No Kings player has seen a more drastic role change lately than Beno Udrih, the backup point guard whose playing time decreased significantly since the return of Kevin Martin on Jan. 15 ... But Wednesday night was something altogether different, as Udrih didn't play for just the second time this season while facing his old San Antonio team, and coach Paul Westphal opted for Sergio Rodríguez in the backup point guard role. And while Westphal continued to cite Udrih's sore right foot and plantar
Former Monarch Nicole Powell watches the action form the bench during WNBA game against the Phoenix Mercury at Arco Arena in 2008 ... Nicole Powell was selected by the New York Liberty on Monday with the first pick of the WNBA Dispersal Draft of Monarchs ... Powell was the lone All-Star for the Monarchs in what was their last season in 2009. The team finished with the a record of 12-22, the worst in the WNBA ... Monday's draft was held after the league failed to secure ownership in the Bay Area
It's only September, but area volleyball coaches are already looking forward to the playoff push in November ... With that in mind, four programs (No. 1 St. Francis, No. 4 Oak Ridge, No. 5 Christian Brothers and No. 15 Ponderosa) that expect to be in the hunt for a section title – if not a state crown – traveled to San Jose over the weekend for the renowned Archbishop Mitty Invitational, widely considered one of the best tournaments in the country ... With a field consisting of four teams
Martin Soyama thought he had left all this behind ... In nine years coaching volleyball at Loretto High School, he led the Lions to six Capital Athletic League championships and nine Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoff appearances, including two section title matches ... But when the Catholic all-girls prep school closed following the 2008-09 academic year, he and his coaching staff were out of work ... "I was actually just content to retire from coaching," said Soyama, a client services
The season of Monarchs forward Nicole Powell (14) will go down as one of the best in franchise history ... Some athletes feign ignorance as to their statistics, coming off as modest while secretly tracking their numbers down to seconds played ... But when told of Monarchs records she is close to surpassing, Nicole Powell is genuinely taken aback by the notion her career-best 2009 will go down as one of the best offensive seasons in team history ... "Franchise history?" Powell said. "Wow. OK."
Monarchs guard Ticha Penicheiro, left, pressures Silver Stars guard Edwige Lawson-Wade in the first quarter of Thursday night's game ... With the playoffs officially no longer a possibility, Monarchs coach John Whisenant adjusted his goals for the final two games of the season ... Sacramento still had a chance to finish three games above .500 over the second half with two more wins, thus going 10-7 over that span ... But even that goal won't happen after the Monarchs fell 80-71 to the San
Bee Sports Editor/Opinion ... Sportsmanship takes a hit from Oregon player ... That didn't start too well, did it? ... The whole point of a pregame handshake instituted by college football was to promote sportsmanship. The last thing the American Football Coaches Association and the NCAA wanted was to be sucker-punched by Oregon's LeGarrette Blount ... In the aftermath of Boise State's 19-8 victory over Oregon on Thursday night, the Broncos' Byron Hout answered Blount's preseason trash talk with
The Atlanta Dream was the worst team in the WNBA last year, going 4-30 in its first season ... After Friday night's performance, there's no denying the Dream has done a lot to make its maiden voyage into the league a distant memory ... Atlanta looked the part of a team preparing for the playoffs in beating the Monarchs 98-90 at Arco Arena ... The Dream, which is second in the Eastern Conference, put away the Monarchs with an impressive offensive showing that put Atlanta (17-14) closer to locking
Nicole Powell, left, and Hamchetou Maïga-Ba celebrate the Monarchs' victory over the best team in the WNBA ... INDIANAPOLIS – The Monarchs aren't going to roll over for anybody in the final weeks of the regular season ... Trying to keep their playoff hopes alive in the Western Conference, the Monarchs used a Rebekkah Brunson layup with 36 seconds left to stun the East-leading Indiana Fever 79-78 on Saturday night ... Nicole Powell had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Hamchétou Maïga-Ba scored 18,
Asst. Sports Editor/Opinion ... Giants make strong first step in honoring Kent ... Jeff Kent today will be added to the Giants Wall of Fame that adorns the north side of AT&T Park ... The move represents a symbolic thaw in the relationship between the parties. Kent's acrimonious departure for Houston after the 2002 season created tension between him and team management. How else to explain his No. 21, which should have had at least a one-year moratorium put on it, being issued to Ruben Rivera in