Fanview: February 11, 2016

Joe T.

Joe T.

By Joe Torosian

“Friends all tried to warn me
But I held my head up high
All the time they warned me
But I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me
But I guess, I didn’t care
I turned my back and
Left them standing there”
—Mike Curb Congregation

Kick it!

Right off the Top: I’m a Christian, I’m a Pastor, and I do my best to be the best I can be. So I say this to you…pray for your coaches. If prayer is not your thing…have good thoughts for your coaches…I say this because they are vanishing like the Jedi.

I had this column half-written and then news of Joel Sanchez’s departure from El Monte’s sidelines came and I decided to ground it for a while.

This column is not about Joel Sanchez and his particular situation, but it is about all the “Joel Sanchez’s” out there and all the situations they face.

When I linked our “Sanchez Resigns” story on Facebook, a comment underneath it asked; “why?”

I gave the standard answer…the same answer 95% of the coaches give to us when they step down… “It’s time”… “My kids are growing up” … “I want to spend more time with my family” … etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Very infrequently (and never “on the record”) has a coach come to us and said: “I quit because of the f-bombing administration” or “The f-bombing parents drove me f-bombing crazy!”

I’m hundred percent certain no coach, I’ve known over the last 18 years, has ever quit because he (focusing on football here) was sick of the kids or of football itself.

In their off the record words it was always because of the f-bombing administration and/or the f-bombing parents, boosters, and intrusive alumni.

We always fantasize in the office about going kamikaze down the smoke stack and sharing everything we know (Because I’ve pulled back the last year and a half, I can promise you Peterson knows more dirt than I do). Our analytics would spike but talk about burning bridges.

Maybe you don’t believe this, maybe you do, but I’m not close enough to any coach to just show up at their house and open up the fridge. I can do this at Peterson’s, Barker’s, Villanueva’s, and I would do it to Gonzo just to drive him crazy.

But I don’t have that kind of a relationship with the football coaches.

So I say this honestly…I admire these guys. Even when Mooney big timed me in an interview because a cable cameraman was there, when Singiser considered punching me because he misinterpreted a column I wrote, or when Ahhing, I was told, was angry with me because he confused me with another writer. (I don’t even feel comfortable being around Ahhing when he’s in a good mood.)

The stuff a coach goes through (and I’m sure other coaches do it for other sports—I’m just familiar with football) is stuff you never know about. Some of this off the record stuff is not just them being angry at the administration or frustrated with parents, or furious at another program for poaching a player.

A lot of the off the record stuff, the stuff they don’t brag about, the stuff the message boards don’t sing about, is the money they raise for the kids that don’t have anything.

The spirit packs, the meals, equipment, and the groceries they provide to families in need. The things they do in the off-season with their own time to better the lives of their players. The things that have nothing to do with money, but the opening of their hearts to those in need of a solid male role model.

Other stuff being the times their butts are hung out to dry by a dishonest booster. When a parent scheduled to work in a fireworks stand/fundraiser doesn’t show and they have to cover it by changing their family schedule.

Folks, I’m not even talking about Xs & Os…I’m not talking about winning or losing…I’m just talking about the stuff they do that nobody knows about.

I’ve likened others in sports to this before but these football coaches are truly secular pastors to their communities. They guide a flock and will go hunting to help save the one who has strayed away…Even when we all think they are crazy for doing so.

Yeah, there are bad coaches just like there are pastors who suck

And like Churchianity is driving pastors away, entitlement, message boards, anger, self-promotion, and CYA are driving some of the best people around away from the job that they are best built for.

I don’t blame them for moving on, who wants to put up with a daily heaping of garbage that has nothing to do with what happens on the field.

What happens on the field is fair game…argue if they should punt instead of going for it…ask why San Dimas went for two in the 2011 semifinals against San Gabriel…but to question character and motivation of these coaches without clear cause is asking for disaster.

And be careful what you ask for…because you are about to get it.

I say pray for these guys because you don’t know how much you really need them. Pray for them because your kids and your kids, kids are going to need men like them.

…And they are slowly going away.

Yeah, I’m not close to them in a “come to my pad, open the fridge, and watch the game with me” kind of way…But I am close enough to have my heart break for them.

It truly does.

In regards to Sanchez…yeah, his win and loss record might resemble something that looks like Romeo Crennel’s…but five playoff appearances in the last eight seasons ranks him in the top five of football coaches in EMHS history.

More than that, Sanchez was instrumental in getting his team’s games on campus. Through the work he did, and inspired, that miserable collection of grandstands at EMHS became the place to be. Homecoming became an event, there was energy and life in a program that had seen little life before his arrival.

It’s probably fair to say he (and his team of leaders) resurrected a football culture at El Monte…But it’s more accurate to say he helped birth a football culture at El Monte.

Joel Sanchez didn’t tell me why he quit, but his “off-the-record” reasons are the same as 95% of all the coaches that quit: lack of support, undermining, CYA, and entitlement.

The Dude abides…

613

Psalms 106:34-39

Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com

Author of “Tangent Dreams: A High School Football Novel” available through Amazon.com

Follow Joe on Twitter @joet13b

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

"Joe has captured the essence of the high school football experience. You don't have to have played or coached to be instantly engaged in the story and identify with the characters. A great read!...Lots of laughs and memories from what high school football is like on the inside.”---Mike Mooney “A very accurate account of high school football.”---Jon Dimalante “F-bombing Papa Joe, has written something truly great here...He’s done a great job capturing the moments in the life of a high school football player both big and small from a unique angle.”---Josh Ouellette “TANGENT DREAMS: A High School Football Novel" by Joe Torosian is NOW available through Amazon.com (Cover by Pat Cherry www.blackheartart.com)

“Joe has captured the essence of the high school football experience. You don’t have to have played or coached to be instantly engaged in the story and identify with the characters. A great read!…Lots of laughs and memories from what high school football is like on the inside.”—Mike Mooney
“A very accurate account of high school football.”—Jon Dimalante
“F-bombing Papa Joe, has written something truly great here…He’s done a great job capturing the moments in the life of a high school football player both big and small from a unique angle.”—Josh Ouellette
“TANGENT DREAMS: A High School Football Novel” by Joe Torosian is NOW available through Amazon.com
(Cover by Pat Cherry www.blackheartart.com)

Leave a Reply