VANCOUVER — Maybe the best way to describe the daily development of one of the most exciting young talents in recent B.C. boys basketball history is to say that Dionycius Bakare is going through two growth spurts at the same time.By the most standard of measures, the prodigiously-talented Grade 10 guard with Vancouver’s King George […]
Tag: bill Disbrow
A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT TAKES ROOT: Parent-launched petition opposing continued ban on BC High school sports tournaments gaining huge on-line traction!
VANCOUVER — A grassroots petition launched on-line Friday is distinguishing itself as something of a barometre for the level of frustration being felt by those opposed to Friday’s announcement by B.C.’s Ministry of Education that high school sports tournaments in this province would not be allowed to resume play on Feb. 1.Tricia Joseph, a parent […]
VL Podcast 12.17.20 edition: Richmond Colts’ Ron Putzi on milking cows and making buckets over an extraordinary hoops life!
RICHMOND — He was the leading man on a high school basketball dynasty which ushered in a new era of mainstream popularity for B.C. boys high school basketball. Former Richmond Colts star Ron Putzi stops by to join host Howard Tsumura on this week’s Varsity Letters’ podcast. Tsumura covered Putzi’s high school exploits just as […]
A Sunday Read: Why Dec. 1, 1990 – the day the UNLV Rebels came to town – was the day Vancouver came of age as a basketball city!
VANCOUVER — I can still remember the day that the late, great Jim Taylor, the newspaper sports columnist of my youth and later a co-worker at The Province newspaper, invited me over to his Vancouver home so that I might conduct an interview for a feature story I wanted to write on him for my […]
The Last Dance, Vancouver style! Thirty years later, the story behind Michael Jordan’s planned 1990 trip to Richmond High
RICHMOND — Cell phones had not yet gone mainstream, and the internet was about a year away from its official launch.The year was 1990, although that might not seem like so long ago to some, the world was still an innocent enough outpost that picking up the phone and making one call could still get […]
A Sunday read: Fiery and cerebral, St. George’s guard Jerric Palma leads with his heart under legendary head coach Bill Disbrow
VANCOUVER — His competitive nature is not only unmistakable, it’s unshakeable. It’s what develops when you start your basketball career back in the eighth grade as the proverbial runt of the provincial litter.
St. George’s shakes off freakish free-throw funk, Palma leads No. 8 Saints past No. 3 Vancouver College Fighting Irish
VANCOUVER — The most important home game of their season almost became too big a moment for the St. George’s Saints on Wednesday night.
St. George’s Saints: Laughs mean love, super-tight bond an enduring intangible for Bill’s Boys
LANGLEY — No one can read a team in the 11th hour before the Big Dance better than B.C. high school coaching basketball dean Bill Disbrow.
Jerric Palma: Tipping the scales through tenacity, St. George’s plucky guard has learned to carry his weight for the Saints
VANCOUVER — In the time reserved for preparation, those quiet pre-game moments where each player is left to his own devices, Jerric Palma finds a place where he can bring his heart and mind together in a single, perfect sphere.
Roberto Mazzone: A Saint’s relentless march towards March
VANCOUVER — One of the greatest rebounders of all time once said ‘Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory’.