This has been a good year for young local baseball players, with Sean O'Sullivan of Valhalla HS being called up to the Angels for a few successful starts and Adam Jones of Morse HS making the American League All-Star team for the Orioles. Add now Brian Matusz of USD, who will be making his first big league start for the O's tonight. Who is next? ... The down side was the Padres releasing Mark Prior of USDHS, who just couldn't overcome his shoulder injuries. Another year or two of rest and rehab might give him another chance, but by then he's going to have to do an awful lot of talking to get a team to give him a minor league roster spot over a deserving youngster. That said, I think the Padres made a reasonable move in signing him. He was a great pitcher at one time and wow, what could have been ... I think the Padres recent winning ways have mainly come against teams -- Reds and Brewers -- heading into the tank, yet the success of young starters Mat Latos and Tim Stauffer is encouraging ... Weekly rant against Kyle Blanks for the sole purpose of keeping up the karma which has improved his hitting: against struggling Brewers starter Braden Looper Friday, he twice missed on a couple straight fastballs so we all knew what was coming next, a breaking ball in the dirt. He swung like he was fooled. Why? I guess that's a young player for you. I do like how he knocked one of those lifeless fastballs 428 feet in his next at bat -- I hope the nice word doesn't send him into a slump.
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Tough crowd! QB Alex Smith gets booed on the first day of the 49ers camp. This is what happens when people don't read newspapers, because there's tons of news reports out there saying the Helix HS product has been sensational during off-season practices and may be ready to reclaim the starting position ... Kevin O'Connell of La Costa Canyon and SDSU suddenly has competition for the backup QB spot for the Patriots, who signed big-armed former Raider Andrew Walter. There had been talk of the Pats signing less-threatening Cleo Lemon, but Walter is a former (not-too-successful) starter ... Reggie Bush of Helix not only no longer has no GF but his surgically-repaired left knee is proving balky, so he's going to sit out a couple practices for the Saints ... Kellen Winslow Jr. of Scripps Ranch is missing a couple practices for the Buccaneers with an ankle sprain ... Remember Teyo Johnson, who came down with Amon Gordon from Washington state to play at Mira Mesa HS for their senior seasons before going on to Stanford? He's now a slotback for Toronto in the CFL. Gordon was recently waived from the Eagles after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
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If SDSU's mens basketball team jells and becomes as good as it could be, the Mountain West Conference schedule appears favorable, at first glance. The Aztecs last two games are against Colorado State at home and at Air Force, a school that Coach Steve Fisher's bunch has taken to physically dominating. The week before is a potential match to determine the league title at BYU.
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