REC CENTER REPORT Boys Minors 2nd Round Suns 37, Pistons 26 (Suns win series 2-0) Boys Majors 2nd Round Heat 51, Rockets 44 (Heat win series 2-0) Pistons 46, Suns 33 (Pistons win series 2-0) The West Region youth basketball all-star tournament started last Saturday and the Palisades Recreation Center fielded six teams: two in the boys Minors division, one in the boys Majors, one in the boys Juniors, one in the girls Minors and one in the girls Majors. Pali’s boys Minors “A” all-stars, coached by Rick Farber, beat Westchester, 42-13. Pali’s team consists of Michael Adashek, Dylan Eisner, Henry Elkus, David Farber, Benji Kagan, Grant Pugatch, Taylor Stokes, Sam Wasserman and David Yona. The boys Minors “B” squad, coached by Peter Gardiner, lost to Westwood, 18-16. The team consists of Vaughn Berglund, Andrew Gardiner, Riley Moore, Hayes Bradley, Brandon Tillis, Zane Zeder, Dawson Rosenberg and Joshua Cohenzadeh. The girls Minors team, coached by Richard Gaughan, lost to Cheviot Hills, 23-21. The roster features Jennifer Krems, Franced Jaffa, Lauren Sedmak, Nicole Shanfield, Ariel Wilbur, Mackenzie Gray, Priscilla Shafighi, Madeleine Gaughan and Charlotte Cohen. The boys Majors team, coached by Olin Simplis, defeated Jim Gilliam 63-26. The team is comprised of David Ament, Connor Cook, Ethan Damavandi, Shervin Ghane, Michael Libby, Lawrence Kondra, Nick Sheinberg, Kahlil Simplis, Jayant Subrahmanyam and Hunter Venturelli. Palisades’ girls Majors all-stars, coached by Bill Humphreys, consist of Emma Cohen, Nadine Melamed, Roni Stein, Madeleine Grey, Paris Humphrey, Lauren Kaufman, Adelaide Seaman, Leslie Baker, Nicole Flyer and Lila Scott. Palisades’ boys Junior all-star team, coached by Doug Hafford, includes Josh Flyer, Ben Lushing, Cary Sonnerblick, Jalon Adams, Dylan Palladino, Darren Rosenberg, Connor Preston, Max Wakeling and Eric Walbridge.

When he’s not coaching the Palisades High tennis teams, Bud Kling is busy with his hobby: Olympic pin collecting and trading. He recently returned from a 23-day trip to Torino, Italy, where he helped organize the Coca-Cola pin trading center and the main trading center in the Olympic Village. “My wife and I and another couple stayed at a rustic style house in Peccato, a village 15 minutes outside of Torino,” Kling says. “Our neighbors had chickens and cows. I brought 1,000 pins with me and we gave all of them away. We gave some to kids and we donated some to the Boys Scouts and Special Olympics.” Kling has well over 10,000 pins in his personal collection. At every Olympics, millions of pins are exchanged. There are also many different types of pins, made for various entities: sponsors, networks, print and broadcast media, transportation, souvenir and internal staff. Some of Kling’s favorites are the National Olympic Committee (NOC) pins and bid pins–made for and by cities bidding for future Games. One of Kling’s biggest thrills was carrying the Olympic torch for the Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. Kling ran an eighth-of-a-mile stretch in Hancock Park. “The soccer star Cobi Jones lit my torch and Martin Sheen was three people in front of him,” Kling remembers. Kling organizes pin trading seminars and even designs his own pins. In fact, the 2006 Palisadian-Post pin that he designed with Tom Brooke was voted one of the 10 best of the Torino Games by the Today Show. “If I had to pick a favorite, I’d pick Barcelona [in 1992],” Kling says. “The weather was fantastic. But Nagano in 1998 was definitely the best in terms of pin trading. They were buying, selling and trading them like crazy over there.” Kling’s love of the Olympics started when he was a boy and the interest in pin trading started when he saw a news clip of people trading pins at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The first Olympics he attended were four years later at the Summer Games in Los Angeles and he has attended every Olympiad since Barcelona. At the L.A. Games Kling was an interview coordinator for the American, Italian and Yugoslavian men’s basketball teams. He served on the administrative staff for the Malawai Olympic team in Athens, Greece, in 2004, managed pin trading at the British Commonwealth Games in 1994 and has been offered the same position for the Asian Games at Doha, Qatar, in December. “It’s become a family thing now,” Kling says. “My son Ryan (a sophomore at the University of Oregon) managed one of my sites in Athens and my daughter Alex (a junior at Pali) will probably go to the Vancouver Games in 2010. We want this hobby to keep going so I’m passing the torch, so to speak.”

PPBA OPENING DAY

The Palisades Pony Baseball Association officially opened its 52nd season last Saturday when award-winning actor Ray Liotta threw the ceremonial first pitch to Brian Sullivan, coach of the Bronco Tigers and PPBA board member in charge of field maintenance. After participating in the community celebration, Liotta went straight from the Palisades Recreation Center’s “Field of Dreams” complex to a 10:30 a.m. rehearsal with Virgina Madsen for a new hour-long drama series “Smith.” Filming is scheduled to begin this week on location in Pittsburgh. Liotta is best known for his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 baseball hit “Field of Dreams.” Other notable movies in which he has starred include “Unlawful Entry,” “Goodfellas,” and “Narc” (which he also produced). The Tribeca Film Festival will open two of Liotta’s new films. The first, “Local Color,” is an independent film in which he portrays the father in a semiautobigraphical account of impressionist painter George Gallo’s life. In the other, “Comeback Season,” he plays a cheating husband who develops a friendship with an injured high school football star. Liotta helps the football player with his confidence and the player helps Liotta get his family back. Liotta also stars in a movie that will be opening soon called “Chasing 3000,” based on the true story of two brothers, one of whom has Multiple Sclerosis, who journey to see Roberto Clemente get his 3,000th major league hit. Although there had been predictions of a storm for Saturday, when PPBA Commissioner Bob Benton arrived before 7 a.m. he reported “There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.” By 7:45, the tables set up on the outdoor basketball courts were full of families, players, community members and the Fire Station 69 crew, all enjoying the pancake breakfast. Music drifted over tables that were decorated in red, white and blue and well stocked with “Big League Chew” gum. Even though they don’t have a son or daughter playing, Mike and Nancy Brennan have been coming to the event for over 20 years. “It’s a lovely day, I’m happy to say,” Mike said. “We attended the boy scout breakfast last week.” “It seems pancake breakfasts start off Lent,” Nancy added. ” Who knew?” Before the opening ceremony, the Pinto Yankees, ages 7 to 9, were on the field warming up. Several were asked what they thought would be the key to a good season. “Getting a lot of good hits,” Vincent DeSantis said. Teammate Jake Suddleson agreed. Others, like Shayan Soltani and Johnny Plavec, cited “good defense.” Julia Broudy thought the most important thing was to “Listen to what the coaches talk about.” Bronco Cardinals coach Dave Kahn was setting up the “Bat and Grill,” a concession stand which is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday nights from 6 to 9 during the Pony division games. Coffee, doughnuts, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, popcorn, peanuts and assorted candies are all available to the public. Kahn assessed his team. “We’re a solid 500 ball club,” he said. “It’ll depend on our pitching. Our pitchers go from solid to looking like they’ve never pitched before, but then, developmentally that’s what 12-year-olds are about.” This past week the PPBA paid $10,000 to replace 25,000 square feet of sod in the outfields of the diamonds closest to the Rec Center gym so the fields would be in good shape for opening day. “We got a great deal with the city,” Benton said. “They let us take care of the fields and we’ve taken on that responsibility.” The 320 baseball players from 24 teams assembled on the lawn for the start of the 52nd baseball season. Each team is sponsored by one of 25 local businesses and service clubs. “This is Americana at it’s best,” Benton said as he opened the ceremonies at 9 a.m. He unveiled the Field of Dreams wall that had been updated. Benton then introduced the opening day co-chairs, Lisa St. John and Robin Dodson. “We’d like to thank all the parents who flip the pancakes,” St. John said. “It’s a real team effort to make this day happen.” The top ticket seller for the Pancake Breakfast was Evan Greene of the Mustang Cubs, who sold 83 tickets at $3 apiece to earn $249 and win a free week at UCLA’s Baseball Camp. Chris Murch won a week of camp at Pepperdine, Brett Elder won a bat from Benton’s; William Winkenhower and Mick Leonard each earned a week at Westside Baseball Camp; Oliver Levitt sold enough tickets to be a batboy at an upcoming UCLA game and Erik Krinett will be a batboy for Pepperdine. Brandon Newman got a gift certificate to Paliskates. The team that sold the most tickets was the Mustang Cubs, coached by Bill Elder. Valerie Clifford, whose son Preston plays on the Pinto Red Sox, sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Clifford has trained in both piano and voice since she was 8 years old and it showed as she delivered an uplifting rendition of the national anthem. Benton then handed Liotta the baseball and he threw a perfect fast ball to Sullivan. The umpire on the Bronco diamond shouted “strike!” and with that, the season was underway.

The Palisades High boys tennis team opened the season in impressive fashion, winning at Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 11-7, last Wednesday, scoring a 4-2 victory over Crossroads the following day and beating Beverly Hills Tuesday at Palisades Recreation Center. Senior Ben Tom played No. 1 singles against the Mustangs and swept his three round robin sets, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0. Freshman Chase Pekar swept 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles but senior Adam Deloje lost all three of his sets at No. 3 singles. In doubles, Stephen Surjue and Seth Mandelkern won two out of three sets at No. 1 and Sepehr Safii and Michael Light won two out of three at No. 2. Against Crossroads, Pekar played No. 1 singles and lost 6-3, 7-5 using the straight-up scoring used by the City Section. Deloje won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 and freshman Justin Atlan won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Surjue and Safii won, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles and Mandelkern teamed with Light to win, 6-4, 7-6 (1) at No. 2. The Dolphins (3-0) got off to a fast start against Beverly Hills, winning the first three matches. Tom beat the Normans’ top player, Jeff Lin, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 1 singles, Pekar defeated Beverly Hills’ Eric Bond, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0, at No. 2 and Surjue teamed with Safii for a 7-6 (3), 7-5 doubles win. “We just swept three strong Southern Section opponents, so that’s a good sign,” PaliHi head coach Bud Kling said. “I’m pleased with how we’ve started out.” Baseball In a make-up game against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame last Wednesday, Palisades won 10-6. Mitchell Schwartz had a double, a suicide squeeze and five RBIs and Andy Megee added a double and two RBIs as Pali built a 7-1 lead in the first two innings. Catcher Tim Sunderland had two hits and scored three runs and Schwartz (1-0) allowed eight hits with five strikeouts. The following day, the Dolphins lost 6-2 to Santa Monica–their first loss at George Robert Field this season. Pali hitters were unable to solve pitcher Joe McGrew, who gave up five hits and stuck out three in six innings. Palisades bounced back with a 7-2 victory at Hawthorne last Saturday. Cole Cook (1-1) pitched a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and Sunderland had a double and two RBIs. Austin Jones continued his hot streak at the plate with two singles and two RBIs. Boys Volleyball Palisades opened the season with a sweep of visiting Valley Alternative, 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 last Wednesday. Two days later, the Dolphins traveled to Carson and won 25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 16-14. Softball Keira Leneman hit a game-winning two-run double in the fifth inning to spark Palisades’ 3-1 win Monday at North Hollywood. Freshman Emily Noel had 14 strikeouts and hit two doubles with one RBI in the victory. Despite a strong pitching performance from Noel, who allowed six hits and struck out eight, Palisades (2-1) failed to hold a 4-0 lead and lost to host Lincoln 5-4 last Wednesday.

The talk around this week’s Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells hasn’t just been about the players, but also about the event last week in Las Vegas that is changing the way many in the industry perceive tennis events. In just its first year, The Tennis Channel Open was as revolutionary as its sponsor, The Tennis Channel, was when it hit the airwaves three years ago. In the men’s singles final, James Blake beat Lleyton Hewitt in three grueling sets in front of a sold-out stadium and Mike and Bob Bryan won the doubles title. The field included some of the world’s best players, including Robbie Ginepri, Mardy Fish, Tommy Robredo, Andy Murray, Gael Monfils, Tommy Haas, Alexandra Stevenson, Jelena Dokic, Ashley Harkleroad and Angela Haynes. What made the event unique, though, were the activities surrounding the many tennis. There were World or National Championships of Paddle Tennis, Table Tennis and Air Hockey. There was motocross jumping, cooking, cheerleaders, Cirque du Soleil, dance troops, the World Championships of Racket Stringing as well as men’s, women’s, junior and college tennis draws. Many of the events drew international attention, including the men’s paddle tennis. After losing his first round match to Jonas Bjorkman, Gael Monfils, whom many in tennis hail as the new Michael Jordan of tennis, started playing paddle tennis all day. He asked for a wildcard into the paddle tennis event and was given the chance to qualify. Monfils ended up playing 19-time World Champion Scott Freedman of Venice in the 1st round. On live International television in 60 countries, Monfils won in three sets on his way to the championship. Beth Bellamy, a former NCAA champ, top 20 WTA player and Palisades mother of four, continued her supremacy in paddle tennis, winning the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In singles, she dropped only one game in the tournament and actually beat Monfils in practice. Haynes, who trains with Beth’s husband Steve in the Palisades, reached the women’s semifinals. ‘Outside of the Olympics, never has there been a situation where you could see so much greatness in one place,” said TCO doubles champion Bob Bryan. “You would be watching the two best air hockey players in the world and then 30 minutes later you would be watching two of the best table tennis players. We are coming back here every year, as it is the most fun we have ever had at a tennis tournament. We knew when Steve [Bellamy] told us about it–it was going to be amazing, but it is the talk of tennis. Every player in tennis wants to come to Las Vegas next year.’ Over 250 professional athletes participated for over $1 million in prize money. ‘One of the neatest parts of the event was how interactive the players became. Because they all wanted to see the stuff happening around the site, players were very accessible to the fans” said Steve Bellamy, The Tennis Channel founder, event organizer and Palisades Tennis Center owner. ‘They always ended up playing table tennis, air hockey, painting or whatever with those stars, which was incredibly cool to watch. Every night at the Mirage you had about 60 players in the casino and the fans got another taste at hanging out with them. It was those things that we hadn’t thought about that made the event so cool for me.’ Next year’s event will house the tennis industry trade show. Retailers and manufacturers will come from all over the world. Visit www.tennischannelopen.com for more information. Tickets for next year’s event will be available in one month.

Palisadian Jay Mortenson swam in three events at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and 18 years later he remembers ike it was yesterday. He competed for the United States in the 100 Backstroke, 100 Butterfly and the Medley Relay, taking 10th in the backstroke, sixth in the butterfly and winning a gold in the relay. “It was very intense,” Mortenson says of his Olympic experience. “Going there, being there and swimming–it was all great. ” Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Mortenson started swimming at the local YMCA at the age of 4. He progressed through the different levels of named lessons at the Y, like minnows and sharks. He also remembers not passing his first attempt in one of the courses because he couldn’t perform a front dive. Still, he persevered and began competing when he was 8. His father and uncle, both basketball players, had undergone several knee operations and Mortensen’s mother wanted her son in a sport that would protect his knees. Like basketball, swimming is a sport in which height can be an advantage. When Mortenson swam the butterfly in the Olympics, however, he was only the sixth tallest competitor in the event at six feet, four and a half inches. “When I was eight, I was the kind of guy who was in the top eight, but not particularly close to winning,” Mortenson says of his early meets. “The reason I stuck with it is because I liked it. I had fun doing it. It’s too hard to do a sport if you don’t enjoy it.”

The Palisades Pony Baseball Association’s 52nd season kicked off its 2006 season the last week of February as newly organized teams took to the Palisades Recreation Center’s Field of Dreams complex. A record 380 boys tried out, 30 more than last year. During the tryouts in January, the boys were asked to field grounders, catch fly balls and demonstrate their hitting. Exactly 320 players were drafted onto eight different teams in three different divisions. This year for the first time since PPBA was started the names of two of the teams, the Braves and Indian teams were dropped and the Cubs and Yankees have been added. “We did it because we have so many people from Chicago. We love the New York and Chicago base here,” PPBA Commissioner Bob Benton said. “When we told the little kids they were on the Yankees they were excited because they know the names of some of the players.” Pintos consist of mostly eight-year-olds with a few outstanding seven-year-olds and a few nine-year-olds who kept to help provide leadership for their younger teammates. Pinto games are Tuesday or Thursday and on Saturday morning. A pitching machine is used for this age group. The Mustangs are nine and ten-year-olds and play on Wednesday and at noon on Saturday. For many players its their first time facing a peer pitcher. Broncos are 11 and 12 and play on opposite diamonds than the Pintos on Tuesday and Saturday. On Friday night, the Pony division, consisting of 13 and 14-year-olds, plays at the Rec Center. The schedules for all teams in all divisions as well as other important announcements such as field closures are available on the PPBA Web site: www.ppba.net. Opening Day is slated for Saturday, March 18 at the Palisades Recreation Center at 851 Alma Real. The annual pancake breakfast goes from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Find your favorite local baseball player to purchase a ticket. The cost of admission is $3 and will include sausage, pancakes, coffee, orange juice and the chance to meet with all your friends, while waiting for the first games of the season to get underway. Commissioner Benton shared a piece of trivia about the Field of Dreams. The same people who constructed the baseball field in the Iowa cornfield for the movie “Field of Dreams” also built the “Field of Dreams” which is located in the Palisades. At 9 a.m., the first pitch will be thrown out at the Field of Dreams. The rumor is that Palisadian Ray Liotta will start the season with a fastball on the inside corner. Liotta starred as ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson in “The Field of Dreams.” He was also in “Goodfellas,” “Narc,” “Something Wild” and is currently in post- and pre-production on 11 different films, as well as awaiting the release of yet another.

According to the scoreboard, the result of last Saturday morning’s varsity lacrosse game was a loss, but for everyone associated with Palisades High’s newest sports program, it marked a symbolic victory. Several years of hard work and persistence by forward-thinking parents and enthusiasm from eager student-athletes finally found its way to the Stadium by the Sea turf and although the Dolphins lost, 15-1, to a more seasoned Loyola team, there were signs that Palisades can be a force in coming years. “I wasn’t there but from what I understand the kids were a little shell shocked at the start and they jumped on us right away,” PaliHi head coach Dave Schaller said. “It’s not all that surprising given the fact that we only had about two full weeks of practice before our first game.” The lone bright spot for Palisades came midway through the second quarter when sophomore Eric Rosen scored the first goal in the fledgling program’s history. Problem was, the Dolphins were down 7-0 at the time. In the junior varsity game that followed, Palisades won 7-6 in overtime. Riley Gitlen, Alex Quinonez and Travis Dezarn each scored twice for the Dolphins, with Gitlen running the length of the field for the game-winner 3:10 into extra time. While its debut was not what Palisades had hoped for, it might have been a needed wake-up call for it didn’t take long for the varsity to notch its first-ever home victory. After being dominated for most of the first half, Palisades rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat Foothill, 14-11, on Monday afternoon. “I’ve played and watched a lot of lacrosse but this was one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever seen,” Schaller said. “I’m so proud of these players. In the first half it looked like we wouldn’t even get a shot on goal let alone score. But we switched some guys around on defense, did a better job of containing and got back in it.” Christian Clark won 12 face-offs and goalie Jesse Poller, who missed the Loyola game, made six saves. Rosen led the scoring with five goals on 10 shots. Junior Josh Packer added four goals and one assist while Dezarn and Max Gross each scored twice and Sudsy Dyke scored once. Gitlen tallied three assists. After the slow start, Palisades scored three goals in a seven-minute span of the second quarter to pull within 6-3 at halftime. Pali took its first lead midway through the third quarter. “We run a lot in practice so we don’t get tired,” Schaller said. “We were in better condition and I think that made a difference as the game went on.” In the junior varsity game that followed, Palisades lost 9-1. Along with assistant coaches Paul Piatti and Scott Hylen, Schaller was more than satisfied with the progress the team made in its first week of competition. The Dolphins play Loyola again later in the season and Schaller predicts a better result. “I can’t wait to play Loyola again,” Schaller. “Based on the improvement I saw from the first half of this game to the second half, it will be a better game. I’m not saying we’re going to win, but it will be a better game.” LA Lacrosse League In the U-12 division, the red defeated the blue, 4-3, last Sunday at Palisades Recreation Center. The blue team took an early 3-0 lead on two goals by Stephan Callas and one by Conner Yost. Galen Lansbury and Nick Steinfeld each scored twice in the second half for the red. LALL serves as the chief youth feeder program for Palisades High.