Getting weight off my shoulders

In high school I dreaded the weight room. There were all these magnificent bodies with superhuman-like strength, taking a dumbbell and tossing it up to the sky like they were practicing for the shot put - and these were the girls. The guys generally bench-pressed twice their body weight and celebrated with fist bumps. I struggled with the bar. It was tough being a skinny kid who played sports. People generally think athletes are loaded ...

Vick gets second chance, now what?

Michael Vick got what he wanted. But after Vick was reinstated conditionally to the NFL on Monday, giving him the chance to showcase his unbelievable natural ability as early as October, a lot of questions need to be answered. There's one that stands above the rest: Which team will pick him up? As you know, Vick has been through a lot - which is not to say we should all feel sorry for him. But ...

Vick deserves a second chance

What Michael Vick did was a terrible, terrible thing. It was inhuman, inexcusable and unbelievable.

Son smokes dad at Stockton Speedway

The Western Late Models were back in action following a week off, but even with that respite, the feature at Stockton 99 Speedway last Saturday produced a small field of just seven cars.

It’s never too early for Fresno State football

Let's talk about Fresno State football. All right, don't get upset. Don't think this is another column from another sports columnist who doesn't have anything else to write about other than Fresno State football during the offseason. Don't think there isn't anything else on his mind, reminding everyone the high school football season is coming up, too. But this is Fresno State football. The Fresno State season opener isn't until Sept. 5, but it's hard ...

Father and son current point leaders

Following the always big 4th of July events, the normal holiday racing hangover kicked in with a much lighter weekend on July 11 and 12.

Bad boy good for UFC

Brock Lesnar, the biggest name in his sport, is not a cancer. He's not going to destroy Ultimate Fighting Championship or mixed martial arts. He's not a bad guy. He's not a complete jerk, though it appears that he's the biggest jerk on the planet after his main-event antics against Frank Mir in the very successful UFC 100 last weekend. Sure, UFC president Dana White handed a tongue-lashing to Lesnar, a former pro wrestler from ...

Come on, LeBron, grow up

Never mind his multi-million dollar slogan with his multi-billion company: "We Are All Witnesses." LeBron James, the so-called Chosen One, lives by these words, as if to say we all should be grateful that we're breathing the same air as him.

Speed and Vickers take top two spots at Chicago

Ontario's Jason Bowles scored his third consecutive win on his home track of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale by capturing the 4th of July King Taco 200 for the NASCAR Camping World Series West last weekend.

Where, oh where did my youth go?

The other day, in 100-degree weather and without the comfort of shade, I was sweating like a fugitive on the basketball court. I was playing against a former high school teammate. We hadn't played together in nearly a decade - and I swear there were two guys sitting comfortably under a large tree hoping for a story to tell.

Beeler sees checkered twice in a row

In one of the more surprising results so far this season, Salida's Mike Beeler grabbed victories in both ends of the Western Late Model doubleheader at the New Stockton 99 Speedway on June 27.

U.S. soccer fans, hold on tight

Don't loosen that grip. Yeah, the U.S. men's soccer team lost in FIFA's Confederations Cup last weekend to Brazil after being up two goals - which is like having an advantage of at least 20 points in basketball or several touchdowns in football. But America's run is not over, far from it. It's only the beginning. They showed the world that they're no longer the L.A. Clippers of world soccer, the team that had so ...

A good high school coach is hard to replace

I never met Ed Thomas, the Iowa high school football coach who was shot and killed last week. I never had the chance to go through one of his practices. I never had the privilege of being chewed out because I goofed up. I never suited up for him or rode the bus with him to a football game or enjoyed victory with him.

Soccer finally gets the recognition it deserves

There's a thing sports fans like to do when it seems like everyone else is doing it. It's a thing that annoys us, but all of us have done it at least once in our lives.

Speed’s California homecoming not so sweet

It was not the homecoming Manteca native Scott Speed had hoped for when he returned to Northern California for last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma.

99 Speedway heats up

This weekend the SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series returns to the New Stockton 99 Speedway for Johnny Brazil/Jackson Rancheria/Teamsters Night. With only four races remaining in the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, four drivers have emerged in the battle for the 2012 series championship. Lakeport's Derek Thorn, Jim Pettit II of Prunedale, M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park and Jason Gilbert of Dublin have all built a sizeable cushion in the point standings (141 ...

Better off not knowing

This past weekend while out fishing Clark Fork, I was reminded of the first time I was given an open book test. I remember thinking to myself that it would be easy. I didn't study much because I figured the answers were right in the book, so why study.

Boxing’s Olympic fall

It's no secret that the sport of boxing has experienced a dip in popularity. Public perception of the sweet science has soured as newer generations of fight fans redirect their attention towards Mixed Martial Arts, leaving boxing aficionados to ask why. So what is the problem? Over expensive Pay-Per-View Events, the lack of primetime programming, or the failure to market boxers not named Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather? The answer to these ...

One last fling with outdoors

As the summer break is winding down it seems like a lot of people - including myself - are attempting to get in one last camping trip before the new school year begins.

Only a day trip away

This past week I went and camped out at Clarks Fork with family and friends. It was a 100 mile one way trip to get there, but well worth the drive.

Don’t be lured in by gimmicks

I was asked recently about a lure that was being advertised through an infomercial. The lure being advertised supposedly was outlawed on certain lakes because of its sure effectiveness. They even had professional anglers promoting the lure as a must-have bait for every angler. Many of the anglers promoting the product were unknown professionals and the lure supposedly caught just about every species of fish.

Fees, fees and more fees

Live or lure, that is the question

I was asked the other day about using live bait and what I thought about using it. I, like most anglers, started out using live bait. A worm threaded on a hook underneath a bobber was all I ever used as a kid. As I got older, I started experimenting with the different live baits and still occasionally will use live bait. I was introduced to using artificial baits one day while fishing ...

Bad spark plug slows Speed down

Although Scott Speed picked up a season's best 25th place finish in last Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, it was a bittersweet weekend for the Manteca native as he left his home track thinking that it could have been much better. Speed was just settling in on the second lap of the 110-lap race when he noticed something was terribly wrong with his Leavine Family Racing #95 Ford. He headed for ...

Kokanee up for a good fight

Speed returns to NorCal

There will be plenty of old-fashioned hard nose rubbing and grinding when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to the beautiful Northern California wine country for 24th consecutive year with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

Know before go camping

Recently my wife gave me the green light to reserve a campsite for an upcoming camping trip. Being that we have a newborn and a nine year old, choosing where we were going to go was tough. What I found even harder was choosing the right campsite.

Nothing like Valley fishing

Back in 1989 my family moved to Manteca from San Jose. Before then, we would make the trip every weekend to fish mostly the Delta and Lake Amador. I was in my teens at the time, so I didn't mind the drive. Actually, I slept most of the way home but not the way there, I stayed awake for every mile. I actually remember heading over the Altamont Pass thinking to myself that ...

Holmes sputters in Vegas, looks to Sonoma

The 2012 frustrations of Escalon's Eric Holmes continued in last weekend's NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Series Star Nursery "200" at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Get in to get organized

Many of us spend a lot of time preparing our boats for our next fishing trip. What always frustrated me was that it seemed like once I was finally on the water, I ended up reorganizing everything that I had spent the day before finding the perfect spot for. This was especially true when fishing out of a smaller boat.