The film opens with Jim White coaching a high school football game in Boise, Idaho. The land is ours. He had always wanted to be in law enforcement eventually pursued that career, starting in the 1990s. Road map of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France shows where the location is placed. Im so happy to hear from you, Jose. At a cross-country race almost 30 years ago, the gun sounds and the seven boys from McFarland High burst across the starting line amid a stampede of runners from around the state. I havent ran another race since middle school because of it. Not immigrant no more. McFarland, USA (2015) - Plot Summary - IMDb Jim White and his wife Cheryl, depicted as kind, caring people in the film, were that way in real life. Jim White never lived in Boise, Idaho, he never taught high school (he taught middle school but later coached high school sports), he was never fired from his teaching job for having an outburst against a student, and he did not have a troublesome teaching career before starting at McFarland. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. Veteran actor Costner, much like his performance in the recent Black or White, plays another character who must adjust to changing circumstances, reinvent himself to survive. Im sure there is some embellishing going on in the movie, but it truly is an amazing story.. He returned home to take care of his mother and during that time, he began to experiment with drugs. 5 Captivating Reason to See McFarland USA #McFarland, Ceo of Solartiara & Editor of Mrs. Kathy King.com. Thomas is the head coach of the McFarland Track Club for kids and I help him with that. Please note: On the Scene with Mrs. Kathy King receives compensation of one or more of the products and banners that you will see on this post and or site. Below are 10 McFarland Fun Facts that will inspire and give you a wonderful background about the movie. No stupid Mexicans. Warmly, Laura. Which is why, when Mr. White was trying to persuade me to switch to cross-country for my junior year, he jokingly told me that they would win the inaugural state championship with or without you.. Here are our top 10 picks, Super Mario Bros. Movie hits $1 billion, is No. 1 May 2023. In their first meet in Palo Alto, the boys endure mockery from the other more experienced and well-funded teams, and they suffer the humiliation of finishing in last place. Our coach, played by Kevin Costner, built a sports powerhouse largely with the children of farmworkers in a lackluster part of the state. David Diaz and Valles are still running buddies, and Diaz recently completed the 5K Fog Run in Bakersfield. That was my normal, and that was good.". Mr. Cardenas, chin up! The 67-year-old Cardenas was born in Mexico but moved to the United States when he was seven years old. The running scenes in the orchards were filmed on-location in McFarland, in the same place where the real team trained. McFarland, USA (2015) Vanessa Martinez: Maria Marisol. Jim Price, a janitor at the high school, let me live with his family. Ligue de voile Auvergne Rhne Alpes | Aix-les-Bains - Facebook His alumni now coach the cross-country programs for the elementary, junior high, high school, as well as McFarlands Parks and Rec teams. You saw the film as being about your disappointment. Since his retirement, he has also traveled the country as a motivational speaker and to help promote the movie. 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 has a wife and a daughter. We are all human, which is to say we are all flawed, and to expect perfection is to expect the impossible. The mantra at our house has all ways been that good luck and opportunity comes through HARD WORK. But lets talk about that race. She eventually concluded that it was good for them as long as they still worked. Like yours. Im still active and I still run, said David in a recent interview. We all know different moments of defeat and victory. I was proud to get to play him.. The director, Niki Caro, chose to do this because she wanted to feature more family in the story. 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. Es uno de los tres hermanos Diaz, lo ms gordito, el ancla del equipo. I can understand your disappointment at your personal performance and I cannot take away those feelings but I what I can share is how I felt and that was a profound sense of pride and admiration toward fellow Mexican-American. Get our L.A. The town and running are synonymous. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Powered by - Designed with theHueman theme, (Visited 2,021 times, 2 visits today, 1,283,698 total visits overall), describing his experience with the McFarland team. He also did find Thomas Valles on a freeway overpass and help him deal with his family problems. "All you can do is just hope that everything goes okay and thats it.. I lived in a dilapidated one-bedroom house across the street from my church with a couple older brothers who worked in the fields. McFARLAND, USA - Teach with Movies His group painted a section of the border fence in Tijuana red, white and blue with the names of deported veterans. "I did not run a good race that day," he said, explaining that he was so far back that he earned no points for the team. Jose wrote an essay for the Los Angeles Times in March 2015 describing his experience with the McFarland team. He was an inspiration and a father figure to the boys, Cardenas says. We speak the birds' language. It inspires me & my children. Their coach, Jim White, a non-Latino newcomer to the McFarland community, is, in the eyes of many, a loser, too. Tambin es pizcador en las maanas. Its been an emotional roller coaster, but they put together a very good movie for a general audience, Cardenas says. I took it for granted that I would go. 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. Published 12:00 am Friday, March 27, 2015. P.S. Besides the tragic death of the two girls on the cross-country team, there were many other tragedies in the same year: on Valentines Day, a car crash claimed the lives of six teenagers, four of whom were from McFarland. I will look for more pieces by you, as well. 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. 6. and it was also nice of Mr Cardenas to reply your letter this only shows how honorable man he is. What happened to Jose Cardenas McFarland? Sports can be a great teacher, in the losses as much as the wins. "But they've taken some liberties with the facts.". Whites road to reinvention comes to him almost as a vision. Freelance writer Susan Shinn lives in Salisbury. Damacio Diaz went to college, then became a police officer and a 17-year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department as a detective. Costner gives Whites lessons learned late genuine weight. After a difficult first half, a disrespectful player talks back to White in the locker room during the coachs half-time talk. It was the 1987 California high school state cross-country championships. And Rita Peebles, a cook in the cafeteria, slipped five bucks into my pocket before every away meet so I wouldnt go hungry when the bus stopped at McDonalds. He is in excellent physical shape and he continues to exercise even though he no longer competes. McFarland USA Film, Jose Cardenas' Poem. - YouTube 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. The incident costs White his job, and, with no other employment choices, he moves out of town with his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and two daughters, Julie (Morgan Saylor) and Jamie (Elsie Fisher). The inspirational movie, which opened last week, is building word-of-mouth momentum as a minor hit in the shadow of the current box office titan, "Fifty Shades of Grey.". "I lost my job and everything, so I didn't have nothing.". We had the right principles and the right attitude. Ms. Diamond, Photo by RON PHILLIPS -- From left, Johnny Sameniego (Hector Duran), Victor Puentes (Sergio Avelar), Damacio Diaz (Michael Aguero), Danny Diaz (Ramiro Rodriguez), Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz), Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts) and David Diaz (Rafael Martinez) share a scene in 'McFarland, USA.' Well said! Victor Puentes served a sentence at the penitentiary, but continued his education and got a good job. 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. In 1999, police caught him driving a meth dealer around, and he was convicted of drug conspiracy. Jos is my cousin & an inspiration to all the family. A day later, I read inyour essay in the L.A. Times that your State Championship race was one of the biggest disappointments in my youth. Your long-held regret stirred the nurturer in me, and although you are a grown man, a journalist, husband, father, and Army sergeant, in my mind you are still that high school kid, and I cant help my motherly instinct to tell you how I see what you did that day, and what lessons you have taught me and my children. The shoe bounces off the locker, hits the player in the face, and cuts his cheek. By this point, the team and the sport have become the great pride and joy of the community. You were and are a team player. Not immigrant no more. David Diaz also went to college and is now the North Kern State Prison Supervisor of Academic Instruction. View the profiles of people named Jose Cardenas. Cardenas was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1970, served seven years in the U.S. military and was deported in 2009 after a drug conviction. Beautiful family. It was awkward doing the red carpet, he says, but it was a lot of fun.. Principal Camillo agrees, reluctantly, and Johnny is recruited as the teams first runner. In fact quite the opposite it was an inspiring, a wonderful example of perseverance and what it means to work as a team. Nearly three decades later, Jose Cardenas is still bothered by that one race. I knew a movie involving one of the biggest disappointments in my youth might be made someday. 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. Convincing the young men he wants for the team to join is an uphill battle. Lupe has Javi fix Cheryls car after it breaks down and gives Cheryl a free manicure in her salon while she waits. As his addiction became worse in the 90s, he got in trouble with the law and served time in a penitentiary. We speak the birds' language. "They do kind of make fun of us because we dont speak the language. 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. So Ill stop there, but I will say this, because of my parents always pushing me I have an AMAZING life!! The company also supplied soft drinks for a gift basket for the speaker, which also includes goodies from Catawba College and the Y. The McFarland team continued to run races in North America, Europe, and Asia. All Rights Reserved. Appreciate your different philosophical way to look at things. Marsh says she hopes the movie will help her runners understand that hard work pays off. This past weekend I saw McFarland, USA, a movie about one phase of your life, growing up in the agricultural town of McFarland, California. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our, Speak to recruitment advertising specialist, More than $15M in residential damage caused by EF-3 tornado in Virginia Beach, city officials say, Paradise Ocean Club unlikely to reopen this summer, owner says, citing slow progress on lease discussion, Former Virginia Beach sailor sentenced to 15 years for killing estranged wifes lover, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. When we run, we own the earth. Jim doesnt want their spirits to sink too low and takes responsibility for the loss, saying it was on him. 5. I hope you continue writing even as you pursue your career in the Army. Perhaps that is why stories like Mr. Cardenas and his teammates resonates so strongly, as reminders that what may seem impossible isnt. Then computers.". Thomas Valles attended and ran for the College of the Sequoias after he graduated from high school. (LogOut/ The Cougars finished sixth last week at the CIF Central Section Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. Jos Cardenas is a true inspiration. Jose Cardenas Person By Stan Silverman - Guest Columnist, Philadelphia Business Journal Oct 12, 2015 Many leaders have a significant impact on the lives of others. He Served in the U.S. Military, But That Didn't Stop His Deportation Victor Puentes: Michael Aguero .
Adductor Muscle Pain When Walking,
Craftsman M430 Vs Toro Timemaster,
Usna Plebe Summer Schedule 2022,
Articles J