Archives for January 2018

Prison Sports Ministry (“Green Team”) overcame the San Quentin Warriors’ surging fourth-quarter comeback and a head referee overturning a foul call to win in double overtime, 90-82. Dan Wohl, a former overseas pro, led the “Green Team” with a career high of 50 points.

“I don’t think I’ve ever scored 50 anywhere,” Wohl said. He also had 10 rebounds.

He added that his average was 20 points a game playing for Williams College in Massachusetts and about 7 playing pro in Israel.

For the last game of the San Quentin basketball program season, The Green Team showed up with another new ringer — Seth Tarver, who played for Oregon State and an NBA D-League team called the Idaho Stampede. The game also marked the return of point guard Remy Pinson — who handles the basketball like Steph Curry — and Antoine Maddox, a former Washington General, among others.

The Warriors went with a starting lineup that didn’t include its leading scorer, Allan McIntosh. He came off the bench.

Harry “ATL” Smith, a powerhouse in the paint, didn’t make it to the game.

Both Tarver and Wohl, playing for the first time on a prison yard surrounded by incarcerated faces and barbed wire, missed their first three shots. But they came to life and started torching the Warriors. Tarver also dominated on the boards, finishing with 17 rebounds along with 23 points.

By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors were down 48-36. But they came charging back. Tevin Fournette and Tyrrell Price Sr. scored back-to-back buckets that brought their team within 5 with three minutes and 38 seconds left in the fourth. McIntosh followed with a spin move for a deuce inside.

With 24 seconds left and the score 66-62, Jason “Boo” Robinson rebounded his own miss and scored to bring the Warriors within 2 points. He finished with 8 points and 14 rebounds.

Warrior point guard David Lee tied the score at 66 with a drive to the rack, leaving four seconds on the clock.

The inbound pass went to Tarver.

He had the ball just inside the 3-point line with a defender all over him as referee J. “Huggie” Davis called a foul with1 second left on the clock.

Tarver headed for the free-throw line for two free shots at winning the game for the Green Team just as head Ref Robert Lee overruled the call and the timekeeper to send the game into overtime.

“Referees don’t decide games,” Lee told the scorekeepers who argued the call.

In the first overtime, McIntosh immediately hit a 3 to give the Warriors the lead. But two steals by Green Team player Charles Lowery brought the Green Team back, capped off with a dunk by Wohl on a fast break, for a 75-73 lead.

McIntosh tied the score at 75-75.

When neither team scored in the last 41 seconds, the game went into another extra period.

Pinson swung the momentum with an alley-oop pass to Harry Webb, who caught the ball in the air and laid it up. That key basket made Webb’s only points in the game although he started.

Wohl followed with a steal and the basket, followed by two 3-pointers for a total of eight straight points. The Green Team coasted through the rest of the second OT while the Warriors took three minutes to score their first basket.

Fournette led the Warriors with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Pinson had 10 points, 4 assists and 7 steals.

At the end of the game, the Warriors’ general manager, Robert “Bishop” Butler, was honored. He was found suitable for parole on Nov. 16, after serving 23 years.

“I won’t remember what this court is like without Bishop,” Green Team sponsor Don Smith told the players at the end of the game.

Smith has ministered and interacted with Butler at San Quentin for more than a decade.

“As we congratulate Bishop, may God bless you all with hope,” Smith said.

Green Teamer Lowery spoke about the power of basketball in making connections. It starts with one guy shooting around, then another person comes and starts shooting. Then more people come and a game starts and bonds form.

“It helps us connect; it saved me. It kept me out of trouble — this basketball, it’s like a spiritual journey,” Lowery said. “Don’t be alone in your spiritual journey; be with people going through what you’re going through.”

H-Unit three-peated in the Asian-Pacific Islander Holiday Tournament with a 32-30 win over North Block, the prior three-peat Champions. H-Unit’s Dahvee “Sleep” Sophal iced the game from the free-throw line.

In past tournaments, the housing units at San Quentin formed teams that battled for a trophy created from cardboard, gold-foil and a Ping-Pong ball: the Becky with the Good Hair Holiday Championship Trophy. Becky was passed to the winning team after each tournament. Prison guards confiscated Becky in a shakedown so Kevin Neang dedicated the Nov. 12 tournament to his co-organizer’s getting a parole date.

“My good friend Vi Chau is going home after serving 23 years. I wanted to get us here to compete and have fun. It’s a reward for all of us doing programs and staying out of trouble.”

Chau, sentenced to 26-to-life for homicide, was found suitable by the parole board in November. The Vietnamese native expects immigration to release him after about 90 days because he says they have to honor an agreement that the U.S. can only deport Vietnamese people who arrived in the states after 1995. He arrived in 1980.

“I’m ready to reunite with my family and get back into the community and do some good,” Chau said. “ICE is gonna pick me up — it’s frustrating but I have to accept it.”

At 5-feet-6, Chau plays basketball with the best of them. He used basketball to stay positive while passing his time. He helped organize the tournaments to bring everyone together so they could have fun.

“Every time I play basketball, I feel like I’m free,” Chau said.

He played point-guard for North Block and wanted to win to dedicate the game to Sophal and Neang.

H-Unit had other plans.

North Block and H-Unit reached the finals after battling through the earlier rounds. The first team to score 32 would win the whole full-court basketball tournament.

David Le, Sagar Patel, Roland Paras, Harash Patang and Sophal represented H-Unit.

Adnan Khan, Will Tupou, Bikkai Singh, Alladin Pangilinan and Vi made up the North Block squad.

Le kicked the game off with a three-pointer for H-Unit, then led his team to a 9-2 lead with 5 points.

After five straight points scored by Pangilinan, North Block swung the game around. They took a 20-13 lead.

H-Unit went on another run and took the lead at 28-22, needing only two more baskets to win the tournament. They decided to get those four points from behind the three-point line.

“I was so open, I was goaded into taking it,” Patel said.

Le and Patel missed several three-point attempts that ended up as defensive rebounds for North Block.

Tupou started the North Block charge with a layup off a rebound.

But then Patel finally nailed a three to put his team one point from victory at 31-24.

Khan hit Pangilinan with a dime at the elbow, and he nailed a three. Khan followed with another to make the score 31-30.

A foul put Sophal on the free-throw line with two chances to win the game. The first attempt bounced off the back of the rim. The second won the game for H-Unit. Sophal finished with 3 points, Patel 11 and Le 8.

Pangilinan and Khan refused to give up and combined for 21 points, 11 and 10 respectively, in the close but losing effort. Khan credits his determination to Sophal.

“Sleep [Sophal], I just don’t like him,” Khan joked. “That fire inside of me comes from that dislike of Sleep.”

“That’s why I made the game winning shot — for everybody who doubted me,” Sophal said.

“He thinks hitting that game-winning shot extinguished my fire, but I like him even less now,” Khan continued to joke.

In full view of a film crew, numerous hecklers, fellow runners, ultra runners who coach us and a flock of geese, I, Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, broke two 1000 Mile (running) Club records by completing my first marathon at San Quentin on Nov. 17.

The first record I broke was a group effort. Never before have as many people, 13 in all, completed the 105 laps around the prison yard.

The second was all mine. I set a club record for longest marathon time ever at San Quentin — 6 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds.

For the first few miles, it felt to me like flying down the highway when there’s no traffic.

Still, Markelle “The Gazelle” Taylor glided past me twice before I finished a mile. No surprise — he took first with a time of 3:20:19.

For the first lap, San Quentin News cameraman Eddie Herena followed me while holding a Go-Pro camera in his teeth by its extension. He did this to assist in the making of a documentary by Christine Yoo.

Even with the extra load, Herena came in second with a time of 3:37:20, five minutes ahead of rival Chris Scull (3:42:25). Vincente Gomez came in fourth (3:42:42).

As Scull and Gomez finished, I wondered if Coach Kevin Rumon had an accurate count of how much farther I had to go. I’d watched him being interviewed as I passed instead of counting my laps. He claimed I still had about 13 miles to go as Tommy Wickerd finished with a time of 3:46.16.  Wickerd’s Sunday training partner, Jonathan Chiu, came in one second later.

By then my right calf cramped up and demanded I quit. For the next few miles, I walked half and ran half a lap while Sergio Carrillo completed his marathon in 3:51:52. He was the seventh finisher in under four hours, setting another club record.

“Here comes ‘New York’ [Rahsaan], look at the Geriatric Kid,” yelled incarcerated person Mike Webb.

Hecklers continued to clown about my ridiculously slow pace.

“I don’t think you’re going to make it!” Prison University Project Administrator Heather Hart yelled through the education office fence as I ran by.

Her doubts gave me a burst of energy and determination. I continued to walk/run while several club members finished.

Steven Brooks and John Levin completed their first marathons with respective times of 4:00:12 and 4:04:05 while I struggled to take another step.

Sixty-one-year-old Larry Ford beat me with a time of 4:06:25.

When Al Yaseng and the 60-year-old Lee Goins finished their 105 laps, with times of 5:01:43 and 5:03:52, I remained the last member still striving. Seven others quit short of the goal.

Sponsor Tim Fitzpatrick convinced me that I had put in too many miles to quit as he joined me for a few laps of more running than walking. Then he passed the baton to his wife, Diana Fitzpatrick, the two-time Dipsea race champion, for a mile or so.

Melody Anne Schultz took over. When she told me that at age 62, she’d set a world record marathon time of 3:15 in London that still stands, I knew I couldn’t quit. I’m only 47.

For a minute, club coach/sponsor Frank Ruona, D. Fitzpatrick and Schultz all ran with me, but I fell behind.

Chiu, who had already run 26.2 miles, completed the last two miles by my side. With six laps to go, we took off running and didn’t stop until I joined the elite club of marathoners.

There were still spectators around, including a film crew. I dedicated the win to all the kids on Little League teams that never got to play and to everybody who comes in last.

People joked about how long it took, but I’m proud to say I completed a San Quentin Marathon just weeks after Shalane Flanagan won the New York City Marathon. I want to do that one day.

By completing the marathon, I’ve entered a world of elite people— marathoners. However, more important to me, I’ve proven to myself that I can go the distance, no matter how hard, how painful or how much time it takes.

A few days later, Yoo and her assistant Zahava Hirsch returned, without cameras and wearing brand-new running shoes.

We ran laps during a club training session. Hirsch, 24, was starting her running career and Yoo ran for the first time in weeks. They completed about a mile and a half each.

Their inspiration: Me.

“You looked like you were dying and you kept going for six hours,” Hirsch said. “When I run in the Olympics, I will be able to say I started my running career at San Quentin.”

The San Quentin All-Madden flag football team snagged four interceptions, including two in the second half by Jason Jones, to beat The Chosen 27-12.

On an overcast Nov. 4 day, All-Madden took the field hungry for a comeback. The week before, The Chosen showed up without former Oakland Raider Quarterback Andrew Walter and edged out a 28-20 victory.

“The last time they kinda put a smack down on us,” All-Madden Coach Dwight Kennedy said. “We were anxious to get out here, and we played more aggressive.”

Without Walter, or their normal QB Adam Perez, The Chosen relied on Phil Volta to fill in at quarterback. He played semi-pro with the San Luis Obispo Panthers as a fullback and defensive lineman.

All-Madden set the tone early with a touchdown run in by 19-year-old Anastacio Prado. With the extra point, the score was 7-0.

The first interception came early in the game. Volta launched a bomb that Al -Madden’s Calvin Willis caught lying on his back across the muddy football.

“That was a great interception,” The Chosen Sponsor Pastor Wayne Jackson remarked from the sideline where he stood with his road dog, James Troutt.

“I came out here to share the Word and have the Word shared with me,” Troutt said. “Inspiration comes from everyplace.”

Trout does Men’s Ministry and sings in a choir.

All-Madden struck again when Kent Craig ran in another touchdown.

“My wide receivers are doing their thing, the line is holding up, we all playing as a team,” All-Madden QB Devin Cole remarked.

The Chosen struck back about 4:00 before halftime. Volta completed a 25-yard pass to Omar Bennett, who ran it in to make the score 13-6 All-Madden.

Bennett, now 38 years old, played wide receiver for Cal Berkeley from 1998-2000 and the University of Hawaii from 2001-03.

With less than three minutes left in the first half, All-Madden marched down the field into the red zone with a few good plays.

Cole dropped a dime pass into the hands of D. Zyad Nickolson for 15 yards.

Jones, pulling a LaDamien Tomlinson–type move, lined up at the running back position but reversed roles to throw a 25-yard pass to Cole.

Cole ran for an additional 45 yards on the next two plays to put All-Madden in the end zone, where The Chosen held them without allowing another first-half touchdown.

Pastor Jackson delivered a halftime message about finding joy in good and in bad times. He was dressed in a hoodie, black baseball cap, sweats, and had both knees wrapped up, as if ready to join the game if his sons, Andre and Anthony, needed him on the football field. With both teams circled around, he said, “No matter what happens, know you have power in God’s Holy Spirit. You can lose a lot of things—I lost my hair—but don’t lose your faith.”

In the second half, Cole made a pass from The Chosen’s 10-yard line that Finis Jones intercepted and ran toward the goal. Right before crossing the goal line, Finis Jones was held up.

The Chosen received the ball half the distance from the goal line, leaving two yards between them and tying the game. As Volta cocked back to throw a pass, Nickolson snagged the ball out of his hands and completed the pick-six for a 19-6 lead.

Volta again threw an interception, this time to Jason Jones, who yelled in triumph, “I do this. I tried to tell you, I do this.”

The Chosen responded on their next possession. Volta pushed through the All-Madden defensive line for a 10 yard gain.

“I’d rather run the ball because I like to run people over,” Volta said.

Then he followed with a 10-yard pass to John “Dunnie” Windham, a San Quentin resident who played for visiting The Chosen squad. Windham caught the pass and ran it 50 extra yards for a touchdown, which made the score All-Madden 19-12.

All-Madden struck back with a 15-yard pass to Nickolson, who ran it down the sidelines for an additional 40 yards. Cole completed the drive with a touchdown pass to Kent Craig, who out-jumped the defensive in the end zone for the catch and the 25-12 lead.

On the next possession, 51-year-old Brad Shells sacked The Chosen’s QB for a safety, which increased the lead to 27-12.

“We’re running the ball the rest of the way,” All-Madden Coach Kennedy said.

After All-Madden went four and out, The Chosen had five minutes to make a comeback run. Volta, however, couldn’t get a pass off. First All-Madden’s Brontray Moore batted down Volta’s pass attempt for the second time in the game.

Then Volta threw another pass that Jones intercepted.

“He’s their star,” The Chosen’s Ryan G. said of Jones. “We shouldn’t be throwing to his side, but we do. He beat us. It’s all in good fun. It’s actually fun to go up against someone who can play.”

The teams all greeted each other with smiles and handshakes after the game.

“It’s very heartfelt to know somebody on the outside cares to take the time to fellowship and be with us,” Kennedy said. “It really means a lot. May God bless them.”

All-Madden Defensive Lineman JohnRay Ervin Sr. added, “Having this opportunity means everything to me. This is me being free. This is my peace of mind and my humanity.”