Stockton, CA

Yes, there is good news for my childhood hometown of Stockton, California — and I’m not even being sarcastic this time. This development has to do with the world of sports and a particularly unlikely athletic event.

No — for those trying to guess — it’s not that the Stockton Bears matched up with the Riveroak Redskins again, didn’t lose and have one of their players manhandled by an opposing coach. It also has nothing to do with hoodlums doing donuts in lowered, bass-thumping jalopies in sideshow competitions either. Instead, it has to do with the 2nd annual Tour of California, America’s premier bicycle stage race. Continue reading »

The unprecedented bouts of snowfall have provided some rather bone-chilling experiences for motorists in Northern Colorado the last few weeks.

Blinding, white-out conditions. Squirrelly rear tires. Cars careening into ditches. (Or so I hear. I stayed home! :))

Yet, in spite of it all, I still feel that my beloved city of Fort Collins is a sanctity from peril, a place where 98% of the time, I feel pretty darn safe.

I was reminded of that the other day when, in talking with my parents, I learned of some disturbing news. Continue reading »

For the last few years, my childhood hometown of Stockton, California has had something of a close-but-no-cigar losing streak. For example, in 2004 it almost earned the title of “#1 worst city to live in the U.S.,” only to be narrowly beat out by Laredo, TX. Then in 2005, it only took the #3 spot on the list of most car thefts per capita, after being #2 in 2003. The city’s recent losing streak has been much like this year’s Stockton Bears-Riveroak Redskins football match, in which not only the Bears lost, but one of their players was manhandled by the opposing team’s coach.

Never fear, Stockton is a loser no more. In fact, according to a study released by the Central Connecticut State University this month, the armpit of California is actually a champion in something. I kid you not! Stockton is #1, top dog, numero uno! Continue reading »

My childhood hometown of Stockton, California makes national headlines again! And this time it wasn’t for something infamous like the 1989 Stockton Massacre, or having the highest illiteracy rate of any city in the U.S. with over 250,000 people, or having the second highest auto-theft rate in the nation. Well, at least not quite as infamous…

Instead, this news story involves the fun, friendly, character-building game of youth football. It features the Stockton Bears and Riveroak Redskins, two teams belonging to the Delta Youth Football League. With less than one minute to go, Stockton was (perhaps not surprisingly) losing when, according to a CNN news report, the “assistant coach from the opposing team put the hurt on” the Stockton team. Continue reading »

My essay entitled “Waving Cyclist Finds Friendliness in Fort Collins” was printed in NEXTnc — a weekly publication of Northern Colorado — today. You can download a copy of the article here (PDF, 722 kB). Warning: it says some unflattering things about Stockton, California, where I grew up, which was not meant to be unkind, just stating the facts! :)