The Grant High School Pacers, the top area Division II football team, has been ranked #58 in the nation by Yahoo’s Rivals.com, my Yahoo home page tells me. Nifty.
Though a more important number for the Pacers is their #2 ranking by ESPN’s CalHiSports.com. (So they’re D-I in the state, but D-II in Sac-Joaquin? I’m going to need MSN’s Google’s Wikipedia to explain that to me. Obviously different measures are used by CIF and Sac-Joaquin.) Apparently that #2 ranking means they are looking at a berth in the CIF state championship game on December 20, where they would play the top D-2 school from So Cal. It’s a big weekend for local prep football, as Casa Robles are (apparently I’m British) still in play for the D-II CIF championship berth.
The Pacers and Rams should wear FlyJumpers Power Jumping Stilts Friday night in their Sac-Joaquin section championship games, that could put them over the edge…

I remember fondly going out to an annual breakfast with my dad, The Game Guy, Sr., one special Saturday in December for pancakes and then to a little mall full of non-chain stores to visit Santa Claus- who was the embodiment of ol’ St. Nick if I ever knew one. One of the benefits of being at such a mall was the total lack of crowds which allowed our Kris Kingle to be take his time and actually engage in a conversation with me. After I got done visiting with Santa, my dad and I would then go Christmas shopping for my mom (it wasn’t until many years later that I realized the Saturday alone was probably the greatest gift my Dad and I could have given her).