Concordia

The NCAA may have coined the phrase "March Madness," but it has nothing on the NAIA's version of a national basketball tournament. Concordia University men's basketball team boarded a plan Sunday morning for Kansas City, Mo., where the NAIA will host the 32-team tournament. But while the NCAA Tournament lasts weeks, the NAIA's gathering will be finished in less only six days. Concordia, which is seeded No. 4, will play in the first round against Oklahoma Christian on Thursday.

If someone were to tell See's Candies Chief Executive Brad Kinstler that the path to riches was through Christian holidays, there would be no debate. That's because his South San Francisco-based company makes the bulk of its annual revenue on Christmas and Easter, Kinstler said at the ninth annual Concordia University Faith and Business Forum on Thursday at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel. "In part, I can be troubled by the amount of profit made by Christian holidays," Kinstler said.

There never was any moment when Ken Ammann "decided" he wanted to be a coach. In a way, it was always a given, it was in his blood. Ammann's parents taught and coached at Edison and Fountain Valley high schools, so it was natural for Ammann to find his way back to school after he completed his own education. Even his time as a kid when he roamed the sidelines as a ball boy for Edison football games along with future NFL quarterback Todd Marinovich was an experience from which he learned.

MEN'S BASKETBALL Concordia 94, Vanguard 69 COSTA MESA — Cameron Nettles had 15 points to lead the host Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday. Taylor Kelly (12), Christopher Kupets (11) and Chris Pynch (11) also scored in doube figures for the Lions (11-6, 3-3 in conference). No. 6-ranked Concordia (14-2, 4-2) shot 53.8% from the field and posted a 50-25 rebounding advantage to overcome 21 turnovers, eight more than the Lions. Vanguard visits Fresno Pacific on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

COSTA MESA - It's not swagger, exactly, but the Vanguard University women's basketball team may have its mojo back. The Lions, ranked No. 10 in the NAIA, handled visiting Concordia, 86-45, in a Golden State Athletic Conference game Tuesday to extend their winning streak to four. The 41-point bulge marked the biggest margin of victory this season for the Lions (12-3, 6-1 in conference), who last blew out an opponent in the 90-50 season-opening home triumph over La Verne. "This is the first game [since Nov. 19]

Dan Fisher's cell phone still starts with area-code 808, even though he moved from Hawaii to take the women's volleyball coaching job at Concordia University several months ago. He really hasn't had time to do much of anything other than coach, virtually hopping off the airplane and landing in his new digs at the Irvine campus just in time to meet his players, the administration and get started. The Eagles had a remarkable season, going 18-0 in winning the Golden State Athletic Conference and rising to the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA poll.

The Concordia University men's basketball team will play a game on its home floor Tuesday night against San Diego Christian. But it's been so long since the last one there, the game might as well be on the moon. The Eagles are 6-0 this season, all six games away from CU Arena. In fact, the Eagles have not played a game on their home floor since March 8, when they beat Azusa Pacific to win last season's Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament. Tuesday's game against San Diego Christian is also the GSAC opener, so San Diego Christian didn't have a choice.

Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry was recently named the director of Concordia University's new Center for Public Policy. Curry, who will continue his part-time position on the Newport Beach City Council, recently retired as a managing director of Public Financial Management. The Irvine-based Concordia Center for Public Policy will hold events and conduct research about the "contemporary issues facing Orange County public sector leaders," according to a news release. Its first event will be an "annual report" on the state of the county on Nov. 17 with County Supervisor Bill Campbell.

Concordia University women's volleyball coach Dan Fisher said a couple months ago he didn't expect to have it all "figured out" this season, the first at the school for himself and his coaching staff. Coming from the University of Hawaii where he was the associated head coach, Fisher, 35, knew he was coming to a good program with support from the administration and talent on the team, but he also knew it was a very young team. There are no seniors and only four juniors on the roster.

Taylor King is on the move again, and this time he's going overseas. The former Mater Dei High School basketball standout has decided to skip his final year of college eligibility and play professionally in Germany, according to his last college coach, Ken Ammann of Concordia University. "He got some good offers and so he decided to go travel," Ammann said. "It's a good opportunity for him. I heard he got a deal in Germany and there were still more on the table. "I think he had to make a decision before school started and he decided to pursue that.