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“What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute’s mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a toy?”

—Shakespeare

Kick it!

Right off the top: Christmas claymation…Creepy.

Did you know Crescenta Valley’s Connor Van Ginkel is the only wide receiver in the Southeast Division with over a 1,000 yards receiving? Through 12 games in 2014 he’s caught 60 passes for 1,237 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Really thought Salesian HC Angelo Jackson would do better in our poll.

About the Poll: I know we took a few comments that all coaches are winners… My response is; no they’re not…in terms of performance. In terms of commitment and effort, we’re not judging that.

As far as performance goes; there are good Presidents and bad Presidents. There are good Ministers and bad Ministers. There are good teachers and there are bad teachers. That has nothing to do with character but performance. We didn’t ask for people to vote on who the worst is, we asked for fans to vote on who they thought was the best this year.

Just like life, and everything else, we’re all given obstacles. A coach is given ten obstacles over the course of eleven weeks in the fall and just to get to those weeks they have to: Find a staff (largely off campus), manage the boosters, oversee fundraisers, deal with player issues that go more into the “father figure” aspect, deal with parents, grade checks, transfers, message boards, injuries, constantly hope the athletic director didn’t give the football field to the band during practice time…And then there is their own family to take care of.

They all have to do it and some have better year’s than others…

First name that comes up in our office every week is Burbank’s Richard Broussard, and he’s not even in the poll. All we wanted were thoughts.

If I could have a holiday wish or two this season it would be for a coach to want to share a “Chalk Talk” with us (those were very popular a few years ago, but coaches started getting a little paranoid about sharing what they considered “sensitive” material)…My second wish would be for our message boards to turn into a discussion about strategy and tactics instead of “He sucks”, “Dad sucks”, “He transferred”, and “Coach sucks”.

Instead wouldn’t a thread fifty comments long about; stopping/containing Pomona quarterback Darreon Lockett, stopping the spread, stopping the read option, attacking a 3-5-3, or not being overwhelmed by a “radar” defense be far more interesting things to read?

Interesting that there’s a possibility for a Downey-La Serna rematch. The Vikings took the 2012 title on a rainy night against the Lancers.

Charter Oak and Los Altos is also a possibility. The Chargers haven’t won a title since 2009 and the Conquerors haven’t since 2003. The two schools met three times in the finals, 1999-2001, and Los Altos took two of the three.

On the show last night (still available, click on UStream button) we listed 12 schools where rumors have blown our way via Twitter, Facebook, text, email, comment board, and an elbow to the rib about coaching changes. We did not confirm (this is just buzz) any of them, but discussed them. Then as we were turning out the lights two more came in. So, in no particular order.

(Peterson, Barker, & myself voted on air if we thought there would be coaching changes at these places.***Note: We are aware than conditions on the ground can change week to week, so stay tuned.)

Temple City: No, unanimously. Reason: The Rams were competitive and Rob Castaneda needs more time.

Whittier Christian: No, unanimously. Reason: Sergio Gradilla is too good a coach and has had too much success. 2014 was an anomaly.

Santa Fe: Two said no, one said yes. Word is the Chiefs lower levels are loaded.

Glendora: No, unanimously. Reason: Matt Fink is coming back, there’s talent in the house and the Tartans went 9-3.

Claremont: No, unanimously. Reason: Mike Collins team went 6-5 after going 1-9, Duy Tran-sampson is back. Not happening.

San Dimas: Two say keep an on San Dimas, one says yes. Background: Like Matt Koffler at Rosemead, Jim Singiser at Arroyo, Bill Zernickow is annually suspected of stepping down. A decade in we agree it bares watching, except one who says it will happen.

South El Monte: Yes, unanimously. Reason: All of our dealings with Ibis Aguilar have been great, but there’s been a persistent firestorm around the program during his tenure even when there’s been success. Plus the whole teaching job thing is a factor.

South Pasadena: Two say yes, one says no. Reason: Martin Konrad’s suspension after the filming incident is brutal. Two of us cannot see a clear path to his return, one of us thinks he will survive after several mea culpas, a major slap on the wrist, and some form of service. Keep an eye on this.

Duarte: No, unanimously. Reason: It was a bad year for the Falcons and first year head coach Travis Brown. However, coaching changes at Duarte generally come after the team has had success. So right now, we don’t think any change will come.

Mt. View: Two say yes, one says no. Reason: Real heavy bombardment is coming in that a change will happen. Minority argument is Victor Ambruso has worked hard in a difficult football culture. It’s one thing to replace a coach, but who are you going to replace him with? Do you have a teaching job available? Do you have somebody that wants to come to View?

Walnut: No, unanimously. Reason: After some initial success under Michael O’Shields the Mustangs have gone 7-33 over the last four seasons. We don’t know if this applies at Walnut but the new mantra in administrative circles is they will take 1-9 and 2-8 as long as there are no arrests, no drama, and kids make grades. The belief, of our staff at least, is this may be in place at Ken Gunn.

Arroyo: Two say yes, one says no. Reason: See San Dimas. Watch, keep an eye on, but after twelve seasons only His Arroyo Baldness knows.

Late Adds:
La Mirada & Pomona. Change for the Red Devils wouldn’t be surprising. Change for the Matadores program would be. More on these later.

Regards:

In regards to Brian Tabatabai returning as El Monte OC in 2015: Relax Coach, we checked with the Magic Eight-Ball and “All Signs Point To Yes!”

In regards to Rex Ryan’s future with the New York Jets: Vaya con dios.

In regards to Salesian: The Mustangs defeated Mission Prep 34-0 to win the Northeast Division in 2013. Some stiff on the show last night didn’t know that.

In regards to Fantasy Football: I was never that big of a fan.

In regards to the USC defense: Was Monte Kiffin rehired?

Christmas Sux What Dept.:
1.) The Elf on The Shelf
2.) “Last Christmas” by Wham
3.) Christmas claymation

The Dude abides…

596

Psalms 89:6

Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com
“Joe T.’s Scoreboard” is found at www.midvalleynews.com every Wednesday & in the hard copy of the Mid Valley News, published every Wednesday
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