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Football: Mendoza is out at St. John Bosco

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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Kiki Mendoza, whose St. John Bosco teams had failed to meet expectations in recent years, was fired earlier this week by school administrators, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

The Braves went 5-5 this season, including a 2-3 record in the Trinity League. They also ended 2008 on a sour note, losing three of their last four games and failing to make the playoffs after a 6-1 start.

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Mendoza had coached at St. John Bosco for 20 years, including the last 12 as the head coach. His teams had not made the playoffs since 2004 and the Braves last won a league title in 2002, when they went undefeated in the Serra League but lost in the quarterfinals of the Division I playoffs.

From a media standpoint, Mendoza was candid and a joy to deal with. Hopefully, he can land another coaching job in Southern California.

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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