It is also true that most of the runners had never seen the ocean before. It isnt an important hobby of mine, but what you had to say about it is very applicable to my life right now, so Id like to simply say thank you, Dear Gabriella, "Usually, I'd finish fourth. McFarland USA will choke up undemanding viewers, but there isn't enough in it to be remembered as a great sports film. The film opens with Jim White coaching a high school football game in Boise, Idaho. Ester Marsh, the Ys fitness director and active with the Ys Warriors track team, is thrilled about Cardenas appearance. Kevin Costner stars as the coach of a seven-member team of cross-country underdogs. The community has been real supportive of his being here, Marsh says. Cardenas says one of his grandsons just joined the military, too. June 7, 2016. I agree, Griselda, he is an inspiration to people all over the world. In truth, David Diaz had graduated the year before the team won the state championship. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Two of us were absent when Disney spent two weeks on location and filmed the rest of my teammates going for a jog in the fields where we used to train. 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. No stupid Mexicans. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content Top Gap Below are 10 McFarland Fun Facts that will inspire and give you a wonderful background about the movie. 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. 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. Es uno de los tres hermanos Diaz, lo ms gordito, el ancla del equipo. In the end, he says, its a Hollywood movie. Fortunately, the sympathetic Principal Camillo (Valente Rodriguez) lets him keep his teaching job. We were state champs, and we did come from a poor farming town. Our kids are so excited about his appearance.. Johnny Sameniego and the six other runners were all close friends and in an interview for the movie, he mentioned that they all grew up living within a quarter mile of each other and did everything together. The country code given is in the ISO2 format. At the end of the celebration, Lupe and Javi take Julie in a traditional parade of cars down the boulevard. David has a Facebook page, but there hasnt been any updates posted since 2014. The Three Diaz Brothers: Danny, David, and Damacio Jose Cardenas has made peace with seeing his life splashed across the silver screen. Jose Cardenas Carlos Pratts. Still, my heart began to sink when a screening of McFarland, USA rolled around to its climax. Road map of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France shows where the location is placed. The International Womens Media Foundation supported Erika Aguilar'sreporting from Tijuana, Mexico as part of the Adelante Latin America Reporting Initiative. That race is going to healyour daughtersheart some day. Check out the latest entertainment and arts news, then plan your weekend with a look ahead at what's happening around Hampton Roads. But I found no mitigation for my pain in the movie, which portrays the team as an upstart group of runners who start out losing races but improve quickly to win the state championship. A caption says what became of me,a sort of champ in my own life, too, I guess. Mr. Cardenas, theres nothing to guess about. Cardenas grew up in a Hispanic community, and his team mostly competed against white teams. We saw the movie as a team, but we also wanted to invite local runners and the whole community, too.. So Ill stop there, but I will say this, because of my parents always pushing me I have an AMAZING life!! Tragically, in November 2015 he was arrested for bribery and drug charges, including assisting a drug dealer. And by that measure, maybe I can let go for good the sour memory of the state race. In fact I was getting ready to post about the article Mr. Cardenas wrote during the movie about running through the groves. The director, Niki Caro, chose to do this because she wanted to feature more family in the story. The state championship aside, McFarland, USA suggests my teammates became winners in life. 30,291. 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. This may be in the form of affiliate post, sponsored giveaways, sponsored post and other forms of advertising. Even that teaches everyone who sees your story to see these truths: 1. 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. Jose Cardenas, 67, stands at U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana that has been painted with the names of deported U.S. veterans. And by that measure, maybe I can let go for good the sour memory of the state race. The team really did call Jim Blanco as a nickname. Thank you for sharing your view as his cousin. Many of us found our way to college and livelihoods away from the fields. Whites road to reinvention comes to him almost as a vision. Keep going. Johnny helps to recruit other students: Victor, the three Diaz brothers, Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz), and Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts). Jose Cardenas, 67, stands at U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana that has been painted with the names of deported U.S. veterans. I love the film as an example for human strengths and will power yours as well. I hope you continue writing even as you pursue your career in the Army. Hey, and I would love to show the film to a certain Donald T. so he could learn from Mexican American Power and warmth and character, tenacity and team spirit. Sports can be a great teacher, in the losses as much as the wins. In the rest of the movie, he takes a back seat to the actors portraying the runners who performed better at the race. I lived in a dilapidated one-bedroom house across the street from my church with a couple older brothers who worked in the fields. If I had run as well as I did the previous week on the same course when we won the regional championship, the state race would not have been a nail-biter. "That wasn't quite true, either," Cardenas said. You close your essay with this glimpse of forgiveness: McFarland, USA suggests my teammates became winners in life. You inspired me Jose Cardenas!!! He still follows local cross-country avidly and despite the artistic license of the film, he enjoyed the movie greatly. 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. Mr. Cardenas, chin up! Coach White and his new students find that they have much to learn about one another, but things begin to change when White rea. Cardenas turned an internship at the Los Angeles Times into a full-time job on various beats. The team hot to where they went because of you and others. Our coach, played by Kevin Costner, built a sports powerhouse largely with the children of farmworkers in a lackluster part of the state. White loses his cool and throws a cleat at a locker. 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. Aix-les-Bains, city and Alpine spa, Savoie dpartement, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. He would often buy shoes and food for his runners. Also, around 500 McFarland residents (4%) are the average age for high school seniors (18-19). 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. He returned home to take care of his mother and during that time, he began to experiment with drugs. David Diaz and Valles are still running buddies, and Diaz recently completed the 5K Fog Run in Bakersfield. You are a father. During that year when the team won the title, all three daughters were actually in college in Texas. Jim works overtime to train them harder, but he begins to experience more challenges: his home life is strained when he forgets his daughters birthday cake and misses her celebration, and later he finds the depressed Thomas on a bridge about to jump off. The lake also has the largest and the most beautiful natural lagoons of the country. Currently, he is a correctional officer at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California. But lets talk about that race. Its been an emotional roller coaster, but they put together a very good movie for a general audience, Cardenas says. We watched the movie together and they loved it. 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. You all did. White quickly learns that the young people of McFarland see nothing but a hardscrabble future for themselves, offering no opportunity to advance up the economic ladder. She eventually concluded that it was good for them as long as they still worked. The father agrees. Cardenas, a staff sergeant in the Army, lives in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife and daughter. I took it for granted that I would go. The home theyve bought is old and run-down, and the family experiences culture shock. Sometimes we are overcome by adrenaline and ambition. When I got deported I didnt even know where I was," Cardenas says. Es uno de los tres hermanos Diaz. He was drafted and served in the Army's 82nd Airborne division between 1970 and 1972. Many other shots of the town and high school were also filmed on-location. The family quickly goes home. After work each day, he routinely goes straight to cross-country practice to work with the kids on the McFarland Youth Track club. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. He hadn't lived in Mexico since he left when he was seven years old, and he spoke little Spanish. Convincing the young men he wants for the team to join is an uphill battle. McFarland was not a desperate last resort. , THANK YOU FOR COURAGE. As one of the runners said: McFarland was a more balanced community of Latino and white residents then. The inspirational message of the movie is essentially true. Thanks for your comment! It happens to all runners at least once, she says. 4. I came across this letter of yours, and I must say I am touched and inspired by your words. Disney Pictures can thank me, I guess, for creating some true drama To this day, I dont know why I went out uncharacteristically fast. Updates? He has a wife and a daughter. "We had no idea, with him not performing that day, if . Jim White and his wife Cheryl still live in McFarland. Le explica a White que comenz trabajar en los campos a los 10 aos. 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. "It worries me because you never know whats going to happen, and you cant do nothing here," he says. Not immigrant no more. 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. For years, McFarland had a strong running tradition, he says. Mcfarland High School Class of 1988 Jose Carmona. Learn how your comment data is processed. 5. His group painted a section of the border fence in Tijuana red, white and blue with the names of deported veterans. Cardenas was a reporter for newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and St. Petersburg Times before joining the Army six years ago. All season we had dreamed of winning Californias first high school cross-country state championship. So happy I found this sight. "The inspirational message of the movie is essentially true," he said. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. View JOSSUE CARRILLO CARDENAS' professional profile on LinkedIn. Im a german journalist, living in Paraguay with my adopted son and two other paraguayan foster children. I havent ran another race since middle school because of it. Sports. He took my place, and McFarland miraculously still won. Mr. White was our physical education teacher, and thats when he first encouraged us to run cross-country. 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. Courtyard by Marriott has donated a room, and Cheerwine has donated bottled water for Saturday. Movies. However, just when it seems like the team will lose, Danny, the overweight runner on the team who typically never finishes fast enough to score points, picks up speed and reaches the finish line fast enough to secure the needed points for McFarland to win the championship. "Sometimes he wakes up and he goes crazy," Cardenas says of his son. The town and running are synonymous. Stay in touch. When we run, we own the earth. You pushed too hard; you didnt last. 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. 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. White taught fifth-grade science and seventh- and eighth- grade PE and woodshop. Principal Camillo agrees, reluctantly, and Johnny is recruited as the teams first runner. McFarland, USA (2015) Full Cast & Crew. Well, they certainly cant afford cars. Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. After high school, Cardenas went to a junior college "half-an-hour up Highway 99 and continued running, but on paper. I was never good at sports I chose ballet after my volunteer coach shamed me in pee-wee baseball and appreciate all the more how people can rise after defeats. After high school graduation I went to junior college half an hour up Highway 99 and continued running. You were born in a community where that was not true, but with the blessings of a great coach and other adults topoint the way to other paths, you made that your reality. Meanwhile, the White family builds a bond with the McFarland community. 3. We still enjoy the whole running thing. I was preparing myself because I knew I was going to get drafted," Cardenas says. But Cardenas isn't that worried about the enduring connection to one of his most regrettable moments. No stupid Mexicans. We are all human, which is to say we are all flawed, and to expect perfection is to expect the impossible. Because his citizenship application never went through, Cardenas was deported to Mexico after serving 10 years in federal prison. Besides Mr. White, other good-hearted adults looked after the towns needy youth.. But by going out so fast, I had endangered our dream. 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 werent training, had to help their parents pick crops in the fields. In a public statement, Damacio said that he regrets the decisions hes made and the lapse of judgment that led to the crimes, and that this was not the person he really was. 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. The dream came true for them, but not me. He has a LinkedIn profile but it does not contain much detail. You set out sprinting, on fire to prove something. 5 Captivating Reason to See McFarland USA #McFarland, Ceo of Solartiara & Editor of Mrs. Kathy King.com. What happened to Jose Cardenas McFarland? In a piece written for the LA Times, runner Jose Cardenas said this about the final race: In the movie and reality McFarland did barely win state when our usual sixth man, Danny Diaz, whose place in races had not counted all season, moved up to fifth, the last runner whose place counts. And White wasnt the only adult who looked after the kids. Jos is my cousin & an inspiration to all the family. We would have crushed the team that finished second. We speak to the gods. His alumni now coach the cross-country programs for the elementary, junior high, high school, as well as McFarlands Parks and Rec teams. The ethnicity of Whites athletes surprises their competitors but, once the efficiently paced story starts rolling, there are no big surprises in McFarland, USA. Its a feel-good movie, plain and simple. I will look for more pieces by you, as well. "Jose Cardenas had had a bad race," Valles recalled recently about his teammate who was the team's seventh runner that day, finishing 148th. 2. His wife enjoyed it more than he did, he says. Victor Puentes served a sentence at the penitentiary, but continued his education and got a good job. On the day he met Kevin Costner during the film shoot, Costner shook his hand and said, Youre better looking than the actor whos playing you! Danny was never overweight as portrayed in the film but rather, quite the opposite. Eventually sophomore Danny Diaz crossed in 91st (68th) to close out the scoring. I enjoyed your essay as well. Jose has done speaking engagements as well since the movies release. McFarland was a more balanced community of Latino and white residents then. The McFarland team continued to run races in North America, Europe, and Asia. It took one of our usually slower runners to sprint mightily down the stretch. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like JOSSUE CARRILLO CARDENAS discover inside . Appreciate your different philosophical way to look at things. He then worked at an institution in Soledad, California, followed by a job at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, California. Get our L.A. "I went into a depression," he says. A versatile and innovative financial manager with 30 years of management and leadership experience seeking to utilize skills in adult education and fiduciary oversight of multi-billion dollar . Just across that border are great grandkids he's never met, his two daughters and a son who also served in the U.S. military in Kosovo and Iraq, he says. 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. It was awkward doing the red carpet, he says, but it was a lot of fun.. He served four years in the Coast Guard and did maritime law enforcement.
Todd Narron Podcast, Tucson Medical Center Patient Information, Corin Ames Holmes On Homes, Articles J