Back from the Dead

Oh boy, I have totally neglected this blog I created. I apologize for not blogging as often as possible (I'll try to make it up on this one blog)...even though I don't think that many of you even would bother with this crap...haha. Thanks for the show of love to the one or two readers. Oh wells, this is my test project and another mean of putting my awful writing skill to any kind of good use (besides the daily IMing...if you can even call that proper writing and form of English...I do really hate writing!). Excuse: I have been really busy at work (yes, I do have a real job besides running leagues and tournament) with the upcoming election around the corner and putting all my extra time into preparing for the Halloween Tournament, which is one month away. We are still looking for teams if you are interested!

Back to the main topic, Fall league. It's been a real rollercoaster ride this season. It's unfortunate, and we do very much appreciate all the teams' cooperation that we had to follow a whacked and inconsistent schedule this season. I don't blame the complaints and boo hoos. Please forgive us, we're not perfect. We'll try to be 99% perfect next season.

Byes:

Cantwell High School: Yes, there is actually 3 weeks of byes in a row for all divisions at Cantwell.
Saturday Tin/Copper: byes will be on Oct. 18th, 25th, & Nov. 1st & 29th
Tin West, Bronze West & East: byes will be on Oct. 12th, 19th, 26th & Nov. 29th (that's right, these 3 divisions are playing during the Halloween Tournament weekend)

Alhambra High School: (this includes the other 2 games at Montebello High School):
Tin East & Copper East: no byes...you guys are going 10 weeks straight and get to enjoy your Thanksgiving (gain a few pounds and not have to worry about games the following weekend).

Montebello High School:
Tin Central: byes on Nov. 2nd (you guys also get to enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend)

Temple City High School:
Silver and Copper West: byes on Nov. 2nd & 29th

Please note: schedules may change!!! Please do not get mad at us if it does.

Something to look forward to: Starting this Sunday, I will be randomly visiting gyms to practice on my sports photography. Don't be alarm if you see some weird guy with a camera shooting at your games...its not a tourist or ESPN. We will finally be posting pictures on the website...hopefully it will be decent ones. I do apologize ahead of time if I don't do you any justice with these photos. If you are camera shy, wanted by the police or for whatever reasons don't want your face on the website, please give me the word. I'll gladly take it down ASAP. Likewise, if you love the camera, just give me a holla.

A heads up! Winter 09 season online registration will be available online early November. Please note, we never use Montebello High School during the Winter season...therefore there will be one less division....first come first serve, even for all you returning teams!

Okay, I think this is long enough...signing off.

Alhambra High School - The Conclusion

After much delay...I finally received the verdict from Alhambra High School District, and it's not exactly what I wanted to hear. Each season we typically encounter minor problems and obstacles resulting from uncontrollable circumstances from school functions, etc. As for this season, it was actually very difficult and frustrating (referring to AHS). Not only did the small gym have floor damage, the school administration did not determine or decide the outside user schedules until after our season actually started. I must have called the district 10 to 20 times the past two weeks. So today I found out we will only be able to use the Big gym from 10am to 4pm (was hoping to get 8 hours to compensate for the small gym and the two divisions left still waiting to get on the court). Copper East and Tin East must be itching to play. Well, let's see how badly they are itching because not only did we have gym problems...the time frame! Don't forget these two divisions were originally supposed to be late games from 5pm to 9pm. Now we have another issue to deal with.

Damage control. Like life, you deal with it and make the most of it. So I am hoping all the teams from the Tin East and Copper East divisions can compromise and work with us this season. I threw all the teams an email in return hoping for a positive reply and cooperation. So far so good. Oh yeah, I know some of you must be wondering what about the other two hours (since we only have AHS for 6 hours). Well, we have a few options for the other two hours. 1. Hope to use Temple City High School from 6pm to 8pm, or 2. Use Montebello from 1pm to 3pm (hence bumping the Tin Central division time frame to 9am to 1pm). Nonetheless, we can't make a decision yet until we have all the teams agree with the new time frame. Worst case - cancel the two divisions left (which I am hoping won't happen). Let's hope we have everything settled and resolved by the end of the week. What fun this is!

NOTE: We still need teams for the Halloween Tournament...anybody interested?

Fall season kicks off...

Welcome back! Fall season kicked off yesterday Saturday with the Tin/Copper division. Wondered why we name the division this...just felt as though the Saturday division was caught in the middle of a Tin and Copper division. Hence Tin/Copper, duh...need a better name next season. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty tough finding teams to participate on Saturdays. I guess many of us work on Saturdays or left that day to spend time with the family and friends. An idea did pop into my head today as I left from Cantwell High School to pick up an extra scoreboard. (Story behind this: received a call from Johnny that Temple City High School's scoreboard went haywire...suddently shut off. First assumption, scoreboard broke. Therefore emergency request to pick up the extra scoreboard from our scorekeeper from Cantwell High School. And of course as I somewhat predicted would happen, after I picked it up...received a call back from Johnny saying it wasn't the scoreboard but instead the outlet. Go figures.) Anyways, back to the idea. I figured since it was pretty tough finding teams for Saturdays and there was only one division (can't be picky with what kind of competition there would be), maybe we'll call it a Recreation division (anbody able and willing) where all participants will receive a t-shirt and only the 1st place winner will receive a different color shirt. Of course we'll need to raise the league fee to something like $375 to compensate for the extra t-shirts required. What do you think?

For the exception of the Tin East and Copper East divisions, all Sunday divisions went fairly smoothly. I hope to have more news on the Alhambra High School gym's condition by tomorrow evening.

Finalizing Completed

Fall season is now completed and ready to go.

Divisions: Silver, Bronze West, Bronze East, Copper West, Copper East, Tin West, Tin Central, Tin East & Saturday Tin/Copper.

As mentioned on my previous blog, the Alhambra High School small gym will require maintenance and repair from water damage. As a result, we will have byes for the Copper East and Tin East divisions until the small gym is repaired. Let's hope this does not take too long, otherwise we may need to look for a replacement gym.

I recommend all teams check the website Friday evenings for any last minute changes to the game schedules (even though you should also receive emails if any changes occur). I am also considering the use of text messages, since it seems like that's the trend nowadays and many of you don't pick up your cell phones.

I received an email from Cantwell High School today noting that the gym will also not be available on Oct. 25th and 26th. We're looking at 2 Saturdays and 3 Sundays in a row for Cantwell High School, and the following weekend will also be the Halloween Tournament. That's a potential whole month off for Cantwell High School. I am definitely trying my best to avoid this scenario. Maybe we will need to look for another location during that time period or have byes and switch with another gym. I am going to need to work my magic on this one...

Finalizing Part II

If you haven't noticed yet, we were able to add another division this season, Tin Central. That's probably the reason why you only see 5-6 teams on the website. I have been on the phone calling the teams on the waiting list, and unfortunately there were a few managers that did not pick up their phone. Sorry I do not leave voice mails unless it's important and urgent. One team's loss is another team's gain...lucky to the later teams. I hope to have all the divisions and teams done by tomorrow before I head out to Vegas for the LVI Tournament. If you have any urgent questions or concerns this weekend, please call my phone.

Bad news! Well, hopefully not that bad. I have been bugging the Alhambra School District to find out whether we will receive our gym permit in time for the start of league next Sunday. Same answer like the last few times...still pending. So this time I called the school directly for the status. My source tells me they have approved the permit, but still needs the final approval from up above (I assume the principal or activity personnel). But here is the bad news, he also told me the small gym has water damage and will require immediate repair. This will definitely delay the start for the Tin East division. I am also debating on whether to delay the Copper East division which uses the big gym. So please do not be surprised if we delay the start of the league for the Tin East and Copper East divisions. Since we're on the topic, there are also a few weekends in October that Cantwell High School activities will take place. October 12th, 18th & 19th to be exact. Expect byes for these days for the divisions playing at Cantwell. Not to mention our annual Halloween Tournament which will be held on November 1st and 2nd (we are still accepting teams, please see website - tournament section). Further down in November will be Thanksgiving weekend. Unless something else comes out, these are pretty much the byes for the Fall league.

I'll also try my best to have the game schedules out by tomorrow night, otherwise check back Monday evening for the completion as this will be a very hectic weekend for me (will also be celebrating my little girl's one year old birthday this Sunday). If by any chance you're at Dave & Busters, Santa Anita this Sunday evening, drop by and say hi.

Have a good weekend, and you'll probably won't hear from me until Monday.

Tournamet T-Shirt Design

Finalizing Fall Season

After much delay and waiting, I am almost done finalizing the divisions and teams. On a special note, please be aware we have not received the gym permit for Alhambra High School (due to delay of school activity schedules). There might be a slight 1-10% (guessing here) that we may not use the gym for this Fall season, which will affect the Tin East and Copper East divisions (cross our fingers). I am pretty confident we should be able to receive the permit for the late hours we usually use for the AHS gyms.

You may also notice your teams being placed in a different division (possible reasons: your team won 1st last season, league decision for quality purpose or time/gym conflict). For all the teams there were not accepted, we apologize for the late notice and hope you will try again next season. Please also note many of the teams that were not accepted never sent in the form and league payment. Registering online alone will do you no good unless we also received the "signed" form and check in the mail. Form and check will be returned to the registrant mail address. Checks are never deposited until everything is finalized and schedules are set.

I am still currently working on each division so you may notice it individually appearing on the website.

Gyms: Temple City High School, Cantwell High School, Montebello High School & Alhambra High School (pending permit).