That race is going to healyour daughtersheart some day. Courtyard by Marriott has donated a room, and Cheerwine has donated bottled water for Saturday. Jose Cardenas - Fixed Asset Accountant & Receiving - LinkedIn Their coach, Jim White, a non-Latino newcomer to the McFarland community, is, in the eyes of many, a loser, too. Below are 10 McFarland Fun Facts that will inspire and give you a wonderful background about the movie. 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. What happened to Jose Cardenas McFarland? The team really did call Jim Blanco as a nickname. 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. Gang problems, as depicted in the film, were a real issue in McFarland. Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France 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. Besides Mr. White, other good-hearted adults looked after the towns needy youth.. Your child will strive, and will sometimes fail. McFarland, USA 2015 Stars: Kevin Costner, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport Rating: PG Runtime: 129 minutes Track coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is a newcomer to a predominantly Latino high-school in California's Central Valley. 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. It is also true that most of the runners had never seen the ocean before. McFarland, though unique with its amazing story, wasnt the only underdog small town cross-country team in that area to do well. His group painted a section of the border fence in Tijuana red, white and blue with the names of deported veterans. We saw the movie as a team, but we also wanted to invite local runners and the whole community, too.. Track coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is a newcomer to a predominantly Latino high-school in California's Central Valley. But Cardenas isn't that worried about the enduring connection to one of his most regrettable moments. McFarland won a state-record of nine championships with Jim White as coach. They were a family. 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. I think its a pretty darn big deal.. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like JOSSUE CARRILLO CARDENAS discover inside . In fact quite the opposite it was an inspiring, a wonderful example of perseverance and what it means to work as a team. Thank you for being part of this community. He started coaching the high school cross-country teams in 1980, not 1987. The final climactic race in the film happened exactly as it happened in real life, including all of the drama. Coach Jim White, whom the team called "Blanco," persuaded Cardenas to switch from football to cross-country. Jims wife Cheryl makes friends with Javis girlfriend (Martha Higareda). The lake also has the largest and the most beautiful natural lagoons of the country. If you read some of the stories, some of them are pretty crazy. High School Alumni in McFarland, California (CA) - Class Finders But by going out so fast, I had endangered our dream. Facebook gives people the power to. He competed in the 1,500-meter and 800-meter races and was a part of the team that won the conference in 1994. Thomas is the head coach of the McFarland Track Club for kids and I help him with that. (Spoiler alert for movie fans who arent aware that Disney movies havehappy and dramatic endings). The latitude of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is 45.688499 , and the longitude is 5.915300 . 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. JOSSUE CARRILLO CARDENAS - McFarland, California, United - LinkedIn "People forget that the Army has boats, too, and this has fulfilled my greatest chances to sail all over the world - the Caribbean and now off Dubai.". 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. 2023. "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 Danny Diaz, who is depicted as overweight in the film, was not overweight in real life. No stupid Mexicans. The home theyve bought is old and run-down, and the family experiences culture shock. Still, my heart began to sink when a screening of McFarland, USA rolled around to its climax. Mcfarland High School Class of 1988 Jose Carmona. 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. Please feel free to share with your friends by click on the share button. Like yours. Tragically, in November 2015 he was arrested for bribery and drug charges, including assisting a drug dealer. Yes. Its good to hear from you. Your still a god as you run..any race. We would have crushed the team that finished second.. He also coaches the McFarland Youth Track Club as an assistant to Thomas Valles, who is the head coach. He still follows local cross-country avidly and despite the artistic license of the film, he enjoyed the movie greatly. Remembering 1987: McFarland Fact vs. Fiction - California MileSplit He returned home to take care of his mother and during that time, he began to experiment with drugs. "He thinks hes out there still, so someone needs to be there to kind of calm him down and stuff. "I was off that day and, as in the movie, Danny Diaz came from behind to ensure our victory. 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. Jim White retired from coaching and still lives in . 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 He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Im so happy to hear from you, Jose. When we run, we own the earth. 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. Quotes.net. "It was over two decades ago, and there it is - on film. "But they've taken some liberties with the facts.". McFarland was not a desperate last resort. I lived in a dilapidated one-bedroom house across the street from my church with a couple older brothers who worked in the fields. Corrections? Luxury Homes for Sale in Aix Les Bains, Auvergne Rhne - JamesEdition ), Aging beloved YA author Judy Blumes inevitable foil isnt so bad after all, Review: The entertaining Peter Pan & Wendy charts a familiar course to Neverland, Rihanna has Smurfs on the brain for her next movie: Hope this gives me cool points, Review: In Guardians 3, ultra-weird superhero fun doesnt have to be Rocket science, The new Tom Cruise just might be a London office worker with a taste for risk. 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. 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. "People like Rita Peebles, a cook in the cafeteria who slipped five bucks into my pocket before every away meet so I wouldn't go hungry when the bus stopped at a McDonald's.". By this point, the team and the sport have become the great pride and joy of the community. Thanks for your comment! A caption says what became of me, a sort of champ in my own life too, I guess. I saw you as one who was so excited to make that difference that pace was unbalanced and it happens. We speak to the gods. Marsh says she also appreciated the scene where Cardenas took off too fast in a race and hit the wall. Victor Puentes served a sentence at the penitentiary, but continued his education and got a good job. In one of the 1987 races, an opponent from Bakersfields Centennial High School is shown. Movie Spoiler for the film - MCFARLAND USA 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.'. In addition, McFarlands mysterious cluster of cancers, which rapidly claimed the lives of several children, happened around the same time and gained national media attention. Mr. White was our physical education teacher, and thats when he first encouraged us to run cross-country. 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. 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' 55.0800'' E. Coordinates of Aix-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France is given above in both decimal degrees and Before the class ends, their mother forces the brothers to leave class to go work in the fields. As one of the runners said: McFarland was a more balanced community of Latino and white residents then. In response to his essay, Laura Nicole Diamond wrote an open letter to Jose to encourage him and let him know how an inspiring example he was to people. In truth, David Diaz had graduated the year before the team won the state championship. Ester Marsh, the Ys fitness director and active with the Ys Warriors track team, is thrilled about Cardenas appearance. The company also supplied soft drinks for a gift basket for the speaker, which also includes goodies from Catawba College and the Y. Coach White and his new students find that they have much to learn about one another, but things begin to change when White rea. Stay in touch. Appreciate your different philosophical way to look at things. 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. In the rest of the movie, he takes a back seat to the actors portraying the runners who performed better at the race. 'McFarland, USA' film revives long-buried memory for runner Eventually sophomore Danny Diaz crossed in 91st (68th) to close out the scoring. Im sure there is some embellishing going on in the movie, but it truly is an amazing story.. Maria Marisol : [reading Jose Cardenas's paper] We fly like blackbirds through the orange groves, floating on a warm wind. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 1987 was the first year that the state cross-country championship race was offered to schools. Jose Cardenas always wanted to serve in the military. Give others a chance to shine. We would not ask it from our loved ones, but somehow think it is okay to ask of ourselves. The shoe bounces off the locker, hits the player in the face, and cuts his cheek. Not immigrant no more. The album has been published and can. The father agrees. Then you spent afternoons running miles upon miles upon miles. Mr. Cardenas, chin up! The running scenes in the orchards were filmed on-location in McFarland, in the same place where the real team trained. After Jim meets Principal Camillo (Valente Rodriguez) on his first day of work, he begins his new job as a life science/PE teacher and assistant football coach. "They do kind of make fun of us because we dont speak the language. I will look for more pieces by you, as well. We speak the birds' language. However, his come-from-behind clutch running performance in the 1987 championship that secured the title for McFarland really did happen. 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.". Please use Latlong.net at your own risk. "Life is not just one race," he said. 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. 10 McFarland USA Fun Facts That Will inspire You #McFarland "The main crop was almonds. You might have miscalculated your strengths, but you took out energy from others as well who tried to follow you. Jose Cardenas, 67, stands at U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana that has been painted with the names of deported U.S. veterans. McFarland cross county looks to reach heights of past He states that the movie has changed his life and helped him become a better person. Thats want counts as much as a victory itself. That final championship race. Disgraced cop of 'McFarland USA' fame gets five years in prison (LogOut/ He served four years in the Coast Guard and did maritime law enforcement. McFarland, USA (2015) Johnny Ortiz as Jose Cardenas. Im a german journalist, living in Paraguay with my adopted son and two other paraguayan foster children. Try to see differently. As his addiction became worse in the 90s, he got in trouble with the law and served time in a penitentiary. Fortunately, the sympathetic Principal Camillo (Valente Rodriguez) lets him keep his teaching job. I wish you and your family all the best. Warmly, Laura. I took it for granted that I would go. Their oldest daughter, Tami, is not depicted in the film. McFarland, USA (2015) - Vanessa Martinez as Maria Marisol - IMDb Johnny helps to recruit other students: Victor, the three Diaz brothers, Jose Cardenas (Johnny Ortiz), and Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts). 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 mantra at our house has all ways been that good luck and opportunity comes through HARD WORK. I enjoyed your essay as well -jose, You are a Radiant Beam Still All he had to do was run as he had all season - not necessarily finish first, just well enough to earn points for a team victory. Its amazing how everybody is connected to it. Damacio Diaz. Currently, he is a correctional officer at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California.