The TEN
(“The TEN” is not a top ten but ten items worth being included in “The TEN”)
1.) Former Rosemead Panthers standout Deon Sumler turns 29.
2.) Texas Rangers reveal plans for new indoor-air conditioned-stadium.
3.) The Oakland Raiders Connor Cook will be the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first career start in the postseason.
4.) On this date in 1967 St. Francis beat Bishop Amat 54-53, thanks to a 20-point performance from guard Mike Newlin. Newlin went on to star at the University of Utah and average 14.9 points per game in 11 NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, and New York Knicks.
5.) Former San Gabriel Matador linebacking “Bad Dude” Frankie Villalobos turns 25 today.
6.) The Seattle Seahawks have signed (1/4/17) legendary NFL return-man Devin Hester.
7.) “How the hell does every story end up being about El Rancho? Why not Cal,Whittier,Alhambra etc. Gimme a break.”—MVS commenter “The Readership”
8.) Following his 2016 campaign, Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Greg Robinson enters his third NFL season in 2017. He will make a base salary of $2,354,918…and $3,449,836 from his original signing bonus.
9.) Chris Berman steps away from ESPN following this NFL post-season.
10.) Local NBA:
Los Angeles Clippers: 24-14—2nd Place Western Division
Los Angeles Lakers: 13-26—4th Place Western Division
Thank you, Pat! As I recall, your son played football at Rosemead High. I hope he’s doing well, and good luck to the Panthers next season!
I appreciate the kind words, gentlemen. I’ll do my journalistic best to continue providing useful and accurate information every season.
I always want Alhambra to win, but if a player from “the other team” has a big game, I always mention that in my report to the Mid-Valley staff. Outstanding efforts should be recognized, regardless of what school’s colors an athlete is wearing.
All of this should be primarily about the athletes, who also happen to be our local high school students.
I hope that other schools which have struggled, such as Blair, Temple City, San Gabriel, and Mark Keppel, can make their football programs more competitive once again.
Over in the Almont League, I’d like for all of the Alhambra district schools to make a good showing in football for a change. The last time we came close to seeing that happen was in 2011, when San Gabriel won the league title and Alhambra finished second.
I look forward to next season, which I hope will be marked by intense competition and good sportsmanship.
I’ve never met Ron Vrooman but from this post and previous post sounds like AHS is lucky to have him and his support. Best of everything to you Mr. Vrooman.
Ron Vrooman = class act.
Positive, informative and humble. Never met him but I like him.
I wish other schools had a Ron Vrooman that could tell us facts about their football program, and not some guy who hangs out at practices occasionally.
Tidbit for journalist Darnay Holmes recent commitment to ucla is severely tainted with $$$ from ucla and adidas to his father. You may want to investigate further as this is Cam Newton west at this point.
Dear Number Seven, I would like to start by wishing you a happy new year, and I invite you to attend as many Alhambra High football games as you can next season.
I’d be in almost complete agreement with you if you said, “Alhambra was doing poorly,” instead of speaking in the present tense, as if nothing has changed.
Finishing third in the Almont League, making the playoffs for the first time in five years, and ending up 5-6 overall don’t fit my definition of “doing poorly.” Our performance was certainly mediocre, but, for the moment, that mediocrity represents an improvement over the previous four seasons.
I graduated from AHS, and I’m a substitute teacher for the Alhambra district. My loyalty is, first and foremost, to the school and the program.
That philosophy transcends my personal connections to the people who are currently in charge, although we’ve gotten along well.
I’ve done stats and public information for the AHS varsity football team since 2003, and I’ve worked under six different head coaches: Ruedaflores, Torres, Kanach, DeSantis (who was interim coach for half a season), Leonardis (who never got to coach a game), and Bergstrom.
I have always spoken candidly about our program, including its shortcomings. We are not yet where we want to be, and we won’t be close to satisfied until we are regularly contending for league championships as well as playoff appearances.
We’ve achieved a modest improvement despite minimal support from the Alhambra Unified School District, which doesn’t seem to care much about high school athletics, and especially not about football. The lack of support is reflected by the fact that the football facility at Moor Field has looked like a dump for many years.
The previous school administration, which was led by Principal Brad Walsh, committed a series of blunders which adversely impacted our football program. These included:
1. Forcing out Head Coach Lou Torres in late 2011, almost immediately after he led Alhambra to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the CIF quarterfinals. His ouster was the result of the infighting you mentioned; school administrators, booster club members, and parents all had a hand in it.
2. Hiring Joe “Sexual Harassment” Kanach to replace Coach Torres.
3. Hiring Chuck “Creatine” Leonardis, a move which, as it turned out, only compounded the problems we already had.
As I said previously, Coach Leonardis is renowned locally for his football brilliance.
In addition, Coach Singiser’s record at Arroyo High School speaks for itself. I would never classify him or his highly successful program as “fiascos.” I have always believed in giving credit where it’s due, and he has earned it.
Under Singiser’s leadership, Leonardis undoubtedly played an important role in Arroyo’s CIF championship run. And, he has possibly learned from the situation that transpired under his watch at Alhambra High in 2013. (I don’t know either way; I met him only once during his brief time at AHS, and I haven’t talked with him since.)
However, those of us who stayed at Alhambra, or who came on board during the summer of 2013, were the ones who had to deal with the consequences that unfolded after his departure.
By the way, “brown-nosing” and backstabbing have never been my style. I’ve always spoken my mind openly, even if those around me don’t necessarily like or agree with what I have to say. I just try to be polite about it, and I’m willing to keep an open mind.
Here’s to a great 2017 season. Take care.
I guarantee that when current Alhambra coach Bergstrom or Principal Russell steps down, Vrooman will label them “fiascos” as well. Further, if Leonardis is the villain Ron says, why did MVS coach of the year Singiser hire him? Is Jim’s program a “fiasco” too? I repeat: Alhambra is doing poorly, and I explain: it’s because of rampant brown-nosing and back-stabbing.
Number Seven: “Alhambra is doing poorly…”
While we’re not nearly where we want to be, we’ve been making progress the last few years. We now have a good ground attack, and our defense is decent. Our most glaring deficiency at the moment is with our passing game, which we will continue working to improve.
Alhambra certainly did not have a championship-caliber year in 2016. But, the Moors went 5-5 in the regular season, finished third in the Almont League, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
AHS has a very good running back in junior Salman Gurung, who rushed for 1,045 yards and 13 touchdowns in 10 games this past season. In addition, our JV team won the Almont League title.
We can no longer be categorized as total failures.
It’s interesting that you brought up Chuck Leonardis, who played a pivotal part in the near-tanking of our football program which took place in 2012-13. Leonardis, who is generally regarded to have an excellent football mind, was fired (justifiably) because of his failure to exercise institutional control.
Leonardis had assistant coaches who were providing Creatine to some of the players, and he refused to part company with those coaches after they got caught. So, they all got fired.
Leonardis and his staff had the potential to be a successful group of football coaches, but they failed dismally because they lacked character and integrity. All they ended up doing was to add to the turmoil that already existed in Alhambra’s program.
The entirely new coaching staff which was brought in during the summer of 2013 had little time to prepare for the upcoming season, so it’s really not surprising that the team went 2-8 that fall.
This is Chuck Leonardis’ legacy at Alhambra High School. Picking up the pieces from that fiasco, and the Joe Kanach fiasco that preceded it, has been a serious struggle.
However, AHS principal Duane Russell, who had to deal with the Leonardis situation in his first week on the job, has been highly supportive of the staff he brought in.
Coach Eric Bergstrom and his assistants have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy into the rebuilding of our football program and the all-around development of our young people. Their efforts are beginning to pay off.
We’ll be back next season, and let’s see what happens then.
San Gabriel here a name who can turn a program around and make them decent Coach Hector Spathais.
“LOL”
“The Readership” laments the omission of anything related to Cal, Whittier and Alhambra. OK, here you go: Cal is wondering if and when to can Trudell, because the guy’s performance to date is dismal, Whittier continues to bottom feed in the Del Rio with no hope in sight, and Alhambra is doing poorly after firing their one good hope, who was named Chuck Leonardis. That’s it for these teams for the year…now it’s back to the El Rancho talk.