San Diego, CA

Nick Canepa: 12-team playoff gives SDSU, others more hope — and whiners less to carp about

Published

2 years ago

August 31, 2024

Nick Canepa: 12-team playoff gives SDSU, others more hope — and whiners less to carp about

Sez Me …

This is it. We have begun the year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. I’ve been waiting for it since I saw Hopalong Cassady hopping around in the mud the last time it rained on the Rose Bowl.

A good thing. It’s how it should be. No what-ifs. The room for the left-outs to bitch has been reduced in square feet from the Pentagon to a matchbox.

College football’s national champions used to come complete with “mythical” scribbled on their toe tags.

What did that mean? The titlist was a guess. Assumed.

And, while we never should assume, it was the only way to determine the champ from 1869 — when Rutgers and Princeton tied — to 2014, when the College Football Playoff was born.

Worst of all, it wasn’t won on the field. National titles were determined by the polls, filled out by sportswriters and coaches.

The journalists who cover college football do great work, but by the very nature of their work, it’s impossible for them to see all the teams play.

Coaches? They watch film of the teams they’re playing next. Many of them leave poll voting to their school’s Sports Information Director.

The Final 12 also will be decided by a CFP poll first released in November. Maybe the committee missed a few times when the tournament was made up of four, but it’s not screwing up the 12. Anyone complaining about not making it now simply didn’t play well enough and gets no sympathy. As it is, the five power conference winners get automatic entry, the top four byes.

Of course, the new format isn’t going to dismiss the usual powers. But NIL and the transfer portal have created chaos in college football, which is a funky stew right now. With so many new and unfamiliar faces, it could take awhile for some of the strong boys to show all of their muscle.

But now teams with two losses are going to get tickets, and as with the NCAA Tournament in basketball, there’s going to be more room for upstarts and upsets. I can’t see this new format hurting San Diego State. The Aztecs getting to the old format was nearly impossible. It was nearly impossible for most schools.

The winner will deserve it now. Leave the myth crap to Edith Hamilton. …

I didn’t see much greatness opening weekend. Georgia didn’t impress much and Ohio State, with 85 future draft choices, didn’t — vs. Akron. …

Utah QB Cameron Rising will be back for his seventh season, tying the record set by Faber College’s John Blutarsky. …

The Holiday Bowl will play in Snapdragon, but I loved it in Petco, where it was unique, and its surroundings superior for fun seekers to those in Mission Valley. Tourists don’t flock to Costco, Ikea and Lowe’s, although Costco does have samples and Ikea Swedish meatballs. …

Deion Sanders believes he has the press cornered, refusing to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler. Not smart. I’ll be a columnist on this paper 40 years this month, and I’ve never cared if a player, coach, owner, GM, manager or politician shut me out. Columnists get by with their own quotes. …

I’d tell him: “Thank you, Deion.” …

But, tell you what, Deion’s son, Shedeur — who doubles as Colorado’s quarterback — is going to play in the NFL. So, instead of not talking to the press, he can just say trite things. …

Shedeur has First Overall Pick written all over him. …

He has magic to him. Simply a great arm and vision, with a monster football IQ. …

And Travis Hunter, Colorado’s two-way stud, is the best pure football player in America. Just think. He just played 100 snaps — at altitude. …

Back in the 1980s, Padres boss Ballard Smith called to tell me he was never speaking to me again. “I told him, “Ballard, I spent the first 30-plus years of my life not talking to you; I can do 30-plus more.” …

Several months later, I ran into Ballard, and he said: “Where’ve you been? I haven’t talked to you in awhile.” …

Say, when Padres General Manager Jack McKeon basically made himself Padres manager, I wrote a column saying being both GM and skipper is a mistake. Jack didn’t speak to me for two years. I got by. And I was right. …

I know people are idiots, but those claiming the Padres are better off without Fernando Tatis Jr. couldn’t spell “a” if you spotted them the “a.” …

Most people used to avoid saying something stupid. …

If Jackson Merrill isn’t NL Rookie Of The Year, he’s Most Important Rookie Of The Year. And that’s more important. …

Jurickson Profar must dream about bunting. Wake up! …

Luis Arraez is a terrific hitter. But he’s a DH. To paraphrase my late colleague and friend Scott Stewart, he plays defense with a glove on one hand and a map in the other. …

When asked if he were doctoring the baseball with a foreign substance, Don Sutton said: “That’s not true. Vaseline is manufactured right here in the United States.” …

The Colts have released a third of their 2024 draft class — fifth, sixth and seventh-round choices. At the time, GM Chris Ballard said: “We couldn’t believe they were still on the board.” …

I’m wondering if I’ll ever get used to the NFL’s new kickoff alignment. Seems unprofessional and video gamey. …

Brittany Mahomes, wife of Patrick, says she doesn’t give an “F” word about what people think of her publicly endorsing Donald Trump. Doesn’t appear she can be like her husband and block out a bad play. …

Babe Ruth’s “called shot” jersey has sold at auction for $24.2 million. It tripled in value after George Costanza dumped strawberries all over it. …

Steph Curry will make $62.57 million this season. The entire Oakland A’s payroll is $62.59 million. The Athletics brass made sure Curry wasn’t making more than their entire team. …

Amazon Wonderly — and I wonder what that is — wants the Kelce brothers podcast and is paying them $100 million over three years for the rights. Amazon apparently has found out too late that Taylor Swift isn’t a part of it. …

Kansas City signed former Patriots starting QB Bailey Zappe. The Chiefs are like the Dodgers, so if Zappe is forced to play, he’s MVP. …

The heat index in Iran the other day hit a world record 180 degrees, breaking the mark set just a day earlier while the Padres were playing in St. Louis. …

Colorado sportsbooks took $320 million worth of bets in July — $9 million on table tennis. The state gets 4.4 percent of the winnings. California, with around 35 million more residents? Nothing. …

Walden Pond is being endangered by development. I didn’t know it was in San Diego. Let me guess: High-rise condos with no parking, an access road smooth as railroad tracks, and a $25 million bike lane around the shore. …

“Women and men simply are not the same. They’re just not.” — Katherine Hepburn

Originally Published: August 31, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

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San Diego, CA

Man fatally struck by hit-and-run vehicle in San Diego

Published

12 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Man fatally struck by hit-and-run vehicle in San Diego

A man in the Mission Bay Park community of San Diego was fatally struck Sunday morning by a hit-and run vehicle, authorities said.

The victim was also struck by a second vehicle and that motorist stayed at the scene to cooperate with officers, the San Diego Police Department reported.

The initial crash occurred at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday in the area of West Mission Bay and Sea World drives.

The pedestrian was in the southbound lanes of the 2000 block of West Mission Bay Drive when he was struck by a silver vehicle also in the southbound lanes. That vehicle fled the scene, continuing southbound, police said.

A 28-year-old man driving his vehicle southbound ran over the downed pedestrian.

“That driver remained at the scene and is not DUI,” according to a police statement. “The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

Anyone with information regarding the initial crash was urged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

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San Diego, CA

Here are the 9 San Diego County communities that set or tied heat records

Published

24 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Here are the 9 San Diego County communities that set or tied heat records

San Diego County is known for having wet, cold weather in February. But it had numerous hot spells this year. And when the month ended on Saturday a high pressure system produced heat that broke or tied temperature records in nine communities from the desert to the sea, the National Weather Service said.

The most notable temperature occurred in Borrego Springs, which reached 99, five degrees higher than the previous record for Feb. 28, set in 1986. The 99 reading is also the highest temperature ever recorded in Borrego in February.

Escondido reached 95, tying a record set in 1901.

El Cajon reached 92, three degrees higher than the record set in 2009.

Ramona topped out at 88, five degrees higher than the record set in 2009.

Alpine hit 88, four degrees higher the record set in 1986.

Campo reached 87, four degrees higher than the record set in 1999.

Vista hit 86, four degrees higher than the record set in 2020.

Chula Vista reached 84, one degree higher than the record set in 2020.

Lake Cuyamaca rose to 76, four degrees higher than the record set in 1986.

Forecasters say the weather is not likely to broadly produce new highs on Sunday. Cooler air is moving to the coast, and on Monday, San Diego’s high will only reach 67, a degree above normal.

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San Diego, CA

Francis Parker captures Open Division girls basketball title

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Francis Parker captures Open Division girls basketball title

OCEANSIDE — The Frontwave Arena scoreboard showed 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Up 16, Francis Parker’s win over Westview High School for the CIF San Diego Section Open Division girls basketball championship was secure.

“No, no, no!” Parker head coach Courtney Clements screamed to freshman guard Jordan Brown, telling her there was no need to score.

So Brown walked the ball up the floor, from the backcourt, across midcourt, a 1,000-watt smile etched across her face.

With no Wolverines defending her, Brown dribbled from side to side across the logo. Then, a fraction of a moment before the final buzzer sounded, Brown flung the basketball high toward the rafters, then was engulfed by teammates.

The job was complete. Parker’s first Open Division title in program history was secure, the final reading 66-50 on Saturday night.

Of those final seconds, said Brown, who scored 23 points. “It was a surreal moment, knowing we worked for this all year long. It’s amazing.”

One reason it was amazing was because the top-seeded Lancers (21-7) were a decided favorite, but were stressed by the sixth-seeded Wolverines (20-9). Led by UC Santa Barbara-bound senior guard Sarah Heyn (18 points in the first half), Westview led 35-28 early in the third quarter.

“I just knew I had to do whatever it took to win,” said Brown. “Whether that was defense or offense. I just wanted to win, period.”

Sparked by its defense, Parker closed the quarter on a 14-0 run. Westview’s final 11 possessions of the quarter ended with five missed shots and six turnovers.

Still, the game wasn’t over. Heyn cut the deficit to 48-44 with just over six minutes to play on a bucket. But with 5:47 to play, Heyn was whistled for her fifth foul on a reach-in.

“Knowing their best player fouled out, we sealed the win,” said Brown.

As for Heyn, who finished with 23 points, she sat on the bench and pulled her jersey over her eyes, hiding tears.

Clements’ thoughts when Heyn fouled out? “I hope we can put this game away now.”

Francis Parker High’s Jordan Brown shoots against Westview High during the CIF Open Division championship at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. Francis Parker defeated Westview 66-50. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

That the Lancers did, outscoring Westview 18-6 down the stretch.

The Lancers’ players and coach were effusive in their praise for Heyn, a four-year starter.

“She’s a great player,” said Brown.

“She played phenomenally,” said Clements. “She played the way you would think a senior would play in a championship game. She played desperately. She played every possession like it was the last 20 seconds of the game. She was extremely impressive. (Heyn buried five 3s, missing only once from deep.) She should be proud of herself.”

Clements was proud of her team for another reason. After blowing out two-time reigning Open Division champion Mission Hills by 26 in the semis, some thought Parker might cruise in the title game.

“I figured it was going to be a fight, and it was,” said Clements. “It was good that our girls had to come together, had to stick together. That’s what this is all about, developing character via the sport of basketball. When the kids face adversity, they have to make a decision. Who do they want to be? They showed the best version of themselves. That’s what I want to remember from a game like this.”

Francis Parker’s primary color is brown, which is fitting for the girls basketball team. They are led not only by the freshman Jordan Brown, but also junior Brieana Brown, a strong, aggressive and athletic 5-foot-11 wing.

Brieana Brown scored 25 points and yanked down a team-best eight rebounds.

About the team in brown being led by the Browns (who are not related), Jordan Brown said: “It’s super cool. I love Bri and our story. So many people think we’re related, that we’re siblings. In reality, we’re not, but we play like it.”

Francis Parker High's Brieana Brown shoots against Westview during the CIF Open Division championship at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. Francis Parker defeated Westview 66-50. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) — Francis Parker High’s Brieana Brown shoots against Westview during the CIF Open Division championship at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. Francis Parker defeated Westview 66-50. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Francis Parker and Westview both will advance to the Southern California Regionals.

Earlier in the season, Clements — who was dressed in all black for the championship game — confessed she wasn’t crazy about Parker’s primary color. Her mood shifted Saturday night.

“Brown’s doing well for me now,” she said.

Asked if Lancers’ Brown squared tandem represents the best one-two girls basketball punch in the San Diego Section, Clements gave the questioner a “What do you think?” smirk.

“That,” said the coach of the Open Division champions, “is a no-brainer.”

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