Vince D’Adamo: What have you
enjoyed most about being connected with athletics throughout your life either
as an athlete or journalist?
Paul Farmer: What I've enjoyed most is being able to chronicle other
people's successes, either as a team or individually, as well the times when
they fall short. I'm always amazed at how some teams just perpetuate success –
the Vanden girls basketball team has won 15 straight league championships for
example – while others haven't won in more than 60 years and may not in my
lifetime. The folks at Armijo hate it when I mention things like this, but
their football team hasn't won a league title since 1955 (shared with Benicia)
or made the postseason since 1937. Before I'm done here at the Daily Republic I
want to cover an Armijo playoff game.
D’Adamo: Which sports did you
play competitively in high school?
Farmer: I played one year of football at Sonoma Valley High and sat
behind our only offensive threat, a wide receiver. I tried out for baseball
another year but it was in what we now call an el niño year and I got cut
before even getting a chance to swing a bat or put on a glove. The fields were
flooded and our coach, Mr. Dawson, believed in doing the first week or so of
practice bare-handed to get toughened up. I wish I were kidding.
D’Adamo: Even with the
declining state of the newspaper industry, what keeps you coming back every
year?
Farmer: The money. Seriously, my wife is a school teacher and is getting
close to retirement. In our earlier years, every time we moved because of my
job she had to move to a new school district and that meant she had to start
over, which hurts her retirement income. So it made more sense for me to stay
put and with the industry struggling as it is, it makes more sense than ever.
And even with staff cuts and earlier deadlines, I really enjoy what I do.
D’Adamo: What have you enjoyed
most about covering athletics in Fairfield throughout the years?
Farmer: Similar to what I said earlier, I've enjoyed covering special
athletes and special teams. Alicia Hollowell of Fairfield and Anjelica Selden
of Vanden earned Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year Awards within two years of each other. For
one town to have that happen is incredible. As I write this Vanden High grad
Deone Bucannon is one win away from the Super Bowl with the Arizona Cardinals
and may go up against Bethel High grad CJ Anderson with the Denver Broncos.
Just a few years ago they were butting heads in the SCAC. Incredible. A
favorite memory of a team involved Fairfield girls basketball from the mid 90s.
The Falcons were defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champs and seeded No.
1, yet they trailed 16th-seeded Valley by 10 going into the fourth quarter of
their first round game. They ended up winning by 10 and went on to repeat as
section champions.
D’Adamo: Within your family who
have been the most influential people?
Farmer: My mom was an avid reader and my dad, a career Army officer, was
a standout athlete in his high school days in Pasadena, playing his home
football games in the Rose Bowl. I guess they both had a big influence on me. I
got my love for reading and writing from my mom, my love for sports and history
from my dad.
D’Adamo: Name a historical
figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports, that you would most like to meet.
What would intrigue you about meeting him or her?
Ulysses S. Grant.
Farmer: He was an absolute failure in most everything he tried for much
of his life and was out of the U.S. Army when the Civil War began. By the time
it was over he was the nation's biggest hero and went on to become president –
before having things fall apart in his life once again. I'd love to talk to him
about his roller coaster ride of a life and how he hung in there when the days
were darkest.
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