Long Beach Poly senior-to-be linebacker Bryun Parham had a special birthday present for his father this week. Parham told his dad, Bryson, that he won’t have to worry about any college payments, as Bryun committed to San Jose State. “It’s a great fit for me, I can fit in the system and compete for a […]
Author: Mike Guardabascio
Long Beach Paralympian Angela Madsen Tragically Dies At Sea
Three-time Paralympian Angela Madsen died at sea over the weekend while attempting a solo row from Southern California to Honolulu. Madsen was about halfway through her record-setting solo row when she stopped responding to messages on Sunday. A cargo ship enlisted by the U.S. Coast Guard discovered Madsen in the water with her boat, Row […]
COLUMN: Can We Keep the Drive Through Graduations?
Like most people in Long Beach, I cannot wait for the COVID-19 clouds to pass us by, and to resume something resembling normal life. I’m craving an absent-minded trip to Target or a an anxiety-free date night down in the center of my bones. But even as we continue to muddle through this strange new […]
Millikan Recognizes Athletes Moving To Next Level
Usually the Spring season includes a time-honored tradition at Millikan: the spaghetti dinner fundraiser that also honors the schools athletes moving on to play at the next level, both as scholarship athletes at four-year colleges and at the junior collegiate level. This year, the campus shutdowns have made that ceremony impossible, but the Rams’ athletic […]
Football: Millikan Star Ezavier Staples Breaks Down UCLA Commitment
Not since Alden Darby was at Millikan in a starring role in 2008 and 2009 has Long Beach’s biggest football star been a Ram–but wide receiver Ezavier Staples is hoping to wear that mantle in 2020. The 6-foot-2 senior-to-be had more than a dozen scholarship offers to choose from, including most of the Pac-12, and […]
LBUSD Board Votes To End Moore League Transfer Rule
The Long Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education voted to abolish its one-year ineligibility rule for student-athletes transferring between Moore League schools at last week’s board meeting. The vote passed unanimously, 5-0, undoing the rule which had been on the books since March 17, 2015. The rule has been widely decried by Moore League […]
COLUMN: Long Beach Shows Its Heart, Pride
Ask anyone from Long Beach, and they’ll tell you they’re proud to be from Long Beach. Sometimes they’ll say it without you even asking. That’s certainly been true of me for most of my adult life—but I’ve never been prouder to be from my city than I was last Monday. The night before my wife […]
FEATURE: St. Anthony’s Tiare Jennings Named State Player of the Year
St. Anthony senior Tiare Jennings received a huge honor last week when it was announced that she is Gatorade’s California Softball Player of the Year after what was looking to be a record-setting senior campaign. Jennings was hitting .710 with 19 RBI, 18 runs, six HRs and a 1.483 slugging percentage through eight games this […]
Cabrillo Principal Makes Special Trip For Jags Senior
The Long Beach Unified School District’s high schools have been honoring their graduating seniors in a variety of ways, including by handing out yard signs to let students’ neighborhoods know that they’re moving on. That has left out some seniors who’ve moved away during the COVID-19 campus shutdowns, since online learning can occur anywhere there’s […]
Long Beach Poly Volleyball Coach Steps Down
Longtime Long Beach Poly girls’ volleyball coach Leland McGrath confirmed he is stepping down as coach of the Jackrabbits after 13 years. McGrath’s Jackrabbits won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship in 2010 and won six Moore League championships. He leaves a Poly team that is absolutely packed with talent next year, headlined by […]