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The Aces are one of three Kern County Special Olympics floor hockey teams and one of 75 teams in Sothern California. These athletes come from all over Kern County and some have been playing floor hockey for over 20 years. The athletes range in all levels and ages from 8-80 years old. The individual challenges are as diverse as the environments from where these athletes come from. From Downs Syndrome, Autism, and brain injury, these athletes come from special education school programs, supportive employment, group homes, and traditional family settings.

For those not familiar with floor hockey. It is played in a rink, but the surface is made of wood, concrete, or tile. The teams are composed of six players, including a goalie. The athletes use wooden poles called “slick sticks” which are an adaptation of industrial broom sticks with a felt tip, and the pucks are large felt discs about 10 “ in diameter with an open center. Basic ice hockey rules and penalties apply, with the exception of offsides, and icing.  However, hooking, slashing, and roughing will draw you a penalty and some time in the “sin bin”.

As I arrived to practice at the newly constructed hockey rink at Saunders Park, I did not know what to expect. Nonetheless, the familiar sights and sounds of hockey immediately greeted me. This was serious business. Currently the Aces are preparing for an upcoming tournament on November 15th at the Kern County Fairgrounds. This tournament is hosted by Kern County Special Olympics every year, and generally draws the participation of 300 athletes and coaches from all over Southern California. Like all Special Olympics events, athletes are never charged for participation. However, there is always the cost of facility rental. Grants, fundraising and donations from individuals, companies like Wal-Mart and service groups such as the Kiwanis support and offset these costs.

The Aces upcoming schedule also takes them on the road to compete in tournaments in Santa Maria on December 6th, and January 16th in San Diego, Ca. Unlike some sports teams, these athletes enjoy playing on the road as much as in front of their hometown fans. However, like all sports travel is expensive. The Aces as well as other Kern County teams are provided transportation free of charge for day trips from BARC (Bakersfield Association of Retarded Citizens), but longer distances and overnight stays are at an additional expense.

I spent much of my time with Aces Head Coach, Silva Treanor. Coach Treanor first became involved in coaching floor hockey during her time as a Special Education Teacher for the Kern High School District, and has been involved in floor hockey for over 30 years. “Our goal is to provide sports competition and training, for those who want to be Special Olympians.” Treanor stated. She also went on to say that they would like to see more junior athlete participation. Junior athletes are 8-15 years of age. Currently there is a junior basketball team, and opportunity for junior athletes in individual sports, such as tennis and swimming. The lack of junior athletes can be attributed to the lack of education of parents with younger intellectually challenged children.  “We are providing a sports mechanism to provide opportunity to these athletes”, said Treanor,” Getting the word out and educating the parents is key to growing our program”.

As our nations economy faces its challenges, so too does the Special Olympics. Fundraisers become harder to operate and donations are harder to come by as companies and individuals tighten their belts. The Kern County Special Olympics has been prudent with their funding, and most if not all the programs will continue to operate even through tough economic times.

The biggest challenge facing the Kern County Special Olympics is not monetary but voluntary. There is a constant need for volunteers as coaches. About one half of Kern Counties Special Olympic coaches are comprised of parents or relatives that have family members involved as athletes. The remaining half is made up of special education teachers, and interested individuals.

In closing, I asked Coach Treanor to describe to me one of the most memorable moments she has experienced in her involvement with Special Olympics over the last 30 years. She took a moment, and then proceeded to tell me a story about an athlete that was killed in a senseless accident a few years back. Although this may seem a tragedy more than what is usually characteristic about a memorable moment that one might have. She expressed with a smile that through their bereavement, the players displayed a strong bond and support. This is the bond and social structures that Special Olympics creates for all that are involved. Lastly she stated, “I get a lot out of it, I feel like I am doing something good. Everyone should try it at least once and experience this feeling”.


For more details or information, contact Special Olympics Southern California Kern County at (661)-322-7598

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Even though corn doesn't line the outfield at Sam Lynn ballpark, it’s still one of baseballs “Field of Dreams”.

As a follow up to my prior article last month regarding the announcement by the Bakersfield Blaze to depart from the City of Bakersfield after the 2009 season, unless a new ballpark was put in place, I have decided to focus on what’s really important to Bakersfield baseball. Tradition and history, and Sam Lynn Ballpark has played a vital role in both.

Maybe erecting a new baseball monument instead of breathing new life into one so rich in history and tradition is not really the answer. Maybe the issue is not about whether or not the Blaze decide to stay in Bakersfield, but rather will baseball remain a part of Bakersfield.

Could a plan be put into action to resurrect the 58-year old stadium?

Built in 1941 for the Bakersfield Badgers, Sam Lynn Ballpark is perhaps best known as the ballpark that was built backwards. It is the only venue in professional baseball in which the batter faces west. The ballpark was named after Sam Lynn the former local owner of a Coca-Cola bottling company who donated much of his income to youth baseball leagues, and became one of the founders of the California League. Ironically, he died just months before the league began play.

In the 58-years following the parks construction, it has been allowed to fall into a state of deterioration, despite attempts in both 1993 and 2006 to renovate the aging facility. Despite the fading paint the park sits as a timeless reminder of baseballs golden age.

At 354 feet to center field, Sam Lynn also has the shortest center field in professional baseball.
However, it still poses a challenge to be a hitter’s park due to the fact that the outfielders are closer together. Over to the right field wall, Sam Lynn features an out-of-use catwalk set into the wall about 15 feet above the warning track. If the ball bounces off the catwalk or the wall above it is played as live, but if the ball stays on the catwalk it is a ground rule double. The bat racks and on-deck circles are located about 80 feet away from the cement dugouts that are slightly taller than 6 feet, thus creating what’s been called  "the walk of shame" for any batter who strikes out.

The sport of baseball has forever been shrouded and associated with many mysteries, countless curses and ghosts. So too has the mystery behind the only professional ballpark with a west facing field. 

As the baseball community has accepted Sam Lynn Ball Park as being a quirky little stadium, is it possible to save Sam Lynn from extinction? As efforts are being made to save the Padre Hotel, and the now beautifully restored majestic Fox Theater. One has to ask, the same about Sam Lynn Ballpark. Or is the answer to filling seats, a new state of the art ballpark?

If you build it they will come, or will they?

A perfect example of this is when the Chicago White Sox ten years ago bulldozed friendly old Comiskey Park, built in 1910 by Charles Comiskey himself, because the owners thought a modern, concrete goliath would better equip them for the 21st century and draw more fans. But after the initial excitement wore off, fans stayed away in droves from the sterile food courts and the steeply pitched upper deck. The White Sox now draw fewer fans to now renamed US Cellular Field, than they did at Comiskey, despite wining an AL Pennant and World Series Championship in 2005. Proving that baseball fans do not allow ourselves to be played for suckers by people who see us not as fans but as a "revenue stream."

Fields like Sam Lynn Ballpark are baseball's Libraries of Alexandria, the repositories for its greatest treasures. The memories, which distinguish baseball from every other American sport, are the reasons we can't give up the game even after owners and teams abandon us.

I for one am in favor of keeping those treasures polished and protected for baseballs generations to come. Without these precious gems as reminders of the past, we deny younger legions of baseball fans the chance to look back into baseballs fabled past. 

There is one advantage to Sam Lynn’s west-facing field. You get to enjoy the colors created by a pre-game sunset fading behind the center field wall. Usually you don't get to see it at other parks because it's behind you, but at Sam Lynn much like its history, it's right in front of you to enjoy.

Sam Lynn Fun Facts:

Sam Lynn Ballpark holds the California League single game attendance record at 8,175, set on July 3rd, 1995.

Sam Lynn used to have an operating digital display above the left field wall that showed pitch speeds and player stats. In 2002, then-prospect Josh Hamilton hit an opposite field homerun that sent the ball smashing into the front of the display (a-la "The Natural"), rendering it permanently inoperable. Today the display still remains over left field, but is covered with a banner advertising the team's website.

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Are the Cubs finished in this postseason? You lose two straight at home to open a best-of-5 series and you practically deserve to get ousted.

Four errors, a bases-loaded double by Russell Martin, another home run from Manny Ramirez-his 26^th career post-season homer, and seven two-out RBIs in game two, have the Dodgers one win away from their first playoff series win since 1988.  Two of the four errors came in a five-run second inning against Cubs pitcher, Carlos Zambrano.

 “It wasn’t good baseball. In fact, the last two days, that’s probably been the two worst games we’ve played all year,” a frustrated Lou Piniella said. “It wasn’t fun to watch, I’ll tell you that.” The Cubs manager then gently laid his head on his desk and closed his eyes, as members of the press tiptoed out, careful not to wake him.

Only once in the history of a best-of-5 series has a team lost the first two games at home and come back to win the series. That team was the 2001 New York Yankees, managed by Joe Torre, who did it against Oakland.

The Cubs certainly are capable of winning three straight games. In fact, they've had winning streaks of at least three games 16 times this year. Meanwhile, champagne is on ice in Mannywood, as the Dodgers look to close it out in Chavez Ravine on Saturday night.