PAL TOURNEY — V. 2012

UPDATE: As soon as I published this, I caught an error on the page. Lesson here, boys and girls: proofread, proofread, proofread. Man, that would have been embarrassing. Can you catch the error?

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Where has all the time gone?

We are already a month and a half into the new year, and as expected, it’s been nuts. Lots of stuff going on in July Land which are making blogging increasingly difficult to do. Sorry. Anyways, I have a second while I wait for the Warriors’ story to come through the Associated Press wire, so I’m going to take this chance and post the bracket for the PAL tournament, version 2012. Here you go:

Building this today made me realize (a) I need a faster computer and (b) I don’t really like building stuff the day of — I don’t feel like I agonize over it enough and will probably hate it the next day because, well, that’s just the way I am.

There is a story that goes with this, I’ll do my best to post a link to it tomorrow when it’s live.

Predictions? I’d be dumb not to take El Camino boys and Terra Nova girls. My upset specials? How abbbout Mills in the boys bracket and San Mateo in the girls. The Bearcats came within three of the Tigers … which is closer than any team in the PAL.

Stuff on the back-burner? How about an All-Daily Journal girls’ soccer team. And I’m doing some homework on the boys side. So, keep an eye out for those.

Letters to my Editor —

Yes people, we read every single letter, every single email, and make an effort to answer every phone call. And believe me, the majority of them aren’t awesome AT ALL. After a little while you learn to develop a thicker skin when people attack your reporting and you figure it comes with the territory. I’ve been called everything from a racist, to someone that should consider a new profession, to imcompotent (that’s how they spelled it).

So yes, it’s nice to get to nice letters from readers. My reporter colleagues at the DJ get WAAAAYYY more than I do. Those guys have collections. People love them!

I’m not one of those reporters that won’t take a compliment. I freakin’ love them. I wanted to share a couple of letters we got recently at the Daily Journal. Muchas gracias to Mr. Traynor and the Schick family — and like that dude in Kill Bill No. 2 said, “I’m susceptible to flattery.” Haha.

Rivalry Week — Day 1

Rivalry Week is upon us … and this year, with Veterans Day falling on a Friday, it’s getting an early start. If you may, or may not recall, I’ve done a graphic for Rivalry Week the last couple of years. I thought last year’s wasn’t TOO bad, even entered it for the Peninsula Press Club competition. Don’t remember it? Click here.

This year, with three different days full of games, we’re going to try to do three different graphics. It was Nathan Mollat’s idea “I was thinking, however, maybe running a different football graphic each day?” to which I replied, in my best Morgan Freeman from The Dark Knight voice, “Now that’s more like it Mr. Wayne.” So, with that said, here’s Day 1 >> Carlmont vs. Sequoia >> Capuchino vs. Mills >> Menlo-Atherton vs. Woodside.

You can read the rest of the preview piece here. 

Daily Journal Top 10 Poll — October

Today’s games mark the unofficial, ‘no turning back’ point of the high school football season (for me). As of tomorrow, the bulk of everyone’s schedule will be over and done with. So, with that said and the month of October winding down, I thought it would be interesting to take a gander at the Daily Journal Top 10 Prep Football Poll through the month of October. Looking back at it now holds more importance given that the games that matter are the ones we have factored into the poll. Here’s a look at the last four weeks, including today’s (our latest version).

There are a couple of things I’d like to point out >> There hasn’t been a ton of movement in the Top 3. As you can see, Serra has (and will for the rest of the season) held on to the top spot. Even with that Mitty loss, and any loss for that matter, they’re head and shoulders above any team we have on the Peninsula. Although, the thing that cost them against the Monarchs was their inability to defend the pass (in that game). Perhaps, Terra Nova on a great day, might give them a run. That said, the Tigers have a hard time stopping anyone defensively >> Major props are in place for the Menlo Atherton Bears, who have jumped four spots to the Top 3. At the beginning of the year, we had no idea what to expect from the M-A boys. They still have a legitimate shot at the Bay Division title. How’s that for a way to finish your regular season … @home against Sacred Heart Prep and @Terra Nova. Two wins there, they have at least a share of the title >> Speaking of shout outs, how about the boys from Half Moon Bay, who at the start of the month weren’t even in the poll! Coach Matt Ballard won’t admit this, but I’m sure he was peeved that us media types counted them out of the Ocean Division equation at the beginning of the year. Goes to show how much we know! >> South City has suffered the biggest drop, three spots >> Capuchino, with their No. 10 spot this week, is the first Lake Division team to crack the poll >> Menlo and King’s Academy, both ranked in the Top 10 at the start of the month, have fallen out of the poll.

Oktoberfest in Redwood City —

Ideally, I’d be out in Redwood City consuming large amounts of beer. But there are other pressing matters at hand, so for the time being, I’m going to share our latest project. RWC is great in hosting awesome events, Oktoberfest in RWC started last year, I went, it was great and this year, I wanted to build something for the newspaper.

This year’s project is a collaboration between Heather Murtagh (the fabulous) and Erik Oeverndiek (fabulous in his own right, haha). I did the graphic work, Heather wrote a kick ass story and Erik added his invaluable knowledge of all things brew. When you put it together, this is what you get.

Erik also took that photo you see there on his visit to Devil’s Canyon Brewery in Belmont. As you can see, there are different elements in play here, but as with any decent plan, the pieces came together OK. There is a page two, which you see below, which delves a little deeper into the beers at Oktoberfest. Again, click for a larger view.

There was one element we had to leave out because of space, it was a rundown of the different glassware you can use to drink beer. It would have been a nice touch, we just ran out of time. Oh well. Hope everyone goes out there and enjoys the beer!

Daily Journal POY Watch — Football

With the PAL and WCAL seasons in full swing, and five games off the schedule for everyone, I thought it’d be appropriate to start handicapping my vote for the Daily Journal Football player of the year. Just for a little background, the DJ chooses one athlete from each of the Fall sports and bestows upon them the honor of the Player of the Year (or Athlete of the Fall/Winter/Spring). Sometimes it’s a hard process, sometimes it isn’t. With half the (regular minus CCS) season in the books, here’s who I’m liking with my vote:

I’ve had the delight of watching my fair share of Serra football this fall, and I can’t remember seeing a player that is as explosive as Wilson on a field … pretty much ever. Wilson is an absolute stud. He’s got 14 touchdowns so far, he’s averaging more than 10 yards a touch, oh, and he’s what Patrick Walsh called, “a Division I type corner, maybe an NFL-type corner” on defense. A bit more on his ranks according to Maxpreps.com

Speaking of studs, there isn’t a better quarterback in the PAL, maybe in CCS, than Terra Nova’s Chris Forbes. In last weekend’s game against No. 2 Sacred Heart Prep, Forbes was a machine. “Tigers’ quarterback Chris Forbes had a monster game, throwing three touchdown passes and running for two more. He was 15 for 17 for 296 yards — in the first half alone. He finished with a mind-boggling 409 yards passing on 24 of 35 attempts.” Those were only his numbers on Friday. On the season, Forbes is head-and-shoulders above other QB’s. There is no other QB in CCS with double-digit TDs. He’s got 17. And his 312 yards per game is 83 better than his next closest position-mate.

Wilson and Forbes may be the clear front-runners for my vote, but South City’s Brad Los deserves some definite recognition. The South City QB won’t blow you away with his numbers, but the reason he cracks my Top 3 is because the Warriors are winning. And they’re winning convincingly with Los as their leaders. South City is 5-0 and is coming off a 41-21 victory over Menlo. Los is only getting better as the season is moving along, and his ability to throw the football effectively gives the Warriors an element not many Ocean Division teams have. The guy is developing into quite the leader. Here are some of his numbers.

PAL Football — Predictions (Hmm, yeah, I’m dumb)

Just in case you missed it, Menlo-Atherton and Burlingame officially kicked off the PAL regular season last night … and the Bears won. Game story is here, just in case you want to read it. But anyway, that’s not why we’re here. A couple of days ago, the Daily Journal got an email from John Mylod, Sports Director at KCEA Radio in Atherton (89.1 on your FM dials) who runs a show called “Inside the PAL” … it’s a great source for local sports information. The email went something like this:

Gentlemen,
This is John Mylod from KCEA. I need your help.
I would like to have some predictions other than my own. I only see one, maybe two games a week. You guys see more games, are closer to the action and talk to coaches after every game. I am hoping to get your picks for the 2011 league season…1 through 6 all three P.A.L. leagues. A couple other questions I hope you will answer, include:

1) Team most likely to win a CCS champ?
2) Dark horse/flying under the radar-team?
3) Best player we don’t know?
4) Toughest place to play/Biggest home field advantage?

All answers (and credit) will be given tomorrow night during “Inside the P.A.L.” (7p-9p, KCEA, 89.1fm) streaming at www.kcea.org.

Now, any sports journalist will tell you that they HATE making predictions … because realistically, there is no real way of predicting anything. Especially high school football. But, realistically, we LOVE it. Well, at least I do. Something about seeing how dumb I was when I look back at the predictions that is super awesome to me. Anyway, Nathan Mollat, my sports editor, said, “if you do it, I will” and I said, “of course I will. I thought they’d never ask.” Actually, a handful of local journalists did, and John went live with them on his radio show for the world to see. He sent us an Excel sheet with the accumulated information yesterday. Below are the results. CLICK FOR A LARGER VIEW.

As you read from the email, John asked for other things, and for the sake of time, and to keep this post brief, I’ll share my responses.

Team most likely to win CCS: I think Sacred Heart Prep is in an ideal Division and is way too good in that CCS Division not to make a serious run at another CCS title. I think Terra Nova, behind Chris Forbes, has a really good chance of repeating again. That said, if either falls into the Open Division, those chances diminish A LOT considering that there will plenty of WCAL teams waiting in there.

Dark Horse/Team Under the Radar: I don’t know if they’re under the radar, but South City has a really good chance of winning a CCS title. I’ve seen a pair of times, and coach Moro has that defense playing with confidence. Brad Los’ stock is rising very quickly and their main tail back, Anthony Shkhratov is tremendously underrated. I also think Capuchino might sneak up on some people in the Lake Division.

Best Player We Don’t Know About: It’s a shame you haven’t heard of Andrew Ho. The wide receiver from San Mateo is a stud. He could be a No. 1 wideout on ANY team in the Peninsula … BAY, LAKE, OCEAN, PUDDLE, SEA … Others include: Damien Carter (Hillsdale) … we mentioned Los … Christan Masulit (Woodside) … Joe Lasala (Carlmont) … Jeremiah Veimau (Sequoia) …

Toughest Place to Play: The consensus among the writers was >> South City High. Because it’s COLD there. They still have natural grass. It’s poorly lit. And the fans LOVE it. Haha. In terms of atmosphere, I went with Burlingame. I think it’s a great place to play a football game. Sequoia is climbing my chart rather quickly.

Good luck to all the teams. Here’s a to a safe and healthy football season.

Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

The world lost one of its true geniuses today when Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56.

News broke at the Daily Journal relatively early, which gave my boy, Erik Oeverndiek some time to figure out what he wanted to do for Page 1 … since of course it’s a story of huge magnitude. Here is a look at what he came up with. I’m glad we played it as big as we could. It’s not often we mess with the Daily Journal flag. But then again, it’s not everyday a legend and genius like Jobs dies.

For a full look at the Daily Journal edition visit http://www.scribd.com/smdailyjournal <<

What a bummer of a death. Jobs is the man. I’m sure if you stroll through the net, you’ll find some notes on his speeches, quotes, etc. The guy was amazing. I take pride in knowing a turned a couple of PC heads into Apple believers in my time. And as a designer (I use the term loosely), Jobs is an inspiration.

Rest In Peace, Steve. You’ll be missed.

Outside Lands — Preview

Wow. So, the real reason why I’ve been so MIA is because of Outside Lands, and the all work that went into making this year’s coverage the best we’ve done at the Daily Journal. We’ve covered the gourmet music festival the last three years, and I have to save, 2011 was the hardest we’ve hit. I took two photographers, did a preview, filed a story after day one, locked up a couple of interviews for a feature piece and turned in a review. And that was on top of running around Golden Gate Park trying to catch as much music as possible. Tired? Yes.

First, the preview and infographic — As is accustomed on this blog, click for a larger view.

The graphic was built at first to fit a 10×10 section of the Weekend Journal, which was slightly larger than what we ran in 2010. Remember that one? No? Click here. The thing was, the festival in 2011 was back to three days, so that meant we had to squeeze more into a relatively small amount of space. And I didn’t want it to be just a copy-and-paste job, re-inserting information from this year into last year’s graphic. But after doodling and tinkering, and doodling some more, I came to the conclusion that there was no way to do what I needed in the space. So, WE MUST GO BIGGER! And we did. I sent the guys from the Journal a peak and told them that we could run it page 1 of the Weekend Journal and run my preview on top and that they had to say yes because I would cry if they didn’t. Email had this attached:

I got an email a couple of minutes later from Jon Mays (AKA The Most Electrifying EIC in Newspaper Entertainment today) which simply read “yes.” OK. Good enough for me. As you can see, it changed, a lot. I reduced the size of the OL art on the bottom so I could include night show information, added more illustrative details, but kept the calendar (which I really dug for some reason). Draft one is complete on Tuesday, goes to the awesome Heather Murtagh for proofing the same day, gets a visual critique by the Production Team at the Daily Journal and is completed on Thursday for Friday’s edition. Somewhere in that process, I get to write a preview, and that thrown on top of the graphic. The finished product come out on Day 1 of Outside Lands.

I liked the end product. Oh …

Ok. With that out of the way, it was time for the ‘fun’ stuff. Don’t get me wrong, going to Outside Lands is different than working it. And we worked (pretty) hard at the Daily Journal.

 

Daily Journal Athletes of the Spring — 2011

What have I been up to? Well, the end of the school year means our annual look at the Athletes of the Spring. And this year there was an added twist. Usually, Nathan and I split the write-ups down the middle while I put in the time with the graphic look we want. This time around, with Erik taking some time to enjoy the infant stages of the his marriage and Nathan backing him up with the page layout, yours truly was left with the bulk of the work. That’s right, I wrote eight of the nine stories, plus, the graphical stuff. So, basically, Sports page 1 belonged to me this last week. Here’s what I came up with (with a little extra for Tuesday’s edition which featured my work on the Front Page).

  

   

   

Yup, I’m pretty exhausted. But as always, these things are a lot of fun for the Athletes who put in the time during the season. And the parents are just as excited to see their kids recognized in this manner. As for the winners and their stories, well, click on the names for a link to their stories on the Daily Journal website:

Softball — Jordan Richwood … Baseball — Jake Bruml … Boys Track — Chris Waschura … Girls Track — Sabrina Mendoza … Boys Swimming — Tom Kremer … Girls Swimming — Ally Howe … Boys Golf — Patrick Grimes … Boys Tennis — Menlo Tennis Team … Boys Badminton — Jan Banquiles … Girls Badminton — Soe Han Tha

I sort of recycled the comic book idea, as you can see. But it did have a bit of a twist (I’ve used that line twice in this post, bleh). And by the far the most difficult part was acquiring enough images to pull off all the panels. We had photos for three of the ten athletes in our archives, so on top of interviewing them all, we tried to get any images we could. Getting photos for everyone is hard task during the season, because you just don’t know who will win at season’s end. Anyway, thanks to all the parents and coaches who helped us with that.

One more feature project to go … the Daily Journal Athletes of the Year. We’ve selected our winners. Now, time to pull off a monster idea. Until then, peeps.