Mendonca supported by fans, no matter the uniform

Don't mess with Tommy Mendonca, especially when he's in front of familiar faces. The challenger will get a tongue-lashing like no other.

Modesto opens 2010 season with a win

MODESTO - As the majority of the 4,427 fans made their way out of John Thurman Field on Thursday night, the sky was lit up with fireworks. It was a rainbow of colors and people watched in awe, mouths opened. This display was, yes, icing on the cake.

PASL Cougars to play in Turlock

The California Cougars of the Professional Arena Soccer League will play at Turlock Indoor Soccer on Sunday, as the Cougars out of Stockton face the Denver Dynamite. The match begins at 4 p.m.

Mendonca’s first pro season ends

Tommy Mendonca ended his first professional baseball season with big numbers, perhaps enough to exceed the expectations of a second-round selection in the 2009 MLB Draft.

Blood, sweat and cheers

Turlock baseball legend Brad Lesley dies at 54

Turlock lost an athletic pioneer on Saturday when Brad Lesley died of kidney failure at the age of 54 in Marina Del Rey. Known for his combination of talent and enthusiasm, Lesley made a name for himself both on the baseball mound and in the movies. After graduating from Turlock High, the man known as the "Animal" was drafted out of Merced College by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round. When his ...

Turlock’s Bronil Koochoie continues his climb through the soccer ranks

Twelve years ago when Bronil Koochoie graduated from Turlock High his future was uncertain. His passion was soccer but after three years at the varsity level with the Bulldogs the high cost of tuition made it nearly impossible to continue on to the collegiate level. It was a hard blow for the young man who had played the game since the age of seven but it was reality, and he dealt with it the ...

Sockers handle Express

The Turlock Express marked their second year in the Professional Arena Soccer League with a second straight trip to the Pacific Division Playoffs this past weekend. After a 9-7 regular season, the Express found themselves pitted against PASL stalwarts the San Diego Sockers- owners of 13 arena titles and the record for longest win streak by any professional American sports team-in the first, two leg round of post-season play. Turlock and San Diego ...

After heartbreaker, Kaepernick owns up like a champ

NEW ORLEANS – In a span of three months, Colin Kaepernick rose from a backup to a starting quarterback to a postseason sensation, leading the Forty-Niners to exhilarating wins over such formidable foes as the Patriots, Packers and Falcons. In Super Bowl XVLII, the pride of Turlock drove his team to the brink of an unprecedented comeback win. Then after San Francisco's final drive fell agonizingly short, the Forty-Niner delivered another gutsy performance. "I ...

Super Bowl XLVII: The Day Before

NEW ORLEANS &ndash; Under normal circumstances, this city runs to wild. In the lively French Quarter, street performers, musicians, adult entertainers and free-flowing alcohol entertain tourists from all over the world, round the clock and every day. <p style="color: ...

Express fall in overtime

Four quarters wasn't enough to decide Friday night's matchup between the Turlock Express and Mexico Toros. After battling back and forth, point for point, the two Professional Arena Soccer League clubs carried the match into overtime to the delight of all in attendance at the Turlock Indoor Soccer Complex. But for the second week in a row the Toros managed to stop the Express in their tracks, scoring the winning goal 2:29 into ...

Too much Kap for the Pack to handle

When he was a fourth grader he dreamt of playing professional football for the Niners or the Packers, so it was fitting that Colin Kaepernick's post-season debut as San Francisco's starting quarterback was against Green Bay. Before Saturday's NFC Divisional game nobody, including Kaepernick, knew what to make of the matchup. Was it irony, coincidence, or maybe even fate? Whatever the circumstance one thing was clear-all eyes were on the Turlock native. <p ...

Kaepernick: Forging a future in San Francisco

Colin Kaepernick's status as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers has been questioned since his breakout performance against the Chicago Bears in Week 11, but after four NFL starts opposition to the second year player has started to soften. San Francisco's loss to division rival St. Louis amplified the media-driven quarterback controversy between Kaepernick and Alex Smith, but to truly gauge the situation in the Bay one only needs to turn ...

Oakland drafts Mendonca

Turlock's own Tommy Mendonca is coming back to California. The former Turlock High and Fresno State standout was acquired by the Oakland Athletics via the Triple-A phase of the Rule-5 draft on Thursday, ending a three year stint where he played 297 minor league games for the Texas Rangers. Mendonca was in Turlock sleeping when he received a surprise phone call from his agent with the unexpected news. "It made my day. ...

Turlock Express surge past Sacramento

The Turlock Express hosted the Sacramento Surge on Saturday in the fourth match of the 2012 Professional Arena Soccer League season. With a dominating first half scoring effort, the Express (2-2) notched their second win with an 8-5 victory over the Surge (0-4). "We really didn't know what they were going to have or show," Turlock's head coach Art Pullido said. "It doesn't matter who we play though, we always try to prepare ...

Native son shines in primetime

Turlock native Colin Kaepernick had a momentous coming out performance against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. In what was dubbed as the backup bowl, San Francisco's second year quarterback seized his primetime opportunity and led a total dismantling of the NFL's second ranked defense, throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 12 yards. Kaepernick's quarterback rating of 97.5 was the highest of any starting debut from a quarterback ...

Kaepernick proves his NFL worth

The life of a backup quarterback in the NFL can be tough. A backup has to go through the daily grind of practice, film review, team meetings, and travel, but rarely gets the chance to enjoy the perk of playing time. If a backup is called upon the situation typically isn't ideal. Poor team performances and losses are one reason a backup quarterback might get the opportunity to play, but more times than not ...

Hougland to compete in first-ever UFC fight in China

Denair-native mixed martial artist Jeff Hougland will fight in China today, as part of the UFC's first ever event to occur in the Far East country. Hougland (10-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will look to defeat Japanese mixed martial artist Takeya Mizugaki (15-7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a bout rescheduled from UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson. UFC 151 was to occur on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas, but became the first UFC event ever ...

Lewis Gonzalez scores 2nd round TKO; brings title to Turlock

A crowd of Central Valley fans stood 30 feet away from the cage inside Santa Rosa's Grace Pavilion Saturday, waiting for the sixth fight of the night between Lewis Gonzalez and Bobby Stack. The group of friends and family, roughly 25 in all, made a habit of attending Gonzalez' fights but this one was different, Cage Combat's Lightweight title was on the line and Gonzalez was expected to claim it. The Lethal Legion waited ...