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    <title>Sports with Anthony Dion</title>
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   <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog/6</id>
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    <updated>2008-07-02T22:27:19Z</updated>
    
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<entry>
    <title>Little League All-Stars kicks off</title>
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    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=289" title="Little League All-Stars kicks off" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.289</id>
    
    <published>2008-07-02T22:22:47Z</published>
    <updated>2008-07-02T22:27:19Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Fort Bragg and El Molina kick things off today in the district 35 finals at Baechtol Field. The winner has a date with SULL on July 5th. Meanwhile NULL takes on Willits tomorrow. Both Ukiah Little League teams should have...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Fort Bragg and El Molina kick things off today in the district 35 finals at Baechtol Field. The winner has a date with SULL on July 5th. Meanwhile NULL takes on Willits tomorrow. Both Ukiah Little League teams should have a good chance at advancing, as always it all depends on the pitching and defense consistency. If both teams can get good starts from their No. 2 and 3 guys -- because we know how the aces are going to do -- then they can go pretty far.</p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Extra Points: Track column</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/06/extra_points_track_column.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=287" title="Extra Points: Track column" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.287</id>
    
    <published>2008-06-30T01:46:50Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-30T02:06:23Z</updated>
    
    <summary>My goal of the column was to try to shine some light on what I feel is a terrible injustice being done to athletes in track but also across all sports by some of my colleagues today. Certain members of...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>My goal of the column was to try to shine some light on what I feel is a terrible injustice being done to athletes in track but also across all sports by some of my colleagues today. Certain members of the mainstream press, sports journalists like myself, are for some reason infatuated with drugs or just otherwise incapable of being positive about anything.</p>

<p>Look, I'm not naive, I realize that doping is a part of all sports in this day and age. As human beings we are programmed to always try and find an edge, to be better. That's called competitiveness and competitiveness is integral in succeeding in sports. All that we can do is continue to stay on top of the new medicine with testing methods that can accurately detect the drugs. However, drugs don't need to be dragging down sports and achievements like they are. It's up to the media, people like myself, to decide how these things are perceived and right now there are too many people being far too skeptical and pessimistic about everything. There is way more good going on than they realize. They make it seem like 90% of the sports community is on some variety of performance-enhancing drugs when in all actuality it's closer to like 5%, if that. </p>

<p>I'm just tired of having the achievements of a guy like Usain Bolt, a 21 year old Jamaican sprinter, be immediately cast into shadow because of things that happened in the past with completely different individuals. Here's a guy that could become a face of the sport of track, be the best sprinter there ever was. He seems like a great person but as soon as he does something worth commending he's questioned and everyone becomes skeptical. </p>

<p>Our ability to move forward through the era of steroids is all in our attitude. The longer we dwell on this negativity the longer it will remain associated with sports. Drugs don't need to be the focus of sports. We don't need to be devoting attention to something that ugly. What will happen, will happen. Eventually it will resolve itself, but in the mean time let's not undermine the athletic achievements of some wonderful people who work so damn hard at what they do.</p>

<p>And for heaven sakes, take notice of Mr. Bolt. Watch this race between him Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell. Revel in it. It should be very entertaining. </p>

<p>That is, if you like sports. At all.</p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Woods&apos; injury will bring out the bandwagoners of sport</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/06/woods_injury_will_bring_out_th.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=281" title="Woods' injury will bring out the bandwagoners of sport" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.281</id>
    
    <published>2008-06-21T01:02:08Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-21T01:56:15Z</updated>
    
    <summary>In the wake of perhaps the best golf tournament of all time, we learned this week that the primary orchestrator of all the drama will be absent from the rest of 2008&apos;s PGA events and any future great events that...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>In the wake of perhaps the best golf tournament of all time, we learned this week that the primary orchestrator of all the drama will be absent from the rest of 2008's PGA events and any future great events that were to happen this year probably will not -- at least not to the degree of the 108th U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.</p>

<p>Because there is only one Tiger Woods after all. But as we saw during last week's major was how great a game of golf has become, how exciting and dramatic it can be. The 157th ranked player in the World can, on a stage as big as the U.S. Open, step up and challenge the very best in the World. What other sport can you say that about? Perhaps soccer. If they were to have rankings... Point is, the drama of golf doesn't solely ride on the shoulders of the World's No. 1 and why nobody sees that is no longer beyond me. Let me explain.</p>

<p>I really have to take offence with the vast majority of my colleagues who will undoubtedly profess this week about how the rest of Golf's season is inconsequential with Woods out. Yes, Tiger Woods is great, probably the best ever and is a huge reason to tune in BUT he is by no means the ONLY reason. If you like the game of golf AT ALL, respect sports AT ALL, you should be excited about the prospect of some of the game's young stars finally having the chance to step out of the enormous shadow of Woods and become a bonafide star in their own right.</p>

<p>This is what is wrong with the sports media today. We all focus on the very best every  single time and 90% of the rest go unnoticed. There are some incredibly talented golfers out there both young and old. If Tiger wasn't around perhaps we'd be talking about the dominance of one of them. And yet it's all about Woods because we make it all about Woods. Just like no one was talking about Adam Scott in the unprecedented pairing -- BECAUSE ALL THE MEDIA WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WAS WOODS AND MICKELSON. If we would've talked about Adam Scott, he'd have been on people's minds too. It's all a bunch of hypocracy and we end up digging our own graves because of it.</p>

<p>Woods is a star because no matter how talented he is, the sports media marvels at him. He gets ALL the attention. Anyone can have this stardom. Look at Kimbo Slice in MMA for EliteXC. The guy is a single A caliber fighter if we were to relate this to baseball. He's fighting guys that would probably be only good enough for the beer leagues. Yet he is a star because of the internet largely and because ESPN and other media organizations make him one. </p>

<p>So for the same media that makes Woods out to be the greatest thing since the motion picture (beats sliced bread in my book) to be crying about his absence making golf boring is absolutely hypocritical. If you love sports at all, it doesn't matter who's playing the game, you still follow it. And in so doing you find athletes to get excited about. </p>

<p>It makes me absolutely sick to hear monkeys like the Associated Press' Tim Dahlberg running his mouth about how golf is worthless without Tiger Woods. You know what Dahlberg? Maybe you should move down to Orlando and become a Woods groupie. Heaven knows the sports journalism community would  be better off without you.</p>

<p>I only need to point to one major and a couple of examples to prove my point. The next big PGA event is The Open Championship aka the British Open aka the origin of golf and for my money the greatest golf event there is. The oldest and most storied sporting event there is. A tournament that has been going on for over 140 years folks. </p>

<p>Last year's event at Carnoustie was almost as dramatic as the one that took place at the course in the previous decade. Was Tiger Woods involved in the slightest? Uh... no. Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington went down to the wire, to the 18th hole (one of the best there is too in my book) where Garcia had a putt to win the Championship, missed and then went to a 4-hole playoff immediately there after, not the next day when everyone is working and the tournament is yesterday's news. And then there's the famous Van de Velde collapse at the same course on the last hole the previous time the Open Championship came to Carnoustie. Was Tiger involved in that?! Noooo, he was surely was not! </p>

<p>It's moments like that which come from players we don't necessarily expect at the outset that often times create the best drama in sport. Yet clowns like Dahlberg and countless other bandwagon fans who only follow the very best probably never saw those moments happen because Woods wasn't there. </p>

<p>Well just like they say when someone decides not to go to a party, "more alcohol for me."  And certainly there will be as there are a bunch of those clowns out there. </p>

<p>Personally, I'm looking more forward to the next golf majors than I was ever before. I can't wait to see if Sergio Garcia can break through and win his first major championship. To see if Lee Westwood can continue his resurgence. To watch bright young players like Geoff Ogilvy, Anthony Kim, Camillo Villegas, Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, Paul Casey and Scott. Not to mention see the tour regulars like Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Stewart Cink.</p>

<p>I want to see what rivalries develop and who will step up and out of the shadow of the World's No. 1 that the close-minded media casts so enormously.</p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Wildcats take on Pumas in stretch run for NBL title</title>
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    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=253" title="Wildcats take on Pumas in stretch run for NBL title" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.253</id>
    
    <published>2008-05-03T00:37:15Z</published>
    <updated>2008-05-03T00:41:56Z</updated>
    
    <summary>With just a few games left on the regular season schedule, Ukiah sits one game back of Cardinal Newman in the NBL standings, a team they beat only a couple of games ago. The Wildcats have been playing some really...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Ukiah High School" />
    
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        <![CDATA[<p>With just a few games left on the regular season schedule, Ukiah sits one game back of Cardinal Newman in the NBL standings, a team they beat only a couple of games ago. The Wildcats have been playing some really sound baseball as of late and certainly look to be the best team in the league this year now  that they have recovered from their mid-season hiccup. They've beaten Rancho Cotate twice this year and Cardinal Newman as well -- all of the top teams -- and really are playing their best down the stretch when it counts.</p>

<p>Today the Wildcats have Maria Carrillo (10-10, 8-9) on the docket at Anton Stadium, a team that is in the middle of the pack in the NBL and certainly a squad the Wildcats should beat. </p>]]>
        
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</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Greatest two minutes in sports</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/05/greatest_two_minutes_in_sports.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=252" title="Greatest two minutes in sports" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.252</id>
    
    <published>2008-05-03T00:07:31Z</published>
    <updated>2008-05-03T00:32:40Z</updated>
    
    <summary>It&apos;s that time of year again, time for the Triple Crown run and as always the tradition begins with the Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby where they put the &quot;dition&quot; in Tradition. Or maybe they put the...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Horse Racing" />
    
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        <![CDATA[<p>It's that time of year again, time for the Triple Crown run and as always the tradition begins with the Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby where they put the "dition" in Tradition. Or maybe they put the "Mint Julep" in ... well social elite drukenness. </p>

<p>I'm a fairly strong horse racing afficianado, every year around Triple Crown time I get amped up for the races and start to follow the contenders with great enthusiasm. To me, there's really nothing like a great horse race.  Although a well-executed heist (the larger the caper the better) definitely matches it but in a different category of excitement. I can't even really talk much about it because I've never been a part of a poorly executed heist let alone a successful one so don't take my opinion too seriously. To be honest, I really just can imagine how awesome that feeling must be and, quite frankly, would love to be a part of one. But I digress...</p>

<p>It looks like we are going to have a rather sloppy track for Saturday's race. And just like my joe's, the sloppier the better I always say... OK so maybe I don't say that. I just did now though ALRIGHT! So I'm gonna start saying that.</p>

<p>Now with the slop we have to decide who are the real "mudders" amongst the field. And in Kramer-esque fashion (see "the Subway" episode of Seinfeld in season 3) what we really want is a horse who not only is a mudder but who's mother was a "mudder". So if you're really up to doing that type of research go right ahead but my style has always been to do the basic amount of research (watch Kentucky Derby lead ups on ESPN) and pick my horse based on name and look. I would tell you the horse that I like but then I'd really have to kill you sooooo that's not an option but I must say there's one name I really like in this field...</p>

<p>Cool Coal Man</p>

<p>He'll be one I'll be rooting for for sure. Hope the rest of you have a great "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports" day along with me and tune into ABC @ 3:04 PST for the race.</p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Ukiah boys&apos; golf team having wonderful season</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/04/ukiah_boys_golf_team_having_wo.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=244" title="Ukiah boys' golf team having wonderful season" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.244</id>
    
    <published>2008-04-26T01:58:24Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-26T02:03:31Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Just wanted to deliver a congratulations to the Ukiah boys&apos; varsity Golf team. They finished a 12-2 season on Thursday with a heartbreaking defeat to Cardinal Newman (14-0) which left them in a second-place finish in the North Bay League...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Ukiah High School" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Just wanted to deliver a congratulations to the Ukiah boys' varsity Golf team. They finished a 12-2 season on Thursday with a heartbreaking defeat to Cardinal Newman (14-0) which left them in a second-place finish in the North Bay League but it is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. In two matches against the Cardinals, the boys from Ukiah lost by a grand total of three strokes. Newman is certainly no slouch; that's a very good golf squad they got over there in Santa Rosa. </p>

<p>Both teams now move on to NCS qualifier at Rooster Run in Petaluma on Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, for you Spanish illiterates out there... We here at the journal wish the entire team the best of luck in qualifying for NCS. Go Wildcats!</p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Local Restaurantuer article</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/04/local_restaurantuer_article.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=243" title="Local Restaurantuer article" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.243</id>
    
    <published>2008-04-26T01:48:15Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-26T01:58:07Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I&apos;ve been hearing quite a bit of backlash on the &quot;Local Restaurantuer has Giant change of heart&quot; article that ran in Wednesday&apos;s (4/23) issue of the Daily Journal and I have to say I&apos;m pretty angered by it. If you...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Publishing decisions" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>I've been hearing quite a bit of backlash on the "Local Restaurantuer has Giant change of heart" article that ran in Wednesday's (4/23) issue of the Daily Journal and I have to say I'm pretty angered by it. </p>

<p>If you don't find the above article, or any article for that matter, to be particularly newsworthy or interesting to you then DON'T READ THE FREAKING ARTICLE! How hard is it people? I'm sorry that for one day you missed out on an AP story detailing the most recent torch protests going on in South America. There's other places you can go for your daily sports news. Do what I do. Start your day with espn.com and then head on over to cbs.sportsline or some other site for a different take.</p>

<p>This happens to be a small town newspaper and it just so happens that a certain individual who has helped me a lot with the local sports coverage asked me to publish an article he had written about the experience his good buddy had recently. There wasn't much else going on that day and I decided to do something nice for him when he has done nothing but help me out since the day I got here. </p>

<p>So again, if you don't like something in the paper then turn the page. No one is requiring you to read the whole thing. And it was just one day, one paper. I'm not going to make this a weekly thing or even monthly so please relax and enjoy our sports section because I really think we're doing some good things here. </p>]]>
        
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<entry>
    <title>Big game for Wildcats </title>
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    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=236" title="Big game for Wildcats " />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.236</id>
    
    <published>2008-04-23T04:36:29Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-23T04:50:40Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Wednesday, April 23rd brings about another big game for the Ukiah baseball team as they make a run at the North Bay League (NBL) playoffs as 1st place Rancho Cotate comes to town. The Wildcats are coming off a big...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Wednesday, April 23rd brings about another big game for the Ukiah baseball team as they make a run at the North Bay League (NBL) playoffs as 1st place Rancho Cotate comes to town. The Wildcats are coming off a big win against the Cardinals of Cardinal Newman on Friday and own a win over the NBL-leading Cougars from earlier in the season in Rohnert Park. With Wildcats star sophomore pitcher Matt Hall still sidelined for another couple of games, the likely starting pitcher for Ukiah looks to be Eric McBurney for the showdown with Rancho. The game is at 4 p.m. so all you Wildcats fans should get over to Anton and support the team.</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Welcome to the Sports blog</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/2008/04/welcome_to_the_sports_blog.html" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.insideudj.com/MT/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=6/entry_id=231" title="Welcome to the Sports blog" />
    <id>tag:www.insideudj.com,2008:/udjsportsblog//6.231</id>
    
    <published>2008-04-19T23:52:11Z</published>
    <updated>2008-04-19T23:59:37Z</updated>
    
    <summary>So I&apos;m Anthony Dion, Sports Editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal and you most likely are residents of Mendocino County, passionate about your sports that range from Ukiah Lions football to Mendocino College and back down to recreational yet competitive...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Anthony Dion</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="About this blog" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.insideudj.com/udjsportsblog/">
        <![CDATA[<p>So I'm Anthony Dion, Sports Editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal and you most likely are residents of Mendocino County, passionate about your sports that range from Ukiah Lions football to Mendocino College and back down to recreational yet competitive roller skating. I understand that. My goal with this blog is to try to help you all understand my job and to comment as much as I can on the various goings-on of Ukiah sports. Hopefully you will feel inclined to post your comments and we can make this more of a discussion forum rather than a podium where I sit and preach. That's not what I want to do so please participate in discussing sports ranging from local Mendocino to the state of California and the occasional national news. So welcome and I hope you enjoy.</p>]]>
        
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