media corrections

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SoCalHoops High School News

Championship Trivia & Senior All-Stars: Print
Media Errata & Corrections--(March 23, 1999)

Ordinarily we would have let this stuff go, but since somebody has been posing "State Championship Trivia" questions on the message board throughout the day, and we had our record books out, we just couldn't resist these two: Steve Fryer of the Orange County Register and Vincent Bonsignore of the LA Daily News are generally right on target with most of the stuff they write. Really and they do a terrific job. We certainly aren't trying to be nasty or chastise them in any way, but every now and then, just like the rest of us, they make a mistake which stands out like a sore thumb (and we all know how much sore thumbs stand out. . . geez, where did that stupid phrase come from anyway?)

In any event, sore thumbs or not, Steve Fryer's column today in the Orange County Register, was devoted to a discussion of the State Finals, mostly about the rowdy Fremont fans who tried to attack the Mater Dei fans after the game in Sacramento, about the prayer issue with Sacramento Grant and the insults thrown around by Sacramento's coach about Dominguez being the "best team money can buy." But buried toward the bottom of the column, in his tribute to the Brea-Olinda Ladycats was this:

"Brea Olinda's won another state title, beating Amador Valley of Plesanton in the girls Division II final. It was the Ladycats seventh state championship, and no other basketball program, boys or girls, has won that many. . . " (emphasis added).

Steve's pretty good and so are the Ladycats, but they don't hold the record for the most wins.

Actually, LA Crenshaw has won 8 times, and "no other basketball program, boys or girls has won that many." In fact, Willie West's Cougars won in 83, 85, 86, 89, 93, 94, 96 and 97, all in Division I, and all under coach West. The Ladycats, who held the girls' record even before Saturday's win, have won it 7 times: 89, 92 and 94 in Division III, and 91, 93, 98 and now 99 in Division II. Congratulations to the Brea Olinda girls and we're sure that Steve just got a bit carried away and forgot to check his CIF State Championship Records (which are at the back of this year's State Championship Program on pages 53-54).

And then there was this one in Vincent Bonsignore's "season finale" basketball column in today's LA Daily News, where right there on page 2, Vince wrote:

"Glendora forward Casey Jacobsen didn't make the McDonald's All-American team, but he should have. He's a 6'-5" guard who can score in a variety of ways, combining a feathery jumper with the athletic ability to get to the basket. Jacobsen, whose only weakness is defense, should be an instant hit at Stanford." (Emphasis added).

Er, um, ahem. . . . while it's true that Casey initially didn't make the team, he was number 21 in the balloting on an original 20 man roster, but because of the huge public uproar, on February 26 (almost a month ago) Casey was named to the team by Morgan Wooten, the event chairman. Casey will play in the game at Ames, Iowa, tomorrow night, March 24, 1999. The game will be televised live on ESPN (9:00 p.m. EST, so it should be on here on the West Coast at 6:00 p.m., and the Sprite Slam Jam contest will be televised at 4:30 p.m. PST too), so if you want to verify that Casey is really playing on the team and that we're not just making this up, tune in tomorrow.

Really.