Father of injured player says new video shows son being struck
October 11th, 2010, 6:50 pm · · posted by DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com
The father of an Irvine water polo player who alleged his son was choked under water and struck in the throat during a match last week against Corona del Mar plans to document the incident with school officials and the CIF-Southern Section.
The player, senior Zack Kamai, suffered injuries to his throat in the Pacific Coast League match on Thursday. He received treatment from paramedics before returning to the game.
The boy’s father, Marold Kamai, said Monday that he will send a letter about the incident to the CIF-Southern Section, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and to administrators at Corona del Mar and Irvine high schools.
Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said Monday that neither Irvine nor Corona del Mar had filed an incident report with the section. Simmons said referees are required to file reports on ejections. In the Zack Kamai incident, no foul was called by the referees.
Marold Kamai said he will also submit a video of the incident that he alleges shows his son being held under water and struck in the throat area during the game. The video was shot from a different angle than the video that accompanied OCVarsity.com’s story last week.
(Editor’s note: The video that Marold Kamai plans to submit is shown above. In the video, Zack Kamai is shown battling for position in the middle of the screen as the video begins.)
“This can’t continue (to happen),” Marold Kamai said Monday.
Corona del Mar principal Tim Bryan said the school conducted a four-hour investigation of the incident on Friday. Bryan said interviews, including one with the Corona del Mar player involved, didn’t reveal an intent to injure Kamai.
Bryan said the investigation included reviewing a video of the game.
“It’s terrible that a player got injured,” Bryan said.
The incident occurred early in the third period, just before host Irvine took a four-goal lead. Zack Kamai appeared to have trouble breathing and began floating on his back after trying to establish position at 2 meters. His father jumped into the pool to help him reach the edge.
Zack Kamai received medical attention from paramedics, but he returned to the game in the fourth period. Corona del Mar won, 11-8.
Zack Kamai also played over the weekend in the S&R Sport Water Polo Cup. The Corona del Mar player involved in the incident also played in the tournament.
On Friday, Zack Kamai said the Corona del Mar player apologized to him during a break between tournament games.
“Thank you for the apology, I really need that,” Zack said he told the player.
Zack Kamai said the player’s father and a Corona del Mar coach also apologized to him.
“It made me feel better,” Kamai said of meeting with the player. “CdM, they should have a good reputation. … They’re a top team. They should play like a top team.”
Related:
Boys water polo: Irvine-Corona del Mar story goes national
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not only are we the top team were the best.
Yeah CDM is definately the best :
O wait didn’t they lose to :
Foothill
Long Beach Wilson
El Toro
Newport Harbor
Los Alamitos
Long Beach Wilson
and your response?
JOEY C— BRAVO!!! very well said… A++++
CDMPOLO .
please keep your eyes peeled for the real BEST of the BEST in OC yet TBD
** El Toro, MD , Newport and Los Al
Anyone who knows, Is there any historical facts/official records of pre-season brutalities such as concussion, by the same team/ and or kid that sets a precedent?
im pretty sure we wrecked u guys
CDMPOLO
WHO did you wreck exactly??
ET.. Los Al.. Newport.. Foothill ? When was the last time you guys got CIF title and rings ? oh okay, what about last CIF Finals . ok thanks
I will agree with you ‘CDMPOLO’, that CDM is a really good team. However, sadly it’s not looked at as the ‘best team’ any longer, in spite of their rank! It’s looked at as a…. “DIRTY” team. That’s not a reputation that any team wants. Yet it’s the title that CDM will have for a long time going forward.
Clearly this video above shows the IRVINE player being choked underwater, anyone watching the video can see the CDM player with BOTH HANDS under water clearly in very close proximity of what appears to be the neck area. Regardless of how long someone is underwater, be it may 9 secs, 22 sec, 1 mins, when you are being choked, you lose all lack of oxygen to the body, blocking the carotid arteries from supplying oxygenated blood to the brain, and lack of oxygen to the brain leading to unconsciousness and death.
The common carotid arteries are two of several arteries that supply blood to the head. The right common carotid artery branches from the brachiocephalic artery and extends up the right side of the neck. The left common carotid artery branches from the aorta and extends up the left side of the neck. Supplies oxygenated blood to the head and neck regions of the body.
It’s no wonder that the IRVINE PLAYER was clearly limp in the water for so long! He was clearly CHOKED by the CDM Player!
For Principle TIM BRYAN to state that the school conducted a 4 hour investigation, and came to the conclusion that the CDM player didn’t reveal an “INTENT TO INJURE” the Irvine player… Was that before or after Mr. TIM BRYAN watched this video above?
Tim Bryan, do your job as principle! Set a standard for other kids coming up wanting to play this game at CDMHigh. Get up from behind that desk of yours and have this player take some responsibility on his end as well as the heads of your athletic department! This thug on the CDM team has a reputation for pulling this kind of thing. This is not acceptable! Put your glasses on and watch the video above. Your lack of responsibility regarding this incident as principle is disturbing. Your water polo team is known for a bunch of thugs, I was at the game, and the player should have been kicked out! The IRVINE PLAYER was down for at least 15mins, with paramedics by his side, that to me isn’t part of the game or just an accident, or am I missing something here,? I think I must have missed the other games where the paramedics showed up? What’s it going to take… a lawsuit for the CDM athletic department to wake up!
“The boy’s father, Marold Kamai, said Monday that he will send a letter about the incident to the CIF-Southern Section, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and to administrators at Corona del Mar and Irvine high schools.”
I would also send my sons medical bills to the CDM player/and family, along with nice legal letter of intend to harm!
“The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
-Japanese Proverb
“The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.”
Japanese Proverb
Are you talking about Pearl Harbor or the CDM vs Irvine game?
It’s a saying…
Maybe you need to go back to school! Good luck on that!
PhatESQ!
The proverb seems to apply equally well to either.
nicely done PhatESQ!
I understand the proverb. I think if the Japanese would have taken that advise Pearl Harbor may have never happened.
*Yawn*
CDM plays dirty and anyone who watches them play knows it! If they had any skill then they would not pull these stunts. Our son was injured earlier in the season when he was kneed in the kidney by two CDM players (cracking his rib – confirmed by DR.) forcing him to miss the remainder of the tournament.
What are the CDM coaches teaching these boys and why is this kind of play being allowed by the school, coaches, parents and league?
If CDM had any integrity they would play based on their skill not their bag of dirty tricks!
Who do the CDM players think they’re kidding? What jerks! My son is now is in college polo but we played CDM the 4 years in HS. This is clearly battery and the parents should file a report and press charges! And the coaches should kick the player off the team! He very clearly was intentionally holding #3 under water while looking around like “whoa, what’s going on?” This is poor sportsmanship and if you have to use brutality to win, you are truly pathetic!! Karma, what goes round comes around….wait til college, if you get that far!
again with the whining…. get over it, every one gets hurt. My kid fractured his spine while playing Irvine last year, did anyone hear me complain? oh and about that college thing, yeah, interesting.. since most are going to prestigious east coast IV colleges..
I watched that part on the video it was for like two seconds and the kid got back in the game, so it had to be a freak accident. This dad is probably just mad because his son’s team lost.
Are you for real? Wait….your mom’s calling you, get outta here!!
whatta joke, u r a joke. have u ever been held under water when u weren’t expecting it? if u didn’t just take a breath in, u would have no air in your lungs. oh wait, it think that no oxygen to the brain did happen 2 u. besides the point, talent shouldn’t require cheap moves and shots. let’s see how u react when u see your kid being held underwater one day.
Or maybe he is mad because his son could breathe only after he was treated by someone. This sends a message to these types of players
At the least it sends a message to other teams’ parents to bring their cameras……
Whatta Joke, it sounds like your profile name is a reflection of your judgement. Does not matter if it was “two seconds”. Ask a police officer if their is a time limitation on assault.
The kid came back in the game you honestly think the CdM kid wanted to dislocate his wind pipe? Dirty stuff happens in water polo all the time I really doubt this kid intended on assaulting anyone. Stop bagging on CdM they obviously play the game tough this was obviously an accident.
Obviously an accident? Okay, well apparently the same CDM kid has done some other violent actions against other kids on other teams. If it was an accident, this kid has some anger issues that need to be resolved.
it wasnt the initial choke that led to the player not being able to breath, it was the player “throat checking” or ramming his hand into zack’s throat that cause the him to stop playing. If you watch the video closely, you can clearly seem him throat checking zack twice, thus inhibiting his ability to breath. You simply do not do that “on accident”
how do the reff’s not see that!!!!
i guess both refs got caught watching the ball instead of the water they were supposed to. if the front court ref was watching 2m like he was supposed to he would see the cdm guy with both hands under water holding the irvine player down, plus the blow to the irvine player also.
it has been the beginning of a nightmare of a year for cif ss.
Whatta Joke, your last posting just confirmed your profile name. There is tough, then there is assault. Tough is when you kick off on someone on a counter which you might hit the wind pipe, but it was not on purpose. Dirty stuff is when you punch, knee, and kick someone under water. But, grabbing the neck and choking is not tough or part of the game, it’s assault.
This is not a bag on CDM, as the other CDM players came to his side to help him. We will let the powers to be define tough, dirty, or assault.
“Thank you for the apology, I really need that,” Zack said he told the player.
End of story.
THANK YOU!!!! EVERYONE LISTEN!!! GLENS GOT IT DOWN!! ITS OVER! We all respect each other now, and this whole blog should just be deleted.
i was at this game and irvine would’ve won if this incident hadnt happened. They were clearly in control at the beginning and as soon as Zack got hurt CDM made a run.
CDM were getting their you know what kicked out of. Irvine had the game and the only way cdm could win was once again to play DIRTY!
or, looking at it from another perspective, Irvine did the only thing Irvine knows how to do – run crying to mommy and daddy, fold, and lose when the going got tough….
Yeah “squegger” that’s just what they did when they were up by 4 goals…
I think it’s the other way around – Oh no they are up by 4, so CDM sinks a player
What parent in his right mind would let their kid get back into a game if he thought he “dislocated his wind pipe? He got hurt, I’ll admit but seriously, kids get hurt all the time in water polo and they don’t get this much publicity. Heck, next time my kid gets kicked in the nuts, i’m diving in. Maybe i’ll get on OC Varsity. Give me a break. Get over it Irvine!
Hey The Observer
Just because a player gets back in the water (get up and dust yourself off so to speak) doesn’t mean he didn’t get hurt!
I can only assume it’s your attitude that’s stopping you from getting a write up in OC V.
PhatESQ!
This is water polo people. It happens all the time! If you don’t like the contact join me in marathon swimming!
have we forgotten a CdM player was suspended for the game against Irvine due to a brutality charge against Northwood?
Seems like most of the apologists posting here don’t think brutalities exist and if given are clearly undeserved….
Have we not already established that the CDM player was wrong? It’s time to move on to something else. Don’t the Vaqueros have some type of match going on today? Cross county, girls tennis, something….
Yeah Glen, so what are you still doing over here?
I’m on this page trying to digest the anatomy lesson you gave us earlier. Are you an attorney or a Doctor.
“The common carotid arteries are two of several arteries that supply blood to the head. The right common carotid artery branches from the brachiocephalic artery and extends up the right side of the neck. The left common carotid artery branches from the aorta and extends up the left side of the neck. Supplies oxygenated blood to the head and neck regions of the body.”
PhatESQ(attorney, doctor, philosopher, hs student)
SMART is what I am!
PhatESQ
Not much of an athlete I’d guess?
Not with a name like FAT LAWER.
Awe I love when the green eye’d monster comes out in posters, it’s so cute!
If you watched the video it looks like the player is holding him under and then hitting him in the throat when he comes up…a couple of times. The player should of at least been reprimanded and removed from the game. If you’ve ever played water polo that was blatant.
Too bad the CDM Team will have problems from this and looked at as a team that will do anyting to win.
All of a sudden PhatESQ aka “FAT LAWYER” is a doctor who likes to quote Japanese proverbs. Get a life. Zack is fine and lives to play another day of water polo.
Mr Bryan ” It is terrible that a player got injured” , Will you please watch the video again.. You are in a tough position to give an unbiased comment, I realized that, at the very least, perhaps you can escalate this situation , couple of notches up above you ?? with all due respect for your position.
It will be quite Noble of you to take corrective and preventive actions..not only for the players and teams directly involved, but for the rest of the water polo community in the nation!!!
Let your your team shine with pure skills and ethics, they are definitely good and skilled enough to win WITHOUT any uncalled for brutalities
and aggression.
A classic example of what many considers to be a high level true, purely skills based competitive game was the Newport Harbor vs Los Al over the weekend.. No throat check incident report..just GOOD POLO!!
I am finding this post difficult to understand. What is it that you are asking for ownh20?
Glen, why did you post a comment saying for everyone to get over it and move on but you still keep your presence on this blog? Just wondering…
I would be remiss as a community member if I were to stand by and condone people bad mouthing children on this site. Until it stops I miust pay attention.
Leavingacomment, (whisper) just read over Glen.
It’s life…it happens everywhere. Become the president if you have that type of attitude. And PhatESQ..great advice. I shall do that here on out
LEAVING A COMMENT:
HAHAHA , I needed that
MR Chervin, I too am confused as to what you’re commenting anymore..
GLEN CHERVIN
I was asking “TIM BRYAN ” to review the video AGAIN and ESCALATE /turn it over to higher ups e.g. NEWPORT MESA SCHOOL DISTRICT, CIF SS for re-evaluation.
The principal should also view the tape of the cdm and northwood game when the brutality was given.
Why is the story posted twice???
Important update on: Tim BRyan’s 4 hr attempt to look into this incident and what the father’s next steps of action forward
That is wrong! The CDM player is clearly seen striking the Irvine player and holding him under water. I would be pressing charges for assault! Make him an example…he obviously has been warned before and has not learned a lesson so take it to him this time!
oh yeah, and…. gooo IRVINE! You guys ROCK!
Can’t wait for the next Irvine vs CDM game, all eyes will be watching!!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOO IRVINE!!!!!
Saw the Video and have read your bloggs. If they were to film this match from under water this sport would be “Terminated”. Very very bad things happen under the water that goes unpoliced in every match. Being kicked, kneed and punched in the Groing Area happens and serious injuries go untold due to the nature of being a criminal act. Just film 1 match under water and you will see. So keep it clean under and above the water kids if you want to have kids someday, Just a t Thought …………
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Leaders are, in fact, what they tolerate. For the CDM coach, AD and Principal to allow this kind of behavior to continue is a poor reflection on them. The apologists for the coach who say, “well it’s just one or two players, so it’s not his fault’ are quite simply wrong. It is his responsibility to instruct, monitor, and correct his students behavior.
I have followed the sport for a number of years and Irvine is known as a program that handles things with class. CDM, not so much.
I was watching the video and did anyone notice, after the fight ends, there is a Corona Del Mar players that comes out of no where swimming really fast to the irvine player and kind of pushed his team mate (the player in question) aside? It’s almost as if he has seen this before from him.
Just my passing thought.
Yes! I see it now. The player is there to rescue Kamai from the CDM player that is attacking Kamai.
no the one before that evan helps zack out him and the goalie justry to break it up
The staff at CDM must be very careful now as if there is one more incident caught on tape showing an obvious misconduct, the school district could be held accountable. I smell a lawsuit if this were to occur because there is a prior incident or at least the illusion of one. Good lawyers with very upset parents would not be a good combo for the district.
O but there is one more…
it will be interesting to pull all archived documentation of brutalities of
teams and players for the past 3 years..
or the start of the season.
Wow HOLYCOWBATMAN
When I watched this video for the first time, I NOTICED THE EXACT SAME THING!!!
Why did that kid swim to thim and then they switch like its planned
Was that their strategy? You betya!
holycowbatman and joey c, do you know anything about water polo? switches like the one you saw in the video happen often for a number of reasons. you are reading something into that switch that is simply not there….
In all of this Zack made a good comment about Cdm which is completely true.
He said “CdM, they should have a good reputation. … They’re a top team. They should play like a top team.”
I respect that a lot
we are the best…. best players best coach best program best school
ENOUGH said.
cdmpolo you’re trying to hard here on the message board,,,,, give it up!
you lost to foothill.
while I agree with cdmpolo that we are the best, I have to also agree with the many replies.
cdmpolo, what are you trying to do here? do you think the parents/players/alumni from the other teams are going to say, “you know, cdmpolo is right, they are the best!”…??? not likely!
your comments are no more than empty rhetoric – and I have to say they make us all look bad…. PLEASE, back up your statements with facts, or don’t make them!
I think I just vomited in my mouth…….
Delusional anyone??
You are quite funny though.
yeah ET Polo you should probably tell your players to stop stomping on other players
Well see what happens at the end of the season. Stomping? Don’t know about that, but ET does dominate most teams they play.
Sorry it’s post October 13, 2010 at 9:54 am
CDMPOLO
I wonder why the BEST cannot seem to be THE TOP????
you mentioned the current TOP HOT names of WRECKERS. why i sensed PRIDE and JOY in stating the above is mind boggling and pathetic.
i feel sorry for you and your athlete….
Yeah right cdmpolo—–lmaooooooooooooorotf
I’m glad my parents would have started whining every time something was done to me in a polo game. What a joke. Parents ruin the sport of water polo because they don’t understand the rules or how rough it really is. Things happen, it’s part of the sport.
Has a football parent ever complained and had video because another team was hitting too hard? Things like this are why the sport will never go mainstream, too much whining. We won silver in the Olympics yet no one outside the small community knows about it.
Tommy,
I was thinking about a hit Irvine def. end Nick Abele put on CDM QB Mitch Sands a couple of years back. The future UCLA player hit Sands so hard I don’t think Mitch new where he was. Abele helped him up and Sands stumbled to the bench. The back up QB came in and play resumed. That was it. I think most of us in the stands knew we had seen someting special, certainly without mal-intent on the part of Abele.
CdM won that game haha
Why do you and Cdmpolo keep bragging about your school. The refs nowadays are looking for that kind of play know. The whole game play is about to change because of this incident. Its not relevant to whats happening. All you are doing is making yourselves look like jerks.
You call that winning…..LMAO
if you want to see the full incident in which both teams fight go here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0&feature=fvst
check the teams fight at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0&feature=fvst
we’re the best. end of story
foothill.
Son, if my team had to win by that type of brutal play, I sure wouldn’t be saying we were the best or bragging about the program. And trust me, I know what it is to be part of a winning team. I know a good program from a bad one. What I saw from that clip and from watching CdM games this season, I wouldn’t be bragging about CdM water polo.
I was really troubled by this clip. The CdM player was clearly holding this kid under water and appeared to choke him. What is worse is how the game have devolved into a slug fest. There is no finesse, no ball handling, just two guys at set battling it out and everybody else trying to get the ball into the set. Let’s go back to the 1970-1990 style where fouls were more aggressively called. That led to a more skill based game, a game where ball handling and running plays were more important that brute muscle.
Old Polo guy, it sounds like you know what you are talking about, but I have to disagree with one point – fouls are called more readily these days, in my opinion. Back in the days you cite, a player committing five fouls was out of the game. Not so any more. Of course, there is the newer rule that a player who is called for three ejections is out of the game. That being said, it is also true that ejections are called much more readily than in the old days – I had to get used to that when I recently started playing masters.
I need to get to more games, including tomorrow’s rematch between Irvine and CdM – I hope what I am reading here, namely that CdM polo has devolved into a group of thugs, is not true!
I also saw two or three clips from different angles, and here is what I saw.
The CdM defender did indeed appear to be holding the Irvine player under water, but there is no way anyone can tell if he had his hands around the guy’s throat. I think that would be unlikely. AND, there is also the possibility that the Irvine player, while under water, was doing something to the CdM defender. There is just no way to tell from the clips.
AFTER the Irvine player’s head was back above the water, it appeared that the Irvine player attempted to grab the CdM player by the arm or wrist, and the CdM player used his other arm to get himself loose, inadvertantly hitting the Irvine player in the throat, which caused the Irvine player to temporarily have difficulty breathing. Unfortunate, but a part of the very physical game that is water polo.
Point fingers and they all point back at you!
ok. first off the CdM player was wrong to do that to the Irvine player. BUT i do not believe that he tried to severely injure him. YES he throat checked him but that really doesnt mean he attempted to cause him a severe injury. there is a difference between shaking a player up and trying to take him out of the game. from what i have heard this Irvine player is one of their best: a coach would naturally say in a close game that he want the player out of the game. that is what the CdM player was doing. Even though his action was not intentional he should received (or received) a suspension for the next game or 2 max. Here is an example of what many of you were arguing above (a good player shouldnt play dirty). Paul Reynolds. I have watched him play 10+ times in the last 3 years and honestly he is the BEST CLEAN PLAYER i have ever seen. He is a top talent and should play at the Division 1 level. he is small and he is one of the best players out there. He works his butt off all game every game to give his team the best chance to win that he can. I had seen him after a game apologize to a player after mistakenly elbowing him on a counter attack when attempting to drawn an ejection. that is what i call a great player. one who can do anything and not play dirty.
Second. i have seen many players return to games after serious injury. on several occasions has there been players who have gotten their eyes split open and simply waited for the bleeding to stop and just to stitching tape on it and get back in, even though they may have needed stitches. the best example i can think of is when (at the college level) i witnessed a set guard get his scrotum ripped almost all the way off. guess what while they disinfected the pool of blood 2 hours later he got back in the pool and finished the game. so anyone can come back after getting injured, some wont, but the ones that do care enough about their team and the sport that they will do what it takes for to not let their teammates down.
Next CdM is good and they work hard to be good and they deserve to be called a top team but there at D2 teams i feel are better and I’ll list them: Murrieta Valley, Foothill, Long Beach Wilson, and possibly Riverside Poly and Villa Park. I believe these based on match ups. what teams have and what they can use against CdM. in my opinion these teams all can beat CdM. Irvine played well and went on a 7-0 run i believe in this game, but remember that CdM was missing their best player and if im not mistaken, one other starter. When you two teams play again it will be emotional but im going to warn you, dont let things get to your head. dont do anything that could affect your team for the rest of the year or even the next game or two. Play a good clean water polo game and i promise you this whole issue will be completely forgotten.
Last the polls are very off this year. its very difficult to make a great standings but when everyone is beating everyone in all divisions it makes it so much worse. if you ask me the standings should be as such (this goes up through 10/22/10 games)
1. Foothill
2. Long Beach Wilson
3. Murritea Valley
4. CdM
5. Riverside Poly
6. Montebello
7. Villa Park
8. Irvine
9. Riverside King
10t. Corona Santiago
10t. Esperanza
Esperanza beat Villa Park but i have seen all 11 of these teams play multiple times and being a coach outside of the division i feel these standings are appropriate. No Santiago is not the team they were a year ago but they are good. I also feel that if Esperanza got to play Santiago/King/Irvine/Montebello/and given another shot against Poly and Villa Park, Esperanza would lose. Esperanza is well coached but i dont think they will make it out of the quarterfinals. they may but this IS JUST MY OPPINION. Riverside Poly has played very well this year. i saw 5 of their games this year and left very impressed. They are as good as any team in D2. Murrieta Valley is arguably the best team in the division but they havent had many (maybe 2 total) tough games all year. How many division 1/2 opponents have they played? i believe just 2 (i may be wrong by 1 or 2 because i have not followed them entirely this year). So in my opinion if you dont chose to play tough teams you dont deserve the top ranking. Foothill has come out this year and beat Esperanza 2 times, beat CdM, and Long Beach Wilson. What more do they have to do before they get the #1 ranking????They are THE best team in my opinion in D2. But i also feel that in this Division this year, these top 11 teams are very evenly played. CIF will come down to 2 things. 1. match ups. who you play is important to winning a title. if you match up well on a team then you have a better chance at winning than a team you dont match well up on. and 2. who wants it more. i shouldnt have to describe that.
In conclusion, he should be punnished by the school but he didnt do it intentionally. and D2 is a very close Divison. CdM players on here if you want to say your the best, go for it. But if you lose, everyone on here is going to laugh in your face for saying more than you can back up. here is a tip from someone who has been around polo since birth: never give a team or player any reason to want to beat you. when someone has motivation, they are much more dangerous than they are simply with wanting to win. If you read all this I thank you and i wish all CIF-SS teams luck in their division for CIF.
what a great post, lp2d!
so nice to hear from someone who really knows his stuff!!!
Thank you! I just want everyone to see it and if they don’t believe me thats fine it is just an opinion. And of course the standings i posted are different from what i believe now. Things change over time. And for clarification purposes that standings list i posted wasn’t what i thought should be the CIF polls. That was just me ranking the teams from 1-10. I cant not wait to see how your division turns out! It is going to be very exciting! Good luck to you all!!!
also in my opinion El Toro is the best team in CIF-SS
I am an alumnus of CdM, where I played water polo for four years. I also played a bit of masters water polo after college. In addition, I was assistant water polo coach at Irvine High for a year.
CdM has long been regarded as a top water polo team. I cannot speak to the current team, but we were NOT “thugs”. We worked very hard, and we won CIF my junior year.
Irvine High has an excellent swim team. They should perhaps leave it at that, as they are far too wimpy to play water polo. The dad jumps in the pool? Pahleeze!!! If my dad had jumped in the pool during a water polo game I would not have spoken to him for quite a while – but then, my dad knew better than to pull a stunt like that. Water polo is a very rough game, and if you can’t handle that, join a swim team. Don’t ruin our game!
Consider another situation that I personally witnessed. A Mater Dei sophomore was literally punched in the face during a CIF game, splitting his lip open and requiring stitches, which kept him out of the rest of the CIF tournament. That player went on to become CIF player of the year both his junior and senior years, leading Mater Dei to back-to-back championships. His dad did not jump in the water. His dad did not call for an investigation. His dad, another CdM alumnus, understands that water polo is a rough game and injuries do occur.
This Irvine player had a little scrape on his neck and was able to continue in the same game, and the dad is making a federal case out of it.
Stick to swimming, Irvine!
Squegger – The dad jumped in because the player was sinking and was lifeless, this wasn’t a punch in the face, or a split lip, other players (from both sides) were trying to hold him up… and really didn’t know what to do. Your condescending post with negative comments about the Irvine water polo team only reiterates what many have said about C”dirty”M…. THUGS, and Thug mentality!
fair enough, oh sacred bovine….
I admitedly was not there, I am basing my comments on the clips that are available online, (which includes a shot of Kamai’s injured throat), and the fact that he was able to return to the game. From that, the injury did not seem all that bad, but again, I was not there.
As I said in another post, I hope the CdM polo program has not degenerated to the point suggested by the many other posts in this thread. I am basing my comments on my experience from decades past, not the present program.
My comments regarding the Irvine program might be rightfully labeled as “condescending” – so be it! I was in the water with the Irvine team for one season many years ago, and other than two true water polo players, the team consisted of several swimmers who literally quit when the going got tough.
There are many equally “condescending” remarks about the CdM program. Call us thugs if you will – and my experience-based response (admittedly limited experience) is that the handful of Irvine players I have known tend to be wimpy, the many CdM players I have known are not thugs.
I am curious, are your comments based on personal experience playing water polo, or emotional reaction based on watching the game, or what exactly?
By the way, I have to admit the C”dirty”M phrase that you coined is clever, if not entirely accurate….
Regardless of whether the program has ‘degenerated into thuggery’ or not, as an alum, you are the perfect person to state that you do not want the program to be known for that. I’d encourage you to pass on your comments to the coach and/or AD at CDM.
Well Ole’ Squeegee…
It’s a little of both, I have a passion for the game and I am in the water often (of course on a different level). However I agree with wpobserver – Maybe you should take your good engery and put it to use and state that you do not want the program let alone C’dirtyM’ to be known for thuggery. I as well encourage you to pass on your comments to the coach and/or AD at CDM, unless of course you are already have ties to the team and program, which wouldn’t surprise me.
I have no current ties to the CdM polo program – I don’t even know who the coach or AD are. I try to catch a CIF game or two now and again – watched us lose to Newport Harbor last year….
I sure don’t want my alma mater to be known as C”dirty”M, I appreciate your suggestions, and I will take them under advisement.
I think I am going to go check out a water polo game now as I consider what an appropriately conscientious alum ought to do.