Center Stage

GRANT GORDON "Allow myself to introduce ... myself." -- Austin Powers You're likely asking yourself, "Who is this guy?" When, why and how did this rotund, yet devilishly handsome young man come to find our neck of the woods. Particularly, who does he think he is, prognosticating the misfortune of the majority of the area's football contingent? Forgive me, I'm new, we've got to get to know each other. Chances are, if you already know who I am, it's not because of anything good.

Grant Gordon It took just one swing for Crescenta Valley High's Lauren Strangis to erase the ills of one bad pitch. Consequently, it took just one Strangis swing to ruin a previously stupendous day for Burbank High's Jillian Shafer. Strangis doubled under the outstretched glove of Burbank leftfielder Veronica De Los Santos in the bottom of the seventh inning to score two runs -- including the game-winner -- as Strangis and Crescenta Valley walked off with a 3-2 nonleague victory Thursday at Crescenta Valley High.

When Glendale resident Robert Pranski lost interest in pursuing accounting as a career, he decided to become an actor instead. The 71-year-old New York native starred in theater productions of musical comedies and comedy plays after attending acting school. After a 15-year acting stint in New York, Pranski married and moved to Glendale and landed various roles for the stage and television. His career on the West Coast lasted for a brief three years.

Erik Boal It goes without saying that Friday night's nonleague, intradivision matchup between local high school powers Crescenta Valley and St. Francis is important. But the game -- featuring the No. 3 Falcons and the No. 7 Knights (according to CIF Southern Section Division III rankings) -- may carry more significance than the coaches, players and fans of the respective schools are even aware of. Consider this: the past two News-Press All-Area Players of the Year (CV's Jason Hogan in 2000 and St. Francis' John Sciarra in 1999)

After capturing gold by coming in as "the first to adopt Christianity" and "the first in the 20th century to be subject to a systematic genocide," Armenians have long been overdue for another gold medal. Attaining silver in the category of literacy (99% rate), behind the Finns, Norwegians and the Danes (100%) has not satiated their innate desire for winning something. Recent attempts at striking gold in such categories as "the most oppressed people in history," "first to have raised the curtain of Communism," or the "gaudiest houses on the hills" have failed.

Newport nightlife is undergoing a metamorphosis. The social bar scene on the California Riviera formerly consisted of polar opposites. If you wanted to socialize over a drink at the bar and you were feeling flush, the Ritz or perhaps 21 Oceanfront beckoned. Old-world leather booths and a martini atmosphere defined the price of admission and the status of the clientele. On the other end of the spectrum, guys in Reyn Spooner shirts and blond beach babes in cotton shifts and sandals made their acquaintance at the American Legion Bar on the Peninsula or in hangouts like Malarky's or Corona del Mar's Quiet Woman.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Daniel Paladini has a regular routine before he takes the field. Whether it's at St. Francis High's Friedman Field, an opponent's turf, or somewhere in Europe, the senior midfielder on the St. Francis boys' soccer team stands alone and envisions himself doing what he has enjoyed since he was a toddler knocking around a ball. He was introduced to soccer by uncles Brett and Devin Reveles as an infant, and has been in love with the sport since.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — When the boys' basketball teams from St. Francis and Glendale high met in the fifth-place game of the Glendale Community College Tournament on Sunday, they combined to produce somewhat of a summer rarity — a game that was hard-fought, truly competitive and exciting right to the conclusion of the Golden Knights' 59-51 victory. Emerson's Castaneda's late three-point shot and a quirky three-point play converted by teammate Zack Gardea with under two minutes to play were two of the deciding factors for St. Francis in what remained a one-possession game throughout most of a second half that featured numerous lead changes.

Erik Boal LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Talk about a dramatic turn of events. The head coach of 15 years retires at the end of the 2000 season and eight News-Press All-Area selections are lost to graduation. Add to the mix the 1999 team's defensive coordinator returning after a year's hiatus in Northern California to take on his first head coaching position and the possibility of a wide receiver/defensive back being converted into the starting quarterback and you have a potential recipe for chaos, right?

After her husband died in 1999, Sandy Norris began fixing up his 1951 Ford Convertible. She fixed the engine and painted the exterior Georgia peach. “I didn't have any choice,” she said Saturday afternoon at Glendale's 19th annual Cruise Night. Her husband had upholstered the seats a similar color before he died of esophageal cancer, and she wanted the inside and outside to match. Ever since the La Crescenta resident upgraded the car, she's been displaying it at shows, her husband's wish.