{"id":57289,"date":"2017-01-24T19:43:03","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T02:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=57289"},"modified":"2017-01-25T22:35:12","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T05:35:12","slug":"fanview-january-24-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=57289","title":{"rendered":"Fanview: January 24, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joe<\/a>

Joe T. & the Mets are 70 days from opening day.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

By Joe Torosian<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when I wake up in Milagro, I want to scream.\u201d\u2014Ruby Archuleta<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kick it!<\/p>\n

Right off the Top:<\/strong> What happens in the Rio Hondo League next football season? Will San Marino, Monrovia, South Pasadena and La Canada get two byes during league play?<\/p>\n

Can anyone, honestly, see Blair and Temple City fielding competitive teams? Or competitive teams when league play starts?<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never had one opinion when it comes to transfers, but two.<\/p>\n

\"Speakes2\"<\/a>The First:<\/strong><\/span>
\nIf you think of Duarte football immediately after Wardell Crutchfield Jr. left, then you say, \u201cGet Out!\u201d If you think of Blair, Ganesha and Hoover, then you say, \u201cGet Out!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about winning; it\u2019s about playing football safely. When you have a coaching change every year or have had six coaches in the last ten years\u2026I\u2019ll tell you flat out, your program is not safe.<\/p>\n

And if you are a fan, booster or parent\u2026before you blame the coaches\u2026take a long look at your administration and your school district.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not against schools dropping football\u2026I\u2019m not against schools dropping down to eight-man football\u2026but I am against a revolving door on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

I like walk-on coaches, but when a program\/school is hiring a string of walk-on coaches, one after another, after another, after another\u2026it\u2019s time to shut it down.<\/p>\n

Scenarios like that not only produce bad football, but they raise the risk of injury\u2026and a bad injury at a school that has patched-worked its program for years\u2026hurts good football programs and schools striving to do things right.<\/p>\n

If I was at Temple City and wanted a football experience as a player, or as a parent wanting it for my son, I\u2019d get the heck out. I\u2019d look for someplace to go\u2026If football is important–I believe football is. Just like the arts, but that\u2019s another column–then it is time to explore options.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>

Joe T.’s High School football novel is available through Amazon.com<\/strong>
“If you love high school football then Tangent Dreams is a must read…”–Longtime SGV HC & Assistant Coach Greg Vaniman<\/strong><\/span>
“Joe captures the essence of high school football and does it with a local flavor that makes this book especially interesting.”–Mike Maggiore, HC West Covina Bulldogs<\/strong><\/span>
\u201cA literary snapshot of what goes on over the course of a high school football season\u2026an awesome read and a story that truly will transcend time.\u201d\u2014Jim Singiser, AD\/HC Arroyo Knights Football<\/strong>
\u201cThrill, dread, anxiety, love, agony, success, and failure; basically all the emotions you feel as a football player\/coach as you do in life, all wrapped up in a single book.\u201d\u2014Marc Paramo, HC Rosemead Panthers Football<\/strong><\/span>
\u201cI read the book and really enjoyed it a great deal. I would think coaches and parents could Learn a lot.\u201d\u2014John \u201cCoach\u201d Kentera, former sports talk host at Mighty 690 & Mighty 1090<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The Second:<\/strong><\/span>
\nI think transferring in the hopes of earning a scholarship is ridiculous. The world is connected these days, and if you have the grades and talent, you’ll be found.<\/p>\n

Ten years ago I had a conversation with a coach about what it meant to him, when he was young, to play for the hometown team.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, I wanted to play for my high school. I wanted to play for my hometown. I never thought of transferring someplace else.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think that attitude still exists\u2026maybe it doesn\u2019t\u2026and if it doesn\u2019t, I want to believe it can exist again.<\/p>\n

When I was young, I played basketball at El Monte\u2026I loved putting on the jersey with El Monte across the chest. It was the school of my hometown\u2026It was the school my family went to\u2026It meant something to me\u2026Years later, when playing pick-up basketball around the valley, I\u2019d wear my old El Monte practice jersey. Not because it had my last name on the back but because it had El Monte stitched across the front.<\/p>\n

I was a screw-up in high school. Some people shine in high school and then screw-up in life\u2026I was the person who screwed up in high school and has come to have a blessed life.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone knows this; I don\u2019t believe I\u2019ve ever written about it or told the MVS staff\u2026but at the end of my junior year, I almost transferred to Temple City.<\/p>\n

The thinking was to give me a fresh start academically and who wouldn\u2019t want to play basketball at a school with a great football team. I had the long hair, the long-range jump-shot, I could have been the TC version of Pete Maravich.<\/p>\n

I probably should have done it\u2026but what outweighed everything\u2026what made the decision not to go\u2026was El Monte High School and playing basketball for the Lions.<\/p>\n

There was no way I could leave El Monte\u2026Besides everybody in Temple City in those days seemed to have blonde hair\u2026I would never have fit in.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not your whole life. Football for 99% of us belongs to the \u201cFat Guys\u201d after high school\u2026So it should be experienced when the opportunity is there.<\/p>\n

But what are you going to do if you are at a school that is always in transition? That\u2019s the dilemma if you\u2019re at Temple City and El Monte these days. It has been the dilemma for places like Glendale and Hoover for decades.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

San Marino was in this boat a few years ago\u2026They invested in a quality coach, gave him time to build and a miracle has happened. Ten years ago the Los Angeles Times featured the Titans program as an example of the changing demographics in the San Gabriel Valley.<\/p>\n

But the commitment by the administration\/school district\/parents brought about a revival.<\/p>\n

If you are a parent of a football player in Temple City you\u2019d be foolish to allow the school\/district to go out and hire another walk-on coach without getting involved. While there are and have been great walk-on coaches, they generally last a year, maybe two\u2026and then you\u2019re back to square one again.<\/p>\n

The walk-on is not going to be a program builder. The walk-on is a gap filler.<\/p>\n

Parents need to ask questions. They need to ask if there\u2019s a long-term plan. If there isn\u2019t, and football is an experience you son desires, then look at your options.<\/p>\n

Note to Temple City: If there is no long-term plan or one desired, then do the bold thing–which would be the right thing–and DROP the program. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Is there a remedy?<\/p>\n

Possibly.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d find somebody on campus, or get somebody on campus as a teacher, with a passion for football who would commit to a five-year term\u2026And then I’d make sure, as an administration, I consistently had the coach\u2019s back\u2026Never give the appearance to the media, the boosters, the faculty, the students or the parents that there is any space between the administration and the football program.<\/p>\n

I keep hearing the name, Riley Saxon\u2026That would be a good hire, but I\u2019d tell him not to do it if he asked me\u2026Not without some extraordinary commitment from the administration.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d look to Randy Backus\u2026who I assume has no interest\u2026but if Backus sought my opinion (he never would, I can\u2019t even get him to read my book), I\u2019d tell him not to do it\u2026He\u2019s been through that hell already.<\/p>\n

It would be awesome to see the Prodigal; Mike Mooney come back\u2026But it would also be awesome if Abe Lincoln came back to be President\u2026Neither is going to happen.<\/p>\n

Temple City is in a bind\u2026High-tier walk-on coaches (they do exist) would be suspicious of support\u2026Lower-end walk-on coaches, with little experience and looking to make a name for themselves before exiting, are way too risky.<\/p>\n

I remember the e-mails I got back in 2009 telling me how awful Anthony White was\u2026White, after an incredible run at Buena Park, looks like Vince Lombardi right now.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

In the end\u2026If there\u2019s not a commitment from the top\u2026not a passion for it (which is more than alright\u2026times change)\u2026then drop the program.<\/p>\n

Now let the slings and arrows fly\u2026<\/p>\n

\"DuranAD\"<\/a>***<\/p>\n

Midbits (same as \u2018Tidbits\u2019)<\/strong><\/span>
\nMidbits:<\/strong> Did you learn your Roman Numerals in school or through the Super Bowl?<\/p>\n

Midbits:<\/strong> Steve Garvey should be in the Hall of Fame\u2026Keith Hernandez as well\u2026Jeff Bagwell, great player, got fat when everybody was getting fat. Small stadiums, expansion\u2026roids\u2026.<\/p>\n

Midbits:<\/strong> Pitching prospect traded for a second baseman\u2026Pedro Martinez to the Expos for Delino DeShields\u2026Oh, wait\u2026you mean Jose DeLeon to the Tampa Rays for Logan Forsythe?<\/p>\n

Midbits:<\/strong> Was my \u201cRodgersry\u201d wrong during the playoffs? \u201cAaron Rodgers full of grace\u2026blessed are thee among quarterbacks\u2026and the fruit of thy post-season play\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Midbits:<\/strong> Go Patriots!<\/p>\n

The Dude abides\u2026<\/p>\n

656<\/p>\n

Psalm 149<\/p>\n

Contact Joe at joe@midvalleysports.com<\/p>\n

Author of \u201cTangent Dreams: A High School Football Novel\u201d available through amazon.com \u2026and \u201cThe Dead Bug Tales\u201d available this fall.<\/p>\n

Follow Joe on Twitter @joet13b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joe Torosian \u201cSometimes when I wake up in Milagro, I want to scream.\u201d\u2014Ruby Archuleta Kick it! Right off the Top: What happens in the Rio Hondo League next football season? Will San Marino, Monrovia, South Pasadena and La Canada get two byes during league play? Can anyone, honestly, see Blair and Temple City fielding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12512,28,3625,5759,3542,365,11920,12598,5761,8661,12597,11755,6310],"class_list":["post-57289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fanview","tag-a-high-school-football-novel","tag-dodgers","tag-el-monte-lions","tag-el-monte-lions-football","tag-joe-t","tag-joe-torosian","tag-jose-deleon","tag-logan-forsythe","tag-mid-valley-sports","tag-mvs","tag-rays","tag-tangent-dreams","tag-temple-city-rams-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57289"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57322,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57289\/revisions\/57322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}