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 […]
Author: Mike Guardabascio
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 […]
Football: New Cabrillo Coach Faces Unique Challenges
All coaches and teams are facing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, but new Cabrillo football coach Shane Gonzales has had a uniquely difficult ride these last few months. Gonzales was an assistant at Mayfair for the last six years as part of a rising Monsoons program that has produced several national-level recruits, including Texas signee […]
Long Beach State Will Host Three NCAA Championships
“Volleyball U” is living up to its name once again. Long Beach State confirmed a deal with the NCAA earlier this week that will see the university host three NCAA championships over three years from 2024-2026. The Walter Pyramid will play host to the men’s volleyball NCAA Final Four in 2024, and the school will […]
Football: Jordan Sets 2020-21 Schedule
Jordan football coach Tim Wedlow is excited for the upcoming season, and is confident his Panthers have the manpower in the trenches that will let them take a dramatic step forward this season. Jordan has improved steadily the last three seasons, from 0-10 in 2017 to 3-7 to last year’s 4-5 overall mark. But the […]
Feature: Jordan Alum Dennis Brown’s Long, Golden NFL Road
It’s been a long road for Dennis Brown. It began in Long Beach, where he starred on the gridiron for Jordan High; it wound through the San Francisco and the NFL’s Super Bowl, where he took home a ring with the 49ers; it took him to rock bottom in Seattle, where he struggled with alcoholism; […]
Long Beach Struggling With Mental Health Issues As Pandemic Drags On
As Summer was unwinding into Fall, Katie Trainor was struggling. She was dealing with issues familiar to many of Long Beach’s half a million residents as the COVID-19 pandemic reached its six-month mark. She and her husband were able to hold their jobs, but her company laid off a lot of people during a stressful […]
Football: St. Anthony Sets 2020-21 Schedule
St. Anthony’s football team competes in the Del Rey League, made up of teams ranging from the South Bay to the Los Angeles valley. But the Saints have always tried to maintain a local flavor under head coach Mario Morales, and will once again play a Long Beach-centric schedule, with games against Wilson and Millikan. […]
Football: Lakewood Sets 2020-21 Schedule
Lakewood football coach Scott Meyer has a pretty rare view of the multi-faceted affects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, as an LBUSD parent, teacher, and coach. He’s had to add another title to his resume for the upcoming football season: travel agent. The Lancers’ field is scheduled to go under construction for upgrades […]











