{"id":60438,"date":"2017-08-22T09:47:51","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T16:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=60438"},"modified":"2017-08-22T09:47:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T16:47:51","slug":"joe-t-s-first-thoughts-on-these-20-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=60438","title":{"rendered":"Joe T.\u2019s First Thoughts on These 20 Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

By Joe Torosian<\/p>\n

After 20 years there are just some memories that pop to the top when you think of certain schools and programs. What follows has nothing to do with how good these teams will be this year or even a critique of the MVS Top 20\u2026But just thoughts accumulated since I stepped back on the sidelines in 1998.<\/p>\n

(I\u2019d love to hear your first thoughts as well)
\n1. Sierra Canyon: Rolling to a Trailblazers game has always been tough. Given the distance and lack of common opponents in the <\/span>SGV our contacts with them have been relegated to league championship contests with Paraclete and the post-season. But no matter, someone on that staff always seems to know who we are. I always feel tall when covering Sierra Canyon.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Cathedral\u2014Parking. What else? Great tradition, gorgeous field\u2026parking. Trying to find parking at Cathedral is like spending an evening with a good Amway salesman\u2026I say good because he never knows when to shut up–A brutal experience that never seems to end. Classic post-season match with Downey a few years ago is a close second.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. La Mirada\u2013Jim Phillips.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Buena Park\u2013Whenever the MVS needs to raise its analytics it just drops in, “Buena Park.” All we know is before Anthony White when you said, \u201cBuena Park\u201d everyone else said, \u201cUh? What?\u201d \u2026Since 2010, when you say, Buena Park, the response is often, \u201cI hate those guys.\u201d<\/span>
\nIf they weren\u2019t winning no one would have cared.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Downey\u2014Jorge Reyna (now at Fresno State), Justin Huff and a CIF title and an insane fanbase.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Charter Oak\u2013For a long time when we interacted with CO the first response from the coaching staff was, \u201cYou guys are the best! You do a great job!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Crescenta Valley\u2013 This program was dying, perhaps dead, a little over ten years ago. The Lazarus of the MVS coverage zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

8. St. Francis\u2013The dude in the robe\u2026sorry, that\u2019s what comes to mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Northview\u2013 The Bad Dude linebacking crew of 2008: Andrew Rodriguez, Christian Vargas & Lionel Acosta\u2026The Darkside!<\/p>\n

10. La Serna\u2013The Lancers could never get over the hump\u2014even before Frankie Football. <\/span>Post-season losses to San Gabriel in 2003, Arroyo in 2004, Bonita in 2010 and so on and so on\u2026and finally that miracle against Norwalk in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

11. Arroyo\u2013Gold Standard\u2026It\u2019s always been done right at Arroyo. That\u2019s what comes to mind\u2026and then fill in your Steven Rivera moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

12. Los Altos\u2013Ziola\u2026Dale Ziola might be the most important coach in school history. They were 0-10 the year before he took over. How come the school couldn\u2019t make it work? Also, I really liked the old crappy field a whole lot better.<\/span><\/p>\n

13. Montebello\u2013Daniel Drayton playing for the Oilers in 2000\u2026Daniel Drayton playing for Los Altos in 2001\u2026How did that happen? Mmm?<\/p>\n

14. West Covina\u2013Maggiore\u2026The next person to say a bad word about Maggiore will be the first person.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202815. Monrovia\u2013Being on the sideline in the fall of 2000 and hearing people complain about what a lousy coach Steve Garrison was after three consecutive CIF finals appearances\u2026Being on the sideline in 2012 as the Wildcats were winning their third consecutive CIF title and hearing people complain that Ryan Maddox didn\u2019t know what he was doing\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

16. San Dimas\u2013 \u201cI\u2019m telling you right now, Joe. Jake Payton is not transferring.\u201d \u2026Fifteen minutes later as I\u2019m leaving San Gabriel High School this text arrives: \u201cTolegian just posted that Payton has transferred to Bonita!\u201d\u2026\u2026.I can laugh about it now\u2026Trib kicked my butt and it’s a great story…<\/span><\/p>\n

17. Glendora\u2013I\u2019ve only covered a few Glendora games\u2026but it seems like every time I\u2019m on their sideline, I\u2019m catching up with somebody I used to know.<\/span><\/p>\n

18. Schurr\u2013 \u201cWe hate Tim Peterson,\u201d Schurr HC, Elvin Dick\u2019s first response after winning the CIF title over Santa Fe in 2006. I will confess in a court of law with a hand on the Bible that Joe Orduno played the best quarterback I ever saw at the high school level that post-season. Kid was en fuego….Also Cantu and his fleet of receivers: Chiaromonte, Castro & of course Arredondo.<\/span><\/p>\n

19. El Rancho\u2013 \u201cYou haven\u2019t been hit till you\u2019ve been hit by The Ranch!\u201d What else is there?<\/span><\/p>\n

20. Muir\u2013Covered my first Arcadia game at Muir on October 14, 2005 \u2026 And I experienced a wave of smoke blowing across the field from the street beyond the chainlink fence. I soon learned it wasn\u2019t fog but the warm smell of colitas rising up in the air.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joe Torosian After 20 years there are just some memories that pop to the top when you think of certain schools and programs. What follows has nothing to do with how good these teams will be this year or even a critique of the MVS Top 20\u2026But just thoughts accumulated since I stepped back […]<\/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":[12816],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsfootball"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60438","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=60438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60440,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60438\/revisions\/60440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}