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Comment by Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert on June 23, 2011 at 5:17pm

PHOEBE THANKS FOR THE GREAT POST!!!!!

BAYETTE THANK YOU ALSO!!!!!

HATS OFF TO THE COMPTON CRICKET TEAM!!!!!!!!!!

NOT ONLY ARE YOU REPRESENTING COMPTON BUT,YOU ARE ALSO REPRESENTING YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!

GREAT JOB KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!

COMPTON IS A GREAT CITY!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Phoebe Macon on June 23, 2011 at 1:38pm

Hey Apache Alumni,
This is a great article e-mailed to me yesterday by our Alumni Member Bayette Davis-Diassy c/o '75 (Enjoy)!!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


THE SACRAMENTO BEE (sacbee.com)

Compton Cricket Team Gains International Renown


By CHRISTINA HOAG
Associated PRess
Published: Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 - 9:16 am





David McNew / AP Photo
In this Sunday, April 3, 2011 picture, Isaac Hayes of the Compton Cricket Club shows his arm tattoo of a cricket bat crossing out a gun with the words, “Gats to Bats” in Los Angeles. American cricketers are already an anomaly, but even more surprising when they come from Compton, a city on Los Angeles' southern border known more for gangsta rap and gang shootings. The cricketers say the sport is more than just winning and losing. The game's etiquette has helped them mature beyond the confines of urban street culture, learning to mingle with people of different backgrounds, gain self-confidence and control their tempers




COMPTON, Calif. -- Compton Cricket Club players have sipped tea with Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace, played against Aborigines in the Australian outback, and swapped stories of violence-torn neighborhoods with residents of Belfast.

At home, though, it's another story.

American cricketers are already an anomaly, but when they come from Compton, a city on Los Angeles' southern border known more for gangsta rap and gang shootings, heads near and far spin faster than a cricket bowler's windup.

"I tell people I play cricket and people automatically think it's croquet or an insect," said player Ricardo Cazarez. "I just tell them go look it up on YouTube."

Decked out in cricket's obligatory whites, they boast batsmen, bowlers and wicket-keepers (batters, pitchers and catchers) like any other 11-member team, but they profess their passion for the sport in pure Compton style.

Several players sport tattoos saying "cricket outta Compton" and "from gats to bats" ("gats" is street slang for guns). The team, named "the Homies and the Popz," raps cricket-themed songs titled "Shots" and "Bullets."

A couple players have served jail terms. One missed the Australian trip because he was on parole. Another was killed in a driveby shooting. And two others died in traffic accidents.

"With these guys, seeing is believing," said Katy Haber, a British film producer whose role as manager encompasses everything from fundraising for overseas trips to accompanying players to court appearances.

Thanks to the far-flung reaches of the old British Empire, the genteel sport is huge around the globe. But in the United States it's viewed more as a novelty, unique for its slow pace and matches that can last days.

Less known about cricket is its high level of sportsmanship. Arguing with the umpire and "sledging," or deriding opponents to distract them, are banned. Players are expected to report their own outs if missed by the umpire and applaud good plays by opponents.

That etiquette was what drew Compton team founder Ted Hayes to the game in 1995 after Haber invited him one day to play with the Beverly Hills & Hollywood Cricket Club.

Hayes saw that the sport's code of conduct contained larger life lessons of fair play and civility that could be a useful teaching tool. "This improves citizenship," said Hayes, who headed a Skid Row homeless shelter at the time. "You're a much better person when you come off the field."

He and Haber formed a team at the shelter, and then reoriented it to youth, recruiting players from Compton schools.

"I thought it sounded dumb, but a friend went and I liked the fact that you caught balls barehanded so I went," said Emidio Cazarez, Ricardo's brother who was in eighth grade at the time and is now team co-captain.

They trained with the Beverly Hills club, where they impressed players with their athletic ability and, as time went on, their staying power. "We get the odd American who wants to try it out, but it usually doesn't work out," said Jeremy Reed, team captain. "These guys have really taken to it."

Other local teams, which mostly comprise expats from cricket-playing nations, were flabbergasted when the Homies showed up on the field in the San Fernando Valley where the Los Angeles Social Cricket Alliance holds its matches.

Their loud pre-game cheer of "Compton!" is quite a contrast to the chiseled British accents and singsong cadences of South Asian English that are more common among the alliance's eight clubs.

"When I first heard about them, I said 'no way'," said Mahmood Jadwet, founder of the Simi Valley Sloggers, a team on the outskirts of Los Angeles. "But when we played them, it was amazing talent."

The Homies have had up and down seasons, depending on time for practice. Last year, the club, whose members work as plumbers, flooring installers, journeymen and billing clerks, ranked sixth out of the league's eight teams.

But cricketers say the sport is more than just winning and losing. The game's etiquette has helped them mature beyond the confines of urban street culture. They've learned to mingle with people of different backgrounds, gain self-confidence and control their tempers.

"Growing up in Compton, you're always defensive. You don't talk to people," said Emidio Cazarez, 28. "I'm more social."

Isaac Hayes, Ted's son, credited cricket with steering him away from gangs as a youngster. "It takes guys who usually aren't kind to each other and makes them say 'Hi, nice to see you again'," he said. "It's helped me see the world is bigger than my backyard."

The Cazarez brothers, whose third brother Jesse was killed in the driveby, said the sport's emphasis on accepting the umpire's call helped them cope. "If something doesn't go your way, keep your head high and just go with it," said Ricardo Cazarez, 26. "Life's not fair sometimes."

The first U.S. cricket team to undertake a tour to Australia, the team's fame is spreading. They've been invited to play and give inspirational talks to gang members in Birmingham, England, and to compete in the Sarasota Cricket Festival in Florida this fall. Haber is rustling up sponsors.

Closer to home, Ted Hayes is organizing a cricket summer program at an Orange County middle school and has convinced four Los Angeles police officers from the Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau to take up the sport. He's training them so they can join the Homies.

Assistant Commanding Officer Blake Chow said the bureau's goal is to eventually sponsor a cricket team as a way to build better relations with Muslim youth. "Cricket can be another tool to reach out in that community," Chow said. "It's a game built on respect and civil conduct. I think it has a lot of potential."

For some of those on the Compton team, the goal is more personal.

"I don't want to go back to prison," said, Efren De Lucas, 25, who served time on weapons charges. "I want to learn this."



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/13/3696031/compton-cricket-team-gains...

Comment by Phoebe Macon on June 3, 2011 at 5:16pm

Comment by Phoebe Macon on June 3, 2011 at 5:14pm

Comment by Phoebe Macon on June 1, 2011 at 3:34am

The City Of Compton: Alondra Park Master Plan Community Meeting (June 1, 2011 & June 11, 2011)

 

Comment by Phoebe Macon on May 10, 2011 at 11:47pm

"Straight Outta Compton": Tammy Tumbling Of SCE (Southern California Edison)

 

Comment by Phoebe Macon on May 10, 2011 at 11:46pm

Dr. Curry (Interim CEO) Of The Compton Community College District

Comment by Phoebe Macon on May 5, 2011 at 9:31pm

'American Idol' Top 5 Results: Jacob Leaves Today

Posted Thu May 5, 2011 6:49pm PDT by Lyndsey Parker

 

 

 

On Thursday's "American Idol" top five results show, Jacob Lusk went home, and given how things had panned out for him in recent weeks, this elimination was no huge shocker. However, if you were to rewind your DVR to about two months ago, you would've never expected this guy to only make it to fifth place. In February, Randy Jackson actually told Jacob that his "God Bless The Child" performance was the best in "Idol" history. Ever. Back then, it seemed Jacob had the potential to become the first R&B singer to win "Idol" in seven years.


So what went wrong? Well, I have a couple theories. While there was little doubt that Jacob had the pipes, some of the strongest pipes of the top 13, he never came across as current. Or cool. Just look at the swag-laden R&B charts these days. It's all about pop/hip-hop crossover acts like Drake, B.o.B., Jason Derulo, Chris Brown, Usher, et al; there's nothing in the old-school vein a la Luther Vandross, the singer to whom Jacob was constantly and perhaps excessively compared, and if Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard wasn't able to bring that style back, then Jacob certainly was doomed. But of course, when Jacob did try to modernize things and cover the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown pop hit "No Air" this week, it was far and away his worst performance of the season, and it did him in. So I guess he was doomed either way.


Still, doing one treacly, over-emotive, chest-beating power ballad after another, week after week, did Jacob no favors. Maybe he should have realized that being called a "diva" is not a good thing if you're a man. And maybe he shouldn't have worn weirdly patterned/colored suits so much, either. This is "American Idol," after all, not a job interview at Century 21.


Additionally, while Jacob usually came across as a jolly, effusive, all-around pleasant fellow (something we were reminded of during his exit video, a montage of him goofing off in a series of brightly colored anchorman blazers), occasionally he had "diva moments" that might have alienated viewers, who historically vote against anyone who comes across as cocky. Jacob's comment from a few weeks ago--"If I'm in the bottom three, it's not because I'm a bad singer, it's because America is afraid to look at themselves in the mirror"--however he intended it, was offputting, and I actually believe his decline in popularity began that night. Hopefully his fun and over-the-top exit-song performance this Thursday further reminded everyone of his more likable side.


As for the other contestant in the bottom two, it was the barely-16-year-old Lauren Alaina, and there was actually a part of me who wanted her to go, just to put her out of her misery. Her reaction to finding out she was in the bottom--her first time EVER on the chopping block--really showed her age. While Jacob, who'd obviously gotten used to the old elimination drill by now, was pretty stoic, Lauren was a tearful mess the moment her name was called.


Lauren's thin-skinned behavior on the show, whether it was her clearly hurt reaction to Jimmy Iovine's critique of her "Unchained Melody" performance this week, or the way she bristled when anyone dared to call her anything less than perfect several times this season, made a good case for why lowering the "Idol" age limit this year was a bad idea. Let's face it, most 15- or 16-year-olds, especially ones from small towns who've been told all their lives that they're amazing and "The One," simply cannot handle the pressure of a competition like this. Lauren would have been wise to wait until she was 18 to audition, when her emotional maturity finally caught up with her voice.


As for the other 57 minutes of Thursday's elimination episode, there was plenty of the usual filler, like an extended skit in which "Hell's Kitchen" tyrant Gordon Ramsay had the kids compete to make the best omelet (yeah, because what I look for most in my future American Idol is the ability to fry eggs properly); an ickier Gordon skit in which the contestants were force-fed tofu while blindfolded (wait, I thought I was watching "Idol," not 9 1/2 Weeks); and a whole bunch of on-point commentary from Jimmy Iovine in which he said ev-er-y-thing the judges were either too clueless or too afraid to say the night before. (How come Jimmy isn't allowed to give his two cents on Wednesday nights, when it counts?) There was also a surprisingly decent "On The Floor" performance from judge J.Lo...and while it was hard to tell if Jennifer was singing live or lip-synching, either way she fared better than the five live-singing Idols who attempted to harmonize on a group performance of "Happy Together" and didn't sound remotely together at all.


So there you have it. The final four on the floor are Scotty McCreery, James Durbin, Haley Reinhart, and Lauren Alaina, the latter of whom will hopefully be able to hold it together next week. It's really anybody's game--Scotty's the closest we have to a frontrunner this year, but in a season when someone as hyped as Jacob Lusk can suffer such a mighty fall, and someone like Pia Toscano can go home in ninth place, obviously nothing is guaranteed.


Parker out.

Comment by Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert on May 4, 2011 at 3:55pm

THANKS WAYNE!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Wayne Ware c/o '75 (WebMaster) on May 2, 2011 at 5:51pm

The Compton Friendship Society Picnic!!!‏

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