Jerry Tarkanian: Basketball’s Armenian Rebel
In 1977, college basketball icon Jerry Tarkanian came to the proverbial fork in the road when the Los Angeles Lakers offered him the team’s head coaching job. For an Armenian-American who spent his adolescence just up the freeway in Pasadena, seven years in the Los Angeles Community College District’s coaching ranks and an unprecedented run with California State University, Long Beach, the honor of coaching the city’s premier franchise could have been the defining pinnacle of a career.
When I asked Tarkanian this very question, he said, “It was certainly one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made in my life,” as he recounted the day he declined the chance of coaching the pre-Showtime Lakers after having committed verbally.
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Jerry Tarkanian: Basketball’s Armenian Rebel
Yerevan Magazine Blogs:
It’s Official: Every Sport Needs Instant Replay, Published: 11/19/2009
Kobe Needs to Step Back and Enjoy the Scenery, Published: 11/18/2009
Kobe Needs to Step Back and Enjoy the Scenery, Published: 11/18/2009
Due to a website redesign, my Daily Sundial links have been broken. They are currently in the process of being imported.
SPORTS COLUMNS:
Barry Bittersweet
Manouk Akopyan / Staff Reporter
Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
“You're going the wrong way buddy,” Barry Bonds liverishly told me at the foot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria escalator in anticipation of his first step.
As I took a second look at his withered body to realize it was him, brushback lines zipped through my head like the 98-mile per hour fastballs he once crushed at a record rate.
I asked myself, should I retaliate with the four-seamer high and tight and say, “Hey Barry, in town for Jeff Kent's retirement dinner?” or the curveball and ask if he wanted me to hook him up with a job at Macy's.
Fearing I would get needled with a pointy object for such a remark, I went with neither and rather, just Petros Papadakis-ly said “Barry!!” as he turned the corner.
“Don't be screaming my name out like that,” he told me as he scanned the floor, only to turn his back.
As he began to limp forward, I couldn't help but size up the one time behemoth that once had arms the size of tree logs, shoulders that spread out to different time zones and that elephantine of a head.
It was as glaring as ever that Bonds’ girthy body had left him just as he did baseball in October 2007 - a probable byproduct of laying off the “clear” and the “cream” substances he once testified about to a U.S. grand jury four years back.
Wanting to pick the brain of the all-time home run king and actually contemplating whether he would have a one-on-one sit down with me at Wetzel’s Pretzels, I remembered the anchorite's reputation with people who even cared to talk to him – let alone about tainting baseball, lying under oath and steroid use.
After all, this is the guy who held press conferences as if it were a State of the Union address only to go and blame the media for his knee surgery.
Considering I had a better chance of seeing Kent and Bonds ridesharing on a Harley then going Walter Cronkite on him, I did what no man in Los Angeles has ever done to him.
Be nice, a reverse psychology I partook onto the pertinacious Bonds, who yet again was fully aloof.
While desperately trying to hold a straight face and speaking in somewhat of a non-sarcastic tone, I brought up how he would be the ideal candidate to fill the Dodgers’ void in left field and a far better replacement than Manny Ramirez could ever be.
After all, he is owner of *762 home runs, five most valuable player awards and still, one massive forehead. In response to my suggestion, he smiled, perhaps assuming I might be one in need of Baseball Digest.
“No,” he simply said while swinging his newly-bought luggage from one hand to the other. “The Dodgers are better off with Manny Ramirez.”
“C’mon Barry,” I needled back, being dumbfounded that someone unemployed in today's economy would turn down a job. “I want to cheer you on from the left field pavilion with all your other fans.”
Realizing the chances of Old Faithful playing home games for the Dodgers were as good as Michael Vick running a Pitbull at the National Dog Show, I gave Bonds a personal spring training invite.
He again shook his head in disagreement, in doing so, declining millions and the opportunity of once again setting up the royal perks of a leather recliner, a personal masseur and his own television set – in the locker room, as he did in his years in San Francisco.
He was still recuperating from hip surgery, a procedure he took in hopes of someday playing baseball and noticeably looked well below his playing weight – a clear sign he is no longer on the cream diet.
It's not that Bonds did not want to play for the Dodgers, rather, it looked as if the 44-year-old couldn’t even if he tried.
Just imagine Bonds wearing blue while playing the outfield grass at Dodger Stadium. Kobe Bryant has better odds of spending a night at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera hotel in Eagle than Bonds does penciled in at cleanup for Joe Torre.
Not wanting to prolong the pain of conversation any longer, he graciously posed for a picture at my request – a monumental feat accomplished on my part considering the guy didn’t even pose for team photos years back.
As we shook hands and departed, he threw his bag over his shoulder, put his croc shoes to motion and walked towards the parking garage.
He left the building unapproached, without ceremony and unnoticed, a carbon copy of his backdoor exit from baseball.
Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
“You're going the wrong way buddy,” Barry Bonds liverishly told me at the foot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria escalator in anticipation of his first step.
As I took a second look at his withered body to realize it was him, brushback lines zipped through my head like the 98-mile per hour fastballs he once crushed at a record rate.
I asked myself, should I retaliate with the four-seamer high and tight and say, “Hey Barry, in town for Jeff Kent's retirement dinner?” or the curveball and ask if he wanted me to hook him up with a job at Macy's.
Fearing I would get needled with a pointy object for such a remark, I went with neither and rather, just Petros Papadakis-ly said “Barry!!” as he turned the corner.
“Don't be screaming my name out like that,” he told me as he scanned the floor, only to turn his back.
As he began to limp forward, I couldn't help but size up the one time behemoth that once had arms the size of tree logs, shoulders that spread out to different time zones and that elephantine of a head.
It was as glaring as ever that Bonds’ girthy body had left him just as he did baseball in October 2007 - a probable byproduct of laying off the “clear” and the “cream” substances he once testified about to a U.S. grand jury four years back.
Wanting to pick the brain of the all-time home run king and actually contemplating whether he would have a one-on-one sit down with me at Wetzel’s Pretzels, I remembered the anchorite's reputation with people who even cared to talk to him – let alone about tainting baseball, lying under oath and steroid use.
After all, this is the guy who held press conferences as if it were a State of the Union address only to go and blame the media for his knee surgery.
Considering I had a better chance of seeing Kent and Bonds ridesharing on a Harley then going Walter Cronkite on him, I did what no man in Los Angeles has ever done to him.
Be nice, a reverse psychology I partook onto the pertinacious Bonds, who yet again was fully aloof.
While desperately trying to hold a straight face and speaking in somewhat of a non-sarcastic tone, I brought up how he would be the ideal candidate to fill the Dodgers’ void in left field and a far better replacement than Manny Ramirez could ever be.
After all, he is owner of *762 home runs, five most valuable player awards and still, one massive forehead. In response to my suggestion, he smiled, perhaps assuming I might be one in need of Baseball Digest.
“No,” he simply said while swinging his newly-bought luggage from one hand to the other. “The Dodgers are better off with Manny Ramirez.”
“C’mon Barry,” I needled back, being dumbfounded that someone unemployed in today's economy would turn down a job. “I want to cheer you on from the left field pavilion with all your other fans.”
Realizing the chances of Old Faithful playing home games for the Dodgers were as good as Michael Vick running a Pitbull at the National Dog Show, I gave Bonds a personal spring training invite.
He again shook his head in disagreement, in doing so, declining millions and the opportunity of once again setting up the royal perks of a leather recliner, a personal masseur and his own television set – in the locker room, as he did in his years in San Francisco.
He was still recuperating from hip surgery, a procedure he took in hopes of someday playing baseball and noticeably looked well below his playing weight – a clear sign he is no longer on the cream diet.
It's not that Bonds did not want to play for the Dodgers, rather, it looked as if the 44-year-old couldn’t even if he tried.
Just imagine Bonds wearing blue while playing the outfield grass at Dodger Stadium. Kobe Bryant has better odds of spending a night at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera hotel in Eagle than Bonds does penciled in at cleanup for Joe Torre.
Not wanting to prolong the pain of conversation any longer, he graciously posed for a picture at my request – a monumental feat accomplished on my part considering the guy didn’t even pose for team photos years back.
As we shook hands and departed, he threw his bag over his shoulder, put his croc shoes to motion and walked towards the parking garage.
He left the building unapproached, without ceremony and unnoticed, a carbon copy of his backdoor exit from baseball.
Dropping the A-Bomb
As it turns out, the lone ranger in baseball’s dying breed was shot dead a long time ago. On Monday, the last remaining bombshell of the steroid era leaped out of his foxhole and confessed that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
Allegations no more. Alex Rodriguez is yet another role model in sports - especially baseball - that has emerged with a black eye, joining Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and countless others over the past decade in the ever-darkening face of the game’s most prevalent role models.
The clean, boyish and innocent-looking Rodriguez is just another cheater, just as Michael Phelps is your average bong-ripping toker and Charles Barkley is your out-of-control drunk who doesn’t know when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em or walk away.
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Dropping the A-Bomb: Alex Rodriguez's admittance of steroid-use kills baseball
Allegations no more. Alex Rodriguez is yet another role model in sports - especially baseball - that has emerged with a black eye, joining Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and countless others over the past decade in the ever-darkening face of the game’s most prevalent role models.
The clean, boyish and innocent-looking Rodriguez is just another cheater, just as Michael Phelps is your average bong-ripping toker and Charles Barkley is your out-of-control drunk who doesn’t know when to hold ‘em, fold ‘em or walk away.
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Dropping the A-Bomb: Alex Rodriguez's admittance of steroid-use kills baseball
L.T. Getting Dissed by Chargers
Where have you gone, LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers fans turn its lonely eyes to you. What's that you say, Dean Spanos, L.T. will soon leave and go away?
If this jingle sounds familiar to you, it should, but not because it is a remix of the 1968 tune “Mrs. Robinson,” a song performed by Simon and Garfunkel with the chorus honoring Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio’s heroic stature, but rather, it is today's rendition of the treatment directed towards franchise players in sports.
In the eyes of the Chargers, the face of the team, city and partly the league just washed down the drain like the can of soup he endorses. For Tomlinson and Charger fans, the thought of living without one another will be as tough to digest as minestrone.
Ever since their playoff exit to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game in which Tomlinson did not even suit up due to a groin injury, the Chargers have publicly voiced that L.T.’s future with the team will be reevaluated.
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L.T. getting Dissed by Chargers
If this jingle sounds familiar to you, it should, but not because it is a remix of the 1968 tune “Mrs. Robinson,” a song performed by Simon and Garfunkel with the chorus honoring Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio’s heroic stature, but rather, it is today's rendition of the treatment directed towards franchise players in sports.
In the eyes of the Chargers, the face of the team, city and partly the league just washed down the drain like the can of soup he endorses. For Tomlinson and Charger fans, the thought of living without one another will be as tough to digest as minestrone.
Ever since their playoff exit to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game in which Tomlinson did not even suit up due to a groin injury, the Chargers have publicly voiced that L.T.’s future with the team will be reevaluated.
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L.T. getting Dissed by Chargers
What Would You do for a Dodgers Game?
It’s Friday night. For most it’s beer pong or Donkey Kong. For me, it’s the most dreaded date of the week – the day I realize my fate as my schedule for work is released. I have told my boss countless times, sports comes before work. It has been an initiative he has had a hard time accepting in my four plus years on the job.
I take sports and writing about it seriously because of the customers who shop here and their sport’s IQ scores (Yes I’m talking to you, Raiders fan).
But football is not the game in question. I already have that taken care of with Sunday restrictions. As the Dodgers made the playoffs this season, like most, I ran to my paycheck stubs to see how many sick days remained for the year. After realizing I had abused my privileges more than Tommy Lasorda at Bucca Di Beppo, I looked over to my bench.
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What would you do for a Dodgers game? Sports junkie speaks for thousands of hard-working 5-to-9’ers
I take sports and writing about it seriously because of the customers who shop here and their sport’s IQ scores (Yes I’m talking to you, Raiders fan).
But football is not the game in question. I already have that taken care of with Sunday restrictions. As the Dodgers made the playoffs this season, like most, I ran to my paycheck stubs to see how many sick days remained for the year. After realizing I had abused my privileges more than Tommy Lasorda at Bucca Di Beppo, I looked over to my bench.
Continue Reading Here:
What would you do for a Dodgers game? Sports junkie speaks for thousands of hard-working 5-to-9’ers
Soccer Pro: Reporter Gets Full Access
When the Chivas USA communications’ team phoned the Daily Sundial sports desk and offered all-inclusive press coverage for their team’s home match-up against the Kansas City Wizards Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, it was an opportunity that most definitely had to be seized.
As a sports writer, given a chance to sit through a 90-minute game with fellow soccer writers, being able to fire questions in the media room at head coaches after the game and granted full locker room access to the players for recap was a no-brainer. After all, we plan on doing this on an everyday basis, right?
Heading into the game with a Hollywood delusion of Scotch on the rocks and the chance to puff cigars with my blazer-jacketed colleagues was instead met with a boxed-setup of a ham sandwich, fun-sized chips and an apple, resembling the stereotypical elementary lunch sack. The enjoyment of drinks and stogies were instead substituted with endless conversation with soccer aficionados from reputable print outlets across the nation.
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Soccer pro: Reporter gets full-access: Chivas USA reaches out as reporter gets one-day professional sports journalist experience
As a sports writer, given a chance to sit through a 90-minute game with fellow soccer writers, being able to fire questions in the media room at head coaches after the game and granted full locker room access to the players for recap was a no-brainer. After all, we plan on doing this on an everyday basis, right?
Heading into the game with a Hollywood delusion of Scotch on the rocks and the chance to puff cigars with my blazer-jacketed colleagues was instead met with a boxed-setup of a ham sandwich, fun-sized chips and an apple, resembling the stereotypical elementary lunch sack. The enjoyment of drinks and stogies were instead substituted with endless conversation with soccer aficionados from reputable print outlets across the nation.
Continue Reading Here:
Soccer pro: Reporter gets full-access: Chivas USA reaches out as reporter gets one-day professional sports journalist experience
Can Lakers Match the Hype?
On behalf of the purple and gold legion, I would like to congratulate the Los Angeles Lakers on winning the 2008-09 NBA Championship. As David Stern has now said for 24 consecutive years, you were truly the “champion of champions.” Congratulations Lakers on being crowned as this year’s best team – on paper.
The NBA season just tipped off and the Lakers already have nothing to play for, meaning plans for a June trip to Figueroa St. are in full works. Err…Really?
Over the past few months, it seems as if fellow fans have had a third and fourth helping of Laker Kool-Aid and last year’s championship run is still sweet in their mouth. Before I get trounced with obscene remarks like, “He’s a Spurs fan!” and be reduced to Kwame Brown-like treatment, remember that I’m one you – less the sugar-filled hype.
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Can Lakers match the hype? Winning it all is not as simple as Kobe, Gasol and Bynum
The NBA season just tipped off and the Lakers already have nothing to play for, meaning plans for a June trip to Figueroa St. are in full works. Err…Really?
Over the past few months, it seems as if fellow fans have had a third and fourth helping of Laker Kool-Aid and last year’s championship run is still sweet in their mouth. Before I get trounced with obscene remarks like, “He’s a Spurs fan!” and be reduced to Kwame Brown-like treatment, remember that I’m one you – less the sugar-filled hype.
Continue Reading Here:
Can Lakers match the hype? Winning it all is not as simple as Kobe, Gasol and Bynum
There Goes the Championship
Kobe Bryant just popped off for 61 points against the New York Knicks, Broadway is still buzzing on its latest theatrics and the Lakers are 3-0 in the midst of a team-testing six-game road trip.
From the sight and sound of it, no one would ever know there is a 7-foot, 285-pound crater under the basket by the name of Andrew Bynum, who will be sidelined somewhere around eight to 12 weeks because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Because the hoopla was around Bryant and his record for most points ever scored at the iconic Madison Square Garden, the extent of Bynum’s injury was second-tier news and flew right under the dropped jaws of Lakerville.
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There goes the championship: Can Lakers win it all without Bynum?
From the sight and sound of it, no one would ever know there is a 7-foot, 285-pound crater under the basket by the name of Andrew Bynum, who will be sidelined somewhere around eight to 12 weeks because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Because the hoopla was around Bryant and his record for most points ever scored at the iconic Madison Square Garden, the extent of Bynum’s injury was second-tier news and flew right under the dropped jaws of Lakerville.
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There goes the championship: Can Lakers win it all without Bynum?
Baylor’s Firing Just Latest of Clippers’ Gaffes
There is only one word that can summarize the Los Angeles Clippers as a franchise, and following the exit of vice-president of basketball operations Elgin Baylor, the same word should be bounced back to the man who directed a creaky ship for 22 years: Sorry.
For every fan that thought Los Angeles’ third-best basketball attraction had finally turned the tide, guess again. Owner Donald Sterling and Head Coach Mike Dunleavy proved last week that they are shadier than a young George Steinbrenner while adding another chapter to a failure-filled 24 years in Los Angeles, turning back the clock to the buffalo days.
After two decades of employment, the basketball world doesn’t know whether one of the greatest ever to play the game resigned, retired or got fired, making the last year for the Clippers more disreputable than a Michael Olowokandi jump shot, foggier than a pair of Bo Outlaw’s goggles and uglier than Keith Closs’s hair.
For those of you keeping track, this is public relations’ nightmare No. 2 for the Clippers in a span of three months, the other he-he said episode being Elton Brand and his ugly departure to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brand opted out of his contract and jetted to Philly in July even though the team was being built to win now with the addition of point guard Baron Davis.
Continue Reading Here:
Baylor’s firing just latest of Clippers’ gaffes
For every fan that thought Los Angeles’ third-best basketball attraction had finally turned the tide, guess again. Owner Donald Sterling and Head Coach Mike Dunleavy proved last week that they are shadier than a young George Steinbrenner while adding another chapter to a failure-filled 24 years in Los Angeles, turning back the clock to the buffalo days.
After two decades of employment, the basketball world doesn’t know whether one of the greatest ever to play the game resigned, retired or got fired, making the last year for the Clippers more disreputable than a Michael Olowokandi jump shot, foggier than a pair of Bo Outlaw’s goggles and uglier than Keith Closs’s hair.
For those of you keeping track, this is public relations’ nightmare No. 2 for the Clippers in a span of three months, the other he-he said episode being Elton Brand and his ugly departure to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brand opted out of his contract and jetted to Philly in July even though the team was being built to win now with the addition of point guard Baron Davis.
Continue Reading Here:
Baylor’s firing just latest of Clippers’ gaffes
More Columns:
Today’s pros need to behave accordingly: Leagues throughout are adopting zero tolerance policies for the better
A Manny among men: Ramirez should be MVP: Criteria shows No. 99 should be recognized as league’s best despite being a newbie in National League
Don't take Phelps for granted: Stroke by stroke, world witnessed incomparable greatness.
Comparing Phelps to the rest: A look at some of America's "other" greatest sports' performances
Los Angeles Clippers: A new, really new beginning
Cal State Northridge NCAA Tournament Coverage (Audio & Story)
PROFILES:
Life of a Former Matador: Paladini in MLS
Attention Northridge Community: You are about to embark on a 90-minute trek towards congested Los Angeles freeways to go to work. During your call of duty, you suffer through hacks at your shins, combat through cramps and fight through charlies while running as many miles as your fingers count. After sheer exhaustion, you’re just looking for a place to crash as family and a girlfriend wait back home.
This is not a rubric college athletes gravitate to in their years leading to the professional ranks, but Daniel Paladini of Chivas USA, a former CSUN soccer standout and now, a Major League Soccer employee, wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I want to keep soccer in my life as long as I can,” he said.
Continue Reading Here:
Life of a former Matador: Paladini in MLS
This is not a rubric college athletes gravitate to in their years leading to the professional ranks, but Daniel Paladini of Chivas USA, a former CSUN soccer standout and now, a Major League Soccer employee, wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I want to keep soccer in my life as long as I can,” he said.
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Life of a former Matador: Paladini in MLS
Mt. SAC-transfer Leading Matadors
When the Matadors soccer team learned midfielder Rafael Garcia and senior forward Devin Deldó both had season-ending ACL injuries, the coaching staff was anxious to see who would step and seize the role of team leader. After only seven games, forward Cameron Sims has punched the clock and emerged as a prime candidate. If he won’t tell you, his stats will, as his playmaking skills have resulted in the team lead for several offensive categories and, overall, ranking at the top of the Big West.
But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Sims has established himself at such a young stage in the season. The 19-year-old’s work ethic on and off the field are paying dividends for the striker, who already has netted two goals, one of which was a game winner, and leads the team in shots, amongst other categories. Despite coming off the bench for two of the season’s first four games and again last week, Sims has remained hungry while perfecting his ball-hawking instincts, and from the sound of it, his ceiling is nowhere near reached.
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Mt. SAC-transfer leading Matadors
But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Sims has established himself at such a young stage in the season. The 19-year-old’s work ethic on and off the field are paying dividends for the striker, who already has netted two goals, one of which was a game winner, and leads the team in shots, amongst other categories. Despite coming off the bench for two of the season’s first four games and again last week, Sims has remained hungry while perfecting his ball-hawking instincts, and from the sound of it, his ceiling is nowhere near reached.
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Mt. SAC-transfer leading Matadors
ALBUM REVIEWS:
Old T.I. is Dead and Gone
In order for a rapper to claim they are the best at their craft, one needs credible music backed by sales, marketability, mainstream appeal and a diverse fan base. The easier road is often taken by making headlines through guns, drugs and run-ins with the law for the ever-elusive battle known as “street cred.”
Then there is T.I., a killer concoction that epitomizes the success of bridging the gap between selling rocks on the corner and selling you one of the year’s best rap albums in the “Paper Trail.”
His third consecutive No. 1 album is book ended by house arrest for a federal weapons conviction and a one-year jail sentence looming for March 2009. In the interim, Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. used his newly-found time and wrote down lyrics for this 16-track compilation, a practice he had abandoned with the 2001 released album, “I’m Serious.”
Continue Reading Here:
Old T.I. is dead and gone: “Paper Trail” previews fresh side of rapper as he faces jail time starting in March.
Then there is T.I., a killer concoction that epitomizes the success of bridging the gap between selling rocks on the corner and selling you one of the year’s best rap albums in the “Paper Trail.”
His third consecutive No. 1 album is book ended by house arrest for a federal weapons conviction and a one-year jail sentence looming for March 2009. In the interim, Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. used his newly-found time and wrote down lyrics for this 16-track compilation, a practice he had abandoned with the 2001 released album, “I’m Serious.”
Continue Reading Here:
Old T.I. is dead and gone: “Paper Trail” previews fresh side of rapper as he faces jail time starting in March.
More Album Reviews:
Ice Cube & The Game: A West Coast Revival
GZA/Genius delivers with ‘Pro Tools’
Murs includes his name to the ballot with ‘Murs For The President’
Part One of Two of Armenian-Americans in Football:
Football beginning to see new faces
Ethnic minorities becoming a larger part of the SoCal sports scene -- at all levels.
Published: Friday, November 30, 2007 in the La Crescenta Valley Sun, A-28
When the 2007 football season ended for the Crescenta Valley Falcons, players and coaches called it a wrap after a disappointing loss to Arcadia that nullified any shot of a postseason birth. For most students, they shifted focus to other sports and studies. And for most coaches; they shifted focus to family and their other jobs.
Sitting in his office, chiropractor Dr. David Boghossian can be seen for the first time in months without having to change from his business to his football attire on a Friday evening. Instead of roaming the sidelines, Boghossian now has time to roam the surroundings of his Glendale office, perhaps looking for a nice place to grab lunch.
Before the season ended, Boghossian's daily routine consisted of being in the office by 9 a.m. to assist his patients with ailments. He would call it a day four hours later so he could make it in time for practice at Crescenta Valley High School. By 2 p.m., Boghossian was going over game plan for their next opponent to inflict the same pains he treats.
"The players relate more to me knowing that I have been through the wars," said Boghossian, who just finished his first year on the Falcons varsity coaching staff after two years coaching the junior varsity team. "They respect you more and are all ears when you are giving them advice."
Players shouldn't have a hard time digesting Boghossian's coaching style and philosophy. He has been through football battles at the high school level at Kennedy of Granada Hills, Glendale Community College, and all the way to his days at the University of Utah in 1994.
"Having a great coach/player relationship is important," said Boghossian. "As the relationship builds with your players, it becomes like family. I tell my players, your effort on field represents your family, both at home and the ones fighting along with you," he said.
"Sometimes people don't realize but coaching is a tough job nowadays. It's a different world and a different generation," the 35 year-old said. "You have to motivate the kids to practice. They have so much potential, they don't even realize it."
Boghossian, who is the defensive and offensive line coach for the Falcons, is part of the growing minority in the sport of football. He is Armenian -- from a country where football is played with feet, not hands. Armenian players and coaches are popping up across Southern California, and some of them are even holding prestigious positions in the coaching ranks. In the larger picture, minorities in football have been a growing trend not only in the southland, but the epitome of football glory, the National Football League.
In 2006, NFL teams had 165 minority assistants, a 200 % increase from 1991, according to the University of Central Florida's "Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports" study. There was also a 4 % increase in minority assistants from 2005 to 2006.
Those statistics would've needed minor re-configuring last summer if University of Southern California's offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian accepted the head coaching job for the Oakland Raiders. Sarkisian, who is also of Armenian descent, rejected the Raiders offer in favor of USC.
"When I see Armenian coaches, it's an honor," Boghossian said. "They're stepping into places they have never stepped into. I feel proud for that."
While Boghossian played at the University of Utah, his Utes played against Sarkisian when he was starting quarterback at Brigham Young University.
"There were only a handful of us Armenian players in Salt Lake City at the time," Boghossian said. "There was a mutual bond between us because of the fact we were Armenian."
But, make no mistake about it, these Armenian coaches were not given their jobs as public relations moves. USC Associate Athletic Director Dr. Brandon Martin said that Sarkisian is a very talented coach and he is the one that is most qualified for his position.
"We respect what he brings to the table," he said. "He is going to be a great head coach in the future."
Martin agreed that minorities are getting coaching opportunities more than ever. "It has become a growing trend of late," he said. "Although, they shouldn't be so concerned about being a minority. They have to continue to perfect their craft and stay committed to growing and propelling to another level."
The USC athletic program is well diversified and their players and coaching staffs can attest to that. "We hire the best coaches, regardless of minority," he said. "We want the best."
In order to be the best, Martin emphasized that coaches should perfect their skills and qualifications while staying committed to being the finest. After that, it is only a matter of time before coaching opportunities will be seized, Martin said.
Check next week for part two of this story looking at Armenian football coaches in California.
Football beginning to see new faces
Ethnic minorities becoming a larger part of the SoCal sports scene -- at all levels.
Sitting in his office, chiropractor Dr. David Boghossian can be seen for the first time in months without having to change from his business to his football attire on a Friday evening. Instead of roaming the sidelines, Boghossian now has time to roam the surroundings of his Glendale office, perhaps looking for a nice place to grab lunch.
Before the season ended, Boghossian's daily routine consisted of being in the office by 9 a.m. to assist his patients with ailments. He would call it a day four hours later so he could make it in time for practice at Crescenta Valley High School. By 2 p.m., Boghossian was going over game plan for their next opponent to inflict the same pains he treats.
"The players relate more to me knowing that I have been through the wars," said Boghossian, who just finished his first year on the Falcons varsity coaching staff after two years coaching the junior varsity team. "They respect you more and are all ears when you are giving them advice."
Players shouldn't have a hard time digesting Boghossian's coaching style and philosophy. He has been through football battles at the high school level at Kennedy of Granada Hills, Glendale Community College, and all the way to his days at the University of Utah in 1994.
"Having a great coach/player relationship is important," said Boghossian. "As the relationship builds with your players, it becomes like family. I tell my players, your effort on field represents your family, both at home and the ones fighting along with you," he said.
"Sometimes people don't realize but coaching is a tough job nowadays. It's a different world and a different generation," the 35 year-old said. "You have to motivate the kids to practice. They have so much potential, they don't even realize it."
Boghossian, who is the defensive and offensive line coach for the Falcons, is part of the growing minority in the sport of football. He is Armenian -- from a country where football is played with feet, not hands. Armenian players and coaches are popping up across Southern California, and some of them are even holding prestigious positions in the coaching ranks. In the larger picture, minorities in football have been a growing trend not only in the southland, but the epitome of football glory, the National Football League.
In 2006, NFL teams had 165 minority assistants, a 200 % increase from 1991, according to the University of Central Florida's "Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports" study. There was also a 4 % increase in minority assistants from 2005 to 2006.
Those statistics would've needed minor re-configuring last summer if University of Southern California's offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian accepted the head coaching job for the Oakland Raiders. Sarkisian, who is also of Armenian descent, rejected the Raiders offer in favor of USC.
"When I see Armenian coaches, it's an honor," Boghossian said. "They're stepping into places they have never stepped into. I feel proud for that."
While Boghossian played at the University of Utah, his Utes played against Sarkisian when he was starting quarterback at Brigham Young University.
"There were only a handful of us Armenian players in Salt Lake City at the time," Boghossian said. "There was a mutual bond between us because of the fact we were Armenian."
But, make no mistake about it, these Armenian coaches were not given their jobs as public relations moves. USC Associate Athletic Director Dr. Brandon Martin said that Sarkisian is a very talented coach and he is the one that is most qualified for his position.
"We respect what he brings to the table," he said. "He is going to be a great head coach in the future."
Martin agreed that minorities are getting coaching opportunities more than ever. "It has become a growing trend of late," he said. "Although, they shouldn't be so concerned about being a minority. They have to continue to perfect their craft and stay committed to growing and propelling to another level."
The USC athletic program is well diversified and their players and coaching staffs can attest to that. "We hire the best coaches, regardless of minority," he said. "We want the best."
In order to be the best, Martin emphasized that coaches should perfect their skills and qualifications while staying committed to being the finest. After that, it is only a matter of time before coaching opportunities will be seized, Martin said.
Check next week for part two of this story looking at Armenian football coaches in California.
Part Two of Two of Armenian-Americans in Football:
The changing face of football
Armenian coaches are becoming more common in high school football and beyond.
Published: Friday, December, 7 2007 in the La Crescenta Valley Sun, A-28
Earlier this year, Rafik Thorossian was an example of a coach who seized his opportunity when he was hired as Glendale High School's varsity head football coach. Prior to his new title, Thorossian was the freshman head football coach the previous year.
Like Crescenta Valley defensive and offensive line coach David Boghossian, Thorossian played for Glendale Community College and the two were teammates on the Vaqueros football team.
While Boghossian played center and paved way, Thorossian powered his way through with the football at fullback.
"He was an intense player," Boghossian said of Thorossian. "He just ran over people."
Thorossian's intensity carried over to the Greensboro Prowlers of the Arena Football II League where he kept his style as a bruising fullback and later stayed on staff as an assistant coach.
Both of them agreed that it was the best years of football they had ever experienced while playing together at GCC. The camaraderie of the team was strengthened while playing along with a bunch of great guys and coach, they said.
"Those friendships will stay with me forever," the 37 year-old Thorossian said.
As Thorossian opens a new chapter in his life trying to steer Glendale's football program to a higher level, he feels being a minority has not been a setback in his path to coaching.
"I really don't think about race as an issue. If you're qualified and you teach and motivate athletes to perform at the very highest levels, then you belong in coaching," Thorossian said. "If an Armenian can do that, then we will have an Armenian coach in the NFL someday."
Thorossian coached six Armenian kids in his first season to a 1-8-1 campaign for Glendale, the city with the largest Armenian population in the United States. Yet, Thorossian does not believe that race nor minority play a part in coaching decisions or personnel moves.
"Players who are serious about the game of football and are willing to work hard and support one another, those are the players with whom I connected most," said Thorossian, who like Boghossian, lives in Glendale and was born in Iran. "They come from all different backgrounds and I develop strong personal relationships with them because they put the team first. Race has very little to do with it. I'm a football player; I connected with my football players."
Sarkis Hakopyan, a former defensive team captain for Van Nuys High School, agreed. "I wouldn't feel any different playing for an Armenian coach because he has to treat all players on the team the same," said the construction engineering major at California State University Northridge.
"When you factor in that we would both speak Armenian, communication would be a vital instrument to our success." And as far as the new trend of more Armenian coaches being involved in local sports? "Armenians are getting assimilated with American culture more and more these days and succeeding in the field of football is one area where we have shown adaptation."
According to the MLA Data Center, 40 percent of Glendale's population, which roughly totals around 85,000, is Armenian-Americans.
Boghossian said he would like to see more of those Armenians across the Glendale area and Southern California come out and realize their possibilities. "It's a shame because living in Glendale, there are so many Armenian kids with potential," he said. "I wish they would come out and reach a potential they never thought they could. But, unfortunately, they are not coming out."
As of today, Ryan Vartan Long is the only current NFL player of Armenian descent who has reached the professional league in recent years. The defensive linemen from the Tennessee Titans doesn't shun from his Armenian roots, as Long has been published saying he closely identifies with his Armenian heritage, even as a third generation Armenian-American born and raised in Rhode Island.
Among the other NFL players of Armenian descent are former Miami Dolphins kicker and two-time Super Bowl winner Garo Yepremian, former Detroit Lions quarterback Gary Danielson and former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Steve Furness.
In the collegiate ranks, Ara Parseghian, was a two-time national champion head coach of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame from 1964-1974. His .836 winning percentage is the most successful for a Notre Dame coach of the modern era.
Long's previous advices for Armenians who want to pursue a career in professional sports but have hesitations about their chances are as follows:
"Believing in yourself and the possibility of becoming successful is essential to achieving any goal," said Long. "But, equally as important is your work ethic, being a person of action and surrounding yourself with supportive people."
Until the Armenian kids break out as a group rather than a single file, Boghossian and his Falcons coaching staff go back to the drawing board in preparation for next season with a strength and conditioning program set to begin in a few weeks.
"Coaching is beyond the field," Boghossian said. "I just want give something back to the kids, just like I was given growing up."
On the other side of the Glendale area, Thorossian said that the Nitros football program needs to focus on some of the fundamental areas in order to become competitive.
"Believing that we can do it is the key. Despite what the record books will show, we surprised some people with our performance," he said. "If we do that, everything will take care of itself. Continuing to work together and bonding as a team will take us to the next level."
The same can be said for the Armenians propelling to untested waters in one of America's fondest national pastimes.
The changing face of football
Armenian coaches are becoming more common in high school football and beyond.
Like Crescenta Valley defensive and offensive line coach David Boghossian, Thorossian played for Glendale Community College and the two were teammates on the Vaqueros football team.
While Boghossian played center and paved way, Thorossian powered his way through with the football at fullback.
"He was an intense player," Boghossian said of Thorossian. "He just ran over people."
Thorossian's intensity carried over to the Greensboro Prowlers of the Arena Football II League where he kept his style as a bruising fullback and later stayed on staff as an assistant coach.
Both of them agreed that it was the best years of football they had ever experienced while playing together at GCC. The camaraderie of the team was strengthened while playing along with a bunch of great guys and coach, they said.
"Those friendships will stay with me forever," the 37 year-old Thorossian said.
As Thorossian opens a new chapter in his life trying to steer Glendale's football program to a higher level, he feels being a minority has not been a setback in his path to coaching.
"I really don't think about race as an issue. If you're qualified and you teach and motivate athletes to perform at the very highest levels, then you belong in coaching," Thorossian said. "If an Armenian can do that, then we will have an Armenian coach in the NFL someday."
Thorossian coached six Armenian kids in his first season to a 1-8-1 campaign for Glendale, the city with the largest Armenian population in the United States. Yet, Thorossian does not believe that race nor minority play a part in coaching decisions or personnel moves.
"Players who are serious about the game of football and are willing to work hard and support one another, those are the players with whom I connected most," said Thorossian, who like Boghossian, lives in Glendale and was born in Iran. "They come from all different backgrounds and I develop strong personal relationships with them because they put the team first. Race has very little to do with it. I'm a football player; I connected with my football players."
Sarkis Hakopyan, a former defensive team captain for Van Nuys High School, agreed. "I wouldn't feel any different playing for an Armenian coach because he has to treat all players on the team the same," said the construction engineering major at California State University Northridge.
"When you factor in that we would both speak Armenian, communication would be a vital instrument to our success." And as far as the new trend of more Armenian coaches being involved in local sports? "Armenians are getting assimilated with American culture more and more these days and succeeding in the field of football is one area where we have shown adaptation."
According to the MLA Data Center, 40 percent of Glendale's population, which roughly totals around 85,000, is Armenian-Americans.
Boghossian said he would like to see more of those Armenians across the Glendale area and Southern California come out and realize their possibilities. "It's a shame because living in Glendale, there are so many Armenian kids with potential," he said. "I wish they would come out and reach a potential they never thought they could. But, unfortunately, they are not coming out."
As of today, Ryan Vartan Long is the only current NFL player of Armenian descent who has reached the professional league in recent years. The defensive linemen from the Tennessee Titans doesn't shun from his Armenian roots, as Long has been published saying he closely identifies with his Armenian heritage, even as a third generation Armenian-American born and raised in Rhode Island.
Among the other NFL players of Armenian descent are former Miami Dolphins kicker and two-time Super Bowl winner Garo Yepremian, former Detroit Lions quarterback Gary Danielson and former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Steve Furness.
In the collegiate ranks, Ara Parseghian, was a two-time national champion head coach of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame from 1964-1974. His .836 winning percentage is the most successful for a Notre Dame coach of the modern era.
Long's previous advices for Armenians who want to pursue a career in professional sports but have hesitations about their chances are as follows:
"Believing in yourself and the possibility of becoming successful is essential to achieving any goal," said Long. "But, equally as important is your work ethic, being a person of action and surrounding yourself with supportive people."
Until the Armenian kids break out as a group rather than a single file, Boghossian and his Falcons coaching staff go back to the drawing board in preparation for next season with a strength and conditioning program set to begin in a few weeks.
"Coaching is beyond the field," Boghossian said. "I just want give something back to the kids, just like I was given growing up."
On the other side of the Glendale area, Thorossian said that the Nitros football program needs to focus on some of the fundamental areas in order to become competitive.
"Believing that we can do it is the key. Despite what the record books will show, we surprised some people with our performance," he said. "If we do that, everything will take care of itself. Continuing to work together and bonding as a team will take us to the next level."
The same can be said for the Armenians propelling to untested waters in one of America's fondest national pastimes.
