I’m just going to come right out with it. Ronda Rousey is one badass mama-jamma. Both as an athlete and a female, I have developed a deep admiration for this gifted, one-of-a-kind fighter. This has been a wonderful summer for female athletes. More than halfway through the summer sport season, the most exciting news has […]
Sports Leads
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Cottage Hospital organizes summer sports camp for wheelchair athletes
The athletes came from all over—from Los Angeles and Bakersfield, from Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, and from Santa Barbara as well. For a week, armed with hockey sticks and hand bicycles, they occupied a building on USCB’s campus. “We just kind of invade the rec center,” said program coordinator Rene Van Hoorn. They’re […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
No reservations: Going on a last-minute Big Sur trip is harder than it used to be
It’s Thursday night, and you’re feeling antsy. Your legs are dying for a little weekend adventure with ocean views, redwood forests, and a campfire. It’s July, though, and you didn’t reserve a campsite at one of the several desired spots embedded along Highway 1. They’re all reserved. Apparently people plan their summer camping trips eight […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Pad crashes down: The Sun takes a tour of Santa Maria’s new climbing gym
Tucked away in a nondescript block of tan warehouses on the western edge of Santa Maria is a new business from the people behind SLO-Op climbing gym—The Pad. It’s a rock climbing gym with 10,000 square feet of space and 5,000 square feet of climbing wall, plus yoga, weightlifting, and the occasional climbing competition. Dustin […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Running ’til Reckage: Santa Ynez native Connor Reck travels to England for historic competition
Connor Reck, 2011 graduate of Santa Ynez High School, just finished his post-college trip to Europe. It wasn’t a vacation, exactly: Reck graduated this year from Harvard University with a degree in economics. Then he crossed the pond with 60 select track athletes from Harvard and Yale to face off against Oxford and Cambridge in […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Orcutt proud: Soon-to-be senior Jacob Smith prepping for next baseball season
An avid athlete, baseball and soccer keep him on the playing fields, 17-year-old Jacob Smith plays first base and back-up pitcher for Orcutt Academy High School. A senior when he returns to school in the fall, his fielding percentage for the 2015 season—.993 with 10 double plays, six assists, and one error—earned him the third […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Color lines: Major League Baseball’s managers reflect a trend that leans toward racism
A few decades back, a Los Angeles Dodgers executive named Al Campanis got into a heap of trouble for opining that African Americans might be good ball players, but they lacked the “necessities” to be field managers or executives. Apparently, the spirit of Al Campanis has returned and is now haunting the suites of the […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria will soon play host to international Special Olympics athletes
As part of the Host Town Program, the city of Santa Maria will welcome and celebrate 100 Special Olympics international athletes and their coaches from July 21 to 24. The delegates—70 from France, 18 from Mauritius, and eight from the Republic of Congo—will arrive on July 21 for the four-day program that allows athletes time […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Breakfast of champions: Penny’s All American Pancakes raises money for Hospice SLO County through pancake eating contest
What is it about eating contests that has people so intrigued? “There’s no rules,” Tommy Healy told the Sun. “You can use utensils. You can use feet. Whatever works for you.” Healy is the emertius champion of Penny’s All American Pancake Eating Contest. It goes down in Pismo Beach at Penny’s All American Café each […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Hooked on a feeling: The best on the Central Coast go toe-to-toe with an elite British university on the rugby pitch
Rugby players from Durham University in the UK will play an exhibition game in Santa Maria on June 10. They’ll match up against a team of all-stars pulled from the rugby clubs at UCSB and Cal Poly. The kickoff will be at 5:30 p.m. in Rotary Centennial Park. Julie Villalobos, who with her husband is […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
It’s go time: Seniors from SLO and Santa Barbara counties team up in football showdown to raise funds for high school athletics
When they faced each other in the regular football season, they were rivals. Now, players from seven Northern Santa Barbara high schools are teaming up as a strong, cohesive unit to go head-to-head with players from San Luis Obispo County in the fifth annual FCA All-Star Football Classic on June 6 at Santa Ynez Valley […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Mission Hope Cancer Center puts on yoga classes for restorative and fundraising efforts
The “C” word. The “Big C.” Cancer. This is not a diagnosis any of us want to hear during a trip to the doctor’s office. Cancer kills an astronomical amount of people annually, that much is obvious. It is a killer that doesn’t discriminate by age, race, or gender. It is a killer that has […]