By Gary Curreri

Shelly Wik was hoping her Highlands Christian Academy girls’ soccer team would fare better than last year.

The Knights won just four games last year, and two were by forfeit. Highlands Christian Academy opened the year with 10 consecutive victories before it suffered its first loss of the season with a 1-0 setback at the hands of host Calvary Christian Academy on Dec. 17. The team will compete in the District 14-2A tournament this week.

“I was hoping to win a game,” said Wik, who is in her second year at the school. “I was hopeful that we would play well and play as a team and up until the Calvary Christian game, we were doing that.”

The Knights had defeated Calvary Christian, 5-0, earlier in the season; however, they were without the team’s leading scorer, Alley Costello, who was away, and Cameron Petreccia, who injured her ACL and hopes to return in a few weeks.

“We lost the game because we didn’t play as a team,” Wik said. “There were a lot of factors going into it, I think. It was Christmas break and a lot of the girls had finals today and their minds were just on other things.”

Last year’s squad had its share of injuries, the most difficult to overcome was the loss of Cybille Lassegue, who broke her collarbone in the first game of the season and was unable to play. The senior defender/midfielder is back this year.

“The girls were staying very focused on the game and as a team,” Wik said. “I have five seniors this year and four of them – Cybille Lassegue, Joanna Marko, Brett Lawhon and Jackie Justice ­– want to play soccer in college.”

Wik said the quartet all play for the same Parkland travel soccer team. Wik said she didn’t expect to get off to a great start.

“I knew we were good because we had eight returning players this year and have five seniors and all of them were returning,” Wik said. “I knew we were going to be able to contend because last year we were losing games by a point and we didn’t have as good an offense as we do now.”

The Knights went their eight games of the season without giving up a goal.

Wik said Kayla Wincko has made a successful conversion from playing as a forward last season.

“Over the summer, she got some training from the coaches at Florida Atlantic University,” Wik added. “Kayla saved 14 shots in a game and also saved two penalty kicks this season. Our defense is really good too.”

Tigers win own tourney

Blanche Ely’s girls’ basketball team staged a furious fourth-quarter rally to force overtime before eventually upending Boynton Beach, 67-62, to win the championship of its own Lady Tiger Holiday Classic recently.

Senior guard Talissia Carter notched 11 of her team-high 17 points over the final 12 minutes of play as the Tigers (9-2) outscored Boynton Beach, 23-16, in the fourth quarter.

With 47.9 seconds remaining in overtime, junior guard Cevon Jones’ steal and layup extended Ely’s lead to 63-60, and the Tigers were able to connect on their free throws to close it out.

Jones closed with 12 points and four rebounds, while Ariana Holness also finished with 12 points. Senior center Crystal Allen chipped in 13 rebounds and two blocks. Last year’s squad had its share of injuries, the most difficult to overcome was the loss of Cybille Lassegue, who broke her collarbone in the first game of the season and was unable to play. The senior defender/midfielder is back this year.

I have two wonderful brothers, but they live far away. I am so thankful that we talk to each other on the phone each and every day. But I wonder what it would be like if we didn’t talk for a week, a month or a year … or, worse yet, for many years.

Well, that’s exactly what we find in the Torah. Jacob and Esau have not seen nor spoken to each other for many years. Oh, and let me remind you that when they parted company years before, one threatened to kill the other.

I am the baby in my family. My brothers and I are as different as night and day.

Then again, as different as we are, there are parts of us that are so similar, we may as well have been twins. I am blessed that even if my brothers get angry at me, it does not lead to one of them wanting to kill me … at least, not that I know of.

As the baby brother, I used to hate all the hand-me-down clothes. I used to hate trying to live up to my brothers’ reputations. Year after year, on the first day of school, my new teachers would tell me how thrilled they were to have another Ezring in their class. They would tell me how brilliant, how helpful, how studious my brothers were. Oy, were they in for a disappointment.

For years, I tried to be like my brothers and then, thank G-d, the day came when I realized that I am not them. I am me! (at least, I think I’m me).

By the time my brothers left for college, they were so dear to me that I cried. I was alone. Most of you have experienced being alone. There are times that it seems like a huge blessing, but there are also times when it feels like a curse.

Sometimes, when I am alone, my brain starts to go around in circles. I think too much. Sometimes I even get into arguments with myself, which brings us to Jacob and his famous wrestling match with an angel. But, if you look at the wording carefully, you’ll find that Jacob was alone.

Well, if he was alone, who exactly is he wrestling with? It says that he wrestled until daybreak so, perhaps, he was having one of those nights where something was weighing heavily on his mind and an internal battle ensued.

So, how does he hurt his hip? Okay, that’s a fair question. Of course, I have had times that I have thrown my hip or my back out of whack from all the tossing and turning I do at night.

Then again, there is a wonderful idiom we have had for many years now in which we refer to someone who is trying to fit in with the current fads as being “hip”.

While someone else has taken credit for the lyrics, it wouldn’t surprise me if, upon waking up from his dream, Jacob was the first to come up with the song, “Oh the hip bones connected to the thigh bone … the thigh bones connected to the knee bone … Oh, didn’t it rain.”

Jacob limps and realizes how very important each and every bone is. He sees how one relies on the other for its next step. And then, in the midst of the reading, we find that Jacob goes back to retrieve some small earthenware jugs. I suspect that those little jugs were fragile and it would not take much for one of them to break. The same is true of our relationships with others. Just as one needs to handle a small earthenware jug with care, one must also remember to handle their brothers and sisters with tender loving care.

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a Hospice Chaplain and Member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. He also provides Professional Pastoral Care Services to a number of health centers in Broward County.

By Dave Montalbano

He has not made a movie in 35 years, but the ghost of John Wayne still roams the celluloid countryside. With the release of the Coen Brothers True Grit, John Wayne’s original classic has been given much airtime on cable stations. Note that I wrote “John Wayne’s True Grit,” not “Joel and Ethan Coen Brother’s True Grit;” for this foreshadows the philosophical differences between these two fine motion pictures, which tell the same story but were filmed 40 years apart.

Both films follow the novel written by Charles Portis.

In the new film, 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfield) wants to avenge the murder of her father by the notorious Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Mattie recruits Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a double tough, one-eyed marshal. The two are joined by Le Beouf (Matt Damon), a cocksure Texas Ranger who antagonizes the Marshal.

Cogburn is Bridges’ best performance in recent weeks and Matt Damon creates the correct balance between naiveté and arrogance. This is Steinfeld’s film from beginning to end. A stoic character throughout, her vulnerable time is a special moment.

As literature, True Grit ranks with To Kill a Mockingbird in terms of presenting a young woman’s rite of passage. Both films open and close with Ross’s perspective. The fundamental difference between these two is that the Coen Brother’s vision is dark and pessimistic, while John Wayne’s vision is more life-affirming.

There are numerous reminders of death in the new True Grit with plenty of corpses strewn about the scenery. Both films end at the grave of a dearly departed character; the tone is somber for the Coen Brother’s interpretation. The John Wayne version shows the value of postponing death and riding beyond the sunset.

The new True Grit is one of the best things on the big screen today and the public has rewarded this film with consistent Box Office revenue. With the absence of Attention Deficient Disorder editing, the shootouts and the showdowns have more emotional clarity.

Like Jazz, Blues and musical theater, Westerns are a great American cultural art form. While the character archetypes are the prodigies of Homer and Virgil’s ancestors, the landscapes and mountain vistas capture the beauty of our nation’s natural bounty. Filmmakers should take heed of True Grit’s success. There is a need in our society today for big screen story telling like this.

By Scott Morganroth

Ever since the FAU Owls lost their Lockhart Stadium Finale “The Good Riddance Bowl” on Dec. 4, 2010 to the Troy Trojans, 44-7, there has been a lot of interesting news regarding Coach Howard Schnellenberger’s connections at both the professional and college levels.

This past week, the Tennessee Titans decided to part ways with Quarterback Vince Young and retain Coach Jeff Fisher, who has $6.5 million left on the final year of his contract. Titans Owner Bud Adams was hoping that Young and Fisher could settle their differences, but when their working relationship couldn’t be salvaged, the owner had to move on with the longest tenured coach in the NFL.

The Titans quarterback, who has a chance to compete for the starting job in Fisher’s 18th season, is former FAU Owl Rusty Smith. If Fisher hopes to continue his time in Nashville, Smith’s development figures factor into the equation, as Tennessee hopes to rebound from a 6-10 season. Once Young is moved, the Titans will have veteran Kerry Collins, Smith and third stringer Chris Simms.

Schnellenberger’s former school, the University of Miami, has made a coaching change hours after the University of South Florida Bulls defeated the Hurricanes, 23-20, on Nov. 27 at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Following the UM loss, where only 26,369 fans showed up, Randy Shannon was fired after four seasons, as he compiled a 28-22 record. With Shannon long gone, Miami lost the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, 33-17, to Notre Dame on Dec. 31, 2010.

Miami hired former Temple Owls Coach Al Golden, who led his former team to 9-4 and 8-4 seasons in 2009 and 2010, along with one bowl appearance.

The 41-year-old signed a five-year contract on Dec. 14, as he hopes to improve on Shannon’s 16-16 Atlantic Coast Conference record and zero titles. Since the start of the 2007 season, 47 teams have more wins than Miami, including four from the state of Florida. Shannon was also 0-2 in bowl games.

Despite FAU’s 4-8 record, they will be represented at a couple of College All-Star Games.

Wide Receiver Lester Jean will showcase his skills in the 86th East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Last year, Schnellenberger coached in the Texas vs. Nation Game. This year, two of his players will be playing in this contest, which will take place on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. ET at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas.

Quarterback Jeff Van Camp will be playing for the Nation’s squad, while his Tight-End Rob Housler will be catching passes for the Texas team.

These games are becoming more significant because of the emergence of the United Football League, which is a developmental league for the NFL. The New USFL, which is tentatively set to begin play by the spring of 2012, could be another place for professional prospects.

NFL and Canadian Football League scouts also figure to be on hand at these games.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

Stop! Do not do it! Please do not make a New Year’s resolution. New Year’s resolutions do not last and we typically do not follow through with them. Almost half of Americans make a New Year’s resolution and only 8 percent of them actually keep them. New Year’s resolutions are really a waste of time and something not really intended to be permanent. If we truly want to change anything in our lives to make things better, we would be better off asking God to help us change the way we think.

ROMANS 12:1-2

1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?

2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

NLT

We will have much better success if we allow God, through the Bible, to begin to change the way we think by renewing our minds. The word renewing in this verse means there is a “constant action taking place” that never stops. God is always working on us to help change the way we think. It is not just a onetime quick fix; it is something that takes place repeatedly. We give ourselves to God once, but we need to transform and renew our minds constantly.

In 2 Kings Chapters 22 and 23, we read that King Josiah was a man who sought after God. However, his life changed when God’s Word was rediscovered. He called the people to a renewed covenant before God (see 2 Kings 23:3). God moved through Josiah to crush the wickedness of his country like a hurricane crumbles houses as if they were made out of toothpicks.

If we want to be successful on a new diet or getting rid of a bad habit that we have, then we really need God to help us. The best thing for us to do is develop new habits in our lives, so we receive the desired results we are looking to get. Making a New Year’s resolution is us thinking there is always a way out, or it is OK if we fail. However, allowing God to change the way we think is the beginning of us starting something new that we are going to be doing for the rest of our lives. In order for us to change things in our lives, we have to change the way we live our lives. In order to change the way we live our lives, we have to change the way we think. In order for us to change the way we think, we need God to help us make our changes permanent and not temporary.

Please do not make a New Year’s resolution. Instead, allow God to change the way you think for results that last a lifetime.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

By Dave Montalbano

Wow! We made it to 2011 anno domini! Besides being the “Year of the  Rabbit” on the Chinese Zodiac, 2011 will be the 30th anniversary of the Bucks’ Class of ’81, despite all the signs of the Apocalypse my classmates have faced.

However, studio executives have faced Armageddon at the box office as  ticket sales dropped by 8 percent in 2010. Yet, the box office champion, Toy Story 3, blew away all competition with a deserved $415 million gross.

As a film columnist, the success of Toy Story 3 is pleasing, since it was my most recommended movie from my Top 10 list: Toy Story 3, Sherlock Holmes, The Runaways, Predators, The Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest), Inception, How to Train Your Dragon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Honorable mention goes to these flicks in no particular order, except reversed alphabetical: The Yellow Handkerchief, Up in the Air, Winter’s Bone, Suck, Mao’s Last Dancer, Lucky Streak and the Crime Fighters, Lost  Angel, The Incubus, The Expendables, Cool It, Bran Nue Dae and Black Swan.

As good customer service and etiquette became extinct with big business, the South Florida community was blessed with these Backstage Angels who turned disaster into triumph: The volunteers of the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, the Palm Beach Film Festival, the former Delray Beach Film Festival, Actor’s Playhouse’s Richard Bernard, Caldwell Playhouse’s Nedra Simpson, Charlie Cinnamon; The Incubus’ Anthony Espina, Ginger Ly; Andrew Sigman, Randy Waage and Charlotte Vermack.

The following people proved to be class acts, who made good events even better: Jane Russell, Ernesto & Diego Rimoch, Erika Portnoy, James Pitt, Millie Perkins, Michael Murphy, Meghan Colleen Moroney, Rob Davis, Michael Bryon, Ed Byrnes and Quinton Aaron.

So if it is the end of the motion picture world as we know it, we can embrace the new beginnings caused by this apocalypse. A greedy short-termed culture that relies on attention disorder editing, will give way to filmmakers who believe in story, characters and well-directed spectacle. Here’s to the year of the rabbit, the luckiest of all symbols of the Chinese Zodiac!

By Gary Curreri

There was some friendly family feuding at the recent Simply Soccer camp at the city of Pompano Beach’s
4-Fields Complex recently.

Three sets of brothers and sisters were among the campers who took part in learning a variety of soccer skills from dribbling to shooting. Brooke and Kenny Morgan, Kayla, Allison and Bryce Cunneen, along with Grace and Olivia Pettee, said they all had an enjoyable time during the weeklong camp, which was held during the holiday break.

“I have been to three soccer camps in the past,” said Allison Cunneen, 9, of Pompano Beach. “I like this one because it was close to home and I really learned a lot. This one was different because you learned new skills and practiced them in scrimmages that same day.”

The children, ranging in age from 5-14, also watched movies during lunch and went swimming to cool off before ending the day with scrimmage games.

“The best game was steal the bacon,” said Kenny Morgan, 8, of Pompano Beach, who attended his first camp. “I learned how to pass the ball, control the ball and score goals.”

Brooke Morgan, 10, said she learned a lot and enjoyed when the coaches played with the campers during games.

“I made some new friends, and mostly the counselors would make me go home with a smile,” Brooke Morgan said. “They made me come back for more.”

Each player received a certificate and a written evaluation of their performance at the close of camp.

The Cunneen’s mom, Gloria, said they really enjoyed the experience.

“They would come home each day showing what new skills they learned, in addition to sharing the stories and experiences that were shared by their coaches that day,” she said. “From a parent’s perspective, this is great!  They enjoyed all of the coaches and looked up to the high school and college students. They are great role models for kids!”

Peterson wins

national awards

A day after being named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year and the SEC’s Special Teams Player of the Year, former Blanche Ely standout Patrick Peterson added two national awards to his collection.

Peterson won both the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s best defensive player. The junior won both awards at the ESPN College Football Awards Show in Orlando.

“It’s an honor to be the first player at LSU to win these awards,” said Peterson, who is considering entering the NFL draft this year. “One of my goals at the beginning of the season was to win this award and be the best I could possibly be. I am very thankful for this opportunity and I owe it to my coaches and my family for putting me in the best position to succeed. This experience is something I will never forget.”

Peterson, a cornerback at LSU who was known as Patrick Johnson during his days at Ely, finished the regular season with 36 tackles and four interceptions. He also had 1.5 tackles for losses; six pass break-ups and a blocked field goal. Peterson earned his second All-America honor and became the first player since Glenn Dorsey and Craig Steltz in 2007 to receive Walter Camp All-America accolades.

With the cooperation of  the Observer management, my book The Adventures of Cinema Dave in the Florida Motion Picture World has been published.

This 662-page epic features a decade of movie reviews, interviews and memorable pictures that we have shared together since 1999.

The final edits have been painstaking, but I am pleased with the final product, which celebrates film, our South Florida culture and individuals like Rich Zapata, who was the caretaker for Christine Clone Zapata, a 1958 Plymouth Fury modeled after Stephen king’s best-selling book, Christine.

The Film Industry had a choppy experience in 2010. The Memorial Day 2010 box office was the worst on record since the Carter Administration. Although, the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery IMAX Theater consistently had successful openings while playing No. 1 movies.

South Florida Film Festivals proved their grit in 2010. The 25th annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival was the most organized of the neighborhood film festivals. This discipline paid dividends when a celebrity, Judd Nelson, cancelled his appearance and director George Hickenlooper passed away four days before the screening of his movie, Casino Jack, which opens next week nationally.

A few weeks after receiving open heart surgery, Burt Reynolds added some Hollywood glamour to the 15th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival.

Yet, it was The Blind Side’s Quinton Aaron who became the crowd favorite. Besides posing with everybody at the festival, Quinton served as the festival disc jockey. PBIFF took financial lumps in 2010, but there are plans for an 8-day festival the last week in March.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Palm Beach Women’s Festival will go head-to-head with the former Delray Beach Film Festival (renamed Downtown Boca Raton Film Festival) on the same weekend in April.

There was growth in indie films made locally, including Lucky Streak and the Crime Fighters, a direct to DVD feature that showcased local talent, great one liners and a fun musical score from Anthony Espina. Espina also contributed the musical score to The Incubus, which enjoyed a run on the big screen last Autumn.

Next week, the Observer will reveal the best flicks of 2010. Unlike the media Goliaths who have been on holiday vacation, this film columnist is still reviewing films of merit that are being released. Happy New Year!

In 1959, Paige West was a part of history and three was the lucky number. West trained Adios Butler, who won the first Triple Crown in harness racing history.

So, it is only fitting that some 51 years later, West and the number three came up again as the Pompano Beach resident aced three different holes in three weeks at the Carolina Club in Margate.

“It was unbelievable,” said the 78-year-old West, who lives in Palm Aire. “I play three or four times a week here. “There were three of the same golfers each time. There was one different guy each time. They were probably more excited than I was.”

West, who has had five hole-in-ones in his lifetime, waited more than 24 years between aces. His previous hole-in-ones in 1986 and 1987 came a year apart to the day. West got hole-in-ones on three different holes – 7,
9 and 17 at the Carolina Club last month.

One of his playing partners, Paul Wittenberg, 67, of Boca Raton, who saw all three aces, said West was more happy that he “took their money” by winning the holes than getting the hole-in-ones.

“It was pretty amazing,” said Wittenberg, who plays with West three times a week. They have been playing together for seven years at Carolina Club. “One shot was lucky; the other two were right on the pin all of the way. He was very happy, probably because he took our money. It’s incredible. He’s not a very good golfer.”

West said he used an 8-iron from 125 yards to ace the 7th hole; a 9-iron, from 115 yards on the 9th hole, and an 8-iron from 120 yards out on the 17th hole.

“I had to buy the guys drinks,” West said. “I am not that great a golfer, so this was pretty incredible. They were kind of shocked the second time I got one. The third one I didn’t see go in the hole because there was a bunker. I knew it was close. When we got up to the green, we saw it in the hole.”

West said he used to come down in the winter when he trained horses at Pompano Park . He moved permanently in 1988. He retired in 1990.

“I was the first man to win the Triple Crown in 1959 with Adios Butler,” West said. “You dream about it. That was not an easy thing to do and a great experience too. It is three races and you have to be good and sharp, and good in form, for a long period of time.”

West said he has changed his sports now.

“Golf is my passion now, that’s all,” West said. “You just try and hit it the best you can. It is a lot of luck. The hole isn’t that big you know.”

Volunteer Fire Department

Sounded sirens to bring in the New Year

Growing up in Deerfield, there were a few events which happened for so long that it was thought of as a tradition. One of them was the annual celebration of the New Year coming in by having the fire department sirens sound off exactly at midnight on Dec. 31 and continuing for a few minutes into the new year on Jan. 1.

As a child, I was normally in bed when it occurred and I remember being gripped each time by a feeling of nostalgia, realizing I would never experience that particular year again.

The siren otherwise was used to notify citizen volunteers that they were needed to fight a fire. They would rush in from all over town, jump on the fire truck(s) and proceed to the fire to put it out.

Eventually the city went from volunteers to full-time firemen and a very tall main siren was located on Fire Department property at 928 E. Hillsboro Ave. The tradition of midnight sirens went on for decades, but ended for some reason in 1976.

Deerfield police Chief “Pappy” Brown, with officers Roy Bennent and Lloyd Newman standing guard in the mid 1950s in front of Deerfield’s two fire trucks. Fire volunteers include “Chief” Merle Johnson (sixth from the end) flanked by Mr. Blackwelder, to his right, and Bob Butler, to his left. Leaning on the other truck is Milton Vincent.

David Eller, Publisher