Cross Country: Team Runs Over Personal Bests at Lou Vasquez Invitational

By Tracy Held

When the City College Cross Country Team starts getting serious, first, they break out their running flats, then they break down their personal records.

Photo by Lana Citowsky They're off! The start of the race at Golden Gate Park.

Ten City College runners made new personal records at the Lou Vasquez Invi-tational on Oct. 2, but the men's team still ended up in eighth place.

City College hosted the meet at Golden Gate Park, welcoming 295 runners from 21 teams from throughout California.

Three women and ten men ran for City College in the cold, overcast weather while several students sat out to recover from injuries.

Jeffrey Gehringer led the men's team finishing 15 out of 185 runners in the 3.98 mile course. Gehringer's time of 20:55 broke his seasonal PR by over two minutes, and topped his time from last year by two seconds.

"Mike Sullivan and Daniel Fitzpatrick had very good races, and they continue to improve," said Cross Country Coach Tony Kauke.

Fitzpatrick was the second City College man to finish, coming in 30 and shaving almost two minutes off his PR. Vladimir Parrales finished four spots later, taking about a minute and a half off his PR. Sullivan came in 49, cutting his PR by over two minutes.

On the women's side, Ivy Truong continued to lead the team, placing 31 out of 110 runners. Truong finished in 21:05, reducing her PR by one minute and ten seconds, and beating her time on this course last year by eleven seconds.

Although they didn't have enough runners to place, "The women had a really good effort," says Kauke.

Kauke cites illness and injury as major hindrances to the team's overall performance, and he's disappointed that the team is "not running at full strength."

"We'd be more up to [competing] if the whole team was here," says Kauke.

The stars of the meet traveled from warmer climates, particularly Southern California and the Central Valley, even though Coach Kauke expected to have a home-weather advantage.

East LA left the chilly course with the top women's team and male runner, Gerardo Rabelo finishing first in 20:12.

"The schools from LA bumped us back," said Kauke.

Tennis: 14th Annual Tournament a Smash
Community, faculty students compete and raise money for tennis team

By Tracy Held and Marianne Monnin

Over 150 community members, faculty and students competed at the 14^th Annual City College of San Francisco Tennis Championships under clear and sunny skies.

Casey Swan won the C division.

The tournament, which features five singles and three doubles events, is a fundraiser benefitting the City College Women's Tennis Team.

City College Freshman Darel Smith won the women's B-singles event 6-3, 6-3. The 17 year-old champion is planning to compete with the women's tennis team in the spring.

Two other City College tennis players, Julia Lesko and Phil Fitzpatrick won the mixed doubles competition 6-4, 6-0.

Several community members won titles in the remaining events. Roy Lopez defeated Anthony Smith, Balboa Pool lifeguard, in the men's C-singles 6-1, 6-2. Casey Swan won the men's open singles for the third year in a row beat Ronald Paz 6-4,6-2

Two new sets of spectator bleachers and a wheelchair ramp overlooking the City College Tennis Courts were completed during the summer.

"This is a big deal. Before there was nowhere for people to watch," said Tennis Coach Mary Graber.

Football: State Title Out of Reach

By Todd Levinson
Guardsman Sports Editor

More than half of the junior college football teams in Northern California are not eligible to play in the state championships.

Unlike most other junior college sports, football conferences in Northern California are divided by ability, not proximity to other schools.

Only the 10 teams in the highest division can compete for the state title.

Northern California Foot-ball Association Commissioner Gary Kollenborn said this season is "unique" because teams like "Santa Rosa, Delta and San Mateo" that could compete in the top division aren't eligible because of conferencing.

Head Football Coach Keith Simons at Santa Rosa Community College, supports the system.

Simons, whose team is not eligible for the championships, was on the committee which set up the conferences.

"We're well aware that even if we go 10-0 we can't go to the state championships," said Simons, "We didn't want to be lumped in with some of those schools who have better recruiting abilities."

Schools like City College of San Francisco are well known for their football programs and attract athletes from all over the country. Smaller programs have to rely mainly on local talent.

Roger Kelley, Head Coach at College of the Sequoias, which is eligible for the championships, said the lower division teams "don't want to play teams like City College and Reedley."

City College of San Francisco has won the state championship six times and Reedley won last year.

Conferences are reshuffled every two years and will be rotated after this season. The two worst teams in the top conference move into a lower conference, and the best teams in the lower conferences move up.

Kollenborn said teams could also petition the NCFA to be moved into a higher conference. "I would hate to deny the opportunity" to a team that wanted to move up, Kolleborn said.

Opinions are like...

Red Sox Fan, Until They Lose ; This fan's loyalty runs deep

By Todd Levinson
Guardsman Staff Writer

You can call me a whore, but once the Giants lost I was rooting for the A's. After the A's lost, even though I've only been to Boston once, I became a die hard Red Sox fan.

Scoff if you will, but I've walked behind the Green Monster at Fenway Park. I love New Kids on the Block.

It's tough for all of us true Boston fans; you know who you are. It feels like we've been waiting our whole lives to see the Sox win.

We know the pain since 1986 when the ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs in game six of the World Series. It replays in your mind every day like some cruel water torture driving you closer and closer to insanity.

And then there's The curse. The curse of the Bambino.

The Red Sox have not won a World Series since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1918. Since then the Yankees have won the World Series 26 times. Is there a curse? If the Red Sox win a World Series does that prove or disprove the existence of the curse?

Is belief what makes the curse real?

On top of the pressure of just playing in the Major Leagues, the Red Sox have to deal with the pressure of an evil, supernatural force which will not let them win a World Series.

It's an unfair working condition.

When is the Players Association going to take a stand on this issue?

Sorry to all you Yankee fans out there, but who wants to see them win the World Series, again.

We didn't get to see Barry Bonds break the career home run record this year. For the good of the game, we need to see something as miraculous as my life-long favorite team, the Red Sox, winning the World Series.

Renegades Fogged In
After half, Rams go on attack

By Todd Levinson
Guardsman Sports Editor

The cold wind and fog may be part of City College's home field advantage, but in the first scoreless half of their 2-0 win over Ohlone, the chilly weather seemed to be getting to everyone.

Photo by Rosalind Kwan

The weather didn't improve after half time, but the Rams heated up scoring two quick goals and fogging in the visiting Renegades for good.

At half-time, "We told the team we need to gamble," Assistant Coach Nik Charalaghi said, "We need to play like we're down 2-0."

In the second half the Rams cam out gunning with a four man front line attack. Left wing Greg Youbara kicked a goal into the corner off a pass from center Theo Divanis.

"We had to do our best," Youbara, starting for the first time on the wing, said, "It was great scoring,"

For the next goal Youbara assisted Divanis, who kicked a roller into the left corner.

The Renegades had some good shots on goal but couldn't get anything past Chris Sandoval, who is giving up an average of 1.4 goals a game.

The win against Ohlone was the third game in a row that opponents have gone scoreless against the Rams.

Late Breaking Soccer Scores

The Rams beat Mission Community College 4-0, improving their overall record to 8-2-4. Goals were scored by Theo Divanis, Jesus Hernandez, Juan Garcia-Carrera and Amadou Thiam.

In the Coast Conference, the Rams are second behind Fresno who has not lost a game this season.

The Rams are scheduled to play Canada Community College at Balboa Park Boxer Stadium.

  Nelson Diaz, who played on the 2001 and 2002 soccer team will be playing at San Jose State next year.

OPINIONS
Don't Hate the Player

By Jim Powell
Guardsman Staff Writer

I admit it: I'm a Laker hater. I wouldn't be if they didn't have the bad habit of winning against teams I love.

Kobe Bryant in happier times, holding MVP trophy at NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, February 10, 2002. KRT/ Jerry Lodriguss

Because of this, it isn't hard for me to despise Phil Jackson for all his Zen arrogance, even though I was a fan his when he coached for the Bulls. And it has always been easy to ridicule Shaq's insistence on making unintentionally hilarious movies and unmentionably bad music. But I honestly never hated Kobe Bryant.

I couldn't even hate him when he broke my heart, leading his team to the come-from-behind victory that eliminated my Portland Trailblazers from the 2000 Playoffs.

It was painful watching him mercilessly outplay veteran Scottie Pippen on both ends of the floor, but I couldn't deny his talent. Who could after seeing him glide through the lane to throw down impossible dunks? I found myself actually liking this kid who had jumped straight from high-school to the pros.

In an era when athletes as talented as Randy Moss have signed for millions but only give a maximum effort when they feel like it. Kobe showed up and earned his millions every night.

Just like Jordan, he could be arrogant, cocky about his game, a ballhog. But he also had Jordan's rare blend of confidence and athletic ability to back it up. Not only that, he was bright, charming with movie stars looks that could sell everything from soda to sneakers.

After I watched Kobe collect three rings, I realized that this wasn't the Second Coming of Jordan but the First Coming of Kobe.

But these figures that the public adores are seldom known for who they really are. High-priced public relations firms craft their images, trying to bestow Christ-like status on their clients. The public was shocked when they discovered Jordan's dark side -gambling.

And now we're getting a look at Kobe's dark side. As he sits with cold eyes and watches his defense team smear a young woman's reputation, I ask myself how I could have admired his character. His nice guy image and all the endorsements that it brought him are gone. His own wife won't even come to court with him.

But it isn't my business what Kobe did or did not do in that hotel room in Colorado. I am only responsible for myself in this life, and my great mistake in this matter was believing in him when my only basis for judging him was his performance on the basketball court.

As a society, we want to believe the good things about those public figures who inspire us, but then we are angry when they let us down. Sometimes it is our own fault for having faith in these people we cannot possibly know, especially when they cannot possibly live up to our expectations.