Wessman arrives in Napa, now the work begins

The community of Napa, CA, and specifically Napa High, will continue to get
acquainted with new Grizzlies head coach Richie Wessman.

The 38-year old Wessman arrived in Napa with his wife (Julie) within the past
week from his most recent position at Ramstein High School, which is located
on Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he was teaching physical education
along with coaching football and soccer.

He is a former University of Southern California backup quarterback who has
coached at every level from high school to college to NFL. Wessman spent five
seasons as a quality control coach and administrative assistant with the NFL’s
Tennessee Titans (2009-2013). He has served as a graduate assistant for both
Clemson and Mississippi. He was also an offensive assistant at USC from
2003-2004.

Wessman spent time at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, which is a
Division II school. He coached quarterbacks and wide receivers along with being
a recruiting coordinator. Wessman spent the 2016 season as the head coach at
Ravenwood High in Brentwood, Tennessee, leading the Raptors to a 7-6 overall
record with the team advancing to the third round of the playoffs. After that
season, he moved to Italy to coach a semi-pro team. Wessman is full-time PE
teacher at Napa to go along with his coaching duties.

Wessman was a guest on the Sportsvine, which is a weekly program that airs for
one hour on Napa radio station 1440 AM KVON on Saturday mornings. Michael
“Duey” Green was the interviewer.

Though on the surface, Wessman’s career features short stints, he comes in
planning to be in Napa for an extended stay.

“We’re getting there,” Wessman said. “We’ve been in town for just over a week.
We have a mattress on the floor but it’s good enough for now. We’re getting there
day-by-day. My wife has been fantastic in helping us get settled. I’m here to put
down roots.”

That’s encouraging considering that Wessman is the program’s fourth head
coach in as many seasons but time will tell.

I made it a point to listen to the interview but not for the reasons most people
are thinking. Since Wessman is new to the Napa community, I have never met
him and nor am I on Napa High's staff, I believing reserving judgment is the way
to go instead of making any grand proclamations. I’m not opposed to having hot
takes but this is not the time.

It’s no secret that the school and the football program have endured much
difficulty the last few years: a) Troy Mott’s resignation that stemmed from
philosophical differences with the administration on how to rebuild the program as
a result of a hazing scandal, b) Hiring Jesus Martinez in the 11th hour to avert a
cancellation of the 2017 season, c) Martinez, who was a long time JV assistant,
was a walkon coach that was fired in June 2018 and replaced by Tom
Petithomme, who is the school’s co-athletic director with Darci Ward and d) The
mascot changing from Indians to Grizzlies.

However, even though it is part of the story, I’m not here to rehash the past
because it is exactly that -- the past. There were a few comments Wessman made
that caught my attention. The first was how welcoming the community has been,
“From the district to the administration to the players. It has been a fantastic
experience thus far.”

When asked about Memorial Stadium, which is regarded as a premier high school
football venue in California, Wessman said, “It’s a better stadium than most of the
Div. II (college stadiums) that I saw when I was working at that level. It’s truly a
special place. You get chills walking around there. I can’t wait to see what that
place looks like when it’s rocking on friday night when we’re winning again.”

The freshmen program went away last year due to lack of numbers but is being
re-instituted this season. To that point, Wessman said, “We have some great
coaches dialed in to work with the freshmen.”

“There’s a lot of interest. The response has been great. They know just like I
know that Napa football is back.”

Oh but back to what?

While Wessman said all the right things within the framework of what he was
asked, there were some questions that remained unanswered but that’s because
they were not asked. Who are his definitive assistant coaches? How many more
are you looking to add? What will your base offense and defense be? Why were
the recent events of the past not enough to be a deterrent to take the job?

I am all about supporting Wessman because even though Napa is not a small
town by population, it carries itself like one, which can be good and bad. The good
side is that people care. The downside is that it can lead to hyper analysis.
Wessman deserves the room and support needed to turn the program around
because we should want the program to succeed. Football can change the
perception of a school more than any other sport. When it’s going well, it’s like a
high tide that raises all boats.

Though Napa has lost 17 of its last 20 games including last season’s 0-10 mark,
the non league schedule coupled with the fact that the Vine Valley Athletic League
is top heavy and there is a JV team that went 7-2-1 elicits hope.

The Grizzlies, who are a CIF North Coast Section Div. II team, have a non league
schedule is Middletown, Nevada Union, Vallejo and Armijo. Middletown is the
North Coast Section Div. V champion. Nevada Union, which was once a Sac
Joaquin Section powerhouse, has not had a winning season since 2011.
Vallejo has not had a winning season since 2003. Armijo has been a perennial
bottom feeder in the Monticello Empire League.

As for the VVAL, Vintage is riding the high tide at present with American Canyon
still in the picture. Given the right approach, the Grizzlies could rebound and
achieve respectability sooner rather than later. The key will be getting a couple
wins in the early going. I realize winning is not everything but in high school
athletics confidence is a huge element. Constant losing breeds apathy, not
confidence.

Here’s hoping Wessman gets the support he needs to facilitate a bounceback
campaign.

Valuing competitiveness over scoring

Sometimes you have to go against the grain and not play to the crowd but first,
here’s some context to share.

We are three days removed from the New England Patriots’ 13-3 win over the
Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta on Sunday. With the win, the
Patriots bring home their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy, tying them with the
Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in NFL history.

Many people have been discussing where the Patriots dynasty ranks in the
annals of NFL history as well as ranking Tom Brady and Bill Bellichick as the
best quarterback and head coach respectively in NFL history. That conversation
is for another day but for now, I shift attention to Sunday’s game being the lowest
scoring game (combined points by both combatants) in Super Bowl history.

The irony is that such a game came in a season that saw scoreboards light up
like a Roman Candle. There were numerous records established but just for
openers Teams combined to score 1,371 total touchdowns, the most in a
single season in NFL history, while the 11,952 total points scored are the
second most in league annals (11,985 in 2013). I could mention several others
but in the interest of space I won’t.

The game that got the attention of most everyone was a late November game
between the Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. The Rams won that game 54-51,
marking the first time in NFL history that a team scored 50 or more points but
lost. Another irony is that including the aforementioned Super Bowl, there were
11 playoff games with only four involving a game in which a team scored 30 or
more points. The theories that are constantly applied to increased scoring is
that each passing year the rules are made to benefit offenses. Later in the year,
however, referees take more of a “let them play” approach in that penalties
which were called early in the season are less likely to get whistled in the
postseason.

The lack of scoring on Sunday drew reactions ranging from “The Super Bowl
sucked! It was boring! Etc.” to “I love an old school defensive battle.” I posted
a reaction on social media, Facebook to be specific, after the game:

“To anyone who says this Super Bowl was boring because it was low scoring,
that is a pretty shallow take. This game was closer to good defense than bad
offense, Granted, there were not a lot of sacks or turnovers. It was good
disciplined defense. You also have to remember that there is a reason why
Bellichick and Rams; defensive coordinator Wade Phillips are among two of
the best defensive minds in NFL history. They have slowed down high flying
offenses before. I could include the likes of Buddy Ryan and Dick LeBeau but
you get the point.”

The reactions I got were pretty wide ranging from “Attaboy, Vince” to “You’re
crazy.” To those who do not share my point of view, I’m not going to try to
convince them. I did not have a rooting interest in this year’s Super Bowl other
than one player from my alma mater (University of Nebraska) was going to
get a ring -- either Rams’ defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh or Patriots running
back Rex Burkhead.

My biggest point is that regardless of sport, I will never base the quality of a
game on how many points are scored. If that makes me batbleep crazy, so be
it. I value competitive games, even if the game is not well-played, more than
points. Unless my team is involved, I’m not going out of my way to stay tuned
for a game where one team leads 45-7 midway through the fourth quarter.
However, if a game is 10-7 midway through the fourth quarter, I am more
likely to stay tuned because I want to find out who is going to win. While I’m
in the minority on the aforementioned 54-51 game between the Chiefs and
Rams, I’ll stay tuned for the same reason.

I hear conversations that ask the question, “If given the choice, do you want a
54-51 game between the Chiefs and Rams or a 10-7 game between the
Ravens and Jaguars?” My argument is, why do I have to choose either? It’s
like asking, would I pick Republican or Democrat? I’m not trying to start debates
but my personal opinion is I choose neither because the former has gone too
far to the right and the latter has gone too far to the left. For me, an ideal
football game is 28-24 or 24-21, I get a mixture of offense and defense. By
no means am I saying that I loved Sunday’s game but since it hung in the
balance for four quarters is enough to keep me intrigued.

In a nutshell, more does not mean better, less does not mean worse.

Roger Craig hall pass will be long overdue

The Pro Football Hall of Fame unveiled its 2019 class and yet another year
passes that Roger Craig is not getting enshrined.

The 2019 class was announced Saturday night on the eve of Super Bowl XLIII
in Atlanta between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. The
latest edition of inductees are Ed Reid, Champ Bailey, Tony Gonzalez, Ty Law,
Kevin Mawae, Johnny Robinson, Gil Brandt and Pat Bowlen. Reid, Bailey and
Gonzalez made the cut in their first year of eligibility. Brandt and Bowlen made
the cut in the executive category for their work as Vice President of Player
Personnel with the Dallas Cowboys and owner of the Denver Broncos
respectively. The eight members will be enshrined in August.

Before I get into Craig being deserving of enshrinement, I’d like to point out
that I have no issue with anyone in the current class being inducted. They are
all deserving. I can also make a point that several others who are not in the
Hall of Fame should be there. With Craig, however, the issue is personal to me.  

I grew up in Northern California (Napa, CA to be exact) as a San Francisco 49er
fan and am a 1997 University of Nebraska graduate. The 49ers became the
revered dynasty that most people know them as today when I became old enough
to understand football. Keep in mind, I was born in 1972.

The 49ers drafted Craig in the second round in 1983 from the University of
Nebraska. Three years later in 1986, the 49ers drafted Craig’s Cornhusker
teammate, Tom Rathman. Craig and Rathman are one of the most underrated
running back tandems in NFL history. I became a Nebraska fan and later earned
my Bachelor’s degree at NU, which is another story for another time.

I had a great NFL team to root for in the 49ers, they have only been relevant for
three years (2011-2013) since 2002 but I digress. I just needed a good college
team to root for – but Cal and Stanford just didn’t do it for me. They still don’t.
USC has a great tradition in football. So does UCLA in basketball – but rooting
for a Southern California team was a hard sell for me. Well, it still is as much as
I respect their tradition.

I moved back to Northern California in 1998. Sorry, I can’t bring myself to saying
“NoCal” or “SoCal.” That sounds way too damn dorky. When I hear people those
terms, it sounds like a pipsqueak that has not reached puberty yet.

Back to Craig for the rest of this commentary. Craig was the first player in NFL
history to run and receive for at least 1,000 yards in the same season. He ran for
1,050 yards on 214 carries and led the NFL with 92 catches for 1,016 yards in
1985. He scored a team high 15 touchdowns.

In 1988, Craig was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated
Press. He ran for a career high 1,502 yards and caught an additional 76 passes
for 534 yards.

Marshall Faulk achieved the 1,000-1,000 club status as a member of the St. Louis
Rams in 1999 and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Faulk was received as a slam dunk choice mostly because he totaled 12,279
rushing yards in his 13 year career. Keep in mind; rushing for 10,000 yards is
normally viewed as a right of passage to the Hall-of-Fame. Craig, however, had
to run on muddy fields at Candlestick Park in December while Faulk played his
entire career in a dome-stadium on the Astroturf in St. Louis and Indianapolis.

Craig rushed for 8,189 yards but had just two 1,000 yard rushing seasons. He also
added 4,911 more yards as a receiver on 566 catches, scoring 73 touchdowns (56
\running, 17 receiving) in the process while playing both fullback and running back.
He also had to share carries with Wendell Tyler and Rathman.

His final memory to some 49er fans is a costly fumble that enabled the New York
Giants to beat San Francisco 15-13 in the 1991 NFC Championship game. Some
49er fans I have spoken to have said, “Well, if Craig didn’t fumble the 49ers would
have Threepeated as Super Bowl Champs.” I’m not so certain of that.

Keep in mind, quarterback Joe Montana got knocked out of that game thanks to
Giants defensive Leonard Marshall’s crushing sack. Steve Young, who later went
on to have a Hall-of-Fame career replaced Montana. Let’s face it, Young could
not have been trusted in a big game at that point. Heck, he was a hit or miss
proposition in a big game after he became an All-Pro and NFL MVP in 1992.

Again, Craig might not have the gaudy rushing stats of say Faulk or Tiki Barber.
However, with Craig’s hybrid style of playing running back, you have to look
beyond numbers and see how he revolutionized the game as we know it today.
Please spare me the “it’s the system” argument. Granted 49ers head coach Bill
Walsh’s West Coast offense revolutionized pro football but it also takes talent to
produce at the NFL level.

When you watch NFL running backs like say Bryan Westbrook, LaDainian
Tomlinson or Reggie Bush operate as dual threats – just remember, they owe a
debt of gratitude to Craig because he started the change of a trend where the
running back primarily carried the ball. As opposed to carry, catch AND pick
up blitzes.

And oh, by the way, Craig has three Super Bowl rings, one more than Faulk,
Westbrook, Barber, Tomlinson and Bush combined.

Craig’s best chance of enshrinement might be the Senior Committee like the
aforementioned Robinson, who starred as a safety for the Dallas Texans, who
later became the Kansas City Chiefs. Robinson, who retired in 1972, started
his career as a running back before becoming a full-time defensive player
recorded 57 career interceptions, including 10 in a single season on two twice.

Count me among those who believe Craig is deserving of a bust in Canton,
Ohio.

Magowan forever an icon for saving the Giants

Sometimes you receive news that hits you hard but also makes you reflect on a
much earlier point in your life as a sports fan.

On Sunday evening as I was preparing a meal of duck legs, scalloped potatoes
and string beans, I looked at my Facebook news feed and saw a link that former
San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan had passed away at age 76 after a
battle with cancer.

The news itself of Magowan did not hit me hard because, after all, every life on
planet Earth begins and ends. However, it made me reflect of an altering time for
me as a sports fan. To understand Magowan’s impact, context is needed.

As one who has lived in Napa, CA, which is about 50 or so miles (give or take)
from San Francisco, for 40 years, it was easy to become a Giants fan since I
grew up in a family of them. Then 1982 happened. My father, the great Joe
D’Adamo took me and a few cousins to our first Giants game at Candlestick
Park.

Later that season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were
tied for second place, one game behind the Atlanta Braves, as they faced each
other in the final three games of the year. The Dodgers won the first two games,
4–0 on Friday and 15–4 on Saturday, to eliminate the Giants, then the Giants
knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race on the season's last day on a
7th-inning, three-run homer by Joe Morgan, winning the game, 5–3. The
Braves finished first by one game.

From 1983-1985, the Giants got progressively worse, combining for a record
of 207-279. From 1986-1990 under manager Roger Craig, the team combined
for a record of 433-377 with two National West titles and a National League
pennant. The 1991-1992 seasons were circle the drain years as the team had
a record of 147-177 but the adversity for the franchise was off the field.

The franchise had one foot out the door and was headed for Tampa, FL. Bob
Lurie, who preceded Magowan as the franchise owner, tried for a long time to
get a new ballpark but to no avail. I remember going to many games at
Candlestick, the infamous relic that 49ers and Giants fans said, “It was a dump
but it’s our dump.” The aforementioned 1991-1992 Giants were terrible but I
remember on a moments’ notice reaching out to my lifelong friends, Andy
Ward and Ken Bettinelli. We would hop in my truck, get some food and beers
(note the plural) and tailgate for about two hours before the game. We were
usually in a very altered state entering the game but I digress.

Magowan helped form the ownership group that bought the franchise for $100
million from Lurie in December 1992 to prevent the team from moving to Tampa
Bay. The next thing you know, the Giants signed Barry Bonds to a six-year,
$43.5 million free agent deal even before he formally completed the purchase
of the team.

The rest, as they say, is history.

With the game's greatest slugger in place, the Giants went on to have great
success and Magowan put together a plan to build a privately funded ballpark
on the water in downtown San Francisco. That park, the first in years built
without direct public funding, opened in 2000 and became one of the jewels
of the game.

Magowan stepped down following the 2008 season but did some heavy lifting to
put in place the management team that helped bring San Francisco its first World
Series title in 2010, followed by championships in 2012 and 2014. It’s pretty
simple, without Magowan saving the franchise from moving, those glorious
years do not happen.

As I look back on Magowan purchasing the team, I think about what Oakland
Raiders fans are enduring in lieu of their move to Las Vegas beginning in 2020.
Some fans are remaining Raider loyalists while others are just football fans
without a team.

I often think, if Magowan and his calvary hadn’t arrived to save the day, would
I have remained a Giants fan? I strongly doubt it because rooting for the Tampa
Bay Giants would have been a hard sell. I do not know what direction of fandom I
would have gone. Thankfully, I never had to make that choice.

Young generations of Giants fans truly will never understand how close the Giants
were to leaving for Tampa Bay. Magowan will forever be an icon not only in Giants
lore but the city of San Francisco.

I know corporate names indulge professional sports stadiums. What started as
PacBell Park later became SBC Park, AT&T Park and now Oracle Park. How
about Macgowan Field at Oracle Park?

Thank you, Mr. Magowan for keeping the Giants where they belong. With the
2019 Major League Baseball season on the horizon, Magowan will be smiling
from heaven.