When we run, our spirits fly. "He thinks hes out there still, so someone needs to be there to kind of calm him down and stuff. Johnny helps to recruit other students: Victor, the three Diaz brothers, Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz), and Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts). He then worked at an institution in Soledad, California, followed by a job at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, California. The state championships arrive, and the entire town of McFarland comes to support the team. While he was in the military, Cardenas applied for U.S. citizenship, but he says his application was never processed. I enjoyed your essay as well -jose, You are a Radiant Beam Still David Diaz also went to college and is now the North Kern State Prison Supervisor of Academic Instruction. It is also true that most of the runners had never seen the ocean before. You moved on, kept running, went to college and graduated, creating opportunities that didnt exist before. Its a chance to pause, slow down, get our bearings before we get up and go again at a kinder pace. Appreciate your different philosophical way to look at things. The actor playing me takes off too fast and begins to fade halfway through the three-mile course. The school is located in a poor Latino community. Jim White and his wife Cheryl have three daughters. See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by . After a difficult first half, a disrespectful player talks back to White in the locker room during the coachs half-time talk. Jim has to talk him off. The mantra at our house has all ways been that good luck and opportunity comes through HARD WORK. All Rights Reserved. In 1999, police caught him driving a meth dealer around, and he was convicted of drug conspiracy. First:; I want to say that I loved the poem Jose wrote. Quotes.net. "That wasn't quite true, either," Cardenas said. 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. Despite the setback, the boys stick with Jim and continue training. High School Alumni in McFarland, California (CA) - Class Finders Im so happy to hear from you, Jose. They call us pochos sometimes.". When we run, we own the earth. 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. Sending love & good vibes your way, always. 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. 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. 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. "They wanted the farm kids in the movie," Cardenas said. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Andrea Riseborough flap prompts most significant Oscar campaign rules change in decades, Looking for fun this Cinco de Mayo weekend? No stupid Mexicans. Maria Marisol: [reading Jose Cardenas's paper] We fly like blackbirds through the orange groves, floating on a warm wind. 5, was not in the picture. Not immigrant no more. The latitude of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is 45.688499 , and the longitude is 5.915300 . 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 saw you as one who was so excited to make that difference that pace was unbalanced and it happens. Tambin es pizcador en las maanas. Besides Mr. White, other good-hearted adults looked after the towns needy youth.. After work each day, he routinely goes straight to cross-country practice to work with the kids on the McFarland Youth Track club. It inspires me & my children. Es uno de los 3 hermanos que corre para Jim White. Courtyard by Marriott has donated a room, and Cheerwine has donated bottled water for Saturday. (Erika Aguilar/KQED News) The California Report I hope you continue writing even as you pursue your career in the Army. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? 2023. It was a dismal day for me at Woodward Park, Nov. 28, 1987. Despite all the setbacks, their hard work pays off, and the team does well enough in their next race to qualify for the state championships. 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. Perhaps that is why stories like Mr. Cardenas and his teammates resonates so strongly, as reminders that what may seem impossible isnt. 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.'. This may be in the form of affiliate post, sponsored giveaways, sponsored post and other forms of advertising. Im still active and I still run, said David in a recent interview. They knew he truly cared about them, and the guys would work extremely hard because of the respect they had for him. Samaniego ran for the track and field team at CSUB because they didnt have a cross-country team. Team God bless you , I really enjoyed your article Mrs. Laura Diamond, and I am watching McFarland as I write. The movie is also going global. 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. . Coach White took care of the young runners - sometimes getting them shoes or letting people stay with his family, as did the community. He does a great job. I enjoyed your essay as well. Jose has done speaking engagements as well since the movies release. Cardenas says one of his grandsons just joined the military, too. His journey from McFarland was pushed by his love for writing. McFarland, USA Quotes 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. 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. Your personal disappointment gave another teammate (who, according to the movie, had nothing to offer the team butkeeping his faster brothers on the team) his first chance to make adifference. "I was off that day and, as in the movie, Danny Diaz came from behind to ensure our victory. The land is ours. When ourfire burns out, we need friends to help carry us for a while. Lupe has Javi fix Cheryls car after it breaks down and gives Cheryl a free manicure in her salon while she waits. Regardless, all opinions are honest and our own. Thomas Valles . It was the 1987 California high school state cross-country championships. He made his way to Playas de Tijuana, where he's been living alone, along with many other deported U.S. veterans. -BakersfieldCalifornian.com Did Coach White really help the kids work in the fields? Thomas, who was suspended for fighting a kid that made fun of his pregnant sister, is given a chance to avoid suspension if he agrees to join the cross-country team. In June 2016 he plead guilty and his sentencing will occur in September 2016. We were a poor community, but we were not underdogs in the athletic sense.. 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. The player, Johnny, is also kicked off the team. And Cardenas still runs, but not competitively. 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. Maria Marisol: [reading Jose Cardenas's paper] We fly like blackbirds 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 would not ask it from our loved ones, but somehow think it is okay to ask of ourselves. 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. McFarland, USA, its leading man Costner and the seven novice actors who play the storys cross-country team run their feel-good story to the finish line in inspirational style. The team hot to where they went because of you and others. No one is perfect. Danny Diaz, who is depicted as overweight in the film, was not overweight in real life. It gives me great pleasure to hear from you, and that you found something you needed in my letter to Jose Cardenas. He has a wife and a daughter. Kevin Costner stars as White, an embittered man whos struggling to support his wife and two daughters. . "I lost my job and everything, so I didn't have nothing.". The team and his family learn about this new job possibility and become upset. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Dr. Barragan, I appreciate your comment and couldnt agree more. The rest of the film was shot around Los Angeles and in Camarillo, California. They got that right. Open Letter to Jose Cardenas, One of "McFarland, USA"'s Real Life 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. 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. Currently, he is a correctional officer at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California. 'McFarland, USA' runs an inspirational race - theadvocate.com 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 ran track in the spring of my freshman and sophomore years but played football in the fall. "McFarland, USA Quotes." Jose Cardenas, McFarland's expected No. Their first night in McFarland is difficult. The running scenes in the orchards were filmed on-location in McFarland, in the same place where the real team trained. Aix-les-Bains, city and Alpine spa, Savoie dpartement, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. Population stats are from the United States Census Bureau. (Jason Kempin / Getty Images). We watched the movie together and they loved it. What happened to Jose Cardenas McFarland? You didnt let your team down. 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. I google searched Jose Cardenas after watching McFarland, USA out of curiosity, because as you may see, my last name is also Cardenas. Although White isnt a track coach, he sees great potential for a cross-country team at McFarland High. Then. After high school graduation I went to junior college half an hour up Highway 99 and continued running. It moves me everytime I watch the movie and I WATCH IT OFTEN WHEN I NEED TO FEEL GOOD. 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. Jose Cardenas, 67, stands at U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana that has been painted with the names of deported U.S. veterans. 3. You inspired me Jose Cardenas!!! However, Centennial High School was not formed until 1993. Hurley Family Y. You saw your mistake of setting out filled with fire and speed as failure; we thought you may have inspired your teammates to run faster, push harder than they otherwise might have. No stupid Mexicans. The latitude of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is 45.688499, Yes. When gang members show up and harass them, a fight breaks out and Julie is pulled to safety just before getting injured. Principal Camillo agrees, reluctantly, and Johnny is recruited as the teams first runner. He sees McFarland students running all over the community, including the produce fields. I wish you and your family all the best. (LogOut/ 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. It was a real eye-opener for our kids, because the kids in the movie picked in the fields before and after school.. McFarland, USA (2015) Full Cast & Crew. 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. I was preparing myself because I knew I was going to get drafted," Cardenas says.