Memorial Field

BURROUGHS HIGH ? Jay Gudzin remembers when Burroughs High?s Memorial Field was a showplace for athletics. As a football player for the Indians, Gudzin was proud to play in a facility that not only had a rich history, but was an impressive venue. ?When I left Burroughs in 1973, Memorial Field was still in great shape,? Gudzin said. ?It had nice paint and nothing was falling apart. It was still a very nice stadium. ?But nothing has been done to the place since the 1950s.

MEMORIAL FIELD — The Burroughs High boys’ soccer team created enough of its own scoring opportunities in the first half of its match against Fulton Prep. However, after 33 minutes and 10 shots, the Indians were still without a goal. Burroughs was finally able to hit paydirt late in the first half, and opened the floodgates with three goals in the second to earn a 4-0 victory Thursday in the first round of pool play in the 16th annual Ralph Brandt Tournament at Memorial Field.

MEMORIAL FIELD — Looks like Bellarmine- Jefferson high football fans will have to wait at least another year for their first playoff win in more than 50 years. Trying to notch their first postseason win since 1954, the No. 4 Guards fell to Whittier Christian, 48-31, Friday in a CIF Southern Section first-round Northeast Division game at Memorial Field. Whittier Christian and Bell-Jeff battled all game, as both teams were exchanging shot for shot in the first half. Five of the nine first-half drives resulted in a touchdowns, and neither team showed any signs of slowing in the second half.

MEMORIAL FIELD — A simple play in the first quarter of Thursday’s Pacific League game between the Burroughs and Hoover high football teams exemplified the Tornadoes’ struggles and the Indians’ accomplishments. It was a play in which Burroughs’ Shane Murphy took a screen pass from quarterback Corey Howard and went untouched 66 yards for a touchdown. Simple and effortless, that’s how it went for the Indians all night, as they ran away with a 58-7 victory at Memorial Field.

BURBANK ? A committee overseeing field renovations at local campuses approved a company Wednesday as the artificial turf brand of choice to lay at Burbank and Burroughs high schools. The $14.2-million joint-use project with the city includes tearing down and rebuilding Memorial Field at John Burroughs High School as well as replacing the grass and dirt at both fields with artificial turf. FieldTurf won out over the other contenders, Sprinturf and Forever Green Athletic Fields, after months of research and testing, said Jan Britz, assistant superintendent of Instructional Services for the Burbank district.

MEMORIAL FIELD — Promises were made, and promises were kept by Bellarmine-Jefferson High football Coach Rolando Aguirre. In the offseason, Aguirre was determined to lighten star running back Jorge Chaidez’s work load, and give the standout some help in the backfield. So far, so good. In a season-opening, Zero Week nonleague game Saturday against Malibu at Memorial Field, the plan worked to perfection, as the Guards walked away with a 25-7 victory. Chaidez gained a game-best 172 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns.

Red cap-and-gown-clad seniors covered nearly all the grass at Memorial Field at John Burroughs High School Thursday night. While parents beamed and fellow students gave speeches about the future, their present lives and the past four years they spent together, the graduates waited to hear their names called. "Well, class of 2007, you have made it," Principal Emilio Urioste said. Names were called and echoed through loudspeakers around the graduating class as people in the stands shouted messages of encouragement and love toward them.

MEMORIAL FIELD — Years of postseason frustration seemed to melt away Wednesday for the Burroughs High boys' soccer team. But it wasn't easy. The Indians were making their first CIF Southern Section playoff appearance in four years. The team hadn't even hosted a postseason match since 2000, and it had been nine years since Burroughs was victorious in the postseason. The Indians were able to erase some of that unfortunate history by defeating Lompoc, 3-2, in overtime in a Division III wild-card win at Memorial Field.

MEMORIAL FIELD — A budding rivalry might be forming between the Hoover and Burroughs high boys' soccer teams. Hoover standout midfielder James Hernandez isn't sure that he wants another rivalry brewing in the Pacific League, but at least he's been consistent about scoring match-winning goals against the Indians this season. Hernandez scored late in the first half to carry the visiting Tornadoes to a 1-0 road league victory. The Tornadoes (9-7-3, 6-1-2 in league)