Author Archives: Mark Tennis
Counting Numbers In State’s Counties
Tuesdays have been when the California Department of Public Health updates its county map with its colored tiers, but this week it took on added significance as high school athletic leaders also checked to see if case rates for COVID-19 had reached 14 or lower per 100,000. Based on last Friday’s health guidelines update, that’s […]
State’s All-Time 100 Greatest Athletes (Women)
With the men’s list getting an update after Tom Brady’s latest Super Bowl win, it’s also past due to complete one for the women. Based on CIF sanctioned sports only, we have Billie Jean King of Long Beach Poly in the top position not just for what she did on the court in tennis, but...
Burning Questions From Big Day
Governor Gavin Newsom announced at a press conference held at a vaccine clinic in Hayward on Friday that high school and youth sports (led by football) could return in the coming weeks with a March-April season. The California Department of Public Health also issued new guidelines to make that possible, including a lower case rate […]
New Guidelines: Advocates Speak Out
Not long after Governor Gavin Newsom conducted a press conference on Friday in which the highlight was the announcement of new youth sports guidelines, leaders of the Golden State Football Coaches Community and the Let Them Play CA group met with the media to provide their reaction. Football wasn’t just a focus for the leaders […]
Season Replayed: Boys Hoops 1999
This season had it all from perhaps the most surprising D1 state champion in the 40-plus years of the CIF state championships plus the start of a three-year run at the top of D2 by Dominguez of Compton, a series of memorable individual duels and the final game in a legendary career of one of...
Marching Toward Football?
There are 12 days left before a lot of stakeholders believe there is a deadline of sorts for there to be high school football played anywhere in California during the 2020-21 school year. Here’s a statewide snapshot as of Wednesday, Feb. 17, of the most significant events, stories, facts and figures in the last few […]
Schools Named For Presidents
As one school district in San Francisco foolishly decides whether to even have high schools named for George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, it’s nonetheless been many years since a California high school has been named for a former U.S. President. For Presidents Day 2021, here’s a look at schools in the state with those names. […]
State’s All-Time 100 Greatest Athletes (Men)
After Tom Brady of Serra High (San Mateo) earned a seventh Super Bowl title last week, we were inspired to write up our own rankings of the all-time greatest 100 athletes from California high schools. Based on CIF sanctioned sports only, we have Brady at No. 3 behind only Jackie Robinson and Bill Russell. McClymonds...
Boys/Girls BB Blasts From The Past
These are highlights from around the state from 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years ago as basketball was being played in the state during this same month as it is supposed to be played. Highlights include a boys player from five years ago at California School for the Deaf who had […]
101 Pts One Half: Super Effort or Stunt?
Super Bowl Sunday this year also marked the same day 31 years ago that an All-American girls basketball player from California went for an unbelievable 101 points in a single half of one game. Lisa Leslie from Morningside of Inglewood would go on to become one the best in the history of the women’s game,...