Patriots

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — When the Flintridge Prep boys’ volleyball team meets Viewpoint for an annual nonleague match, it’s usually the Patriots who have their way on the court. Including five-game defeats in the last two seasons, the Rebels have often come up short in head-to-head matchups, which is no great shame considering Viewpoint has won four straight CIF titles, including last year’s CIF Southern Section Division V crown. On Thursday, Prep, which competes in Division V, needed just three games to halt Viewpoints’ recent streak of dominance in the rivalry, turning in a convincing 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 sweep on their home floor.

LOS ANGELES — It’s not the early season losses that will matter in the end for the Flintridge Prep football team. Rather, its the crucial stretch of Prep League games the Rebels find themselves in now that will determine the success of their season and they are currently playing their best football of the campaign. Behind a 406-yard team rushing performance and a defensive effort led by five interceptions, Prep defeated Viewpoint, 41-14, on Friday night at Occidental College, improving to 2-2 in the league, achieving their first two-game win streak of the year and building some much-needed momentum going into the season-finale showdown with Chadwick on which a playoff berth will hinge.

Where are the real patriots in city? On the Fourth of July, I watched and heard on television about many who spoke about loving their country and having to repress their patriotic feelings. I started to think about who the real patriots are in Glendale. First, I thought of firefighters and police captains, but soon I remembered the raises that the City Council gave them (“Pay hikes may come for some,” June 10). I thought those fire and police captains would be real patriots if they announce publicly that they don’t want a raise while the economy is sinking.

Rebels face top seed in semifinals The Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team will take on top-seeded Viewpoint at 7 tonight at Providence High in a semifinal match of the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs. The Rebels (16-8) defeated St. Bernard, 25-27, 25-14, 25-20, 31-29 in a thrilling four-game match Saturday to earn a rematch with Viewpoint (28-0). The Patriots easily handled the Rebels, 25-22, 25-18, 25-14, in a nonleague match April 14. Viewpoint -- which defeated Capistrano Valley Christian, 25-14, 25-13, 25-20 in Saturday's quarterfinals -- has not lost a set in the postseason.

GLENDALE ? When the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Beckman High girls? soccer teams meet in a CIF Southern Section Division II semifinal match today, there likely won?t be any secrets. Flintridge Sacred Heart and Beckman have grown accustomed to playing each other during the past two seasons. They met in the opening round of the playoffs last year and again this season in a tournament title match. There will be more at stake in the budding rivalry when the second-seeded Tologs (19-1-3)

IRVINE — It was another second-half playoff comeback. It was another nailbiter decided by penalty kicks against a familiar foe. But for the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team, another round in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs was not to be. Having rallied to tie the match with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, second-seeded Sacred Heart rebounded against third-seeded Beckman to play inspired soccer...

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — From the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team's standpoint, winning its match with Viewpoint was going to be a tall order. Which is precisely what the Rebels intended when they scheduled a match with the No. 2 ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division V rankings and last season's CIF champion. "Every nonleague game, in my opinion, should get you ready for playoffs," said Flintridge Prep Coach Sean Beattie, whose team was swept at home by the Patriots, 25-23, 25-20, 27-25 on Thursday.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — There was a hint of apprehension on the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team’s sideline when it opened up against visiting Beckman in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. No. 1 seed or not, the Tologs were wary of a Patriots team that had made its way to the first round via a wild card. The reasoning for concern showed early and often as Beckman gave Sacred Heart all it could handle on Thursday night at St. Francis High’s Friedman Field.

Sports association holding movie night Crescenta Sports Assn., Crescenta Valley?s baseball league, will have a movie and family night to celebrate the end of the season tonight at Crescenta Valley Park, 3901 Dunsmore Ave., La Crescenta. The event begins at 6 and the movie ?Sandlot? starts at 7:45 p.m. The league provides competitive play in baseball, softball and T-Ball for youngsters age 5 to teens. Bring chairs, blankets, picnic dinner, or buy food when you get there.

CALABASAS — In need of keeping its playoff hopes alive, the Flintridge Prep football team turned to its special teams unit and standout running back. The combination might have done enough to save its season for the time being. Flintridge Prep stopped a run on a fake punt and Joel Bryant scored the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to give the visiting Rebels a 20-9 win against Viewpoint in a Prep League contest Friday night at Calabasas High. Flintridge Prep (2-5, 2-1 in league)

Many of you know that we lost our good friend Larry Zarian on Oct.13. “The People's Mayor,” Zarian served on the Glendale City Council for 16 years. During that time, he helped influence and shape Glendale's future. Although he said the council did not always agree on issues, they respected one another and came together for the good of Glendale. In the nearly 30 years I knew Larry, we often attended many of the same political and social events. He loved talking about Glendale, our Jewel City.

Last week, the Burbank Leader's front page photo showed a large group of Burbank High School students during ceremonies commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York's Twin Towers. A military color guard was present and the national anthem was being played, according to the story line (“Students remember, learn about the Sept. 11 attacks,” Sept. 10). One student in front of the group was holding her right hand over her heart. The student to her left may also have been doing the same, but her hand was obscured by the color guard.

Leedoosh Nersesian traveled across the world to present the City Council with an American flag on Tuesday. It wasn't just any flag. The flag flew over the Green Zone, the headquarters for American and allied operations in Baghdad, where Nersesian was serving as civilian translator for the U.S. Army. A native of Baghdad, Nersesian was 20 when she left for safety in Italy and helped relocate her family and others to the United States. Her family arrived in Glendale in October 1981.

BURBANK — They weren't exactly the conditions Holy Family basketball Coach Ernest Siy hoped to deal with, but he had no other options. Reduced to fielding only seven players, Holy Family was forced to scrap Friday afternoon during its opening-round game of the Providence Summer Tournament. The Gaels barely had any bench players and two of their starters were out of town on previous engagements. A depleted Holy Family squad struggled at times throughout a 29-21 loss to Beckman at Providence High.

I come from a generation much different from my children and grandchildren. When my parents were growing up, they were the recipients of the Great Depression, and although there was a sense of hopelessness, their unrelenting respect for America and faith in God instilled by their parents impelled them to overcome. They understood the meaning of "equality of rights and opportunities in the pursuit of happiness and in service to the common good." It was this virtue that brought their generation through the most difficult of times.

IRVINE — It was another second-half playoff comeback. It was another nailbiter decided by penalty kicks against a familiar foe. But for the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team, another round in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs was not to be. Having rallied to tie the match with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, second-seeded Sacred Heart rebounded against third-seeded Beckman to play inspired soccer...

GLENDALE ? When the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Beckman High girls? soccer teams meet in a CIF Southern Section Division II semifinal match today, there likely won?t be any secrets. Flintridge Sacred Heart and Beckman have grown accustomed to playing each other during the past two seasons. They met in the opening round of the playoffs last year and again this season in a tournament title match. There will be more at stake in the budding rivalry when the second-seeded Tologs (19-1-3)

While Glendale’s “America’s Pride” float didn’t take home a win at Friday’s 121st Tournament of Roses Parade, Burbank’s “Barnyard Aces” won the Animation Trophy for its side-turning jet. This year’s Rose Parade theme, “A Cut Above the Rest,” drew unique, beautiful and witty float designs, some of which showcased snowboard-riding bulldogs and fireworks. Glendale’s 33-foot-long float, which featured a 22-foot-tall soaring bald eagle, provided paradegoers with a show-stopping finale for the nearly two-hour parade.

PASADENA — For the past 12 years, Glendale resident Vincent Tam has made it a point to help decorate Glendale’s annual entry in the Rose Parade. What started as a way to earn community service hours as a junior at Glendale High School has turned into an annual tradition. “It kind of has a snowball effect,” he said Saturday. “Every year you come, you learn something new.” Tam was one of more than 50 volunteers — from residents and local students to city employees — who came out Saturday to the Rose Palace in Pasadena to help begin decorating the city’s 2010 float, titled “America’s Pride,” which features a 22-foot-tall bald eagle and spots for 10 riders.

LOS ANGELES — It’s not the early season losses that will matter in the end for the Flintridge Prep football team. Rather, its the crucial stretch of Prep League games the Rebels find themselves in now that will determine the success of their season and they are currently playing their best football of the campaign. Behind a 406-yard team rushing performance and a defensive effort led by five interceptions, Prep defeated Viewpoint, 41-14, on Friday night at Occidental College, improving to 2-2 in the league, achieving their first two-game win streak of the year and building some much-needed momentum going into the season-finale showdown with Chadwick on which a playoff berth will hinge.