CALLER 1: I’ve noticed that the new Morgan Hill Times editor that’s taken over the sports page must be Live Oak alumni because all of a sudden it hasn’t been that fair as far as the Acorn articles compared to the Bulldog articles like it has been right before she started. It was getting to be pretty fair finally. Also, you missed one of the top 10 stories that should have been in the paper for the year in review. You forgot to put in there the fact that former Live Oak football coach got bumped down from his head coach position because of some controversy with the CCS. That probably should have made it in the paper. Anyways, thank you.
GREEN PHONE: Just for reader’s information the Morgan Hill Sports Editor did not go to Live Oak High School, in fact she grew up in the North Bay and attended Petaluma High. Secondly, a review of the past four editions of the Morgan Hill Times sports sections shows that Sobrato sports has made the front page in each edition. At the Times we pride ourselves on providing fair and balanced coverage of not only high school sports, but local sports as well. We on coaches to call in scores and results. Many times the lead story depends on which team is at home and which team they were playing. A TCAL matchup is more pertinent to readers than a non-league matchup.
As far as not including the story about the former Live Oak football coach being bumped from his position in the top ten sports stories of the year, that incident occurred in the fall of 2004 and we only included stories in the poll that happened in 2005.
CALLER 2: Here’s my beef. The Gilroy/Live Oak boys basketball game tonight. Live Oak 50, Gilroy 48. At the buzzer the last call’s a loose ball foul with no time on the clock to send the Gilroy guy to the line for two points, giving the game to Gilroy. Really bad call. Your reporter was there. Turning it into overtime, it was a ridiculous call. Basically, this game was lost to the refs.
GREEN PHONE: We can’t believe you’re the only person to call about this, Caller 2. First of all, to those of you who weren’t there, you should be kicking yourself. This will probably go down as one of the most exciting Gilroy/Live Oak games ever – in any sport. Now, Caller, on to your beef.
First, let’s clear up an inaccuracy. It wasn’t a loose ball foul. Gilroy guard Dominik Wilkins went up for the putback. It was a shooting foul. There are many theories about referees making a potentially game-changing foul call. Some people believe the ref shouldn’t blow the whistle unless the foul is utterly egregious. Others believe consistency is important – a foul in the first quarter should be a foul in the fourth quarter at the buzzer. (Right now, Live Oak fans are probably supporting the former while Gilroy fans are supporting the latter.) Our reporter who was there said it looked like a call that had to be made. There were about three Live Oak guys surrounding Wilkins when he went up for the shot and the guard hit the floor pretty hard when he came down. But, she admits, she was closer to the other side of the gym. Bottom line (and this is gonna hurt, Live Oak fans), the foul didn’t “lose” the game. It may have tied it, but both teams had to play an extra four minutes of overtime. Both teams had an equal chance to win. In the end, it was Gilroy. But hey, it’ll make the rematch in Gilroy Feb. 1 more exciting, won’t it?
