn’t speaking much to the Los Angeles media at the time.
“When I approached him after a game he was sitting at his locker, facing his locker, and when I came up, scared to death and asked, ‘Um, Mr. Downing, do you have a second?’ ” Paul wrote in an e-mail. “And he never looks up and says real low, ‘That depends; where you from?’ Shaking like a leaf, I gulp hard and say, ‘Barstow.’ And he turns, looks at me and his intensity is gone as he smiles and says, ‘Barstow? Well, I guess we’ve all got to start somewhere. Have a seat.’ ”

The other article came recently during his tenure with Sacramento Bee.

In “When baseball worlds collide”, Paul wrote about a subject he could relate to being an American-born Latino. He told the story of those players in Major League Baseball who cross both lines of heritage in a column.

Here’ s a snippet of the article:

“They are the ‘lost tribe’ of major-league baseball — the American-born Latino ballplayer. And — though they are as American as mom, apple pie, baseball and Taco Bell, and seemingly can walk with ease in both worlds to serve as a sort of bridge to the American way of life for their foreign-born brethren across that great cultural divide — they sometimes find they don’t fully fit in on either side.”

Thanks again to Paul for doing the interview twice! You can pick up his book he wrote with Dodgers legend Tommy Davis from Amazon.com.

— Matthew Peters, sports editor

The Barstow City Little League Championships had all the thrills of an action-packed Major League Baseball playoff game on Saturday.What is really astonishing at this level is the reaction kids have to pressure situations. In both the 9-and 10 -year-old and Major division games, these kids were flawless.A quick example of the heroics under pressure is 9 and 10-year-old Yankees pitcher Alfredo Lopez. Lopez, who walked one batter and let another get on base because off a passed ball, could have crumbled. For a second, Lopez looked hittable. He had dazzled with his fastball and developing curveball for three straight innings, striking out nine.

A quick hit back to the pitcher with two men in scoring position could have resulted in a catastrophe for Lopez’s game and the Yankees with the score being deadlocked at zero. The whole complexion could have been changed in a flash and the Red Sox, stifled all day by Lopez, could have been rejuvenated with the knowledge that he was mortal. Instead, with lightning reflexes, Lopez didn’t hesitate to make a heads up throw back to his catcher, Desi Santos, preventing them from getting a 1-0 lead in the third inning. A quick tag by Santos and the umpire screaming, “Your out” was the catalyst that made his 15-strikeout performance happen in six innings of work.Another example of performing under pressure situation happened in the next game.

With two runners in scoring position and two outs, a routine fly ball hit to centerfield could have spelled disaster for the Red Sox. However, the centerfielder made the play, in an important moment of the game, look routine. Performance under pressure isn’t easy at even the big league level. The Little Leaguers made everything look easy, and reminded everyone why they were playing for the championship game.

-Jason Blasco, sports reporter

As a sports writer, traveling and learning different towns and cities becomes part of the gig in the quest to move up the ranks in the highly competitive business of being a sports journalist.

Through all of my travels, I’ve learned a lot from living in different areas such as Tracy, Taft and Scottsdale, Ariz., and Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. In addition to my travels, I’ve also had opportunities to interview a lots of interesting and famous people such as Wayne Gretzky, Dave Winfield, Fergie Jenkins, Arizona Diamondbacks young up and coming players Chris Young and Justin Upton and had the fortunes of meeting and doing feature stories on players like Albert Pujols when he was a Class-A player in Peoria, Ill.

As a music journalist and publicist, I’ve gotten a chance to learn about different aspects and perspectives of how business is conducted and had a chance to interview some of the best in the business including Vanessa Carlton, DJ Skribble, and Blue October.

In addition to hobnobbing with celebrities, I’ve also gotten an opportunity to meet many great and interesting people through my experience, and although I’ve only been in Barstow for a week, this place has been no different.

One observation that I’ve made about this city’s sport teams is that people in Barstow and the surrounding areas are passionate about their sports and the people that play in it. I’ve gotten a chance to cover the Silver Valley softball and baseball team, the Barstow Community College baseball team and you can tell the relentless enthusiasm that the teams and fans have.

As a person who loves music and sports, the two things the two industries have in common is the amount of passion involved in each. I look forward to translating my passion for sports into giving you the readers a great product and content the passionate sports fans will crave.

— Jason Blasco, staff writer

Zach Niusulu was a little wary of playing for a coach who never recruited him. Dirk Koetter was fired as the head football coach at Arizona State and replaced by Dennis Erickson in early 2007. Niusulu, a redshirt sophomore and Barstow native, had his fears eased once he got to talking with Erickson during spring practices. Erickson looked at his roster and noticed Niusulu was from Barstow and remembered one of his other players who once shared the 92311 zip code — T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

“He figured out T.J. was from Barstow, and that’s how we connected,” Zach said. “That was a nice little ice breaker with my head coach.”

Erickson coached T.J. and Bengals teammate Chad Johnson at Oregon State in 2000 when the Beavers finished ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll.

“He told me about T.J. I told him, I remember watching T.J. play growing up, but I never really knew who he was because he wasn’t that type of receiver in high school. That kind of helped out the process of me taking in the process of my coach getting fired.”

Look later in the week for more questions and answers from Zach.

A good blog is like a garden … sort of. You’ve got to water it, put it near sunlight and sometimes talk to it. Somewhere along the way, we got away from that and now our blog is a bit wilted.

We’ve been away for so long working on enhancing our print content with new features such as athletes of the week, school notebooks, Q&As and other items.

However, starting today we brought some water and fresh soil to start nursing the blog back to health. We will be updating our blog with additional questions and answers from our weekly Q&As.

Look for things to start blooming a little more around here

— Desert Dispatch Sports Staff

On September 15 I went out to cover Barstow Youth Football’s opening day. I got my story, but along the way I also got a bunch of extra pictures of the Micro division team. Here they are.

-David Heldreth Staff Writer

Barstow wrestler Sean Silva logged more than 7,000 miles of travel from Barstow to Iowa City, Iowa, back to Barstow, to San Jose, to Fargo, N.D., and then back to Barstow in two weeks in July. He attended two wrestling camps and the Asics Cadet and Junior U.S. Freestyle and Greco Roman National Championships. He provided the journal below for the Desert Dispatch.

Day 1

• I arrived in Iowa
• I met legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable for the first time.
• I was introduced to all of the coaches and staff at the camp.
• I had my first practice at the camp.

Day 2

• We practiced three times today.
• Dan Gable coached us today. We worked on leg defense and pinning combinations.
• At our last practice Dan Gable gave us a speech about working hard mentally and physically.
• We watched a video after of Dan Gable and his accomplishments.

Day 3

• Tom Brands, head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team, coached us today.
• We were broken into small groups according to our heights.

Day 4

• Today we ran the stairs in the Hawkeyes Stadium.
• Running the stairs today was probably the hardest thing I have done so far at this camp.
• I went to Dan Gable’s house today. It was really cool. I got to see all of his medals and awards.

Day 5

• Today was my last day at the camp. I had a really good time and I learned a lot.
• I only had one practice today.

Day 6

• Today I arrived in San Jose for the team California camp.
• I had three practices today.

Day 7

• Today we arrived in Fargo, North Dakota

Day 8

• Today I wrestled in the Junior Greco Roman 112 division.
• Today was the first time I wrestled Greco.
• My record today was 1-2.
• I pinned my first guy and lost to my next two opponents. The matches were close in the matches I did lose.

Day 9

• Today I practiced with the freestyle team.

Day 10

• Today I wrestled in the 112 Cadet Freestyle division.
• My record today was 3-2.
• There was a lot of talent at this tournament and overall I think I did good even though I didn’t complete my goal of being a national champion.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors for making this trip possible. I would also like to thank my coaches and teammates for helping me train and giving me the support I needed. I would like to thank my family for the support they gave me.

— Sean Silva

Barstow High School student Sean Silva, center, stands with University of Iowa wrestling head coach Tom Brands, left, and assistant coach Dan Gable in the Iowa wrestling room.

Sean Silva, left, and Dan Gable stand in the University of Iowa wrestling room.

Submitted photos

Football season is almost upon us. We’ve been doing our own preparations for the season at the Desert Dispatch, and so have the Barstow and Silver Valley teams. Here are some news and notes from the teams.

Barstow

• The Aztecs will begin the second year of coach Jesse Ceniceros’ regime Aug. 31 against Highland in Palmdale. Barstow went 5-6 overall last year and finished the year with a 49-0 playoff loss to Palm Desert.
• Barstow plays the exact same schedule as last year, except the home and road dates are reversed. The Aztecs have five home games and five away games. They end the season with three out of their last four games on the road.
• Training camp officially opens up on Monday. It will be the coaches’ first opportunity to see their players in pads.
• The Aztecs have a smaller roster this year. Their roster is at about 30 players, according to Maxpreps.com. However, there are still a few players who need to be added. You’ll notice Jerrell Green isn’t on the list, but the junior running back was at the team’s weight-lifting session Thursday. Ceniceros will also fill out his roster with about 10 JV players on game nights.
• Green will be an important part of the Barstow’s success as its only returning running back in a predominantly run-oriented offense.
• Ceniceros warned his players about enjoying the new skate park at Dana Park after the team’s weight lifting session Thursday. With the season set to begin on August 31 and a small roster, the Aztecs can’t afford any injuries, Ceniceros said. He said he’d be making frequent trips past the skate park to make sure none of his players are skating.
• We’re not even into preseason yet, but Ceniceros wasted no time breaking out the inspirational speeches. He talked about making Barstow proud before sending his players off for the weekend. We were ready to put on some pads, and we aren’t even on the team.

Silver Valley

• Silver Valley begins its first year under the direction of coach Andy Campbell on Sept. 7 at home against Needles. Campbell served as an assistant coach with the Trojans last season when the team went 3-7 and missed the playoffs.
• It will be a season of firsts for reasons other than just Campbell’s debut. The Trojans have new jerseys and a new logo. Campbell plans to install an up-tempo spread offense this season.
• The Trojans play a similar schedule to last season but not exactly the same. Non-league games against Summit and Roosevelt have been replaced with games against St. Genevieve and Tahquitz. Silver Valley has six of its 10 games at home.
• John “Tex” Williams will not be joining the Trojans as an assistant coach as originally planned. Williams is focusing on his work with the Barstow Riffians instead. The Trojans will have about eight assistant coaches this season, though.

— Matthew Peters and David Heldreth

We reported about Derrick Jones and his long road to play professional football last week. He has almost made it through the first three weeks of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. The Silver Valley and Victor Valley Community College grad is fighting for a spot on the team as a defensive lineman. As an undrafted free agent, the odds are against him, but Derrick has been impressive so far, according to several accounts.

He got some significant playing time during Sunday’s preseason opener against the Saints. Derrick started out on special teams in the first half and played the entire fourth quarter on defense. However, Derrick was added to the team’s injury list on Tuesday.

He’s got some of the Pittsburgh-area media talking though. Here’s what they have said …

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Derrick recently impressed special teams coach Bob Ligashesky during drills.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ed Bouchette said in an online chat that Derrick has shown “some pass rush ability”

The Tribune Democrat in Johnstown, Pa. reported Derrick is a part of the Steelers future plans and might have moved ahead of Shaun Nua, seventh round pick from 2005.

AOL Sports blogger J.J. Cooper described Derrick as being “pretty active with a non-stop motor” but isn’t sure if that will ensure him a roster spot.

There was also quite a bit of information left out of the feature story on the former Trojan. Here are some of quotes that didn’t make it in the story.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it in the NFL or if he works for a Fortune 500 company.”— Grand Valley State defensive line coach Matt Yoches

“He’s a good young man. He works his butt off, and he’s done all that I asked. It’s just a matter of time. … He pays attention, asks questions and asks very intelligent questions.” — Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell

“The first practice was a big eye-opener. The size of the lineman, the speed, the practice tempo. It’s a whole different world just being in the locker room. Pretty much, they are all men at that level.” — Derrick, on attending Steelers minicamp

“It’s so gratifying for kids like that to be successful. Derrick Jones is an absolute blessing to our program. He’s a quality human being. You can’t do a lot better than that.” — VVCC coach Dave Hoover

“Don’t listen to people who tell you because you’re from Silver Valley you can’t be successful.” — Lucerne Valley coach Doug South, on not letting your school size determine success

— Matthew Peters, sports editor

Along with video, we took plenty of photos while Jim McCall was undergoing his hair metamorphosis. The entire process was quite lengthy. McCall went under the shears at Head to Toe Beauty Salon at about 1:45 p.m. on July 21 and didn’t finish up until roughly 4:30 p.m. Much of the time was spent waiting for his newly colored hair to dry in stages.

Travis McCall looks at his uncle Jim’s new hair style after the first step — bleaching his hair. There was still a long way to go.

Jim’s blue transformation begins while hairstylist Diana Rodriguez preps for more coloring.

Erica Torres, right, joins in to help color Jim’s head.

Rodriguez begins the final step — carving a “WB” into the side of Jim’s head. She referenced a West Barstow baseball hat for the design.

— Matthew Peters, David Heldreth