Jim White and his wife Cheryl have three daughters. Even that teaches everyone who sees your story to see these truths: 1. I wish you great strength, grit and joyful moments. According to an interview, both he Cheryl, have seen the movie three times and cried three times. According to People Magazine, even Oscar winner Costner was impressed by the man he portrays in the new Disney film. Damacio Diaz. You and your friends worked in the mornings before school and on the weekends in the fields picking vegetables and fruit, just about the hardest (and most important) work anyone can imagine. 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. The company also supplied soft drinks for a gift basket for the speaker, which also includes goodies from Catawba College and the Y. Its a beautiful story of perseverance, teamwork and community! Coach White took care of the young runners - sometimes getting them shoes or letting people stay with his family, as did the community. 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. Jim White retired from coaching and still lives in McFarland. Now, 28 years later, Cardenas has had to relive that vexing memory because his performance is a focal part of "McFarland, USA," a film occupying theaters nationwide. We still enjoy the whole running thing. I loved the boys and their families. 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. It gives me great pleasure to hear from you, and that you found something you needed in my letter to Jose Cardenas. Le explica a White que comenz trabajar en los campos a los 10 aos. That final championship race. But lets talk about that race. No one is perfect. I havent ran another race since middle school because of it. Disgraced former Bakersfield Police Department detective Damacio Diaz, one of the real-life heroes of the movie "McFarland USA," was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Fresno to five . His journey from McFarland was pushed by his love for writing. As one of the runners said: McFarland was a more balanced community of Latino and white residents then. The country code given is in the ISO2 format. Jim has to talk him off. In real life, I consoled myself by reasoning that even though my place had not counted in the state championship, I had been the fourth man on a team that had won a dozen or so invitational races that year, some harder than the state meet. After high school, Cardenas went to a junior college "half-an-hour up Highway 99 and continued running, but on paper. It was the 1987 California high school state cross-country championships. The McFarland team continued to run races in North America, Europe, and Asia. He states that the movie has changed his life and helped him become a better person. "Sometimes he wakes up and he goes crazy," Cardenas says of his son. Thank you laura for your take on my essay. You will guide her throughheartbreak or disappointment byscrolling through your youth,looking for a moment that fills yourreservoir of empathy. I wish I could say I never fell short of working hard; I often do. David Diaz and Valles are still running buddies, and Diaz recently completed the 5K Fog Run in Bakersfield. Thomas is the head coach of the McFarland Track Club for kids and I help him with that. 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. Cardenas, a staff sergeant in the Army, lives in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife and daughter. 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. . 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. You didnt let your team down. By this point, the team and the sport have become the great pride and joy of the community. When we run, we are the gods. She eventually concluded that it was good for them as long as they still worked. They knew he truly cared about them, and the guys would work extremely hard because of the respect they had for him. I think its really inspirational for people, and we did come from humble beginnings, he says. You won as a team and you played such an important role in this team. The lake also has the largest and the most beautiful natural lagoons of the country. Running 8-12 miles a day, and going to school, AND working in the fields as much as time allowed. 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. Ms. Diamond, The Perezchica brothers Henry and Jose led McFarland, finishing 22nd and 37th overall . Nearly three decades later, Jose Cardenas is still bothered by that one race. I think its a pretty darn big deal.. Maria Marisol: [reading Jose Cardenas's paper] We fly like blackbirds through the orange groves, floating on a warm wind. Jose Cardenas became a writer for The Los Angeles Times and is currently serving his country in the U.S. army. 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. I lived in a dilapidated one-bedroom house across the street from my church with a couple older brothers who worked in the fields. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In California, Cardenas notes, the movie is a lot bigger deal. His former team members are making the rounds, speaking at schools and churches. 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. McFarland also had a superb girls cross-country team. : I love that his story continues to inspire so many people. Subsequently, McFarland High School missed qualifying for the 2014 State Meet for the first time in 24 years; many feel the school is being punished for its success. 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. Pace yourself. Still, my heart began to sink when a screening of McFarland, USA rolled around to its climax. After work each day, he routinely goes straight to cross-country practice to work with the kids on the McFarland Youth Track club. The cornerstone facts are true, but the story itself is not necessarily very accurate. Like many such projects, the movie was in the works for years. Jim White and his wife Cheryl still live in McFarland. Veterans who leave active military duty with an honorable discharge are eligible for a burial spot in a Veterans Administration national cemetery. They got that right. As his addiction became worse in the 90s, he got in trouble with the law and served time in a penitentiary. In 1999, police caught him driving a meth dealer around, and he was convicted of drug conspiracy. Julie and Jamie are also depicted younger than they were in 1987. We went on to better our lives.. 2023. First:; I want to say that I loved the poem Jose wrote. 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. 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. "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.". "We had no idea, with him not performing that day, if . What happened to Jose Cardenas McFarland? Cardenas and his wife, Melody who has family in Rowan County attended the movies premiere, and got to meet the actor who portrayed him, as well as Costner. The actual trip, which included stops at Morro Bay and Cayucos after an Atascadero race, was even more moving than what we see in the film because it included the girls team. We are real close. A caption says what became of me, a sort of champ in my own life too, I guess. Victor Puentes served a sentence at the penitentiary, but continued his education and got a good job. The rest of the film was shot around Los Angeles and in Camarillo, California. The latitude of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is 45.688499 , and the longitude is 5.915300 . Actually, we were favored to win by a larger margin. I knew a movie involving one of the biggest disappointments in my youth might be made someday. He hadn't lived in Mexico since he left when he was seven years old, and he spoke little Spanish. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. I saw the film as being about your tenacity, determination, loyalty, perseverance, athleticism, and strength. Cardenas, however, returned recently from the movie's premiere in Los Angeles with mixed feelings. He was never sent into combat, but after his two years were up, he joined the Army Reserves and then the National Guard for a total of seven years of military service. 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. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. In June 2016 he plead guilty and his sentencing will occur in September 2016. 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. Es uno de los tres hermanos Diaz. Dr. Barragan, I appreciate your comment and couldnt agree more. I was born ina family where everyone goes to college. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the given coordinates of the places in our database. The town and running are synonymous. Pop. After high school, Cardenas went to a junior college "half-an-hour up Highway 99 and continued running, but on paper. 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. In the end, he says, its a Hollywood movie. In the rest of the movie, he takes a back seat to the actors portraying the runners who performed better at the race. Disney Pictures can thank me, I guess, for creating some true drama To this day, I dont know why I went out uncharacteristically fast. "He thinks hes out there still, so someone needs to be there to kind of calm him down and stuff. Road map of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France shows where the location is placed. He would often buy shoes and food for his runners. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? Web. But Cardenas isn't just sitting around and hoping. "Jose Cardenas had had a bad race," Valles recalled recently about his teammate who was the team's seventh runner that day, finishing 148th. Damacio Diaz went to college, then became a police officer and a 17-year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department as a detective. 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. If you listen to how the runners speak about him (including current runners), you can tell he made a lasting impact on their lives. I agree, Griselda, he is an inspiration to people all over the world. 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. He competed in the 1,500-meter and 800-meter races and was a part of the team that won the conference in 1994. 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.. Facebook gives people the power to. Here are our top 10 picks, Super Mario Bros. Movie hits $1 billion, is No. He returned home to take care of his mother and during that time, he began to experiment with drugs. The film depicts the McFarland team forming and winning the state championship in the same year (1987). Mr. Cardenas, chin up! "People worked together in the town," Cardenas said. 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. Joe Vaughn is best known for leading the Buena High, California girl's basketball team to 500 plus victories. We just went to Cross Country Nationals in South Carolina. In an interview for the film, David also mentioned that he is a person of faith and that faith was a big part of the team. as part of a group of deported veterans lobbying the government to allow them to return to the U.S. Adelante Latin America Reporting Initiative. We had the right principles and the right attitude. Do you have any thoughts about those experiences youd like to share? Regardless, all opinions are honest and our own. You close your essay with this glimpse of forgiveness: McFarland, USA suggests my teammates became winners in life. Thanks for your comment! You saw the film as being about your disappointment. The climb upward from despair for Coach White isnt easy. At the end of the celebration, Lupe and Javi take Julie in a traditional parade of cars down the boulevard. His group painted a section of the border fence in Tijuana red, white and blue with the names of deported veterans. Those were my parents. I was preparing myself because I knew I was going to get drafted," Cardenas says. 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. Well, they certainly cant afford cars. But Cardenas isn't that worried about the enduring connection to one of his most regrettable moments. McFarland, USA (2015) Johnny Ortiz as Jose Cardenas. Get our L.A. P.S. One runner, Luis Partida, was replaced with David Diaz, the brother of Damacio and Danny Diaz. Marsh says she hopes the movie will help her runners understand that hard work pays off. He now works as a physical education teacher at McFarland Middle School. In a dramatic instance of culture shock, White, his wife, Cheryl (Maria Bello in a one-dimensional role as supportive spouse and mother), their disapproving teen daughter, Julie (Morgan Saylor), and the familys youngest child, little sister Jamie (Elsie Fisher), move from a predominantly white, middle-class neighborhood to a poor Mexican-American community. It was not predominately Hispanic as depicted in the film. A part of the region of Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes situated in the eastern France, the town of Aix-les-Bains is a part of the Savoie department and is a small community established on an amazing natural setting, in the highlands of the Alps. Victor Puentes, one of the brightest students on the team, went to college but then had to leave school when his mom got sick. (LogOut/ Im still active and I still run, said David in a recent interview. 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. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. This may be in the form of affiliate post, sponsored giveaways, sponsored post and other forms of advertising. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Jose Cardenas became a writer for The Los Angeles Times and is currently serving his country in the U.S. army. Sign up for our daily newsletter. And then there is his most uncomfortable moment in the movie - as in life. Jims wife Cheryl makes friends with Javis girlfriend (Martha Higareda). After high school graduation I went to junior college half an hour up Highway 99 and continued running. Not immigrant no more. 1 for 4 weeks, Jack Nicholson returns courtside to cheer beloved Lakers to playoff win. I enjoyed your essay as well. Jose has done speaking engagements as well since the movies release. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. McFarland, USA (2015) Vanessa Martinez: Maria Marisol. The mantra at our house has all ways been that good luck and opportunity comes through HARD WORK. When we run, our spirits fly. Im so glad my essay from 2015 found you in 2022. Today, in his 40s, Cardenas lives in Chesapeake with his wife, Melody. The reality is much less dramatic: he started teaching in the McFarland school district in 1964 and only middle school after graduating from Pepperdine University. Damacio eventually returned to McFarland and was active in the McFarland community, was loved by many, and excelled at his job as a police officer. Track coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is a newcomer to a predominantly Latino high-school in California's Central Valley. 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. Where did Thomas Valles go to college? All season we had dreamed of winning Californias first high school cross-country state championship. You moved on, kept running, went to college and graduated, creating opportunities that didnt exist before. And there was cotton," he said. Sometimes we are overcome by adrenaline and ambition. And by that measure, maybe I can let go for good the sour memory of the state race. McFarland was not a desperate last resort. The McFarland, USA true story confirms that at first, the mother of the Diaz brothers -- David, Damacio and Danny -- forbid them from competing. "It was over two decades ago, and there it is - on film. Jose Cardenas has made peace with seeing his life splashed across the silver screen. The Cougars finished sixth last week at the CIF Central Section Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno. His arrest was a big shock to the community because he had been so well-loved and respected. 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. Disney Pictures can thank me, I guess, for creating some true drama. Like his new students in McFarland, hes beaten down, carries a chip on his shoulder, is pessimistic about the future. Corrections? The inspirational message of the movie is essentially true. 6. 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. Too often I have found that our own will criticize those of us who want something better and different. Then computers.". Hurley Family Y. Second, there was a lot of good old-fashioned hard work. Omissions? Maria Marisol : [reading Jose Cardenas's paper] We fly like blackbirds through the orange groves, floating on a warm wind. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. While he was in the military, Cardenas applied for U.S. citizenship, but he says his application was never processed. True. Im so happy to hear from you, Jose. You all did. Marsh says she also appreciated the scene where Cardenas took off too fast in a race and hit the wall. (1999) 25,732; (2014 est.) The actor playing me takes off too fast and begins to fade halfway through the three-mile course. Try to see differently. No stupid Mexicans. Also, around 500 McFarland residents (4%) are the average age for high school seniors (18-19). We were good Christian kids, and we put our abilities to good use. Then I transferred to Humboldt State. 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. God Bless. It inspires me & my children. Jim Price, a janitor at the high school, let me live with his family. 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. Lupe has Javi fix Cheryls car after it breaks down and gives Cheryl a free manicure in her salon while she waits. The head coach complains to Principal Camillo and has Jim removed from his post as assistant coach. He had always wanted to be in law enforcement eventually pursued that career, starting in the 1990s. 4. Victor Puentes. "McFarland, USA Quotes." He also occasionally travels as a motivational speaker and in the course of doing these promotional appearances, he has seen the movie eight times. David has a Facebook page, but there hasnt been any updates posted since 2014. Mr. White was our physical education teacher, and thats when he first encouraged us to run cross-country. David Diaz: Hector Duran . The team really did call Jim Blanco as a nickname. Another accident killed McFarlands football coach and several beloved students from the school. You inspired me Jose Cardenas!!! "It's a great lesson to us, McFarland, that if we give our children, our young men, our young women goals, we let them see what's possible, they can exceed beyond their own wildest expectations." ~ Kevin Costner 8) Some Experience 2. All other trade-marks and graphic not owned by www.MrsKathyKing.com that appears on this post are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or a sponsored of www.MrsKathyKing.com. Jose read the blog post and responsed: Thank you Laura for your take on my essay. His teams won nine championships in 14 years. 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 Costners coach, a man wholl do what he thinks is right despite the consequences, is quickly relieved of his assistant football coaching duties at McFarland. He had been in a bad way since his oldest son was killed in a gang shooting. Coach White and his new students find that they have much to learn about one another, but things begin to change when White rea. Aix-les-Bains, city and Alpine spa, Savoie dpartement, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. "They wanted the farm kids in the movie," Cardenas said. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. 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. You might have miscalculated your strengths, but you took out energy from others as well who tried to follow you. Because his citizenship application never went through, Cardenas was deported to Mexico after serving 10 years in federal prison. He says McFarland, a small town south of Fresno, in California's San Joaquin Valley, was more urban and less ethnically polarized than is pictured in the movie. The movie opens Friday. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Aix-les-Bains, CRW Flags - Flag of Aix les Bains, France. Convincing the young men he wants for the team to join is an uphill battle. The event is set for 5:30 p.m. and tickets are $8. The dream came true for them, but not me. You have permission to edit this article. Please use Latlong.net at your own risk.