It’s the efforts of a 30-year high school track & field coach here in southern California that has us captivated. And, it’s an event that occurred on April 29.

The coach of the Monrovia High team, Mike Knowles, vanquished by South Pasadena after a successful pole vault, called shenanigans following the try and had the winning vaulter disqualified. The move gave Monrovia its first league title and added to Knowles’ resume.

His offered quote of “I know the rule book” as a justification isn’t sitting well in the blogosphere and leaves me just shaking my head.

Compete hard. Work hard. Practice. Sacrifice. Work your body into an efficient machine … and don’t forget to memorize every line of the rule book. Your chemistry and calculus problem sets and that 10-page evaluation of Hamlet will have to wait.

You can say that the South Pasadena coach should have caught it before she headed out to make her winning vault. The coaches at South Pasadena obviously should have spent those extra practice minutes drilling on such rules and abhoring the virtues of obvious performance enhancers instead of teaching and refining technique. The fact that they didn’t notice, nor did the official at the event. tells you all you need to know about the importance of this rule to the overall competition. But, hey, it’s on the books, right?

I do need to find a complete copy of the rulebook, as I’m curious as to whether there’s a clause about shirts being tucked in or socked rolled properly or color coordination, hairstyles/clips, etc.

Are you trying to tell me that this string gave anybody an advantage? Are you worried that they’ll suddenly be shilling for a company at A HIGH SCHOOL TRACK MEET? Are you worried that someone will put on an obscene message for this highly visible event?

Asinine. Inane. Petty.

But, in the end, he can claim another title … gave the kids stories to tell at cocktail parties forever & us something else to blather about here and on the airwaves.

I just have a couple follow-ups …

Does he get more cash for reaching an incentive clause in his contract?

If there had been a cross or other religious or charitable designation on the bracelet, or what if she competed and paid homage to a family member or friend who couldn’t or had passed away?

Does Coach Knowles get one more step closer to a high school coaches Hall of Fame by adding another trophy to the case? After all, he’s listed as having won nine CIF-Southern Section championships, three CIF State championships and one national championship in his coaching career. Now, he adds this league title.

I must add that every reference to the national championship uses the term “mythical” to describe it. I’m most curious as to what that means.

Is this Knowles’ effort to get his career back on track following his dismissal from Muir High School (The Mustangs) in 2008 , the place where he piled up the credentials referenced above?
——————–

I get that we’re taught to be disciplined and play by the rules. I get that.

I just look at it as if the South Pasadena vaulter had given herself a small disadvantage by wearing the bracelet (miniscule extra weight, potential for a getting caught on the pole or whatever) and that if I were the Monrovia coach, I’d have wished she’d dressed as Mr. T for the competition. Wear all the jewelry you want … hell, he’s a special Flavor Flav clock that I purchased for the occasion!

Take the win, coach, and whatever spoils that come with it. Now, put the rulebook down and figure out how to get your girls to vault just a tad higher for State.

Ned Colletti joined the “Petros & Money” show on KLAC/FOX Sports Radio on Monday afternoon and kind of dismissed the notion of Ramirez’s relocation plans for 2011. To paraphrase, Colletti spoke of his desire to have Ramirez hit the free agent market as the most desirable outfielder and hitter available. I liked his response. Between this and McCourt situation, Colletti’s got a future in crisis management or politics.

Colletti’s answer sums things up nicely, though. Dodgers fans, his prospective fantasy owners and Colletti (not to mention the dueling McCourts) are banking that Manny chuckles it up in MannyWood, slams 35-45 home runs and drives in a ton of runs. Whatever he says along the way won’t distract this team, still young but more experienced, from its playoff aspirations.

Following last year’s suspension, Ramirez hit in line with his first-half numbers from 2008 – you know, the numbers he put up before he was dealt to Los Angeles. They weren’t world-beating lines, but there was solid four-category production to be had.

At worst, Colletti and company get tired of the act (provided that this press conference wasn’t a one-time thing) and deal him off to another team — METS fans, you know they’re on the radar. There’s still life in his bat and in his one-man comedy show.

When he’s right, physically and mentally and not suspended for, well, let’s not get back into that, then Ramirez remains one of the most feared batters in the game. In the LA lineup, he’s in line for another triple-digit RBI count if ready to go. The Dodgers are aware that Ramirez is a problem in the outfield and that’s fine as long as he’s mashing away.

Need I remind you that “Manny being Manny” has a positive connotation as well. That’s good for business. I’m in for a couple of wigs.

Sure, there were a few oddball questions, a minor security skirmish and more references to the Kardashians than should have been allowed in the prescribed session time.

The throng of international media obviously gravitated to Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who gave you what you expect from Peyton Manning. “They’re a talented defense. They can obviously score points.” And so on …

Obviously, I’m paraphrasing here, but you get the point. You’re not going to get anything inflammatory out of Manning. Actually, you’re not getting anything inflammatory from any of these guys.

The “remember me” hits quote from the “dead” week is about as exciting a quote as you’re going to find this week. I’m still questioning why so much was made of it.

• Was it just because it was a slow news time?

• Or, did people just want to make it into something more than the same, but much less sexy, “we need to pressure Peyton” line that sent the same message?

I suspect that it’s a combination of the two. Gregg Williams and Sean Payton aren’t going to say. “Hey, we plan on taking 45 yards of penalties on three late hits to try and injure him.” They aren’t going to say that their goal is to hurt Manning (although, by definition, isn’t that part of this tackle football game?).

They WILL talk about playing to the whistle. They WILL talk about following through on hits.

I understand the desire and need to talk about Dwight Freeney’s injury. After all, it’s the only “real” story to debate in the early-week chatter. But, let’s be real. The Colts aren’t going to definitively say anything about his injury.

You get the words “try” and “treatment” and 1,000 other descriptions of how he’s getting ready. I appreciated his ability to smile and answer the one million permutations of that question, recognizing the need of each local writer to have their voice associated with asking that question to please their editors.

In the end, we know as much as we did when the first report of Freeney’s injury came out. He might go. He might not. And now, we’ll spend five days talking about the ability of the Saints to deploy an extra receiver if he doesn’t go.

We’ll talk about DeMarcus Ware’s big effort when the Cowboys ended the Saints’ perfect season and how the Saints “won’t be fooled again.” (Do you like that?)

In the interim, I’m going to find the real stories from South Beach.

What’s Kim Kardashian wearing to the parties?