Joseph Billingsley’s connection to Compton High ran deep. Long before he was a fixture on the Tarbabes’ sideline, Billingsley grew up around the program. He started as a water boy, later wore the Compton uniform as a player and eventually returned as a coach – beginning a relationship with the school and its football program […]
8/16/1961 – 7/23/2026 There was never anyone else like August Luuga. Better known by his nickname “Augie,” he served the Long Beach Community College campus with a dedication and selflessness that was unparalleled at the Vikings’ school, or any other. Augie passed away of an illness in late July after more than four decades of […]
The Long Beach sports scene is filled with big personalities and big egos–superstar athletes, boisterous coaches, and attention seekers of all types. It’s also filled with a very different personality, that of the quiet helper who isn’t looking for big showy recognition. These are the people who keep things running, who make sure gyms get […]
Jim Michaelian loved a sunny day. He loved them so much, in fact, that it became a running joke between myself, JJ Fiddler, Tyler Hendrickson, and anyone else who ever covered the Grand Prix of Long Beach for us over the last two decades. There are many fun and revered traditions associated with the race, […]
8/30/1942 – 2/4/2026 Influential Lakewood basketball coach Tim Sweeney passed suddenly last week at the age of 83, leaving behind a long legacy of coaching and mentorship. Sweeney was the boys’ basketball coach for the Lancers from 1980-1992, winning the school’s only CIF-SS championship in the sport in 1982. Lakewood’s gym is named in his […]
The Millikan football community is mourning the loss of longtime team mom Heather Tuggle, who passed away at the end of December after a year-long battle with stage four metastatic squamous cell cancer. Tuggle joined the program with the hiring of current head coach Romeo Pellum in 2019 as her son, Riley, played as a […]
Longtime golf coach Dick McBride passed away at the age of 90 last month, after a well-lived life full of service to the Long Beach community. Born in 1935, McBride grew up in Long Beach attending St. Matthew’s Elementary and St. Anthony High School. He’s perhaps best known in Long Beach as an avid golfer […]
Photo courtesy CSULB Legendary Long Beach State president Bob Maxson passed away this week at the age of 89, leaving behind an unparallelled impact on the city’s university. Maxson was president of Cal State Long Beach from 1994 through 2006, 12 years that founded much of the modern identity of the university. He took over […]
A well-liked Long Beach high school graduate passed away last week after an accident on the rifle range at Fort Leonard Wood on Sept. 5, where he was undergoing basic training as part of the United States Army’s 48th Infantry Regiment. Andrey Okunev was 18 years old and a recent graduate of Sato High School […]
Randy Moffitt: 10/13/1948 – 08/28/2025 The city lost a baseball legend last week with the passing of Long Beach Poly and Long Beach State MLB product Randy Moffitt, who died at home after an illness at the age of 76. Moffitt is a member of several local Halls of Fame and was an MLB pitcher […]