Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

D2 FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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An annual survey of high
schools in California shows
an alarming decrease in
football participation for a
fourth consecutive year.
The latest numbers,
released by the California
Interscholastic Federation
on Thursday, show that
91,305 of the state’s high
school students played
football last fall, a drop
of 3.1% from the previous
year.
Statewide participation
in football has dwindled
steadily — by more than
12,000 — since 2014-15, when
there was a high of 103,725
students involved. The
numbers are down nation-
ally, too, having dropped in
schools with 11-man football
teams by 27,865 in 2016 and
21,465 in 2017.
Nationwide participation
from last season will be
announced later this month
by the National Federation
of State High School Assns.
Locally, the decline can
be seen at every level of the
high school game. As Lake
Balboa Birmingham High
began practice this week, the
junior varsity team that had
about 60 freshmen try out
last season was down to 45.
One often-cited reason
for the smaller numbers is
the risk of catastrophic
injuries as more attention is
paid to significant brain
trauma caused by repetitive
blows to the head.
Improvements in tack-
ling technique, equipment
and concussion protocols
have been implemented, but
it remains to be seen if they
will be enough to regain the
trust of parents debating
whether the risk of injury in
football is too great.
“Parents are afraid of

head injuries. That’s the

problem,” said Alonzo Re-

galdo, a sophomore in Birm-

ingham’s football program.

But injuries aren’t the

only factor.

One Birmingham fresh-

man said his cousin decided

not to play football because

he’s spending his time

playing “Rainbow Six,” a hot

new video game. Just this

week, a 16-year-old won $3

million in a video-game

competition called the Fort-

nite World Cup.

Daniel Hill, another

freshman at Birmingham,

said football is simply too

much time and effort for

some students. “There are a

lot who don’t want to put in

the work to accomplish

something,” he said. “They

want immediate satis-

faction.”

Terry Barnum, director of

athletics at Studio City

Harvard-Westlake High,

said teams are losing ath-

letes who used to come out

for football as a second sport

but are increasingly choos-

ing to focus year-round on a

specialty.

“The kids who football

isn’t their primary sport

aren’t playing anymore,”

said Barnum, a former USC

tailback.

Ryan Stromsborg said

the oldest of his two sons

who attend Sherman Oaks

Notre Dame High played

football until his freshman

year. Now he focuses exclu-

sively on baseball.

“Kids are naturally mi-

grating into other sports and

the single-sport athlete has

impacted football,” Stroms-

borg said. “When you’re

always coming back to your

season late and the rest have

been practicing, you have

catching up to do no matter

how good you are. ... Families

are finding a different sport

to play.”

This year, lacrosse be-

comes an additional option.

It is an official championship

sport for the first time in the

Southern Section, which

comprises 565 local schools.

There were 119 boys’ lacrosse

teams statewide last spring.

Overall, there were

814,004 sports participants

at the CIF’s 1,606 schools

during the last school year.

Football, despite its decline,

was still far and away the

most popular sport — track

and field was second, with

55,335 participants — but

soccer enjoyed the biggest

growth, increasing 3.87% to

54,996.

Gary Bernardi, who has

coached football at eight

colleges in a career spanning

more than four decades,

lamented the loss in commu-

nity spirit that has accompa-

nied the fall in football par-

ticipation at all levels.

“When I was 8 years old, I

went to see Van Nuys and

Monroe games on Friday

nights,” Bernardi said. “You

go to games now, how many

little Pop Warner kids are

attending? I was with the

Valley Chargers and there

might be 25 kids from differ-

ent levels at games. You

looked forward to it and

looked up to the guys

and looked forward to

playing.”

Bernardi, currently an

analyst for the offensive line

at San Diego State, said he is

also concerned that young

people and their families are

losing out on an opportunity

to receive instruction from

coaches who could become

lifetime mentors.

He said he recently vis-

ited his former high school

coach from Monroe, Harry

Frum, who is 85.

Bernardi was 12 when he

first met Frum in 1967.

“In every major decision

in my life,” Bernardi said,

“I’ve talked to Harry Frum.”

Prep football participation is down again

ERIC SONDHEIMER
ON HIGH SCHOOLS

ST. JOHN BOSCOrunning back George Holani is tackled by Oaks Christian’s Nate Lenthall during a playoff

game last year. Participation in high school football has dropped in California as well as nationally.

Michael Owen BakerFor The Times

Count New Orleans
Pelicans Executive Presi-
dent David Griffin among
the people who believe
LeBron James is beyond his
best days.
The former Cleveland
Cavaliers general manager
told Sports Illustrated he
was “miserable” trying to
build a roster around the
NBA superstar and ques-
tioned whether James is
more focused on off-court
priorities than helping the
Lakers win. He said James
changed after winning a
title with his hometown
Cavaliers in 2016.
“There wasn’t a lot else
for him,” Griffin said. “I
don’t think he’s the same
animal anymore about
winning.”
Griffin said he didn’t
have fun trying to build a
winning roster around

James. Though the effort

did yield a championship, it

left Griffin ready to move on

when his contract expired in

June 2017. He said the expe-

rience made him feel that he

“didn’t love the game any-

more.”

“Everything we did was

so inorganic and unsustain-

able and, frankly, not fun. I

was miserable,” Griffin said.

“Literally the moment we

won the championship I

knew I was gonna leave.

There was no way I was

gonna stay for any amount

of money.”

The Lakers are among

the favorites to win the title

this season after acquiring

Anthony Davis in a trade

with the Pelicans this sum-

mer. James’ first season in

L.A. was a disappointment

with the team finishing

outside the postseason for

the sixth consecutive sea-

son. Expectations will be

higher in 2019-20, but it

seems hard to fathom

James will be given a free

pass from the fans and

media if the Lakers do not

at least contend for a title.

Odds check

Now that the MLB trade

deadline has passed, it’s

time to look at how the

World Series odds have

changed, courtesy of Bet-

Online.ag. On July 3, the

San Francisco Giants were

500-1 to win the World Se-

ries. Today, they are 50-1,

making it the team with the

most improved odds. Mean-

while, the Pittsburgh Pi-

rates went from 100-1 to

1,000-1, the worst decline of

any team.

The Dodgers’ odds got

worse, meaning they are no

longer the sole favorite to

win. They are now tied with

the Houston Astros, who

acquired former Dodger

Zack Greinke at the dead-

line. Here are the odds:

Houston Astros, 7-2 (9-2

on July 3); Dodgers, 7-2

(11-4); New York Yankees, 4-1

(4-1); Atlanta Braves, 12-1

(12-1); Cleveland Indians,

14-1 (33-1); Minnesota Twins,

14-1 (9-1); Chicago Cubs, 16-1

(14-1); St. Louis Cardinals,

20-1 (28-1); Boston Red Sox,

25-1 (20-1); Tampa Bay Rays,

25-1 (20-1); Washington

Nationals, 25-1 (33-1); Mil-

waukee Brewers, 33-1 (20-1);

Philadelphia Phillies, 33-1

(22-1); Oakland Athletics,

40-1 (66-1); San Francisco

Giants, 50-1 (500-1); New

York Mets, 66-1 (250-1);

Cincinnati Reds, 100-1

(100-1); Arizona Diamond-

backs, 150-1 (100-1); Angels,

150-1 (80-1); Colorado

Rockies, 250-1 (50-1); San

Diego Padres, 250-1 (100-1);

Texas Rangers, 250-1 (40-1);

Chicago White Sox, 1,000-1

(150-1); Pittsburgh Pirates,

1,000-1 (100-1); Seattle Mari-

ners, 1,000-1 (1,000-1); Balti-

more Orioles, 5,000-1 (no

odds); Detroit Tigers,

5,000-1 (no odds); Kansas

City Royals, 5,000-1 (no

odds); Miami Marlins,

5,000-1 (no odds); Toronto

Blue Jays, 5,000-1 (no odds).

Your favorite

sports moment

What is your favorite

all-time L.A. sports mo-

ment? Let us know and it

could appear in a future

Morning Briefing.

Today’s moment comes

from Greg Foster:

“The Shaq alley-oop

from Kobe in the fourth

quarter of Game 7 of the

2000 Western Conference

finals against Portland.

Incredible comeback, team-

work and pure joy (and a

jiggle) from Shaq. I still get

shivers watching the high-

lights. That play was the

epicenter of the Kobe/Shaq

duo and Phil [Jackson’s]

coaching genius. All of L.A.

was on board watching

history and greatness un-

fold with gigantic smiles on

our faces. Man, was that

ever fun!”

FORMER Cavaliers general manager David Griffin, left, says he believes Lakers star LeBron James might be
more focused on his off-court projects rather than helping the team win an NBA championship this season.

Ronald MartinezGetty Images

MORNING BRIEFING

Griffin doubts James’ desire to win

By Houston Mitchell
and Austin Knoblauch

Jason MillerGetty Images

TIME EVENT ON THE AIR

AUTO RACING

5:45 a.m. Formula One, Rolex Hungarian Grand Prix,

Practice 2

TV:ESPNU

3:30 p.m. NHRA Drag Racing, Northwest Nationals, Friday

Nitro

TV:FS1

BASEBALL

11:15 a.m. Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs TV:MLB

4 p.m. Angels at Cleveland TV:FSW R:830,

1220

4 p.m. Boston at New York Yankees TV:MLB

7 p.m. San Diego at Dodgers TV:SNLA R:570,

1020

BASKETBALL

4 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, Loyalty Is Love vs.

Overseas Elite

TV:ESPN

6:30 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, Team Hines vs. Team

Brotherly Love

TV:ESPN2

7 p.m. WNBA, Washington at Seattle TV:NBATV

EXTREME SPORTS

6 p.m. X Games, Minneapolis TV:ESPN

GOLF

3 a.m. AIG Women’s British Open, second round TV:Golf

11 a.m. PGA Tour, Wyndham Championship, second round TV:Golf

HOCKEY

10 a.m. World Junior Summer Showcase, Canada vs.

Sweden

TV:NHL

1 p.m. World Junior Summer Showcase, Finland vs.

United States

TV:NHL

HORSE RACING

12:30

p.m.

Saratoga Live TV:Prime, FS2

1 p.m. Racing Coast to Coast featuring Saratoga TV:TVG

3 p.m. Trackside Live! Del Mar TV:TVG

8 p.m. The Quarters featuring Los Alamitos TV:TVG

SOCCER

2 p.m. Mexico, Cruz Azul vs. Morelia TV:UDN

3 p.m. Mexico, Potros vs. Correcaminos TV:GOLTV

4 p.m. NWSL, Seattle at Houston TV:ESPNews

4:30 p.m. Mexico, Puebla vs. Guadalajara TV:UDN

5 p.m. Mexico, Tampico Madero vs. Dorados TV:FOXD

6:45 p.m. Mexico, Atlas vs. Santos Laguna TV:UDN

SURFING

7:30 a.m. World Surf League, U.S. Open of Surfing TV:FS2

SWIMMING

5 p.m. Phillips 66 U.S. Nationals TV:NBCSN

TENNIS

11 a.m. Center Court, ATP Citi Open, WTA San Jose

quarterfinals

TV:Tennis

4 p.m. World Team Tennis, San Diego at Springfield TV:CBSSN

7 p.m. World Team Tennis, New York at Philadelphia TV:CBSSN

8:30 p.m. ATP, Los Cabos Open, early rounds TV:Tennis

TODAY ON THE AIR

PRO CALENDAR

FRI. SAT. SUN. MON. TUE.

2 3 4 5 6

DODGERS

SAN DIEGO

7

SNLA

SAN DIEGO

6

SNLA

SAN DIEGO

1

SNLA

ST. LOUIS

7

SNLA

ST. LOUIS

7

SNLA

ANGELS

at

Cleveland

4

FSW

at

Cleveland

4

FS1

at

Cleveland

10 a.m.

FSW

at

Cincinnati

4

FSW

at

Cincinnati

4

FSW

GALAXY

at Atlanta

2

Ch. 11

LAFC

at New

England

4:30

YouTube TV

SPARKS

SEATTLE

2

SpecSN

Shade denotes home game