Oh yea, You did. Your the only one that has been pushing Wherry on every blog. You started in summer. The way you continue to push him as POY you must be his parent, girl friend or him.

As far as spelling and word usage – this is a blog – fast typing- no spell check….Keep on the subject.

And next time you quote me, don’t make me look like I don’t KNOW my no from my know just because you don’t. Get back to class…

I was, indeed, part of The L.A. Times’ sports coverage. I began on the paper’s sports copy desk in 1984, after nine years of teaching journalism and English at Irvine’s University High, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College and Cal State Fullerton. Back then, the section was part of the Orange County edition of the paper and we went head-to-head with the Register. We even had a prep sports section that appeared weekly, and many of the prep writers are those you see covering the major sports at The Times today (DiGiovanna, Penner, Dufresne, Foster, etc.)

In 2001, after The Times was purchased by the Chicago Tribune, the sports departments at the satellite editions in Orange County and the San Fernando Valley were closed down and we were moved downtown with the mandate to cover the entire Southern Section and Los Angeles City Section — more than 600 high schools! Plus, whenever cuts were made to the paper, they came from the high school staff. By the time I was let go in the summer of 2008, we were down to one full-time reporter (Martin Henderson), one part-time reporter (Dan Arritt) and one columnist (Eric Sondheimer). At that point, our coverage had dwindled to simply the major sports each season (football, basketball, baseball/softball). We simply did not have the bodies to be able to cover the so-called minor sports like we did in the past.

It has been heartbreaking to see the destruction of The Times’ prep sports coverage, especially in Orange County. The Register has tried to keep up with the tremendous task, but without the pressure of a competing paper, it can afford to be lazy at times. That’s not to take anything away from Stever Fryer (a former student of mine at CS Fullerton) or Dan Albano (who was a sports clerk at The Times Orange County office before leaving for the Register), who both do a heck of a job, considering how much is expected of them by everybody.

I must thank The Register for allowing us prep sports fans an avenue to express our opinions. I will continue to do so. I never thought it would be in the avenue of water polo and swimming, but those are the sports my children decided to pursue. Once they have graduated (and it won’t be very long before that happens), I hope to still be weighing in on matters of interest — but, perhaps, with less a bias. (smiley face)

CIF Division I coaches have spoken: El Toro’s Nick Rascon (sr.) and Russell Renteria (jr.) are co-players of the year; ET goalkeeper Garrett Danner (so.) is named to first team; ET’s Joey Fuentes (so.) and Joey Colton (fr.) are named to second team; ET’s Don Stoll is coach of the year. Remember, this is only Division I, so no Division II Mater Dei kids considered.

Register’s awards will consider all players from all Orange County high schools, but picks are Dan Albano’s only. He may consult coaches and consider the CIF picks, but ultimately they are his.