jose cardenas mcfarland

Jose Cardenas became a writer for The Los Angeles Times and is currently serving his country in the U.S. army. The students spend long hours with their parents picking cotton, sugar beets, almonds, citrus and grapes in the areas vast produce fields. The head coach complains to Principal Camillo and has Jim removed from his post as assistant coach. Jim begs the father to change his mind and even spends a day working in the fields helping them to convince the father to let the brothers stay on the team. Our kids are so excited about his appearance.. The school is located in a poor Latino community. A summer and winter resort with a beach on Bourget Lake (Frances largest lake) and an aerial cableway up fir-covered Mount Revard (5,125 feet [1,562 metres]), it is a fashionable Alpine spa maintaining the sedate luxury of the Victorian era. Its amazing how everybody is connected to it. Then I transferred to Humboldt State. Marsh says she hopes the movie will help her runners understand that hard work pays off. Tambin es pizcador en las maanas. And White wasnt the only adult who looked after the kids. Some of the runners who were on the 1987 team were not depicted in the movie. His teams won nine championships in 14 years. He still follows local cross-country avidly and despite the artistic license of the film, he enjoyed the movie greatly. He Served in the U.S. Military, But That Didn't Stop His Deportation. The final climactic race in the film happened exactly as it happened in real life, including all of the drama. Jose Cardenas, left, and actor Johnny Ortiz attend the premiere of Disney's "McFarland, USA" at the El Capitan Theatre on Feb. 9, 2015, in Hollywood, California. He states that the movie has changed his life and helped him become a better person. Jose, who was one of the top four runners for the team and a key scorer, really did start the race too fast, a very unusual move for a runner who had just recently ran the same course perfectly. Football coach White, after being too tough on his team at a previous high school in a far more prosperous place than McFarland, accepts a teaching position and assistant coaching job at McFarland High School. The land is ours. The all-Latino cross-country Cougar teammates at McFarland High School, residents of Californias farm-heavy Central Valley, arent the storys only underdogs. "The life out there and the life in here is totally different," he says of living in Mexico. Even that teaches everyone who sees your story to see these truths: 1. Costner gives Whites lessons learned late genuine weight. When we run, we own the earth. "He thinks hes out there still, so someone needs to be there to kind of calm him down and stuff. Coach White took care of the young runners - sometimes getting them shoes or letting people stay with his family, as did the community. We went on to better our lives.. Niki Caro Writing Credits . Perhaps that is why stories like Mr. Cardenas and his teammates resonates so strongly, as reminders that what may seem impossible isnt. Julie and Jamie are also depicted younger than they were in 1987. And by that measure, maybe I can let go for good the sour memory of the state race. McFarland, USA (2015) Vanessa Martinez: Maria Marisol. He started coaching the high school cross-country teams in 1980, not 1987. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. 1 May 2023. He joined the ROTC in high school in San Diego in hopes of following in the footsteps of his stepdad, an American citizen who sponsored him to become a permanent resident. 1 for 4 weeks, Jack Nicholson returns courtside to cheer beloved Lakers to playoff win. Ms. Diamond, Their first night in McFarland is difficult. By the way, these are me and my kids two sonsfrom the burbs and a foster daughter from Guatemala the ones you are helping me to teach that anything is possible if they work hard enough. 1987 was the first year that the state cross-country championship race was offered to schools. In California, Cardenas notes, the movie is a lot bigger deal. His former team members are making the rounds, speaking at schools and churches. The odds seem stacked against Jim, who is just as inexperienced at coaching cross-country as the boys are at running it. Then. Located in California's agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley, McFarland is one of the poorest communities in California. Cardenas, however, returned recently from the movie's premiere in Los Angeles with mixed feelings. We were good Christian kids, and we put our abilities to good use. We speak to the gods. Jim sees this and knows that Jose has put too much into the start of the race and will likely fall back at the end. Damacio Diaz went to college, then became a police officer and a 17-year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department as a detective. He's rallied, marched and met with California politicians as part of a group of deported veterans lobbying the government to allow them to return to the U.S. based on their military service. An hour of discussions and plans and ideas followed and they all said: you gave it a try, you had so much heart and wanted to give victory to your team mates. He says Tijuana is almost like living in the United States because there are many Americans there, but there's one big difference: Cardenas can't see his family, who lives just across the border in San Diego, his home of more than 50 years. Jose, one of their key runners, starts out too fast. The students that Jim coached have grown up to become coaches themselves. "The main crop was almonds. This movie has been an awesome inspiration to me, cause it takes back to my childhood years, and how tough it was at times, but I had the type of parents, and Im so happy to say, that were always pushing us to be better. Johnny Ortiz, an actor who held roles in the Kevin Costner-led film "McFarland USA," and "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie," has been charged with attempted murder, Fox News has confirmed. Sending love & good vibes your way, always. Thanks for your comment! The success of the team is documented in the 2015 Walt Disney Pictures film McFarland, USA starring Kevin Costner as James White, a . Shafter, California, a town that neighbors and competes with McFarland in sports, also had a remarkable cross-country team that excelled despite its small school size and limited resources. Short Poem but very powerful to all the people that have suffered coming to this great nation to give there love ones a better life. White takes a position at a small, humble high school in McFarland, California in the middle of the vast agricultural flatland of Californias Central Valley. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Im sure there is some embellishing going on in the movie, but it truly is an amazing story.. His work will appear occasionally in The Pilot and on HamptonRoads.com. Visit MrsKathyKing's profile on Pinterest. He hadn't lived in Mexico since he left when he was seven years old, and he spoke little Spanish. Your email address will not be published. Victor Puentes, one of the brightest students on the team, went to college but then had to leave school when his mom got sick. The movie opens Friday. I google searched Jose Cardenas after watching McFarland, USA out of curiosity, because as you may see, my last name is also Cardenas. DMS (degrees, minutes and seconds) format. "That wasn't quite true, either," Cardenas said. Appreciate your different philosophical way to look at things. And there was cotton," he said. Today, in his 40s, Cardenas lives in Chesapeake with his wife, Melody. We are portrayed as the underdogs, but thats not necessarily the way you see yourself as a child.. This movie is based on the remarkable McFarland High School Cross-Country Team which, until it was recently forced to compete against much larger schools, dominated its division in the sport state-wide for more than 20 years. He returned home to take care of his mother and during that time, he began to experiment with drugs. Jim White and his wife Cheryl still live in McFarland. The team really did call Jim Blanco as a nickname. I hope you continue writing even as you pursue your career in the Army. It is also true that most of the runners had never seen the ocean before. After high school graduation, Danny Diaz attended Bakersfield Junior College and Fresno State, then became a teacher and counselor at McFarland High School. Well, they certainly cant afford cars. KGET TV-17, an NBC affiliate in Bakersfield, California, created this Emmy-nominated segment that tells the story of McFarland High Schools legendary cross country program and the family, and coach, that helped mold a town. Too often I have found that our own will criticize those of us who want something better and different. Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is located at France country in the Towns place category with the gps coordinates of 45 41' 18.5964'' N and 5 54' 55. . Cardenas says he was deported to somewhere near the U.S.-Texas border, far from his birthplace in southern Mexico town of Tecomn in the state of Colima. In reality, White had been coaching the cross country team for seven years (since 1980). Jim buys Julie a nice dress and has a wonderful time with Julie at the party, even dancing with his daughter who is overwhelmed with joy. I told you we would win with or without you, our coach, Jim White, told me on the bus ride home from Fresno. Because his citizenship application never went through, Cardenas was deported to Mexico after serving 10 years in federal prison. The Three Diaz Brothers: Danny, David, and Damacio Short captions for each of them at the end of the movie say they became college graduates, teachers, cops and mentors to kids in town. I wish you and your family all the best. Sometimes we are overcome by adrenaline and ambition. I saw the film as being about your tenacity, determination, loyalty, perseverance, athleticism, and strength. (LogOut/ The state championship aside, McFarland, USA suggests my teammates became winners in life. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Meanwhile, the White family builds a bond with the McFarland community. Jim has to talk him off. On the way home, Jim stops by the beach in Cayucos and lets the runners have an afternoon of fun there because theyve never seen the ocean before. I havent ran another race since middle school because of it. Aix-les-Bains, city and Alpine spa, Savoie dpartement, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. The community teams up with the White family to raise money for better uniforms for the cross-country team, and they throw a delightful quinceaera party for Julies 15th birthday. Actually, we were favored to win by a larger margin. Its a beautiful story of perseverance, teamwork and community! I was proud to get to play him.. In fact quite the opposite it was an inspiring, a wonderful example of perseverance and what it means to work as a team. McFarland, USA tells a heartwarming story about underdogs who, to the surprise of everyone, including themselves, establish a sports dynasty. Still, Cardenas says, he knows how a story can change once it hits the screen. Regardless, all opinions are honest and our own. Second, there was a lot of good old-fashioned hard work. (LogOut/ As far as Cardenas is concerned, it is a day that will live in infamy, even though the team won, and it's a great finish for a movie. The school is notable for its succession of twenty-four CIF Central Section championships in cross country between 1987 and 2013. Cardenas says one of his grandsons just joined the military, too. Pretty much our whole team is going to be there, she says. I began to lose track of my teammates and my town. View JOSSUE CARRILLO CARDENAS' professional profile on LinkedIn. June 7, 2016. Pace yourself. The family quickly goes home. Their oldest daughter, Tami, is not depicted in the film. Web. He would often buy shoes and food for his runners. Cardenas was a member of the California state championship cross-country team whose story is portrayed in the new movie McFarland, USA, which was released by Disney in February. All together now: Ommmm and Just Win,Baby, Never a Dull Moment, With The Big QuestionsKid, Open Letter to Jose Cardenas, One of McFarland, USAs Real LifeChampions, View lauranicolediamondauthors profile on Facebook, View @LauraNDiamond1s profile on Twitter, View laurandiamonds profile on Instagram, DELIVER ME: True Confessions of Motherhood, McFarland, USA - The 1987 McFarland Cross Country Team, Open Letter to Jose Cardenas, One of "McFarland, USA"'s Real Life Champions, Forget spring cleaning in a soon-to-be empty nest. We all know different moments of defeat and victory. Sports. Then computers.". Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Emmys Hispanic & Latino Voices STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events I wish I could say I never fell short of working hard; I often do. les informations, l'actualit de la voile en Rhne. In the end, he says, its a Hollywood movie. You set out sprinting, on fire to prove something. Open Letter to Jose Cardenas, One of "McFarland, USA"'s Real Life Champions Published on March 3, 2015 Dear Mr. Cardenas, This past weekend I saw " McFarland, USA, " a movie about one phase of your life, growing up in the agricultural town of McFarland, California. I hope to write a book one these days. Nonetheless, the real challenges White and his team face pull the viewer along for the ride. Photo by RON PHILLIPS -- From left, David Diaz (Rafael Martinez), Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts), Victor Puentes (Sergio Avelar), Danny Diaz (Ramiro Rodriguez), Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz) and Johnny Sameniego (Hector Duran) are featured in a scene from 'McFarland USA.'. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Jose Cardenas, 67, stands at U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana that has been painted with the names of deported U.S. veterans. He is in excellent physical shape and he continues to exercise even though he no longer competes. Aix-les-Bains, city and Alpine spa, Savoie dpartement, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The company also supplied soft drinks for a gift basket for the speaker, which also includes goodies from Catawba College and the Y. During that year when the team won the title, all three daughters were actually in college in Texas. However, Centennial High School was not formed until 1993. Yours sincerely, Bettina, Johnny, Alexis and Natalia from Paraguay. "Actually, lettuce didn't grow there, but that's a minor thing. He served four years in the Coast Guard and did maritime law enforcement. "I never had any live chickens around where I lived and, in the 1980s, we listened to the same music as other kids - Madonna and Michael Jackson and pop things like that - in addition to Hispanic music.". "People worked together in the town," Cardenas said. They find themselves in a mostly Hispanic community, and when they go to a local Mexican restaurant, a group of young Hispanic men who sport an intimidating gangbanger look makes suggestive comments toward Jims daughter Julie. He's fighting to get back to the country he and his family have served for decades. Jose, you are a success & a hero. The running scenes in the orchards were filmed on-location in McFarland, in the same place where the real team trained. Coach White and his new students find that they have much to learn about one another, but things begin to change when White rea. Published 12:00 am Friday, March 27, 2015. Samaniego ran for the track and field team at CSUB because they didnt have a cross-country team. White really did go and work in the fields and pick crops with his runners to show support to them and their families, as it is portrayed in the film. You didnt like your race performance. Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France Geographic Information, Fontenay-sous-Bois, the le-de-France, France, Saint-Michel-sur-Orge, le-de-France, France, Fleury-les-Aubrais, Centre-Val de Loire, France, Saint-Genis-Laval, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France. I loved the boys and their families. Thanks Laura for this wonderful and insightful letter to MR JOSE CARDENAS. Yes.after i watched the movie im curious about what happen to JOSE CARDENASso truethere are times that we would like to give our best but then somehow it was still not enoughbut you know MR JOSE CARDENASyou played a very big role from the beginning ..the first MCFARLAND had won until the state championshipyou are an inspiration to us allyour hardwork in how to balance your life and do rigorous trainings , so did the rest of the team and the dedication of the coach were so amazing. Please use Latlong.net at your own risk. "But they've taken some liberties with the facts.". As one of the runners said: McFarland was a more balanced community of Latino and white residents then. Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes has about thirty thousand residents and it is a very important cultural center of the region, with plenty of various cultural events and sports competitions taking place there year round. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Jose Cardenas. (Jason Kempin / Getty Images). We wish you nothing but luck & happiness for all your years to come. He made his way to Playas de Tijuana, where he's been living alone, along with many other deported U.S. veterans. 4. It inspires me & my children. While Jim and his daughter Jamie watches the boys in his PE classes run laps around the track, Jamie makes a comment about Victor and Johnny being incredibly fast runners; Jim agrees, and has an epiphany: to start a cross-country team. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 2023. Mr. White was our physical education teacher, and thats when he first encouraged us to run cross-country. Johnny Sameniego: Sergio Avelar . Many other shots of the town and high school were also filmed on-location. Like his new students in McFarland, hes beaten down, carries a chip on his shoulder, is pessimistic about the future. In truth, David Diaz had graduated the year before the team won the state championship. and the longitude is 5.915300. After three runners from McFarland cross the finish line, they peer back, searching for me, their usual fourth man, but I had fallen deep into the pack. That race is going to healyour daughtersheart some day. I think its really inspirational for people, and we did come from humble beginnings, he says. Im so glad my essay from 2015 found you in 2022. Cardenas turned an internship at the Los Angeles Times into a full-time job on various beats. True. It was not predominately Hispanic as depicted in the film. You deserve the accolades and life you have been given due to your hard work! Hes looking forward to answering questions about the movie tomorrow evening, and to talk about whats accurate and whats not. After a difficult first half, a disrespectful player talks back to White in the locker room during the coachs half-time talk. Upon his release, he returned to college to continue his education and landed a quality job on a ranch. Now, we take our kids out of state for runs, three to four times a year. It was a dismal day for me at Woodward Park, Nov. 28, 1987. Kevin Costner stars as White, an embittered man whos struggling to support his wife and two daughters. Its a chance to pause, slow down, get our bearings before we get up and go again at a kinder pace. Thomas Valles attended and ran for the College of the Sequoias after he graduated from high school. The 2015 film "McFarland, USA" tells the true story of California high school cross-country coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) and his underdog team of Latino runners who had never competed in the sport before and who, when they weren't training, had to help their parents pick crops in the fields. That final championship race. Here are our top 10 picks, Super Mario Bros. Movie hits $1 billion, is No. We speak the birds' language. Many of us found our way to college and livelihoods away from the fields. We still enjoy the whole running thing. By this point, the team and the sport have become the great pride and joy of the community. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. So happy they all turned out to be heroes. . "Jose Cardenas had had a bad race," Valles recalled recently about his teammate who was the team's seventh runner that day, finishing 148th. You were and are a team player. Tragically, in November 2015 he was arrested for bribery and drug charges, including assisting a drug dealer. A caption says what became of me, a sort of champ in my own life too, I guess. Ten years later, I was a reporter at this newspaper when a movie company purchased the rights to an article about McFarland, a small, poor and predominantly Mexican American town in the farming heartland, going for an unprecedented sixth straight state championship. David has a Facebook page, but there hasnt been any updates posted since 2014. Marsh praises local businesses for their support. But by going out so fast, I had endangered our dream. The town is a known resort and a destination for tourist since it is situated on the shores of a large natural lake, the Lac du Bourget, which is a home to a few SPA resorts and excellent places to relax. Stay in touch. In one of the 1987 races, an opponent from Bakersfields Centennial High School is shown. God Bless. It was a real eye-opener for our kids, because the kids in the movie picked in the fields before and after school.. Corrections? David Diaz. 1987 was a tragic year in many ways for McFarland, which made the teams cross-country title even more meaningful for a community struck by grief. Disney Pictures can thank me, I guess, for creating some true drama To this day, I dont know why I went out uncharacteristically fast. When we run, our spirits fly. Jose Cardenas became a writer for The Los Angeles Times and is currently serving his country in the U.S. army. It saddens me that he viewed the race as the biggest disappointment of his youth, but in the same sense I admire his vulnerability & honesty. After work each day, he routinely goes straight to cross-country practice to work with the kids on the McFarland Youth Track club. You close your essay with this glimpse of forgiveness: McFarland, USA suggests my teammates became winners in life. Cardenas, a staff sergeant in the Army stationed at Fort Eustis, was part of that team from a poverty-ridden California town that "comes from behind" to win its first state title. I used to run in races when I was around the age of twelve, and much like Mr. Cardenas did duringg the state championships, I pushed too hard at the start and didnt last. P.S. His wife Cheryl, who tirelessly supported her husband and his coaching, described the runners this way: These kids are like our own kids and grandkids. Well said! The community has been real supportive of his being here, Marsh says. feeling awkward and labored. ", Perhaps for "dramatic" reasons, the all-Hispanic team's opposition in the movie is made up exclusively of blond, privileged, preppy snobs. So happy I found this sight. He sees McFarland students running all over the community, including the produce fields. Your contribution is so appreciated. I wish you great strength, grit and joyful moments. It gives me great pleasure to hear from you, and that you found something you needed in my letter to Jose Cardenas. First:; I want to say that I loved the poem Jose wrote. In the rest of the movie, he takes a back seat to the actors portraying the runners who performed better at the race. The Cougars finished sixth last week at the CIF Central Section Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. McFarland, USA (also known as McFarland) is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Niki Caro, produced by Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson with music composed by Antnio Pinto. Your child will strive, and will sometimes fail. JamesEdition can help you find the home that match all the preferences for your dream home. (1999) 25,732; (2014 est.) They got that right. (Erika Aguilar/KQED News) The California Report We saw the movie as a team, but we also wanted to invite local runners and the whole community, too.. Gang problems, as depicted in the film, were a real issue in McFarland. You see I was in the same boat as I was growing up in Salinas Ca. Learn how your comment data is processed. McFarland was not a desperate last resort. All Rights Reserved. No stupid Mexicans. He was drafted and served in the Army's 82nd Airborne division between 1970 and 1972. Mal Vincent has been a longtime culture writer for The Virginian-Pilot. You saw the film as being about your disappointment.

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