Last week’s announcement of the Long Beach State basketball teams’ schedules brought mixed emotions from fourth year women’s head coach Jeff Cammon, who stressed that things are very much still in flux. Cammon said there are a number of problems to solve between now and the team’s first scheduled game in the Walter Pyramid against […]
Author: Mike Guardabascio
COLUMN: Two Americas, Two Long Beaches, Two Pandemics
There is one COVID-19, but there are two COVID-19 pandemics. One is the pandemic I see discussed endlessly on Twitter and Facebook and in newspapers and on television. It’s the pandemic that’s being experienced by middle class Americans and white collar employees. They’re working from home, they’re (understandably) upset and emotional at the things they’ve […]
Nineteen Long Beach Athletes Sign Scholarships Totaling $3.5 Million
Nineteen Long Beach high school students signed athletic scholarships last Wednesday on the NCAA’s early period National Letter of Intent Signing Day. The already-large group represent just a fraction of the seniors that are expected to sign scholarships by the end of the school year, and all of the local schools are planning celebrations for […]
Feature: Lakewood’s JP Crawford Nabs Golden Glove Honor, Reflects on Journey
JP Crawford is official. The Lakewood High product just finished his fourth season in the Major Leagues, and received a significant honor as well, earning a Gold Glove honor as the top defensive shortstop in the American League. Crawford committed only three errors in 53 games, while hitting a career-best .255. It’s not bad for […]
Large Donations Benefit LBUSD Efforts
The Long Beach Unified School District received a pair of major donations last week, intended to aid the district’s efforts to continue providing education throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Molina Foundation gifted a grant that provided 75,000 new children’s books at a value of $655,000. “Especially in this time of distance learning and limited access […]
Long Beach Poly Named America’s Top Pro Athlete Factory By MaxPreps; Compton Fifth
This won’t come as a surprise to sports fans who’ve been following Long Beach sports for any amount of time, but MaxPreps.com bestowed a major honor on Long Beach Poly last week. The national high school sports website named the city’s oldest high school as America’s top producer of professional athletes by a wide margin, […]
COLUMN: Reflecting On A Historic Year For Dodgers, Lakers
We’re Long Beach-first guys, as you know. But we also recognize that Long Beach is a Dodgers and Lakers town, and we’ve got some thoughts on this historic year, which saw both teams win a championship for the first time since 1988 (when we were toddlers or, in Tyler’s case, not quite born). Mike When […]
Obituary: Community Mourning Loss of Keith “Slice” Thompson
The Long Beach community is mourning the loss of a beloved mentor and longtime Long Beach Poly football assistant Keith “Slice” Thompson, who passed away last week after a battle with cancer. “He was a real community guy who did everything he could to give back and uplift the kids here,” said Poly boys’ athletic […]
Feature: Ford Family’s Special Reason to Root For Dodgers Title
Millions of baseball fans across Southern California are rooting for the Dodgers as they try to win their first World Series since 1988—perhaps none louder than Long Beach’s Ford family. The Fords lost the patriarch of their family, Bruce, last November. The longtime Long Beach Port operating engineer’s unexpected passing devastated his wife and five […]
Football: Compton Readying For Unique Season
While six of the seven teams in the Moore League are in the Long Beach Unified School District, the seventh—Compton High—has had to deal with an even more bizarre offseason than the rest. Compton’s school district didn’t allow its programs to begin doing offseason conditioning until a few weeks ago (several months after the LBUSD’s […]