Going into 2025, if their present records are any indication, several local teams have served notice that they are going to be heard from that year.
The St. Joseph boys basketball team was 9-0 as of this writing. Baylor signee Tounde Yessoufou is playing up to the level of his five-star recruit status. He is averaging 29.8 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.
The Knights have four starters who are averaging in double figures. Julius Price scores at a clip of 20.3 points a game, Malcolm Price is at 14.8 and Gunner Morinini is at 11.2 Julius Price is shooting 48 percent from 3-point range.
The Orcutt Academy girls basketball team is 9-1. Junior power forward Elizabeth Johnson is averaging a double-double for the third straight year, 19.9 points and 14.6 rebounds a game.
The Santa Maria and Orcutt Academy girls soccer teams are 11-1-2 and 7-3-1 respectively. Santa Maria's only loss came at the hands of eventual champion Orcutt Academy, 2-0, at the McClane Soccer Tournament at Fresno McClane High School. The Spartans reversed things on the Saints after Santa Maria beat Orcutt 6-1 in a non-league game at Santa Maria.
The Pioneer Valley and Nipomo girls wrestling teams have both showed consistently well early in the season, and both won at tournaments last weekend. Pioneer Valley has won the CIF Central Section Masters championship two of the last three seasons, and the Panthers went 5-0 to take gold at the Bakersfield Golden Valley duals last weekend. That same weekend, Nipomo won the title at the Lady Bash tournament at Farmersville.
The Santa Maria boys basketball team is 10-2. The Saints are doing what they typically do when they are playing well -- they're hoisting up a lot of 3's, and they're making a lot of them. The Saints will host the Santa Maria Holiday Tournament at Santa Maria's Wilson Gym Thursday through Saturday.
#####
The decline of the 49ers
I'm a 49ers fan, and I see no way around concluding that, given prior expectations, San Francisco is the most disappointing team in the NFL this season.
Yes, I know. Christian McCaffrey is the straw that stirs the drink when it comes to the 49ers offense, and he has been sidelined by injury most of the season. Still, that doesn't explain nearly everything. The group that, really, should have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl last year has been utterly unrecognizable to me this year.
Sign up to receive headlines in your inbox! Breaking News | Local Sports | Daily Headlines | Local Obituaries | Weather | Local Offers Click to Sign up!
Multiple players' production has tanked since they signed huge contracts. The defense has not been the same since defensive coordinator Robert Saleh left to become the head coach of the New York Jets, a decision that did not work out well for anyone concerned.
Even by the NFL's brutal standards, the 49ers have more than their fair share of injuries every year. That in itself, I think, is an indictment of the way the organization does things.
I'll say the obvious, something during these past few seasons I never thought I would say. The 49ers need a re-tool.
#####
"We're playing for each other."
With the Dallas Cowboys officially eliminated from playoff contention, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons declared to an on-field interviewer, "We're playing for each other," shortly before the Cowboys' game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday night.
The interviewer seemed quite impressed. "We're playing for each other," she repeated to her colleagues for emphasis. I was unmoved, though the underdog Cowboys did ultimately win the game.
Parsons, 25 and an elite linebacker in the NFL, has a guaranteed annual salary of $4,269,948.
The player expenses for the Dallas Cowboys total $314,000,000. That money comes with the expectation that the Cowboys will make the playoffs, something they will not do this season. It's pretty clear that Dallas owner Jerry Jones has Super Bowl expectations, which the Cowboys have not come close to meeting for years.
In short, an NFL team's job is to win. I know NFL football is a brutal occupation, but no one is forced to take on the job.
When a high school football player who has been playing with many of his teammates since age 10, says, "We're playing for each other," and, with his team out of the running for the post-season, a multi-million dollar NFL star says "We're playing for each other," the two are saying the same thing. Yet for me, somehow the two statements don't have the same ring.