B7 MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013
SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL
SPORTS
THE DAILY FIX
LOCAL ROUNDUP
WWW.SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM/SPORTS
SPORTS EDITOR: JULIE JAG, JJAG@SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM
Soquel’s Hale, Kiff named to all-state team
Sentinel staff report
Soquel High’s Fabiano Hale and
Kevin Kiff were each selected by CalHi Sports to the all-state football team
for medium schools over the weekend.
Hale, a running back/linebacker/
punter who was the Sentinel’s County
Football Player of the Year, was named
first-team multi-purpose. The 6-foot-1,
215-pound senior set county records for
yards rushed in a single season (2,452)
and touchdowns (40), breaking the
county’s season scoring mark of 258
points in the process.
Kiff, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior
linebacker, was named a second-team
defense honoree.
The two were among a list of 60 players chosen in the state.
Earlier in the week, Pajaro Valley’s
Anthony Cantrell, a linebacker and
running back, was named third-team
all-state among juniors.
Cantrell ran for a school-record 362
yards — the second highest total in
county history — on 25 carries against
Gonzales on Sept. 15.
A MATTER OF
PERSPECTIVE:
Tottenham
goalkeeper
Brad Friedel
fails to save a
shot by Leeds’
Ross McCormack, out of
picture, during
their English
FA Cup fourth
round match
at Elland Road
Stadium on
Sunday.
JON SUPER/AP
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Guard Ryane Ortiz drained four
3-pointers and scored a team-high 17
points, but UC Santa Cruz suffered
a 56-49 loss to host Cal Lutheran in
Thousand Oaks on Sunday.
Jean Dulay added eight points off
the bench for the Slugs (13-9), who lost
for the fourth time in their past five
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Cabrillo wrapped up the season- games.
Lutheran was led by forward Starla
opening Mission Tournament with two
big shutouts over Marin and Contra Wright’s double-double. She finished
with a game-high totals of 18 points and
Costa.
President Obama opines
on football’s safety issues
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is a big
football fan with two daughters, but if he had a son, he says
he’d “have to think long and hard” before letting him play
because of the physical toll the game takes.
“I think that those of us who love the sport are going to
have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change
gradually to try to reduce some of the violence,” Obama
tells The New Republic.
“In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and
those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our
consciences quite as much.”
In an interview in the magazine’s Feb. 11 issue, Obama
said he worries more about college players than he does
about those in the NFL.
“The NFL players have a union, they’re grown men,
they can make some of these decisions on their own, and
most of them are well-compensated for the violence they
do to their bodies,” Obama said. “You read some of these
stories about college players who undergo some of these
same problems with concussions and so forth and then
have nothing to fall back on. That’s something that I’d like
to see the NCAA think about.”
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded Sunday, “We
have no higher priority than player health and safety at
all levels of the game.”
TODAY’S LOCAL EVENTS
BOYS BASKETBALL
Anzar at Kirby
Soquel at Santa Cruz
Harbor at Aptos
St. Francis at Scotts Valley
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Anzar at Kirby
Soquel at Santa Cruz
Harbor at Aptos
St. Francis at Scotts Valley
GIRLS SOCCER
MVC at ND-Salinas
Salinas at Watsonville
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Holy Names at UCSC
TIME
6:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
PLACE
Branciforte M.S.
Santa Cruz High
Aptos High
Scotts Valley High
5 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
Branciforte M.S.
Santa Cruz High
Aptos High
Scotts Valley High
3:30 p.m.
6:45 p.m.
Notre Dame High
Watsonville High
7 p.m.
UC Santa Cruz
ON THE AIR TODAY
NBA
Warriors at Raptors
Magic at Nets
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Pittsburgh at Louisville
Kansas at West Virginia
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Notre Dame at Tennessee
GOLF
Farmers Insurance Open
HOCKEY
AHL All-Star Game
TIME
4 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
TV
CSN
NBATV
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
ESPN
ESPN
4 p.m.
ESPN2
11 a.m.
4:30 p.m.
RADIO
680 AM
CBS
CSN-CA
WHERE THE PROS ARE
Sunday
SAN FRANCISCO
49ERS
SAN JOSE
SHARKS
GOLDEN STATE
WARRIORS
SANTA CRUZ
WARRIORS
Super Bowl
vs. Ravens
3:30 p.m.
CBS
sf49ers.com ■ 415-GO-49ERS ■ Radio: 680 AM
Tuesday
Thursday
Saturday
Feb. 4
Feb. 5
vs. Ducks
vs. Oilers
vs. Predators
at Ducks
vs. Blackhawks
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
CSN-CA
CSN-CA
CSN-CA
CSN-CA
CSN-CA
sjsharks.com ■ 408-999-5757 ■ Radio: 98.5 FM
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Saturday
Feb. 5
at Raptors
at Cavaliers
vs. Mavericks
vs. Suns
at Rockets
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
5 p.m.
CSN
CSN
TNT
CSN
CSN
warriors.com ■ 888-GSW-HOOP ■ Radio: 680 AM, 1050 AM
Friday
Saturday
Feb. 7
Feb. 9
Feb. 10
at Texas
at Tulsa
at Reno
at Idaho
at Idaho
5 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.
6 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube
santacruzbasketball.com ■ (831) 466-3200
The Seahawks torched Contra Costa
20-0 in a shortened game. Angela Martin hit a three-run homer and collected
five RBIs, Sherri Morioka hit two tworun shots and winning pitcher Shannon
Egan struck out five in three innings
before the mercy rule was called.
Earlier, Cabrillo beat Marin 13-0 in
five innings. Martin earned the win
with nine strikeouts, Jackie Antuna
went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and Valerie Silva had four hits, two runs and
two RBIs.
On Saturday, Cabrillo beat Cuesta
13-5 as Taylor Batey reached base five
times and Martin drove in three runs.
The Seahawks lost 6-2 to Santa Rosa in
their other game.
Cabrillo (3-1) plays College of the
Sequoias on Feb. 8.
GORE
Continued from B6
He was born and raised
in a poor, drug-infested area
of Coral Gables, Fla., where
many of his own relatives
abused drugs. Lizzie was a
single mother of three who
often took in nieces and
nephews, and Gore noted
there were often as many as
11 or 12 people living in a onebedroom apartment.
“I didn’t know if I was
going to get a bed,” he said.
“I didn’t know if the lights
were going to be on. It was
tough.”
Gore’s escape was athletics, particularly football, but
despite a legendary career at
Coral Gables High, he struggled academically because
of a learning disability. He
entered high school at a
third-grade reading level,
had to attend summer and
night classes and undergo
extensive tutoring just to
qualify for college.
Even though he worked
diligently to get to a 10thgrade reading level, he still
had trouble with written
material. He failed to achieve
the NCAA’s required minimum score on the SAT a few
times. Finally, he was given
the test orally and passed.
He got a scholarship to
nearby University of Miami,
but more hardship ensued.
After a promising freshman
season, he tore the anterior
cruciate ligament in his left
knee. After working his way
back the next year, he tore
the ACL in his right knee.
Even though he returned to
rush for 948 yards and eight
touchdowns as a junior, pro
scouts were wary of Gore
when he applied for the NFL
draft in 2005.
Then general manager
Scot McCloughan had to
fight to convince the 49ers
to draft Gore in the third
round. But he saw both special talent and determination
in Gore.
“He’s going to do everything in his power to make
himself a great player,”
McCloughan said at the time.
“If you take football away
from him, you take his life
away. He’s overcome a lot.
He’s God-given as a runner.
He has balance and vision.
He’s a very unique back.”
Gore proved that in his
rookie season, rushing for
608 yards despite making
just one start. But he also
sustained more injuries,
undergoing major surgery
on both shoulders after the
season.
Then there was the losing.
The 49ers were 4-12 in 2005,
and after one particularly
hard loss to Dallas, Gore
walked out of the locker
room and saw several players dancing and laughing in
the players’ parking lot. He
couldn’t believe it. He broke
down crying.
Gore had a number of
crying bouts over his first
six seasons, all outside of
the playoffs. And there were
more nagging injuries —
abdominal strains, ankle
sprains, hip issues, bruised
ribs and, in 2007, a broken
hand. That ’07 season was
his hardest year, because his
mother died in September,
just before the 49ers were
supposed to play a game at
St. Louis.
Gore used to talk to his
mother by phone before every
game at a specific time.
“That day, the time came
and I didn’t get the call, I just
burst out and cried, cried,
cried,” he said. “But I knew
she’d want me to play. I had a
pretty good game that day. I
think she came on the field.”
Things have been better
for Gore the past two seasons under coach Jim Harbaugh. He became the 49ers’
all-time career rushing
leader. He’s played in every
game. In a 2012 season when
many thought he might start
slowing down, he had one of
his best years — 1,214 yards
rushing, eight touchdowns.
He has 209 yards and three
scores in two playoff games.
In short, he seems to be
getting better. Gore credited
former 49ers receiver Isaac
Bruce with teaching him
valuable secrets to career
longevity.
11 rebounds.
UCSC was outrebounded 43-29 and
struggled from the field, shooting 32.1
percent (18 of 56).
The Slugs collected 14 steals and
forced 32 turnovers, but were unable
to crawl out from an early deficit. They
trailed Lutheran 27-19 at the half.
Lutheran improves to 17-3.
UCSC has two games remaining. It
takes on Pacific Union (2-14) in Angwin on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m., before returning home for Senior Night and a game
against Cal State San marcos (9-17) on
at 5 p.m. on Feb. 16.
WRESTLING
Grant Margerum placed second at
132 pounds and Scotts Valley finished
seventh out of 24 teams at the Dawn
to Dusk Invitational at Marin Catholic
High on Saturday.
Margerum went 2-1 at the tournament to lead Scotts Valley, while five of
his teammates placed as well.
Both Kevin Edington and Christian
Rebotarro went 3-1 to finish in third
place at 126 and 220 pounds, respectively, while Baldan Dashiev went 3-2
to place fourth at 180 pounds. Michael
Sandavol at 120 pounds and Doug
Peyser at 152 pounds each went 2-1 to
place seventh in their respective weight
classes.
“He always told me, ‘Don’t
ever go by what people say
around the league or the statistics about running backs
or you can’t play after you
reach this age,’” Gore said.
“I took that in big. I just train.
I feel if you just keep training,
you have a chance to be in
this league for a long time.”
Gore’s teammates attest to
his relentless work regimen.
“He’s the all-time leading
rusher in 49ers history, but
he comes to work every day
like he’s trying to win a job,”
said tackle Anthony Davis.
“And he makes us take that
attitude to our own work.”
Many players said Gore
is also generous with sage
advice. Rookie tailback
LaMichael James credits
him with vastly improving
his blocking. And how good
of a blocking back is Gore?
“He’s the best in the NFL
... ever,” James said.
Even 49ers old-timers are
carrying a torch. Former
49ers great Roger Craig said
he had tears in his eyes for
Gore when the 49ers won the
NFC Championship.
“He’s been carrying the
team on his shoulders for a
long time, and he’s had to do
it during some tough times,”
Craig said. “Now he’s getting
a chance to see what it’s like
to be a winner. After seeing
what he’s gone through to get
to the Super Bowl, I’m overwhelmedforhim.Hedeserves
to see what it’s like.”
Gore himself was taken
aback when told so many
players past and present
had said they want him to
win the Super Bowl more
than anyone.
“That makes me feel
great, knowing that all the
guys have a lot of respect for
me,” he said. “They know
how much I love the game of
football. And I’ll do whatever
it takes to win for them.”
Entries Close
22
February
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