Self-made player
E-mail: sor@desnews.com Utah football fans might have thought that was Ben Moa wearing No. 47 last week during one of the most memorable plays in the Utes’ 48-6 victory in Logan.After catching a pass in the right flat midway through the second quarter, big No. 47 bulled his way through one Aggie defender, smacked into another, before finally getting stopped after an 18-yard gain.Meet Blake Burdette, a walk-on from Olympus High School, who caught his first two passes as a Ute against Utah State, while doing a pretty good imitation of Moa, a star on last year’s team.Burdette is one of several local products who is making his mark with the 14th-ranked unbeaten Utah football team. He’s already made an impression on coach Urban Meyer.”He’s a self-made player. I love Blake Burdette,” said Meyer. “We’re going to start using him more and more.”Against the Aggies, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Burdette started at the U-back position, which is kind of a cross between the fullback and tight end position. In the first quarter he made the first catch of his career for a 3-yard gain.Then in the second quarter came the aforementioned play when he caught Alex Smith’s pass, only to see USU cornerback Jerome Dennis zeroing in on him.No problem.Burdette blasted through Dennis, leaving him helplessly on the turf, and took aim at Andre Bala. He nearly leveled him also, but was wrapped up at the last second and dropped at the 9-yard line after an 18-yard gain.”I just caught the ball and tried to get as many yards as I could,” he said. “Two guys were in my way so I just tried to get it upfield and help the offense.”Although he was not a star at Olympus, never being named all-state or all-region, Burdette was a solid player who displayed the same attributes he’s showing at Utah.For example, a 1997 Deseret News account of a Titan playoff win over Payson reports Burdette scored two touchdowns and added “he might have scored one more if not for an unintentionally great tackle by a referee. Burdette plowed right into the official who couldn’t get out of his way in time on Payson’s 18.”Actually in high school, Burdette excelled more at rugby, playing on the same Highland team with Ute safety Morgan Scalley, winning a pair of national championships and traveling to play in South Africa.After graduating from high school and going on an LDS mission, Burdette returned home and enrolled at the U. where he earned All-America honors for the rugby team.Then he decided to chase his dream.”I always wanted to play football for the University of Utah,” he said. “My dad brought us to the games here ever since I can remember. I wanted to keep living my dream.”He joined the Utes in 2002 under coach Ron McBride and redshirted that season. When coach Meyer took over, he moved to the tight end/U back position and played on special teams, usually on the kickoff return unit.His only statistic for the year was a six-yard return of a short kickoff against Air Force, this week’s opponent (1 p.m. Rice-Eccles Stadium)Although he’s progressed enough to get significant playing time, you won’t even find Burdette on the Utes’ two-deep chart. At the tight end position, Jon Clark and Willie Sao are 1-2, but there’s no U-back position listed. It’s one of the many wrinkles in the imaginative Ute offense.”It’s kind of like the fullback of the old days,” said Burdette’s position coach Keith Uperesa. “It’s a mixture of a big blocking back and tight end.”Uperesa said last week’s game plan called for using Burdette a lot and he said the Utes will try to utilize Burdette’s skills for the rest of the season.”We’re always trying to find ways to include guys like that who can help us expand the offense,” Uperesa said. “He’s got a little bit of beef on him and can block the backers and down linemen. When he plays, it gives us a different look.”Scalley has known Burdette since high school when they played rugby together, and he’s happy to see his old friend find a niche with the Ute offense.”He’s one of the toughest individuals I’ve ever met,” said Scalley. “He’s a kid that never quits. When he told me he was going to walk on, I knew they’d find a spot for him. I knew he had the tools and he’s shown it.”Who knows if Burdette will start this week or see significant action. But he’ll be ready. “I’m just trying to make a name for myself,” he said. “The coaches have given me an opportunity to show what I can do and I’m just trying to make the most of it.” 
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It’s been a long time since the Utah basketball team was as bad as 5-11 at this point of the season, 34 years to be exact.It’s been even longer — 54 years — since the Utes started a conference season 0-3, which is their record after a dispiriting 73-57 loss to Colorado State Tuesday night at Moby Arena.This time there was no chance for the Utes to win in the final minute as had been the case in their last three games and four others this season.The Utes were out of this one after a 13-0 run by the Rams late in the first half and showed little gumption the rest of the way. The loss left Ute coach Ray Giacoletti practically speechless afterward.”What do you want me to say, guys?” a glum Giacoletti said after emerging from the locker room. “At some point, enough’s enough. I’m tired of losing. I’m tired of doing things a certain way. … I don’t care who’s coaching the team or what the circumstances are, you stand up and go get something done.”Giacoletti said he couldn’t think of one player that had a good game Tuesday night.Johnnie Bryant actually had decent numbers, with 16 points, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, three steals, two assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes. And freshman guard Luka Drca exceeded his season total of field goals with three — all 3-pointers — and finished with 11 points.But starters Luke Nevill, Shaun Green, Stephen Weigh and Lawrence Borha all had off nights.Green had 11 points, but fouled out and had four turnovers with no assists, while Nevill had just 10 points and five rebounds, going against Colorado State’s two 7-footers, Jason Smith and Stuart Creason. Borha had three turnovers in 13 minutes and Weigh had more turnovers than points in his 14 minutes.”We had 12 turnovers the first half — we have to handle the basketball. We got outrebounded by 15. You’ve got to put a body on people and box out,” Giacoletti said.After trailing by 10 at the half, the Utes couldn’t score a field goal until the 12:54 mark of the second half when Bryant sank a 3-pointer. But by that point it was 52-30 and even though another Bryant three and two treys by Drca brought the Utes within 12, it was too little, too late.Colorado State had a balanced attack with three players, Jason Smith, Tyler Smith and Tim Denson scoring 13 points, Cory Lewis 12 and Creason nine. They finished with 35 rebounds to Utah’s 20 after the Utes had outrebounded their first two MWC opponents by an average of 15.”I was pleased with the intensity, the effort,” said CSU coach Dale Layer. “It’s another step in the right direction.”When asked how the players reacted to the loss, Giacoletti said they “had blank looks on their faces.”The Ute players say they’re still hopeful about the season and say they just need a win to get over the hump.”Once we get our first win, it will be easier to get wins after that,” said Nevill.”We are really talented. We need one win and we’ll be really good after that,” said Drca. The Utes’ next chance will be Saturday night at New Mexico against another 0-3 MWC team. Then its back home for a home game against No. 15 Air Force Tuesday night. GAME NOTES: This was the largest CSU victory over Utah since 1992 when the Rams won 67-48 in Salt Lake … All 12 Utah players who traveled played at least six minutes … Colorado State shot 52.4 percent from the field, but only 35.3 from 3-point range. Utah shot just 41.3 percent for the game … The Rams defeated the Utes twice last year, winning 84-78 here and 69-61 in overtime in Salt Lake … CSU plays in Salt Lake on Feb. 7. E-mail: sor@desnews.com
David Moyes reckons his Real Sociedad team have every reason to believe they can beat Barcelona at Anoeta on Sunday evening. “I’m hoping for a good response from my players after the break; that they’ll be positive like they were when they beat Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.” However, he did say it’s much more likely any arrivals will be loans, rather than permanent signings. CET “We’ve already demonstrated that we can win against Barcelona,” Moyes stated. “We repsect them because they’re a fantastic side, but they’re coming to San Sebastian and we have to show them it’s not an easy place to come and win. “They’re more than just Lionel Messi. They have dangerous indivuduals – anyone of their players could win a game on their own – but they’re also dangerous as a collective.” Sam Marsden After Barça, the fixtures will come thick and fast for Real Sociedad, who are still in the Copa del Rey, so Moyes is going to have to work overtime if he wants to stamp his mark on the squad by signing some players. Upd. at 19:13 He confirmed on Friday that he has been watching several players – he took in some games in England over the Christmas period – but he didn’t want to give any names “while nothing was closed.” “Vela has trained a little bit and isn’t sure how he’ll be,” the 51-year-old admitted. “We’ll see on Saturday how he trains, but he is not at 100 percent.” Injury concerns 02/01/2015 Moyes hasn’t had the best of luck with injuries since he took the job in Basque country and that could continue this weekend. David Zurutuza, Carlos Martínez and Joseba Zaldua are almost certainly out injured, while Carlos Vela is a major doubt. “Over the last 10 years they have been the best team in the world at keeping the ball,” he responded. La Real have won just once in the league since the Scot took charge and have only won three times this season, but with two of those wins coming against the Madrid sides, they have good reason to believe they are capable of producing an upset. The former Everton and Manchester United boss was also asked about Lionel Messi, but he was keen to point out that Barça are about much more than just their Argentine star. 
Galway United travel to the Carlisle Grounds on Saturday with the aim of arresting a recent run of poor results.The Tribesmen have lost their last three games in-a-row after drawing at home to Longford Town.Saturday’s opponents Bray Wanderers are also going through a difficult patch, losing recent matches against Dundalk, Cork City and St Patrick’s Athletic.Tommy Dunne’s side have slipped down to 6th in the league table and a positive result is required by the seaside to stay in touch with the top four, who are beginning to pull away. TOMMY DUNNE | “WE’RE GOING TO BRAY EXPECTING A TIGHT GAME.”“We’ve been through a difficult patch,” Dunne acknowledged.“Our recent run of results may have stemmed from the Longford Town game that we should have won.“Travelling to Dundalk was always going to difficult. In the St Pats game, I thought the performance up until Sullivan’s sending off was good and we looked like we were the only ones that were going to score.“Playing Bray away will be very difficult. We understand the task, it’s going to be another tough match. They didn’t have the best start, they’ve had a tough run of games of late. We’re going to Bray expecting a tight game and we’re under no illusions about that.“We’ve been giving away sloppy goals lately, I want us to eradicate those mistakes quickly. It’s not good enough.”TEAM NEWSGalway United travel to the Carlisle Grounds on Saturday minus a number of influential players.Stephen Folan (back), Ryan Connolly (calf), Padraic Cunningham (knee) and Enda Curran (ankle) are all unavailable for the Tribesmen.John Sullivan serves a one match suspension against his former club after his sending off against St Patrick’s Athletic on Tuesday night.REFEREEMr. Adriano Reale (Kildare)GALWAY UNITED GOALSCORERSVinny Faherty – 8Padraic Cunningham – 3 (3 Cup goals)Kevin Devaney – 2Ruairi Keating – 2Enda Curran – 2John Sullivan – 1Eric Foley – 1Gary Shanahan – 1FORM GUIDEBray Wanderers – LLLLLGalway United – WDLLLLAST LEAGUE MEETING11 March 2016 | Galway United 4-0 Bray WanderersGalway United goalscorers: Kevin Devaney, Paul Finnegan (OG), Vinny Faherty and Ruairi Keating.print WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Email
Bastian Schweinsteiger 1 Germany head coach Joachim Loew has backed Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger by promising his role as international captain is safe.Schweinsteiger has struggled to rekindle the form he showed during his decorated spell at Bayern Munich since his arrival at Old Trafford in the summer.United manager Louis van Gaal questioned the midfielder’s performance following Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Wolfsburg.The Dutchman said after the game: “I have changed him and I don’t change players for nothing, [it’s because] I think I can do better with other players, but we are all human beings and also Bastian Schweinsteiger is a human being“He wants to play at the highest level and certainly in Germany to show his qualities, but I cannot say that he was the Schweinsteiger from my period in Munich today.”But Germany boss Loew has no doubts about Schweinsteiger and insists he will continue to pick him, while trusting him to step up his performances at club level.“We at the German Football Association know what we are getting with Bastian,” Loew told the Bild newspaper.“He’s still a world-class player and undisputedly our captain.”According to Loew, the 31-year-old still needs time to get used to a different style of play, and a different league having spent all of his career up until the summer in the Bundesliga.“You’ve got to give even an experienced player like him time to adapt to a new league,” Loew added. “I am sure that Manchester United are still going to get a lot of joy out of Schweinsteiger.”
Coral’s Simon Clare joins the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast to round up the latest sporting odds.West Ham and Manchester United meet in an FA Cup quarter-final replay at Upton Park on Wednesday night.The Hammers have not lost at home since August and are even-money to qualify, with United priced at 4/5 to book a semi-final spot.Coral is the official betting partner of the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast
Another course to be offered is Pressure Piping Design (ENGT 265), which is for students and industry professionals with Computer Automated Design experience. The course covers the preparation of engineering detail drawings of piping systems for commercial, utilities and industrial plants. For information call (562) 692-0921 or visit www.riohondo.edu If you have an event or notice deserving attention, write us! Send your notice to Tracy Garcia, education reporter, at 7612 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, CA 90602. You may call the office at (562) 698-0955, Ext. 3051, or send e-mail to tracy.garcia@sgvn.com.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! PICO RIVERA – Local students Ethan Salmeron, Isaiah Fabela and Erin Molina received top honors in the County of Los Angeles Public Library Children’s Book Week Bookmark Contest, held at the Pico Rivera library. More than 100 entries were submitted in three categories: kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade. Salmeron is a kindergartner at St. Marianne’s School, while fifth-grader Fabela and sixth-grader Molina attend St. Hilary Elementary School. The winners will enter a second level of judging, and top honors in that competition will be announced in February. AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREWhicker: Clemson demonstrates that it’s tough to knock out the champFor more information about the contest or the Pico Rivera library, call (562) 942-7394. More classes offered at Rio Hondo WHITTIER – Rio Hondo College will offer additional classes in the spring semester that are not listed in its class catalog. Two Logistics Management classes (LOG 101 and LOG 110) will be offered next semester, officials said. The college is working to create an associate’s degree in Logistics Management and the two courses will qualify toward those requirements. 
Loading …The poll is live here now and on Twitter. Feel free to share your comments, and we’ll have your results next week. Share This!New attractions, such as Flight of Passage, bring a lot of excitement for people who get to experience something new at the parks. At the same time, there are many attractions that could use an update (or at least a little TLC). So this week, we’re asking you:Which would you rather see: Updates to existing attractions or building of new attractions? New attractions (58%, 384 Votes) Updates (42%, 277 Votes) Total Voters: 661
The crashed plane. Image: Algerian television. An Algerian military plane has crashed near Algiers killing all 257 people on board.The crash is the North African nation’s worst aviation disaster and happened shortly after the aircraft took off from Boufarik military airport, west of the capital, Wednesday en-route to Bechar and Tindouf on the Algiers-Morocco border.Officials said most of the dead, which included 10 crew, were army personnel and their families.But the BBC reported about 30 members of a separatist movement in Western Sahara, including women and children, were among the passengers.The plane was an Ilyushin Il-76 and media reports said the cause of the crash remained unclear.A statement by the Algerian government said: “In this painful ordeal, the government members offer their deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”Images posted on Algerian television showed smoke billowing from the burning plane and then rescue personnel swarming around the wreckage.A farmer injured when the plane crashed into his field told Algerian television: “I could see as soon as the plane took off it started falling.“The plane flew over my head and came really close. The wing clipped me as I was jumping to get out of the way and then it burst into flames. I survived by the grace of God.’’Another man who heard the explosion and drove to the site tried to put out the fire and reach victims.We saw bodies … it was a catastrophe,” he said.“We were afraid the plane would explode. We covered some bodies and put out some fires.”This is the latest of several Algerian crashes in recent years.A Hercules C-130 carrying air force personnel and their families crashed in the country’s east in 2014, killing 77 people.Another 116 people died that year when an Air Algerie flight crashed in Mali, completely destroying the MD-83 jet as it traveled from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
Commercial companies with Open Source products have approached the white house in an attempt to convince the Obama administration that the government should favor Open Source over proprietary commercial alternatives. The letter from nineteen executives included: Open Solutions Alliance President Anthony Gold, Collaborative Software Initiative CEO Stuart Cohen, Alfresco CEO John Powell, Hyperic CEO Javier Soltero and Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile.In the letter, the executives write:“We urge you to make it mandatory to consider the source of an application solution (open or closed) as part of the government’s technology acquisition process, just as considering accessibility by the handicapped is required today (as defined by section 508).Mr. President, we believe the open-source industry is changing the world of software development in many of the ways you have promised to change American politics.The values of open source mirror those you promoted in your campaign: hope, change, and openness. We, the undersigned, sincerely hope that you will make the use ofopen-source software a key component of every new technology initiative the United States government enters into during your presidency.”While Open Source has many benefits and merits, it doesn’t seem appropriate to politicize technology decisions. Software should be selected based on usability, effectiveness insolving a set of requirements, and total cost.