A few months ago, a young man I know had lost his job, and was sort of feeling sorry for himself. Well, I’m not one to have a ton of sympathy. My view is, “Okay, the job’s gone. Go ahead and be bummed out for a couple of days, take a breather, and then go make something happen. Be proactive.”

It just so happened my brother who, like me, has a bit of entrepreneurial spirit was in town at the time. So, I took the young man over to my bro’s place and we had a little talk about people we knew who had started their own business on a shoe string, as in little or no money. You see, you don’t have to depend on other people to “give” you a job. With some hard work and a willingness to take a risk, you can make your own job.

At my brothers, we talked about a lot of different businesses, including a guy who has started his own business while still attending college at Chico State, Danny Orloff. Many in Siskiyou County may remember Orloff from his time playing basketball at Yreka High School. Well, a year and a half or so ago, Orloff kicked of his clothing business, Fight the Stereotype. What stereotype? Orloff explains.

“So, I first got the idea when I was at College of the Siskiyous. After going away to Stanislaus and coming back home I noticed that it is just habit for us to judge others by appearance. There are certain types of clothing that makes people seem different. We are very judgmental as humans and I think a part of that is today’s society and how we have adapted to stereotyping. It shouldn’t matter if somebody has their hat on backward or their pants up like Steve Erkel. Fight the Stereotype is about putting your judgments aside and seeing what is unique and different about each individual.”

The first order of 100 FTS T-Shirts were marketed primarily by word of mouth in the Chico area, and sold out in about two months or so. The second time around didn’t go quite as well, but Orloff stuck with it, and managed to get together enough capital to make a tank-top order of his custom design for the spring of 2011. That round of product flew out of his hands, selling as many 14 tank-tops in one day. (more…)

Yreka boys varsity basketball coach Christian Birch’s choice for the Miner Perk Boys Basketball Player of the week is Cody Hoff. Hoff put up 13 points and pulled down 8 rebounds against Anderson last Friday. (more…)

Yreka varsity girls coach Ken Dysert’s choice for the Miner Perk Girls Basketball Player of the Week is Kelsey Stonier.

“She’s improving every game, and has provided a spark to our offense,” said Dysert. (more…)

Tyler Johnson is Yreka coach Christian Birch’s pick for the Miner Perk Boys Basketball Player of the Week. Birch said that Johnson’s work ethic and point production have both improved. Johnson put up 7 points against Weed last week, and pulled down 6 boards. Johnson followed up with a double-double against West Valley this week, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, as well as a 9-point performance against Central Valley. (more…)

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Yreka varsity girls basketball coach Ken Dysert’s pick for the Miner Perk Girls Basketball Player of the Week is Katie Brummett.

“She’s been working harder, and has improved quite a bit on defense,” said Dysert. (more…)

Yreka varsity boys basketball coach Christian Birch’s choice for the Miner Perk Basketball Player of the Week is Jayson Sadowski. Sadowski averaged 9 points per game in the Corning Tournament last weekend, and hit the game-winner against Bonanza in the final game of the Basin Best Tourney the prior weekend. (more…)

Yreka coach Ken Dysert’s pick for the Miner Perk Girls Basketball Player of the Week is Dani Deegan for the week of 12/19 – 12/25. Deegan led the Lady Miners in scoring with 10 points in their win over Mt. Shasta. (more…)

Ryan Kennedy is Yreka coach Christian Birch’s pick for the Miner Perk Boys Basketball Player of the Week. Kennedy averaged 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2.5 steals per game against Rogue River and Mt. Shasta last week. (more…)

Yreka Miner coach Christian Birch has selected Grant Cowley as his Miner Perk Boys Basketball Player of the Week for last week. Birch says Cowley, “displays a positive attitude, works hard, and has improved the most so far.” (more…)

Mackenzie Allen is Yreka girls basketball coach Ken Dysert’s choice for the Miner Perk Girls Basketball Player of the Week. Allen notched a double-double against Rogue River last week, with 10 points and 13 rebounds. That led the Lady Miners in both categories. (more…)

Continuing with our catch up attempt, Yreka varsity boys basketball coach Christian Birch selected Jeremy Cox as the Miner Perk Basketball Player of the Week for the week of 12/5 – 12/10. Cox was an all-tourney selection at the Holiday tournament, and was averaging over 11 points, 5 steals, and 5 assists per game in the tourney before being injured. He’s now back to playing and dropped 18 points on Rogue River last night. (more…)

We’re running a week behind in the Miner Perk Player of the Week postings (It’s a logistics thing). So, it’s time to get caught up. Yreka varsity girls Coach Ken Dysert’s player of the week pick for the week of 12/5 – 12/10 is Dakota Cash. Cash was selected for all-tourney honors at the Holiday Tournament. She had 18 points, 13 boards and a pair of steals in the championship game. (more…)

Yreka Coach Ken Dyserts’ pick for the Miner Perk Girls Basketball Player of the Week is Kayla Stonier.

“She plays the game the way it should be played,” said Dysert.

Knowing Coach Dysert that means: Kayla Stonier plays hard, plays smart, works hard in practice, and does what she’s asked to do on the court. (more…)

Yreka Miner basketball coach Christian Birch’s pick for the Miner Perk Boys Basketball Player of the Week is Dean Schafer. Schafer averaged 9 points, 2.7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game during the Yreka Invitational Tournament last weekend. (more…)

Yreka Miners football coach Orlyn Culp’s pick for the Miner Perk Football Player of the Week is Kaden Culp. In his first varsity start at the quarterback position, Culp threw for a touchdown and ran for two more, including the game-winner in overtime to beat Orland. (more…)

Yreka football coach Orlyn Culp’s pick for the Miner Perk Football Player of the Week is Trevor Daugherty. He’s, “A great kid, who plays hard,” said Culp.

Daugherty is 19/21 in PATs (0ver 90%), tops in the Northern Athletic League. He’s 2/2 in field goal attempts. Daugherty also returns kicks and is averaging nearly 29 yards per punt return this season, and has taken two to the house. He also averages 21 yards per kickoff return, 4th best in the NAL. (more…)