RSM789
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Post by RSM789 on Aug 16, 2024 9:20:35 GMT -8
Steve Fryer has an article today in the Register detailing the new leagues formed for Football only. Despite being a Servite alum & Fryer having Servite ties, I have to admit I have always found Fryer to be a clown. Maybe that is a little harsh, idiot might be a better description.
First off, he continues his decades long gushing over the teams that make up the Trinity league. Those of us old enough to have seen high school football prior to 1985 know that the change in recruiting that vaulted private schools into becoming sports academies ruined what used to be an enjoyable competition. Yes, Mater Dei started it, but all of the other private schools followed suit and have now become something completely unrecognizable from what these schools were founded for. And there is Fryer, rather than being a reporter, sitting there as a Trinity lapdog, completely ignorant of what the recruiting arms race has done to Orange County high school football.
Fryer then extends his idiocy by taking a couple of jabs at Tesoro (my kids alma mater). First, he claims that Yorba Linda High parents (whose school is now in the same league as Tesoro) will have "a long drive" to Tesoro & have to "get on the road hours before kickoff". Apparently that dufus has never driven the 241 toll road, which makes the drive a 31-minute adventure according to Maps or any other GPS service. Further, the folks in Yorba Linda will fortunately be coming south, against the grain of Friday night traffic while Tesoro parents will have to head right into the middle of the daily evening pileup at the 241/91 junction. My hunch is that Fryer lives somewhere in North Orange County & still looks at South County as some faraway, mystical land full of horny lions & runaway hippos. Or maybe Fryer is still mad that Tesoro bounced Servite from the playoffs in the season following Servites last football championship.
I will give Fryer credit for getting one thing right, getting in & out of Tesoro for a football game is bad, just one way in & out. However, not a word is said about the shitpile of a neighborhood one has to travel to whenever one has to go to Santa Ana stadium. I for one would rather sit in a little traffic than risk getting knifed by a gang banger or having to wade through the homeless just to attend a Mater Dei home game.
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MDDad
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Post by MDDad on Aug 16, 2024 10:42:33 GMT -8
Those of us old enough to have seen high school football prior to 1985 know that the change in recruiting that vaulted private schools into becoming sports academies ruined what used to be an enjoyable competition. Yes, Mater Dei started it....I'm not sure why this misperception has to be corrected every couple of years, but here we go again. The current recruiting craze began in 2000, when Bob Johnson and his two sons used the school's farm program to recruit kids to Mission Viejo from all over. In four years they brought in all-county and all-state players like Robbie Dubois, Ryan Powdrell, Chris Cole, Jed Collins, Drew Radovich, Marty Tadman, Kevin Bemoll, Chase and Chane Moline, Nick Reed and Mark Sanchez. I remember Konrad Reuland leaving Mater Dei for Mission Viejo when his father claimed financial hardship, even though he was one of the most successful physicians in the South County. I also remember the school hiring numerous parents as part-time librarians or custodians so their sons could attend MV and play for the Diablos without living in their enrollment area. Oddly enough, none of those part-timers employees ever reported for work or received a paycheck. And to this day, I wonder how many of those kids lured by the farm program actually became farmers. I'd bet you could count them on the fingers of zero hands. Right on MV's heals was Orange Lutheran. Beginning in 2003 and running until 2007, they brought in star players from all over, like Anthony Vernaglia, Blake Ayles, Brandon Rohr, Pat Roxas, Aaron Corp, Austin Pettis, Michael Reardon and Ricky Remasa (who was at Mater Dei until moving to OLu because everything was free). I can't recall the name of the sugar daddy who funded all that largess, but he was the curly-haired man who used to sit right behind Jack Nicholson at all the Lakers home games. Then St. John Bosco hired Jason Negro in 2010, and recruiting kicked into an even higher gear. Mater Dei was actually a latecomer to the game. It wasn't until 2015, when J.T. Daniels and Bru McCoy arrived at Mater Dei, and brought a host of blue chippers with them, that they began to play by those same rules. I also still remember Bruce Rollinson telling me many times over the years how, when he was a RB/WR at MD, Servite was repeatedly contacting most of his teammates to make the switch to Servite. And that was the mid-1960's. And yes, Steve Fryer has become irrelevant because he has become too lazy to do any homework. |
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RSM789
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Post by RSM789 on Aug 16, 2024 14:38:56 GMT -8
Those of us old enough to have seen high school football prior to 1985 know that the change in recruiting that vaulted private schools into becoming sports academies ruined what used to be an enjoyable competition. Yes, Mater Dei started it....I'm not sure why this misperception has to be corrected every couple of years, but here we go again. The current recruiting craze began in 2000, ... Mater Dei was actually a latecomer to the game. It wasn't until 2015, For you to sit there & try to gaslight us incredible, no different than what the Dems do when talking about how qualified their candidates are. As an example, are you going to argue that Matt Barkley was not recruited by Mater Dei in 2005? His family isn't even Catholic, something that just a few decades earlier would have prohibited him from attending any of the parochial schools. Yet his parents chose to disregard their faith & commit to making the daily trek from Lido all the way into beautiful downtown Santa Ana just because? Mater Dei recruiting began with their basketball program & Coach McKnight in the early 1980's. Rollinson followed suit with the football program just a few years later. To believe that Mater Dei football didn't start recruiting until 2015 would require one to believe that an average but disciplined football program (much like Servite at the time) suddenly started winning every year just because of a new coach, one who brought no new ideas or concepts to the game. Then, after a decade plus run, said coach lost his touch, only to regain it again a decade later when he "started recruiting"? Give me a fucking break. Yes, all of those other private schools, along with whatever public school Bob Johnson was at (El Toro & then Mission Viejo) took recruiting to new levels as the years progressed. That truth does not dismiss the other truth that Mater Dei was at the forefront of recruiting in the mid 80's. Why that fact is so difficult for you to own is puzzling. Worst of all, you hijacked my rant, completely missing the point of the negatives recruiting has brought and Fryers willingness to condone it. All for the sake of trying to pretend that Mater Dei domination in sports starting in the mid 80's was "organic" & just "kind of happened". Finally, Rollinson has always had a hard on for Servite. Almost as if he tried to go there but was turned away because he was too dumb. |
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MDDad
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Post by MDDad on Aug 16, 2024 15:29:15 GMT -8
RSM, it's pointless for me to spend a lot of time debating someone filled with opinions and biases that I know to be erroneous, especiallly when he is unwilling to concede that a guy who has spent 23 years in the Mater Dei program might know more about it than he does.
As an example, I've known Matt Barkley, his parents and siblings for almost a quarter century, and I can tell you they don't live on "Lido". And I can tell you there was no need to recruit Matt to Mater Dei. The presence of an offensive coordinator widely regarded as one of the best in the country, and an almost total lack of QB talent in 2005, was all it took. The family certainly didn't need to be swayed by any kind of financial inducements, as is so often the case today. If you know as much as you claim you do, let's discuss what Santa Margarita, JSerra and Sierra Canyon are doing right now when it comes to "undue influence".
Second, if you want to talk about high school football recruiting, fine. But please don't move the goalposts to Gary McKnight and what the MD basketball program may have done in the 1980's. I'm old enough to remember when Clare van Hoorebeke at Anaheim in the late 1960's was accused of recruiting this kid or that kid every couple of weeks and more than once had to travel to the CIF office to defend himself. I also remember when Edison and Fountain Valley were arguably the top two programs in the county during much of the 1970's, and Edison was often called Transer U. because they were recruting kids from all over the southland. So no, Mater Dei didn't start the recruiting game, at least not in football.
And whether or not Rollo has an erection for Servite is irrelevant, since I've heard the same Servite recruiting comments from some of his teammates like Eric Patton and the Morgan twins. I doubt they all suffer from priapism for your alma mater.
If you want to come back at me with more unfounded opinions, go ahead. But I've lived what you think you know, and I'm losing interest in telling you when you're wrong.
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RSM789
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Post by RSM789 on Aug 16, 2024 18:58:05 GMT -8
As an example, I've known Matt Barkley, his parents and siblings for almost a quarter century, and I can tell you they don't live on "Lido". Excuse me, I misspoke, I should have said Balboa. I got my Newport islands mixed up. But you knew that & in a gaslighting manner, focused on a minute detail (which island) as opposed to the point at hand (They live in Newport). Yes, there have been instances & allegations of cheating or recruiting ever since Orange County has had high school sports. Despite your attempts at deflection, the fact is that when it came to committed & condoned effort (by the schools administration) to recruit students for athletics, Mater Dei paved the way in the mid 80's. First Basketball, then Football, then to nearly every other sport. Funny how all of that wasn't the gist of this post, yet your knee jerk response to anyone daring to include Mater Dei's role in recruiting ended up changing the direction of this thread. But if you want this thread to be all about Mater Dei, then fine. Lets take a look at Mater Dei's mission statement, which for all intents & purposes, hasn't changed in the past 50 years: "Mater Dei is a co-educational Catholic college preparatory high school located in Santa Ana, CA. Rooted in our tradition of Honor, Glory, and Love, we serve a diverse student community committed to knowledge, faith, and service."Circa 1980, the school fulfilled that purpose, giving Catholic families an alternative place for their children to attend high school & prepare for college. Of course, the only diversity at that time was whether the students were of European heritage or Mexican heritage, for they were all Catholic and were all there for the education.
Fast forward to now. The sports academy that is Mater Dei comes nowhere close to that mission statement. Athletics is at the top of the pyramid, with Catholicism being booted down to the bottom. Why don't they change their mission statement, are they embarrassed at what they have evolved into? Own what you are & quite hiding behind the nun's skirt.
And before you start pointing out that other parochial schools do the same, that they should be asking themselves the same question and be held to the same standard, I have said that since the original post. The only difference is that Mater Dei was the leader in this transformation while the other private schools decided to follow them. They are just as guilty as the Monarchs; they just weren't first. |
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MDDad
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Post by MDDad on Aug 16, 2024 21:42:23 GMT -8
Jesus Christ, RSM, the Barkleys don't live on Balboa Island either. Would you like to take another swing at something you know nothing about, or would you like to stop at two strikes?
And if your argument has to devolve to comparing the current demographics of the school with it's 74-year-old mission statement, that's going out on a limb you can have to yourself.
This discussion takes me back to when you were the only person on the planet who insisted that Terry Bradshaw was a greater quarterback than Tom Brady because he won his four Super Bowls in the middle of his career while Brady won his seven earlier and later in his career, as if that matters. As then, I have quickly lost interest in trying to convince you you're wrong about anything.
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Post by ProfessorFate on Aug 17, 2024 2:32:06 GMT -8
That's a lot to digest, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't. Here's a few of my observations.
1. My focus has always been the Angelus League and later the Trinity League.
2. Mater Dei ruined HS basketball for members of those two leagues. Lucky for me, I haven't seen a Servite basketball game since my father died, more than four decades ago. He enjoyed HS basketball more than I ever did.
3. I am aware of Mission Viejo's agriculture program, and Edison's transfers like Kerwin Bell from St. Francis. We never played the future farmers, and held our own against Edison, and, like I said, my focus was the Angelus/Trinity wars. I didn't know O Lu was recruiting like that back then, probably because we were 8-0 against them until 2012.
4. My impression was that there were various plateaus that were reached by teams recruiting heavily, so a case could be made for any one of those teams, as to who "started it."
5. The present level was reached in 2013 by SJ Bosco. They began their rise in 2010 when Jason Negro arrived, and reached it after receiving several big time players transferring in from LB Poly. Meanwhile, Mater Dei was determined to join Bosco, after losing three straight to the hated Friars. That was unacceptable to Rollinson, and seeing Bosco's success cemented the situation. No going back now for Rollinson.
6. As to Rollinson's hard on hatred for Servite, No one can convince me that the reason is anything but the Friars 13-0 shutout of sophomore RB Rollinson's top rated team in '64. Those were the only points scored on Mater Dei all season, and the 7-1 Monarchs did not make the playoffs.
Finally...Rollinson and I are almost the same age. He was on the Monarch varsity in '64-'66, graduating in '67. I call BS about the Friars trying to recruit Rollo's teammates, unless it was just talk by Friar students (who went to the same Catholic elementary schools as the Monarch students). If there was recruiting going on then, whoever was doing it wasn't any good at it, that's for sure. That was my time. I knew all Friar football players during that time and I sure don't remember any who transferred in from Mater Dei. In fact, I only remember one transfer from Mater Dei, and that kid (Phil M.) transferred in as a junior, and played varsity basketball as a senior, and no other sports.
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Bick
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Post by Bick on Aug 17, 2024 9:41:04 GMT -8
Full disclosure here, I consider Steve a personal friend.
I'm pretty sure he's discussed the xfer thing quite a few times. Many including me, him and you, share the arms race sentiment. I'm fact, I can't think of anyone who really supports the idea outside of the privates and I don't know if all of them do.
The season preview isn't the place for hand wringing over the state of HS football for a newspaper that hopes to generate interest.
I don't see it as a swipe at Tesoro beyond the abysmal parking situation. I've been there, and it's bad for anyone that doesn't show up a couple hours early or leaves about 30+ minutes later. The JV Tesoro parents will make the trek to YL this year, so if anything it's a shot at one of the drawbacks of the new system of competitive equity of the OC leagues. San Clemente to Los Al is a longer drive anyway.
I think the genesis of the xfer dilemma began with the MD / CIF lawsuit. It pretty much neutered CIF and shifted control to the schools to self report.
Going back even further, I think the real culprit was the easy access of student loans which drove up the price of tuition into the stratosphere which made getting a scholarship so much more valuable. The resulting incentives drove kids to the "best" schools in order to get recruited.
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RSM789
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Post by RSM789 on Aug 17, 2024 22:20:11 GMT -8
Jesus Christ, RSM, the Barkleys don't live on Balboa Island either. Would you like to take another swing at something you know nothing about, or would you like to stop at two strikes? Well you better call the police then because they were apparently squatting at a home on Coral Avenue from at least 2019 thru 2022. I won't give you the exact address because it would be a breach of client confidentiality. Plus I am getting a bit of a stalker vibe from your posts, what with all the name dropping. You like to pretend you are such close friends with the Barkley's, how about you give him a quick text to confirm or not they have lived on that street (not sure if they moved in the last 2 years). Then when you find out you are wrong, you can publicly apologize to me & take a moment to realize what an ass you are acting like. |
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SK80
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Post by SK80 on Aug 18, 2024 8:05:14 GMT -8
This thread just boils my blood, seriously, to get Lido and Balboa Island mixed up has my type A+ shooting from my Newport Nostrils....  |
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Post by sixthman on Aug 24, 2024 18:54:23 GMT -8
I thank Fryer and Albano for everything they do for high school football every time I see them. They aren't perfect but they aren't getting rich and continue to adapt to the changing high school landscape.
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