A very important football game will open tomorrow night a 8:00 pm at Home Depot Stadium in Carson, CA, home of the LA Galaxy Soccer Team. It is the CIF Division 1 high school football championship game between Bellarmine College Preparatory, representing northern California, and Oceanside High School.
Bellarmine, a "Jesuit institution" as Tom Fuentes would say, and my alma mater, has always had a great football tradition but this is its first trip to the CIF finals. When I was a student at Bellarmine, I was the "manager" of the freshman football team. (That means I got cut but the coaches and players liked me hanging around.) During my high school years, Bellarmine’s quarterback was Dan Pasterini, who went on to the NFL as Houston’s first string quarterback. Bellarmine’s challenging Western Catholic Athletic League includes Serra High School in San Mateo, whose football top-gun when I was at Bellarmine was a guy named Lynn Swann, who went on to USC (another alma mater of mine) before he joined the NFL Steelers (Serra was also home to current Patriot’s Q-back Tom Brady, and S.F. Giant home run king Barry Bonds, who, if he took steroids at all, would have done it before there was any rule against it); and Dan Fouts, who was the quarterback at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco (another "Jesuit institution") who of course went on to play at Oregon and in the NFL. Three top NFL players from three different high schools in the same league at about the same time! The Bells go into the game with an 11-1-1 record.
This is the second high school bowl birth for the Oceanside Pirates. They defeated Novato High School in 2007. The Pirates beat Mission Hills in the CIF San Diego Division II semi-final earlier this month, 28-7, racking up 338 yards in total offense.
I will be at the game tomorrow to monitor any political law issues that might arise.
December 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
When you mentioned the Galaxy Stars I worried you might be promoting the recent import of soccer. Certainly,
there us no more useless activity than watching a soccer game, other than being in one.
But the big game IS American football — thankfully.
Lynn Swann was the Pennsylvania Republican candidate for Governor in 2006—now we learn where his good values were formed.
December 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jim:
Oceanside High, here in San Diego county, produced JUNIOR SEAU,
later an All-American for your USC Trojans, as well as an All-Pro for the
San Diego Chargers.
December 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
If the Bells win, there will be a big, late night Polka Party at Alpine Village after the game, and I am paying for it!
December 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
When the Pirates win, will you pay for the party at Seau’s in San Diego? If not, maybe Jantz will!
December 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
So much for having Shawn do Hispanic outreach.