NORTH-CENTRAL EUCLID WALK (3 Hour Walk)
Beginning at Mountain View Park in Upland, California, go E on Mildura Ave to Mountain Ave. Cross Mountain and continue E on 23rd St to San Antonio Ave. TR and go S on San Antonio to McCarthy Park. TL and go E on 20th St to Euclid Ave. TR and go S on Euclid to Foothill Blvd (Route 66). Return N on Euclid to 24th St and TL. Go W on 24th to San Antonio and TR. Go N uphill on San Antonio until it splits, and take the LH fork on San Antonio Crest W to where it intersects with Mountain Ave. TL and follow Mountain W to San Antonio Park. Follow the perimeter sidewalk W at the N end of the park and then go S through the parking lot to 24th St. TR and go W on 24th to Deakin Ave. TL and go S on Deakin to Mountain View Park.
This is probably Upland’s favorite walk, with many hikers of all ages to be seen enjoying the weather and beautiful scenery every day and at any time of the year.
Mark Overt Skilbred
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
LAKERS MIDSEASON DOLDRUMS
LAKERS MIDSEASON DOLDRUMS
Sometimes it is more than just the fans who are bewildered when a great team begins to struggle midway through the season. This is especially true when the team in question is long on talent and short on injuries, has a good mix of older and younger talent, and excellent playoff experience. When you add in the Lakers’ great record on the road, there just does not seem to be a good explanation for these midseason doldrums. Watching last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, I couldn’t help feeling that the Lakers were allowing their opponents too much response-time, as if politely waiting for their answer to the latest maneuver. Normally when the Lakers are in attack mode, there isn’t much time for their opponents to respond effectively, and by the time they have it figured out, it is already too late for them. Maybe what is missing in our offensive game is the element of surprise. Does the NBA have us figured out to the extent that they are now anticipating our offense effectively and defending against our triangle system? Should we experiment with alternating systems of pick-and-roll, give-and-go, alley-oop and motion offense, making better use of our big men in the center post? It seems that our inside game has been rather inconsistent, as though we aren’t sure that our big guys can handle the assignment. I am of the opinion that we will never know for sure until we make the attempt. What better time than now to discover our strengths? I’m confident that Pau, Andrew, Lamar and Mbenga can handle whatever we throw at them. Sometimes in order to shake out of the doldrums, it becomes necessary to shake up the lineup a little with some different match-ups, as well as alternating style-of-play. But whatever we decide, let’s not wait much longer to make the needed changes. Let’s not wait until the playoffs to make good use of them.
Mark Overt Skilbred
Sometimes it is more than just the fans who are bewildered when a great team begins to struggle midway through the season. This is especially true when the team in question is long on talent and short on injuries, has a good mix of older and younger talent, and excellent playoff experience. When you add in the Lakers’ great record on the road, there just does not seem to be a good explanation for these midseason doldrums. Watching last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, I couldn’t help feeling that the Lakers were allowing their opponents too much response-time, as if politely waiting for their answer to the latest maneuver. Normally when the Lakers are in attack mode, there isn’t much time for their opponents to respond effectively, and by the time they have it figured out, it is already too late for them. Maybe what is missing in our offensive game is the element of surprise. Does the NBA have us figured out to the extent that they are now anticipating our offense effectively and defending against our triangle system? Should we experiment with alternating systems of pick-and-roll, give-and-go, alley-oop and motion offense, making better use of our big men in the center post? It seems that our inside game has been rather inconsistent, as though we aren’t sure that our big guys can handle the assignment. I am of the opinion that we will never know for sure until we make the attempt. What better time than now to discover our strengths? I’m confident that Pau, Andrew, Lamar and Mbenga can handle whatever we throw at them. Sometimes in order to shake out of the doldrums, it becomes necessary to shake up the lineup a little with some different match-ups, as well as alternating style-of-play. But whatever we decide, let’s not wait much longer to make the needed changes. Let’s not wait until the playoffs to make good use of them.
Mark Overt Skilbred
A GROUNDHOG'S DAY LAKERS FORECAST
A GROUNDHOG’S DAY LAKERS FORECAST
Punxsutawny Phil saw his shadow, predicting another 6 weeks of winter. As Lakers fans have watched their 1st place lead dwindle and have watched Cleveland steadily move ahead in the standings and into 1st place, they feel a bit like Phil, when it is revealed that winter will continue for at least a little longer. So we have stored our celebration plans on the shelf for now, awaiting the spring thaw, anticipating that all will be well at last in our Lakers universe.
NBA STANDINGS FOR FEBRUARY 2, 2010
1. Cleveland .780
2. Lakers .755
3. Denver .688
4. Orlando .673
5. Boston .652
6. Atlanta .638
7. Dallas .625
8. Utah .617
9. San Antonio .587
10. Phoenix .580
11. Portland .580
12. Oklahoma City .563
13. Houston .542
14. Memphis .542
15. New Orleans .542
16. Toronto .531
17. Charlotte .511
18. Chicago .500
19. Miami .500
20. Milwaukee .447
21. Clippers .438
22. New York .383
23. Indiana .347
24. Detroit .340
25. Philadelphia .340
26. Sacramento .340
27. Washington .340
28. Golden State .277
29. Minnesota .224
30. New Jersey .085
Mark Overt Skilbred
Punxsutawny Phil saw his shadow, predicting another 6 weeks of winter. As Lakers fans have watched their 1st place lead dwindle and have watched Cleveland steadily move ahead in the standings and into 1st place, they feel a bit like Phil, when it is revealed that winter will continue for at least a little longer. So we have stored our celebration plans on the shelf for now, awaiting the spring thaw, anticipating that all will be well at last in our Lakers universe.
NBA STANDINGS FOR FEBRUARY 2, 2010
1. Cleveland .780
2. Lakers .755
3. Denver .688
4. Orlando .673
5. Boston .652
6. Atlanta .638
7. Dallas .625
8. Utah .617
9. San Antonio .587
10. Phoenix .580
11. Portland .580
12. Oklahoma City .563
13. Houston .542
14. Memphis .542
15. New Orleans .542
16. Toronto .531
17. Charlotte .511
18. Chicago .500
19. Miami .500
20. Milwaukee .447
21. Clippers .438
22. New York .383
23. Indiana .347
24. Detroit .340
25. Philadelphia .340
26. Sacramento .340
27. Washington .340
28. Golden State .277
29. Minnesota .224
30. New Jersey .085
Mark Overt Skilbred
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