Sports Shorts
STANFORD FOOTBALL
It will be a real Fiesta
LIN’S NEW TEAM . . . Palo Alto High grad Jeremy Lin wasn’t out of a job very long, after being waived by the Golden State Warriors last Friday. On Sunday, the Houston Rockets claimed the 23-year-old Lin off waivers, picking up the second year of his nonguaranteed contract — worth close to a reported $800,000. The 6-foot-3 Lin, a Harvard graduate, was a popular player with the Warriors but averaged only 2.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting in 29 games as a rookie last season. He spent much of the year traveling back and forth between the Warriors and their NBA Development League team, where he averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists with the Reno Bighorns. Lin’s younger brother, Joseph, meanwhile, dished out five assists to help the Hamilton College men’s basketball team defeat Vassar College, 96-71, last Saturday. Joseph also is a Paly grad.
COACHING CORNER . . . The Palo Alto Babe Ruth baseball program has openings for head coaches and team managers for the spring 2012 season. Tryouts will be in late January 2012. Those interested should contact the league at pabr.baseball@gmail.com. For more details, go to www.pababeruth.org.
ON THE AIR Saturday Women’s basketball: Princeton at Stanford, 1 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM) Men’s basketball: UC San Diego at Stanford, 5 p.m., KNBR (1050 AM)
Monday Tuesday Women’s basketball: Tennessee at Stanford, 7 p.m., Comcast Sports Net Bay Area; KZSU (90.1 FM)
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a job offer to remain in America. As a result, the family settled in Bellevue, a few miles from Husky Stadium. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, David DeCastro excelled in swimming, baseball and basketball. He eventually settled in with football, found his way to Stanford and the rest, as they say, is history.
he Tostitos Fiesta Bowl features a myriad of activities, from charity events to various parties, and puts on one heck of a parade. The football game itself, which features No. 4 Stanford and No. 3 Oklahoma State in what many feel will be an old-fashioned western shootout among two of the nation’s top quarterbacks, represents the culmination of a year’s worth of preparation. “It’s not just a football game,” said Matt Winter, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Fiesta Bowl. “It’s a festival of college football.” With a city like Tempe, Ariz., which knows how to party, the festival lasts seemingly weeks. In fact, the Fiesta Bowl brings two bowl games into the limelight. The Insight Bowl, the undercard if you will, pits Iowa and Oklahoma on Friday, Dec. 30 at Sun Devil Stadium. Tempe hosts a Block Party on New Year’s Eve and the Stanford Alumni Association is planning several events centered in and around Tempe. Other hosted parties include the Insight Big Huddle, Fiesta Bowl’s College Football’s Biggest Party and the Fiesta Bowl Stadium Club. “It is a great honor, and it will be a tremendous challenge for us,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “This was the goal when we got here four years ago with Coach (Jim) Harbaugh. It really was to establish, first of all, a tough team and estab-
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Stanford junior guard David DeCastro (52) was named a first team All-American by The Associated Press while quarterback Andrew Luck was named to the second team on Wednesday.
DeCastro an All-American lineman Luck, Martin make AP second team; Shaw up for another coach-of-the-year honor by Rick Eymer avid DeCastro could have ended up playing rugby or soccer in South Africa, instead of knocking heads as an offensive lineman for the Stanford football team and protecting its quarterback, who spent his early childhood in Germany as a soccer fan. DeCastro’s parents, Colin and Jennifer, emigrated from South Af-
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rica and, after marrying, planned to return. Had that occurred, David would have been born in South Africa and likely would have followed the path of his father and maternal grandfather — both of whom played rugby at the University of Cape Town. But, that never happened. While DeCastro’s mother was getting her masters degree from the University of Washington, his father received
PREP SOCCER
WOMEN’S SOCCER
SHP girls searching for a new identity
Soccer America names Taylor player of year
by Keith Peters
by Rick Eymer
he Sacred Heart Prep girls’ soccer team has been the most successful local squad in the area during the past three years. The Gators have compiled a 53-1311 record and reached the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals three times — advancing to the finals in 2009 and winning it. While the Gators had depth and talent during that three-year span, two standout reasons behind the success story were Abby Dahlkemper and Geena Graumann. Both Dahlkemper (UCLA) and Graumann (USC) continued their
indsay Taylor has made it a trifecta. The Castilleja grad was named Soccer America’s Women’s Player of the Year on Thursday, making it three in a row for Stanford. Kelley O’Hara won the award in 2009 and Christen Press won it last year. Taylor led the Cardinal with 20 goals en route to its first national title. She did not score at the Women’s College Cup but had an assist in the 3-0 win over Florida State in the semifinals and the key pass in the long sequence leading up to Stanford’s lone goal in its 1-0 win over
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Rick Bale/stanfordphoto.com
Men’s basketball: Bethune-Cookman at Stanford, 7 p.m., KNBR (1050 AM)
by Rick Eymer
Bob Drebin/stanfordphoto.com
4TH AT NATIONALS . . . The Palo Alto Knights had two teams finish in fourth place at the American Youth Football National Championships last week in Orlando, Fla. The Pee Wee team dropped a tough 8-6 decision to the Mesa Soldiers from Arizona in the third-place game. Palo Alto reached that game following a 30-16 semifinal loss to the Phoenix Thunder. The Knights began their hopes for a possible national title with a 28-0 victory over the New York state champion Harlem Jets. The Palo Alto Unlimited (ninth grade) team had a great chance to play for a national title as the Knights were tied with the Florida Poinciana Predators, 14-14, in the fourth quarter and had the ball inside the one-yard line. The Knights, however, fumbled in their backfield with Florida picking up the loose ball and returning it 99 yards for the winning touchdown. Palo Alto won its opener, 12-6, over Boston, but dropped its semifinal game to the Fairlawn Cardinals of Rhode Island, 28-20.
Stanford-Oklahoma St. matchup is only part of postseason party
Stanford senior Lindsay Taylor from Castilleja has been named the Women’s Player of the Year by Soccer America.
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