Eight is still enough for Calistoga High football

Though not necessarily by choice, the Calistoga High football program appears to have settled in semi-comfortably into its role as an eight-man program in the third year of head coach Mike Ervin’s second tour of duty as head coach.

The 1962 Calistoga High graduate coached the Wildcats from 2006-2010, during which time Calistoga had three CIF North Coast Section playoff appearances. Paul Harrell was the head coach from 2011-2014 before resigning, at which time Ervin returned after coaching stints with the North Bay Rattlers along with Santa Rosa and Tomales High Schools as an assistant coach.

Since making the transition to the North Central League III, which is designated for eight-man football, the Wildcats have gone 11-5 combined in the last two seasons.

In preparation for the 2017 campaign the Wildcats did not have formalized spring football practices like most other schools but have had the weight-room open since January and will continue to do so during the summer from Monday-Thursday. The workout program will also involve conditioning.

Mark Galindo, Scott LeStrange, Vince Venegas, and Troy Alvarado return to the coaching staff. LeStrange and Alvarado were with Ervin’s staff in his first stint. Venegas played for Ervin in his first tour of duty. The staff will also involve four newcomers: Ron Risi, Robinson Galvez, Cris Flores and Marcos Escalante. Flores and Escalante played at Calistoga for both Ervin and Harrell. Risi has 30 years of experience coaching in the Bay Area, most notably as a line coach and defensive coordinator at Pinole Valley.

Calistoga made the move to eight-man football after the 2014 season, when the JV team had to forfeit its season after five games based on have too many players academically ineligible.

The NCL III will have a different look in that the league will be divided into North and South. The latter will consist of Calistoga, Tomales, Rincon Valley Christian, Branson, Potter Valley and Stuart Hall. The North will be comprised of Upper Lake, South Fork, Roseland Prep, Round Valley, Laytonville and Upper Lake. The thinking behind this move is to limit games that are forfeited.

Calistoga will play its five league games with its non league contests featuring Anderson Valley, Round Valley, Loyalton and Roseland Prep.

In the past, Calistoga football had the option from game to game of playing 9-man or 11-man football. That option ended the year Harrell took over for Ervin in 2011.

Other factors have also contributed to hastening Calistoga’s move to the NCL III in that Div. V in the NCS became much more loaded with the addition of Middletown, Salesian (Richmond), John Swett (Crockett), St. Helena and St. Patrick’s (Vallejo), to name a few. Some of those schools have enrollments of 500 and change.

Calistoga, however, is in that ‘tweener stage in that it has enough players to become an 11-man program but the problem is finding a league nearby with enough competitive equity.

The dilemma the Wildcats face is that for every two year block where they go 14-7 like 2012-2013, there are also two year stretches where 2-18 in 2011 and 2014 are just as likely. Based on early returns, Calistoga can at least stay consistently competitive in NCL III. Given that football sets the tone for the athletic program, such a scenario becomes significant.

The Wildcats would get housed on a regular basis in the NCL I but the NCL III is too limiting on a long-term basis. On a given year, Calistoga has enough numbers to fill a JV and varsity team but the rest of the NCL III with the exception of Upper Lake does not have that luxury. With no games to play, the JV kids’ best playing time was after the varsity youngsters contributed to building big leads.

However, given the overall decline in football participation throughout the United States, Calistoga football remaining in the NCL III for 8-man football is not such a far-fetched notion.

The only viable option if Calistoga wants to return to 11-man football is the BFL, where the Wildcats competed in 2012 and 2013.

It’s just a matter of how much do the Wildcats covet a return to 11-man football?

Anderson a welcome addition to Wolves football staff

The American Canyon High football coaching staff received an early Christmas present -- the addition of Kirk Anderson.

The 36-year old Anderson has vacated Napa’s coaching staff in lieu of head coach Troy Mott’s much publicized resignation amid hazing allegations and a power struggle with the administration and school board to join American Canyon, where he will teach physical education beginning this fall. Anderson is in the process of finishing his current stint at Napa as teacher, where he graduated in 1998 and had two tours of duty on the Indians football coaching staff, 2002-2006 and 2014-2016 under both Mott and former head coach Jerry Dunlap.

I had the chance to catch up with Anderson last week after I got off work before the Wolves took the field for another spring practice session. I have heard numerous good things about Anderson throughout the years but had never met him. Thank you, Wolves assistant coach Chris Yepson and head coach Larry Singer for pointing him out to me.

You hear the term “passion for the game” in describing some coaches, particularly football. My first impression of Anderson is, he exudes it but in a controlled fashion. There is a purpose behind it.

He joins a situation in American Canyon that has five CIF Sac Joaquin Section playoff appearances in six seasons, each of which times the Wolves have won the Solano County Athletic Conference either sole possession or shared. The only time the Wolves did not reach the postseason was 2011 when the program had no seniors.

American Canyon went 11-2 in 2016, reaching the SJS Div. III semifinals for the second time in school history.

“The players have been really welcoming,” Anderson said. “That has been a great feeling. It’s very clear that this football program is trending in the right direction. They had a good run last year going to the semi-finals. We’re trying to improve upon that and move forward this season.”

Anderson is not going to be a coordinator by title but the plan is that he will work closely with both Yepson, who is the offensive coordinator, and Singer, who doubles as the defensive coordinator and head coach. When asked what Anderson’s title is, Singer referred to him as a quality control specialist but added that since Anderson brings a wealth of knowledge to both offense and defense, it’s hard to pigeonhole him to a specific title.

“It’s mainly about bringing another perspective and hashing out things with regard to game planning,” Anderson said. “I won’t say that I will be involved more in one or the other (offense or defense). I’ll definitely have an active role for what the game plan looks like.”

Based on his resume, Anderson brings a wealth of perspective that figures to only help an already reputable program.

Between stints at Napa, he was the head coach for two seasons at Mira Loma Sacramento). He also served as an assistant at Burbank, Rio Americano and Bella Vista. During his stints on the Indians staff, he was in charge of coaching receivers and scout team.

Anderson’s perspective is also linked to being a former quarterback, where by definition you are a coach in pads.

While quarterbacking Napa, he was honorable mention on the All-Monticello Empire League team and was voted team MVP as well as captain. Subsequently, Anderson went on to play at Butte College (Oroville) and University of Mary (Bismarck, North Dakota).

In two seasons at Butte, the Roadrunners compiled a record of 18-4 with two postseason bowl game appearances along with being ranked in both Northern California, state and national polls. Anderson threw 33 touchdown passes in that span.

Anderson’s success continued at the University of Mary, which is an NAIA school. The Marauders were ranked No. 3 nationally at one point. Anderson and University of Mary enjoyed a banner 2000 season. Anderson completed 94 of 215 passes for 1,576 yards, 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for 142 yards on 43 attempts as Mary reached the NAIA playoffs.

Anderson played one season in the National Indoor Football League before going into coaching. When returning to California, he graduated from Sacramento State, earning a degree in kinesiology.

“I think that being a coach you get to learn everyone’s position,” Anderson said. “A good coach knows what everyone is doing on the field. That came hand in hand with playing quarterback. I knew what all 22 positions were doing. That transition to being a coach was easy for me.”

While having played the game is all well and good, coaches that are former players are a dime a dozen, articulation of knowledge makes a coach more so than playing experience. Anderson fashions himself as a teacher at heart.

“I think that is the fun part of coaching,” Anderson said. “We are constantly evaluating players. The evaluation process will go from now until the end of the season. It’s up to these players to take ahold of that and figure where they can best contribute.”

What will be different about coaching at American Canyon as opposed to Sacramento and to a much lesser extent Napa is that there are no divided loyalties. In Sacramento, there are more high schools than most can count. In Napa, you have the Blue & Gold crowd that is pro Napa Indians and you have Vintage Crusher zealots wearing Burgundy & Gold.

In American Canyon, you have one high school. The colors are all Black & Gold, all the time.

“I have no problem wearing Black & Gold,” Anderson quipped. “I wore Black & Gold at Butte College. I’m kind of bringing back some of those memories. I’m looking forward to being here every Friday night.”

The feeling is mutual among the Wolves, particularly Singer and Yepson.  

Napa softball section title is happy medicine

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where even if you have not followed a team or sport extensively, you find yourself getting swept up in celebrating the team’s success?

That is exactly where I found myself the past month or so as it pertained to the Napa High softball team. I am not a Napa High alum but I have lived 38 of 44 years of my life in Napa. As a native, I could not have been happier to see the Indians reach the summit of the CIF Sac Joaquin Section Div. II mountain in defeating Del Campo 9-8 on Friday at the Arnaiz Complex in Sacramento. I support all Napa Valley athletic programs from American Canyon to the South to Calistoga to the North.

Napa capped its season going 21-8-1 with eight consecutive wins. Wood (Vacaville) won the Monticello Empire League, going 11-4. Napa finished tied with Vacaville for second place, going 10-5. The Indians earned the tiebreaker based on beating Vacaville in two of three regular season meetings.

After a 2-0 loss to Wood on May 3, Napa dropped to 13-8-1 but won its last three regular season games (7-6 over Vacaville; 4-1 over Vintage and 16-0 over Armijo) to earn the No. 8 seed in the SJS Div. II bracket. The Indians opened the postseason defeating No. 9 Bella Vista 4-1. I’ve seen the narrative play out numerous times in a 16-team bracket. The No. 8 vs. No. 9 winner often ends up being the sacrificial lamb for the No. 1 seed.

Except this time.

Napa defeated No. 1 seeded Elk Grove 4-1 followed by Vacaville (8-0). The Indians then upended Del Campo 5-4 on Thursday and the aforementioned 9-8 win on Friday.

I spent 18 years as a sports reporter for the Napa Valley Register before changing careers in December 2014. I have, however, continued my passion for writing via this blog and helping the Register with football coverage. Sports not named football, I have only stayed sporadically connected to but every now and then on my way home from work I’ll catch a baseball or softball game.

I hearken back to the week of April 16-22 when I was on vacation from work. It was a staycation actually.  I decided to stop by and watch the softball edition of Big Game between Napa and Vintage. The Indians won that contest 8-1. Little did I know that one month or so later, this team would reach the mountaintop.

Napa’s softball section title is significant for a few reasons. For openers, the school has a handful of distractions with the football team’s hazing incidents and subsequent resignation of head coach Troy Mott and staff. The good news there is Jesus Martinez, former Indians quarterback and long-time assistant coach who graduated in 2004, has been named the new head coach. There is also the desire by the district to change the mascot name. Both incidents have led to incendiary school board meetings.

Translation, Napa’s softball success has been a happy pill in difficult times.

Baseball/softball is a strange game where a player will actually fail more times than succeed. It’s the ability to rebound from striking out or having a hard hit ball find a glove that matters most. The sport is also a strange game in that regular season and postseason success is not new to the Indians in softball. They had plenty in the recent past under the likes of Jerry Kime, John O’Connor, Ron Walston and now Tammie Mansuy -- who is skillfully assisted by coach DeAnna Bowers. Napa had more than a handful of seasons where it was the higher seed in the postseason but for whatever reason fell short. Also, even though most people know Les Franco as a football coach (1979-1989 for Napa; 2000-2006 for Vintage), he was also the Indians softball coach.

In lieu of Napa’s success, I am constantly reminded of the narrative of covering winning teams, even though I’m not as actively involved as a writer like it was my profession. Since I have changed careers, I consider myself a writer more so than a member of the media in that I’m not looking to break stories. I have opinions, I share them. I have memories, I also share them. I have interviews, I also share them.

However, I will put on my media hat for a moment. When journalism was my career, I covered many teams, good and bad. The ones in the former category, I often found myself getting swept up in celebrating their success. I get that the media is supposed to be impartial but I don’t think it’s a matter of being biased. It’s a matter of seeing youngsters put in the work. It’s a matter of seeing coaches prepare them in practice. When the success follows, you are thrilled for them.

Martinez hire as NHS head coach means resolution at last

In Jesus we trust.

Such is the narrative at Napa High as of Wednesday afternoon. To put it charitably, the situation in the public domain surrounding Napa Indians football has been a hot mess. The hiring of Jesus Martinez as the Indians’ next football coach, however, signifies the bleeding getting stopped before it hemorrhaged.

The news broke both in traditional media (Napa Valley Register) and social media on Wednesday afternoon.

The program has been saddled with alleged hazing incidents and a subsequent power struggle between former head coach Troy Mott and the school’s administration. Without rehashing too many old details, the members of the coaching staff were cleared of any role they had pertaining to negligence to the alleged incident. However, the coaches were told they would have to reapply for their jobs but administration and school board would have the final say on which coaches were rehired. Such did not sit well with Mott, which led to his resignation and the remainder of the coaching staff. Keep in mind, most football coaches re-evaluate their staff at the end of the season anyhow. At recent school board meetings, vocal parents and community members went nuclear.

Martinez’s hiring was recommended by both principal Annie Petrie along with Mott and is pending school approval. The next meeting is June 1. The announcement of Martinez’s hiring also comes about a week after school officials said they would cancel the season at varsity, JV and freshmen levels if they did not land a coach by June 15.

Such a scenario would fall into the “if you think they are mad now, just wait” category. That look would have been horrendously bad. Thankfully, it appears we don’t have to look at that landscape.

Martinez has Blue & Gold coursing through his veins having been on the Indians coaching staff since 2006, nine as offensive coordinator for the JV and last season as JV head coach. Martinez, who played quarterback for an Indians team that reached the CIF Sac Joaquin Section Div. I semifinals in 2003, graduated in 2004 and currently works as a police officer at Napa State Hospital. Martinez, who is known as “Chuy,” has scheduled a meeting with prospective student-athletes and parents for Thursday evening.

Mott will reportedly have a role in the program, presumably as a consultant/mentor to Martinez. If true, that role will be significant because as JV coach going straight to varsity, Martinez is jumping into the deep part of the sea. He needs the room to learn how to swim but having a lifeline like Mott as a line of defense is a plus.

In a letter to parents, Petrie stated that six candidates were offered the job, two internal and four external, all of which declined. The situation was so bad that parents of players had been contacting other schools in the Napa Valley about the possibility of transferring. There is no telling if anyone transferred but the fact that they contemplated such is very telling.

Thomas Sims, who will be the athletic director beginning in 2017-2018 replacing interim AD Kelly Van winden, told the Register that all of the coaches (on and off campus) are eligible to reapply to be on Martinez’s staff. With Martinez leading the way, some may have a change of heart.

There was a “circle back to Mott” crowd but I doubt that was ever realistic. Hiring Martinez was the best and most realistic choice the program could have made. Former assistants Ian MacMillan and Kirk Anderson each have varsity head coaching experience and would have been ideal replacements but have since joined the coaching staffs of St. Helena and American Canyon respectively.

What outsider in his right mind would step into an incendiary situation that also involved replacing a coach that went 94-35, leading the Indians to Northern California and state rankings? Not to mention, he would draw constant comparisons to Mott. Napa won five Monticello Empire League titles and the 2007 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Div. I title under Mott.

I know high school vs. college vs. professional is a different ball of wax but would you want to follow Nick Saban as Alabama football coach? Would you want to follow Mike Krzyzewski as Duke basketball coach? Would you want to coach the New England Patriots after Bill Belichick retires? Would you want to be the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs after Gregg Popovich retires? The answer to all of the above is, if you are an outsider, heck no.

The main point I bring up is, the best way to replace a highly successful coach like Mott is to do so with an assistant coach, especially if he is an alum. Martinez knows what he is walking into, he knows the lay of the land, and he knows the community. All of those things, give him built-in equity.

Look no further than Justin-Siena High, which mutually parted ways with Rich Cotruvo after 19 seasons. Sounds to me like he got Jim Harbaugh-ed but I digress. Brandon LaRocco, like Martinez, is an alum and former player at his school. Sure, the Braves going 3-7 in LaRocco’s first season was not a good look but a promoted assistant is not going to get eaten alive like an outsider will. You can be an outsider replacing a coach that was terrible and if you don’t succeed, it won’t be a black mark.

The biggest reason to celebrate the hiring of Martinez is that there is finally some resolution. The student-athletes and community can now make football the discussion. Where are the student-athletes mentally? Are they emotionally spent? Are the motivated? I would bet the latter because kids are often more resilient than adults. When October rolls around, the thoughts are all about, "can the Napa defense be disciplined against Vacaville's Wing-T offense?"

Martinez’s situation is semi-similar to the Indians previous four coaching changes that went from Les Franco to Bob Herlocker to Jerry Dunlap to Troy Mott. The common denominator is that the program may change some but not radically. The only difference is that the previous four were varsity assistants whereas Martinez is leapfrogging from JV to varsity.

Have faith in Jesus, pun intended.

MacMillan, Taylor join list of top-flight coaches on Saints staff

Former San Francisco sports talk show host Ralph Barbieri was famous for uttering the phrase “two things can be equally truly.”

Such a narrative can also apply to the St. Helena High football coaching staff. For openers, the staff is even more chock full of bright football minds -- and it already had plenty. Secondly, varsity head coach Brandon Farrell went from having no JV coaches to having coaches with varsity experience.

Farrell added Steve Vargus to his staff as the varsity defensive coordinator to go along with Matt Cia, Sam Licina and Will Densberger. Those three have been with Farrell since his first season in 2008. Vargus is widely known for his defenses leading Justin-Siena to six CIF North Coast Section titles in his 16 seasons paired with former Braves head coach Rich Cotruvo. Vargus also coached at Vanden, Vintage and Terra Linda.

Farrell confirmed that Ian MacMillan will teach math at St. Helena High and be the JV football head coach. The JV staff will also comprise Donnie Taylor and staff returnee Justin Kludy along with newcomers Richard Hoppe and Bobby Garrison. Hoppe, who is a 2013 St. Helena High graduate and former three-sport star, recently returned to St. Helena after graduating from Boise State University, where he played baseball for four years. Hoppe will help on both the JV and varsity staffs. Also pleasing to Farrell, he has four coaches that double as teachers at St. Helena High. Licina, Kludy, MacMillan and Farrell are also part of the St. Helena faculty. Farrell also teaches math. In his first stint coaching at St. Helena high, MacMillan taught math at Robert Louis stevenson Middle school.

The JV staff became a huge priority when David Bos resigned at the end of last season. Bos, who was the Saints JV head coach since 2014, is relocating to his home state of Michigan.  

Having known MacMillan and Taylor for nearly 20 years, I can honestly tell you that Christmas arrived seven months early for Farrell. MacMillan has two stints as varsity coach, going 21-11 from 2004-2006 at St. Helena and 25-10 from 2011-2013 at American Canyon. MacMillan has also been a varsity assistant (2007-2009 and 2014-2016 both at Napa). He was also a JV head coach (1999, 2001-2003 at Justin; 2010 at American Canyon) going a combined 44-15-1. MacMillan was part of the entire Napa High staff that resigned along with former Indians head coach Troy Mott amid an alleged hazing incident.

Taylor has Upvalley roots that run deep as he is regarded as one of the best athletes Calistoga High has ever produced. The 1991 Calistoga graduated played five sports as a Wildcat before playing football at Butte Community College (Oroville, CA) and Texas Tech. Since returning to the Napa Valley, Taylor spent two different stints coaching Calistoga High along with the town’s youth football program, the Calistoga Cubs. He also coached the Carpy Gang, which is St. Helena’s youth program.

Taylor was the Calistoga High defensive coordinator in 2012-2013, during which time the Wildcats went 14-7 with back-to-back NCS Div. V playoff appearances.

With MacMillan and Taylor leading the JV staff, you are getting two tremendous teachers of the game. When I was a sports reporter in the newspaper industry, I seldom watched teams practice because of pre-occupation of giving other sports not named football their recognition. MacMillan and Taylor both played the game at the high school level, in Taylor’s case at the Div. I college level. However, I don’t given as much credence as some to their playing experience and how it translates to coaching. There are a zillion coaches that played the game but are lost in articulating their knowledge.

MacMillan and Taylor, however, are as good as you will find in teaching the game -- and both things are equally true.

Saints begin spring football with coaching staff additions

As the St. Helena High football team begins its first day of spring practice today, the goals are business as usual for head coach Brandon Farrell, who enters his tenth season at the helm, during which time the Saints have gone 76-30.

Farrell is the all-time leader in school history in coaching victories, surpassing Charley Toogood in 2015. With spring sports concluded, the Saints will likely have a solid amount of players participating in spring football practices, which run this week and next.

I remember when Farrell arrived in 2008 when I was a sports reporter on the Upvalley beat. I liked the hire then and the Saints subsequent success in his tenure has confirmed such. I had a chance to catch up with Farrell via phone after work this past week.

“For us, the goals of spring football haven’t really changed since you were here reporting,” Farrell quipped. “We’re still using it as a chance to get as many kids out for the sport as possible. We’re trying to give them a snapshot of what it will be like to set the tone for the upcoming season.”

As successful as St. Helena has been in recent seasons, 2016 did not end well as the Saints lost their final three contests of the season, including the CIF North Coast Section Div. V playoffs, 27-9 to Ferndale to finish 6-5. Though eight months and change will separate that contest to St. Helena’s 2017 opener on Sept. 3 at Sir Francis Drake (San Anselmo), the hope is that the finish of 2016 was an aberration not a trend.

The 2017 season will also feature a couple of new faces to the coaching staff to go along with some familiar ones that have been with Farrell since coming to St. Helena from West Carroll High (Savanna, Ill.). Farrell’s presence as the football head coach has given St. Helena much-needed stability. The program went through 13 coaching changes in 28 seasons before Farrell arrived.

The familiar faces to the staff that remain are Sam Licina, Matt Cia, and Will Densberger. The new faces will be Steve Vargus and Richard Hoppe. Vargus, who is a 1977 Calistoga High graduate, will be the Saints defensive coordinator. Vargus is very highly regarded having spent 16 seasons at Justin-Siena as defensive coordinator under former head coach Rich Cotruvo. Vargus’ 3-4 defenses were huge reasons why the Braves won six NCS titles in 14 seasons. Vargus has also coached at Vanden, Vintage and Terra Linda. Hoppe is a 2013 St. Helena High graduate who recently graduated from Boise State, is the Saints record setting quarterback who went on to play baseball for the Broncos.

“We’ll have some new schemes to learn that may trip up the timing in how far we can get,” Farrell said. “I’m pretty confident we’re going to go in the right direction. We have some really talented coaches aboard. Bringing Steve Vargus along will be great for our program and keeping Matt involved will be great as well. We view any change we have gone through in the last month as a positive. It’s an opportunity to retool and mesh ideas.”

While Farrell has had an outstanding staff for the entire decade of his tenure in St. Helena, he added that the opportunity to bring Vargus to the staff was simply too good relent.

“We realized that if there is a chance to grab a great coach or a great football mind then by all means let’s get better,” Vargus said. “You could not have drawn it up any better. It will be a challenging summer to adjust but adding coach Vargus is just what we were looking for to improve our staff.”

The common narrative one hears is that a head coach is only as good as the band of assistants at his disposal. There’s ample merit to that on the local level when looking at Larry Singer’s staff at American Canyon along with the staffs that Troy Mott had for several seasons at Napa and that Cotruvo had at Justin. With Vargus, the Saints are getting a high school version of Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator in terms of how he is received by peers. Adding Hoppe is also a significant move. Hoppe is young but far enough removed from high school. I remember Hoppe’s gym-rat mentality as a student-athlete like it was yesterday. Hoppe was as diligent as you’ll find when it comes to film study and preparation.

During the summer, the Saints will have weight-room conditioning along with 7-on-7 matchups with fellow Napa Valley schools Justin, Vintage, Napa and American Canyon.

“We have a program run by Sam Licina,” Farrell said. “He does a great job. He gets the kids to work to the maximum level. They always come out of the summer feeling better and more confident. We’re not producing He-men but we are producing some quality athletes.”

Besides Drake, the Saints other nonleague opponent will be Winters, which competes in the Northern Section. This year will mark the second time in as many seasons the Saints will have played Drake. St. Helena has played Winters every season since 2014.  

“It’s a chance to put together the team of 2017,” Farrell said. “It’s about the kids believing in themselves and being able to claim it as their own team. We’re big on the kids taking over their responsibility of what it takes to be a good team.”

Establishing a baseline for success in an MLB season

Sports analytics have become all the rage in both college and professional sports. Before we know it they could seep into high school sports. Who knows, maybe they already have. Of course, I’m half kidding but I digress.

Analytics are a way to measure a team’s performance using various stats on both a broad and narrow spectrum so as to help a team gain an edge. If I really spent time explaining what analytics are and how they are valued, well, I’d be better off trying to explain how far away Jupiter is from the Earth.

As it relates to teams, you hear two different narratives for a Major League Baseball season. When the calendar is in April or May, you constantly hear words like, “It’s early, it’s only April, it’s a marathon not a sprint.” Then you’ll hear another spectrum of fans grovel: “Every game counts the same whether it’s April or September!”

Both narratives have merit but understand one thing, no team has ever gone 162-0 or 0-162 and with rare exception will a team win or lose the division race in April or May. The key is simply do not lose it.

If you really want to establish a conservative baseline for a successful MLB season, follow this line of thinking: “If a team wins at least half of its series and never gets swept, it will win at least 81 games.” By my math, that’s a .500 season. Of course, if you are a fan of that team, you want to be better than 81-81. The point is, that benchmark is a place to start.

Process that stat for just a moment. The vast majority of series are three games, on rare occasions there will be a two or four game series but primarily they are three games. The season is 162 games, divide that number by three and that is 54 series. Then, half of 54 is 27. From there, multiply 27 times two and you get to 54 wins. Keep in mind, the other half of the equation is never getting swept, which means you are not winning the series but you win at least one game. That is 27 more wins, which means 54 + 27 =81.

Granted, no team’s season is going to follow exactly that script but it’s a good way to establish a baseline for success.

Where can a team can increase that win total? For openers, maybe it wins more than 27 series. Also, on occasion a team will either sweep a series or get swept. The key is to have the number of series as the “sweeper” outnumber the series as the “sweepee.”

Walker's passing conjures up Bay Area memories

Sometimes life can bring you to your knees and make you realize that another part of your childhood is gone.

For me, and an abundance of Bay Area sports fans old enough to remember, that moment came today when learning of Wayne Walker dying at age 80 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

In one respect, we should all be blessed to live such a long life but today was a sad one for Bay Area sports fans because there was a time when Walker was perhaps the most identifiable sportscaster in the region. He was the Bay Area sports guru, especially when it came to the San Francisco 49ers.

Walker spent 15 seasons as a linebacker for the Detroit Lions and worked two decades as a sports anchor for San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX. Walker also served as a network color commentator for NFL games on CBS . He later became the San Francisco 49ers radio color commentator, paired with Lon Simmons and later Joe Starkey.

Walker also hosted 49ers Preview, which was taped during the week but aired on Sunday mornings before the day of 49er games. I remember getting up every Sunday morning when the show aired at 8:30 a.m. If I missed that show, my day was ruined.

The show featured highlights of the previous week’s game, a preview of the next opponent along with in-depth interviews with players and coaches.

Though Walker is remembered as a football broadcaster, he was versatile enough to do baseball broadcasts for the Oakland Athletics from 1976-1980 and 1985. Walker passed on an opportunity to play minor league baseball to attend college, where he played at the University of Idaho.

Did Walker’s experience as an NFL player give him a great advantage as a broadcaster? No question. However, former players becoming broadcasters are a dime a dozen. They may know the game but the delivery of their knowledge fails miserably.

I find that to be a very telling trait because sometimes you get a former player that becomes a broadcaster and they think they know it all but Walker took the opposite approach in that he constantly worked to improve his craft.

With Walker, behind that gap-toothed smile that could rival Michael Strahan, was a perfect blend of a straightforward and humorous delivery. With the latter, it was more of a dry sense of humor that was never in poor taste.

So much of today’s media culture is about how loud your voice can be like Screamin A Smith (err Stephen A Smith), Max Kellerman, Shannon Sharpe or Skip Bayless. In addition, so much of today’s culture is how many readers or listeners you can enrage. Don’t get me wrong, expressing opinions and good healthy discourse on controversial topics have their place but opinions should be substantiated with facts.

Listening to Walker provided a safe haven. Whether it was his highlight show on the 11 o’clock news, his color commentary, his interviews with players and coaches, it is easy to understand why he had such a trusted relationship with his sources. Having spent 18 years in the newspaper industry, I know the value of establishing and maintaining trust with sources.

Walker represented a different era of broadcasting in that the on-air talent were the reporters of the story, not the creators of it.

He had the perfect story-telling mentality for broadcasts. Even if you had no connection as a fan with the ones that were subject to his stories, his folksy demeanor lured you into the story. If you were looking for someone to rattle off stats, Walker was not your guy but his story-telling approach was second-to-none.

Walker also represented a different era of broadcasting in another way. If I couldn’t watch a sports event on TV, I would stay up and wait to watch Wayne Walker’s highlights on the 11 o’clock news, much to my parents’ chagrin. That was our only way of finding out who won.

Nowadays, highlight shows are de-emphasized because between ESPN.com, google, youtube, etc., you can have them at your fingertips in mili-seconds.

I don’t know how I got there but I was on youtube one day and came across footage of Walker’s aforementioned 49ers preview and a CBS broadcast where Walker was doing play-by-play for a Los Angeles Rams-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game.

Now I want to dust off a VCR and pop in a VHS tape to watch Wayne Walker, who is smiling at a broadcast booth in the sky.

Time machine: 2000 Vintage High football

You hear the words “turnaround season” often in football.

Such seasons are commonplace in the NFL, such as a 5-11 team going 12-4 the next season.

In high school football, at least based on teams I witnessed in my 18 years as a sports reporter, those events are more rare. The one I continue to revisit is the 2000 Vintage High (Napa, CA) football team, going from 2-7-1 in 1999 to 8-3 in 2000.

After the 1999 season, Jim Costan resigned as head coach. Vintage had gone 25-20 in the previous four seasons but injuries and turmoil were too much to overcome in 1999. Vintage dug into its past to revive the then present in hiring Les Franco, who served as an assistant under the legendary Burl Autry from 1972-1979. Franco then became Napa’s head coach from 1979-1989, compiling a 76-39-6 record, leading the Indians to four Monticello Empire League titles and six CIF Sac Joaquin Section Div. I playoff appearances. Franco was named MEL Coach of the Year four times and is a member of the Napa High Athletic Hall of Fame.

Franco, whose head coaching stint at Vintage spanned from 2000-2006, spent 11 seasons out of football after being dismissed by then Napa High principal Jim Zeigler. Franco remained at Napa as a math teacher until Vintage hired him in March 2000 to be the football coach as well as teaching math.

Long-time assistants on Franco’s former Napa staff (Mike Hull, Jon Conner, Kent Fry, Mike Narlow and Albie Gray) rejoined him at Vintage.

Since I went to Justin-Siena High, I did not know Franco during his Napa years but heard stories that pertained to him having a strong personality. I told myself I would get to know him and then make up my mind. After all, football coaches need a strong personality to survive in that role. From a media-coach working relationship perspective, and I can only speak for how he treated me, Franco could not have been better. If you took an interest and were fair, he respected you. I was one of the lucky ones.

Being away from the sideline for 11 seasons, I did not know how to gauge the success Franco would have as a coach. From a win-loss standpoint I thought if this team could go 5-5, 6-4, the season would be a success. The roster had a lot of seniors coming back from a team that underachieved a year earlier. Looking back 17 years later, it’s easy to understand why this team did even better. One quality I noticed about Franco was how organized he and his staff were. Young coaches bring energy but it is sometimes misguided.

Franco brought his triple-option offense and a 4-4 defense. The latter was a compelling transformation for a team that often lined up in the shotgun with four receivers the previous season. Quarterback Justin Nunley could not have made a better transition from dropback passer to option quarterback. Though this offense was known for its ground game, it was one of the most well-balanced offenses I have ever seen led by the dual-threat Nunley. The Crushers also had two outstanding receivers in Jason Cardwell and Jonathan Davis, though the latter was known for his work as a cornerback, Davis was also a reliable receiver. Both were also very good downfield blockers.

What I remember most about the Crushers running game was that while it lacked 1,000 yard rushers, Franco’s willingness to mix and match kept running backs Chris Tamayo, Adam Romick, Mark Carducci, and Mark Galios fresh. The offensive line also featured a player making an outstanding transition with Jacob Wolfe moving from tackle to center. Wolfe, Rob Gordon and Peter Hubbard were linchpins on the offensive line.

On the defensive end, the Crushers were often buoyed by an offense that averaged 38 points per game. Once the offense established the lead, the defense put the clamps on the opposition led by Mike Amarant, Brandon Brazil, Davis and Tamayo to name a few.

Though this Crusher team had many meaningful players, the one that to this day typified the identity of the team was Romick. He was a throwback that could have played in any era. On offense, he was punisher at fullback. Give him a head of steam and he’s an 18-wheeler rolling downhill. As a defensive lineman, he was undersized but played with tenacity.

The season started with a bang as the Crushers railroaded Miramonte (Orinda) 50-20. Miramonte won the CIF North Coast Section 2A East Bay title that season. The next two weeks, however, would represent a fork in the road with losses at Vacaville (28-20) and Wood (31-25). The latter was an especially disheartening loss as the Crushers coughed up a 25-0 third quarter lead.

Though Vintage’s next two games were against inferior teams Armijo and Hogan, I felt we would learn a lot about Crushers’ mettle. Vintage responded with a 34-0 win over Armijo and 41-10 over Hogan.

The next week, however, the rubber would meet the road against Vallejo. Known then as the Apaches (now the Redhawks), Vallejo was ranked No. 2 in the state by Cal Hi sports. I get that rankings are subjective but the Crushers 34-33 win over Vallejo got the attention of many people. That Apaches team had tremendous athletes like Phil Goodman, Draak Davis and Kito Williams. I firmly believe that win was the difference between 8-2 and say 6-4 because it gave the Crushers even more belief than they already had.

Though Vintage won SJS titles in 1980 and 1986, this win over Vallejo is definitely among the best in school history.

The Crushers beat a solid Fairfield team 28-14 and blasted Bethel (49-18), Benicia (61-15) and Napa (41-15).

Vintage’s postseason stint was short-lived, one game, with an 84-21 loss to Nevada Union (Grass Valley). I kid you not I have never seen a team that shed blocks so quickly on defense and sustained them on offense.

You frequently hear the narrative, “you’re only as good as your last game.” The problem I have with that sentiment is that unless you win a section or state title, every season ends in a loss. I consider resumes to be a body of work over a period of time.

When I look at the 2000 Vintage Crushers, I see a coaching staff that returned to the sideline having forgotten more about football than most will ever know. I also see a roster of players who restored lost respect.