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.

Many things bear watching with Wessman hire as Napa High football coach

What was a high school football program that was a picture of stability which many
people envied has become a revolving door.

Richie Wessman, not to be confused with the 1970s fictional TV character Richie
Cunningham from Happy Days, is looking to bring happier times back to the Napa High
football program. Wessman was officially named the Grizzlies third head coach in as
many seasons.

Wessman’s hiring was approved by the Napa Valley Unified School District Board of
Trustees on Thursday evening as announced by Superintendent Dr. Rosanna Mucetti
and interim Napa High principal Frank Silva. Napa had just four coaches between
1979-2016 (Les Franco, Bob Herlocker, Jerry Dunlap, Troy Mott). In between Mott’s
much-publicized resignation and Wessman’s hiring, Jesus Martinez and Tom
Petithomme, each spent one season as head coach. Petithomme is the Grizzlies’
co-athletic director along with Darci Ward.

So who is Richie Wessman? 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 currently at Ramstein High School, which is located on Ramstein Air
Force Base in Germany, teaching physical education along with coaching football and
soccer. Wessman is slated to arrive in Napa next week and will be a full-time PE teacher
to go along with his coaching duties.

“It will be an amazing culture and atmosphere in which everyone involved will feel a part
of something special,” Wessman said in a press release. “We are going to win a lot of
football games while playing a style of football that is fun to watch, making Memorial
Stadium the place to be on Friday nights in fall for everyone in the community. I am so
excited.

“The goal is to rebuild and create a championship program, so the first step is to develop
a deep understanding of the people and the current program. From here, we’ll continue
to develop relationships while we design and implement our road map to success. I
look forward to collaborating with the students, staff and parents as we work towards
these goals.”

There’s a few things to unpack from this hire. For openers, we don’t know the man other
than Google searches so it’s hard to make any grand proclamation of whether the hire
is good or bad. It’s not the hire that I worry about, it’s the climb he faces. Given that
Wessman has experience at every level of football, his acumen for the sport cannot be
questioned but being well-travelled has to be a concern. Napa is a program in need of
stability. Is this going to be another short stint? Given that this job is in need of a rebuild,
will he have the patience?  I don’t know the answer to those questions but they bear
asking.

The other question that bears asking is what type of a staff can he assemble? The
program has been through a lot of turmoil. I’m not going to rehash in depth but here’s
a thumbnail sketch: a) 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 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 Petithomme and d) The mascot changing from Indians to Grizzlies.
Getting a viable group of assistants will be a challenge.

Former Napa High quarterback Kirk Anderson, who graduated in 1996, is a former
Mott assistant was reportedly a candidate for the job. Anderson spent last season as a
Wood (Vacaville) assistant and could be the Wildcats’ next head coach in lieu of Carlos
Meraz’s resignation that was reported in the Vacaville Reporter. The question becomes,
did Anderson turn down Napa or did Napa turn down Anderson? Only Anderson himself
could answer that question but my money would be on the former. Many Napa fans
were clamoring for Mott to return but I don’t think there was ever a chance of that
happening. I could sell you beachfront property in Wyoming, except I can’t.

Wessman has some heavy lifting to do once he gets here. The good news is that the
program has nowhere to go but up after going 0-10 for the first time since 1955. Last
year’s varsity roster had just 28 players, not good for a school of 1,700 enrollment
(give or take a few). The key is getting the community and school excited about football.
In case you haven’t noticed, Napa High football is a personal subject to many people in
these parts.

Another overarching question is, what can he establish in terms of a strength and
conditioning program, which was once the hallmark for Napa’s success? What type of
base scheme will he install? For 40 years, Napa was an option based team but went to
a spread passing game last year. The offense had its moments but it was clear they did
not have the personnel to execute at a high level. What type of base defense will he
install? That unit was a sieve last season, giving up 459 points in 10 games.

What Wessman needs most when August arrives is early success. The Grizzlies have
four nonleague games, two of which are against Nevada Union (Grass Valley) and
Union Mine (Manteca). Both clubs went 3-7 and beat Napa 59-34 and 55-12
respectively. The other two vacancies are to be determined. As far as the Vine Valley
Athletic League, rival Vintage rules the roost and American Canyon is not going away
any time soon.

Wessman is putting on an optimistic front and he should. However, it’s one thing to be
optimistic in January. How does the program react the first time (insert opponent) goes
up 14-0?

We shall see what the next coaching tenure of Napa football brings.

Time machine: 2011 football playoffs Arcata at St. Helena

Sometimes you can foresee the outcome of an event before it happens. Then it plays out
in real time and it feels anticlimactic. The St. Helena High football team’s 32-7 CIF
North Coast Section Div. IV playoff win over the Arcata Tigers would be one such event.

In 2011, the Saints went 11-1, including 10-0 in the regular season for their first
undefeated regular season campaign since 1975. The Saints outscored teams 475-125.
Before head coach Brandon Farrell arrived in 2008, St. Helena went through 13 coaching
changes in 28 years.

The 2011 season was like a perfect storm. Farrell was the only coach that senior class ever
knew. The talent in the program had numerous talented players that never experienced a
loss in the Carpy Gang, which is St. Helena’s youth football program. The JV team for St.
Helena High went 10-0 in 2009. Much hype had surrounded that cast of characters. I
remembered thinking, “Pump the brakes but as long as Farrell remains the coach and
gives the program much needed continuity, there’s a good chance the success translates
when those players reach varsity.”

Despite all of that success, the 2011 Saints had a streak to break. The program had not
experienced a postseason victory since winning the NCS Class A title in 1977, defeating
Ferndale 14-7. The aforementioned 1975 Saints whitewashed Calistoga 42-0 in the NCS
playoffs before losing to Ferndale 7-6 in the championship game.

This game and team had a historic element as well. Jacob Gallagher (offensive/defensive
lineman) and Alex Quirici (tight end/linebacker), each have fathers that played for the
1975 team, Bob Gallagher and Darrell Quirici. Twins Joey and Danny Brink (receiver,
running back defensive back) have a distant cousin (Will Densberger) that played on the
1977 team. Densberger and Jeff Brink, who is the aforementioned twins father that died
in 2000, are cousins. Densberger was, and still is, a Saints assistant coach. I remember
interviewing the elder versions of Gallagher, Quirici and Densberger. The connection
with the past and creation of the then present fascinated me.

Despite the undefeated record, the Saints entered the postseason as a No. 5 seed largely
because of the perceived lack of strength for their league, North Central League I. Arcata
was the No. 12 seed entering the postseason with a 4-6 record.

Because of the family lineage, I pitched a story idea to St. Helena Star editor Dave
Stoneberg for the front page of the newspaper and would simply update the story based
on the outcome of the game. However, given the win-loss record disparity between the
two teams, I was pretty confident in the outcome. Pun intended but Stoneberg gave the
green light to take the ball and run with this story.

Thumbnail sketch of the game: On a night that featured steady rain, St. Helena
dominated the proceedings from the opening kickoff. Offensively, the Saints line opened
up holes that allowed running back Charles Bertoli to amass 164 yards on 20 carries,
scoring all four St. Helena touchdowns. Quarterback Richard Hoppe completed 5 of 7
passes for 85 yards. Brian Begerow was on the receiving end for two catches for 62 yards.

Manuel “Tutui” Gomes accounted for the Saints other score with a 37-yard field goal.
Defensively, Quirici had 12 total tackles, four for lost yardage. Gallagher had three tackles
for loss and two fumble recoveries. Begerow had a fumble recovery of his own.

What it meant: Though the Saints season ended the following week with a 27-24 loss to
No. 4 seeded Healdsburg, the program did not have to wait 34 for years to win a playoff
game. Between 2011-2018, the only season St. Helena missed the playoffs was 2017.
Including that streak breaking postseason win over Arcata, the Saints have seven
playoff wins.

Farrell remains the head coach with the 2019 campaign being his 12th. Farrell, who is
the program’s all-time leader in coaching victories, recorded his 100th career triumph.
The 2019 season is one that has St. Helena fans being optimistic with the returning and
upcoming talent on the roster.

Cotruvo stepping away from coaching but leaves door open for return

The Bay Area high school coaching profession is losing a great one.

The only question is, if Rich Cotruvo were a DVR, is his coaching career a stop button
or a pause button? In a story that appeared in the online version of Napa Valley Register
on Wednesday evening, Cotruvo told the Terra Linda High powers that be that he is
retiring from his position as Trojans’ head football coach. Cotruvo, however, will
remain at Terra Linda, where he has coached the last three seasons, as a health and
physical education teacher. The Trojans have gone 19-15 with two CIF North Coast
Section playoff wins in Cotruvo’s three seasons.

The 64-year old Cotruvo is most famous for his time at Justin-Siena (Napa), where he
coached for 19 seasons. In that span, the Braves went 144-74 with six NCS titles. To
appreciate that success, you have to understand where Justin football was before that
time. From 1987-1996, the Braves were a hot mess, going through four coaching
changes and a 27-67. I feel entitled to describe the program of that time as such
because I played there as a student-athlete for three of those years (1987-1989). Before
his Justin years, Cotruvo coached at Acalanes (Lafayette) and Monte Vista (Danville).

In the spring of 2016, Cotruvo got Jim Harbaugh-ed in that the administration never
said he got fired. Cotruvo never said he resigned. The public answer is that both sides
mutually parted ways. Sounds like a dismissal to me but I digress.

I’m not going to reveal every Cotruvo quote verbatim and you can only read so much
into newspaper quotes but here are a few that catch my attention:

“I love coaching. I love being with the kids and building something. But I’m tired.
I need to recharge my batteries. I just think the stars are aligned where I need to take a
break and maybe have some time to play some golf and enjoy my family a little bit more
and not be tied down in the fall.”

“This fall is going to be a new horizon for me. I may love it. I may hate it. I don’t know. I
just know that I want to finish my teaching career without having to coach football and
having that extra time.”

“I’m just not ready to say I’m retiring from coaching. I’m taking a break from coaching.
Once I’m retired from teaching, I want to reassess. Hopefully if things go right, if I finish
my teaching career and retired, if the right situation comes up, I’d love to go back and
coach.”

There’s a few things I unpack from these quotes. For openers, coaching a high school
football program is not an August to November endeavor. It is a 12-month a year journey
from strength & conditioning to summer 7-on-7 to grade checks. In addition, with the
divorce rate being greater odds than a coin flip, football coaches are like surrogate
fathers to some kids.

For Cotruvo, coaching has been a way of life but my goodness for the last 21 years, he
has commuted from his home in Walnut Creek, CA, to either Napa or Marin County.
Throw in a full day of teaching and coaching, I can easily fathom where someone needs
a break away from coaching. In a sense, I’m surprised this did not happen sooner.  Oh,
I didn’t even address dealing with administration and parents that do not share the
same vision as you.

The other layer of this has me playing conspiracy theorist. Cotruvo did not rule out a
return to coaching. If Brett Favre can come out of retirement, anyone can. There is a
school on the corner of Jefferson Street and Lincoln Avenue named Napa High that
needs a football coach. However, knowing him like I do, he would want the likes of
Steve Vargus, Steve Shifflett and Ian MacMillan to join him. Those guys, however, have
a great situation at St. Helena High under head coach Brandon Farrell. With the talent
the Saints have returning, I don’t see those guys vacating their current positions. OK,
that is wild speculation. That is my hot take for the week.  

Cotruvo is smart, however, to leave the door ajar to a return to coaching. In most any
walk of life, when we enter the next phase, we only know what we leave behind.
Whereas we don’t know what the next phase will be until we enter it. Most every retired
coach that I know echo the same sentiment, they miss the camaraderie among players
and assistant coaches but they don’t miss the lifestyle.

I had the chance to cover some of Cotruvo’s games, mostly between 1998-2000, but
followed his teams from afar from other beats in my years as a sports reporter. While
you can make the argument that Cotruvo was blessed with great assistant coaches, I
can counter that with any head coach worth his salt understands the value of having
quality assistants. I can’t speak for his tenures at Acalanes, Monte Vista and Terra
Linda but what he did to change the culture at Justin speaks volumes.

Whether it’s returning to the sideline to draw up 16-veer or planning his strategy on
the 9th hole, Cotruvo will be a winner just like he has been on the scoreboard and
making an impact on youngsters’ lives.

Talented players produce regardless of system

There are some phrases that bring out the cynical side.

For me, one of those terms as it relates to sports is “system player” or “it’s not
the player, it’s the system” or “he’s great in this system but put him in another
system and he would be” anything from average to lousy.

The notion behind this argument is certain players reach a level of performance
solely because of the system rather than their natural skill. The idea is most
commonly brought up in football as it pertains to quarterbacks but could apply
to any position. The term “system player” is used in basketball as well. The
term is commonly referenced in team sports because there are moving parts
that need to work in concert for a scheme to work.

Having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area most of my life (40 of 46 years to
be exact), the two people that are commonly linked to this term are former
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and current Golden State
Warriors point guard Steph Curry.

Montana, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, led the 49ers to four Super
Bowl titles in eight seasons (1981-1989). Curry, who has become the most
prolific 3-point shooter in NBA history, has led the Warriors to three NBA titles
in the last four seasons.

For Montana, it is commonly assumed that Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense
was the reason for his success. Walsh’s offense was based around a short-to
-medium range passing game. Like most innovations, Walsh popularized his
offense based around limitations when was an assistant under Paul Brown
with the Cincinnati Bengals. The team had a deficient running game and a
quarterback, Virgil Carter, with limited arm strength and as a result focused
the passing game around short routes and getting rid of the ball quickly.

It has also been argued that Montana, whose arm strength was good but not
great, had Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice to throw passes to along with
running Roger Craig, whom many believe should have a bust in Canton,
Ohio. I can debunk that argument. Montana led the 49ers to two Super
Bowls before Rice arrived and one before Craig was drafted. When Montana
was traded to Kansas City, he had Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen,
who while still valuable, was on the backend of his career. At that time, the
Chiefs had decent but not great receivers like J.J. Birden, Willie Davis and
tight end Keith Cash. With Montana, the Chiefs reached their first and only
AFC Title Game (1994) since winning Super Bowl IV until Saturday. The
point is, it took the Chiefs, who defeated Indianapolis 31-13 in the AFC
Divisional round, 25 years to return to that point.

Many fans outside of the Bay Area most prominently know the version of
Curry that has played under head coach Steve Kerr the past five years.
Compared to former coach Mark Jackson’s system, Kerr’s scheme is based
around ball movement as opposed to isolation under Jackson. In the process,
Curry, who recently surpassed Jason Terry on the all-time list for 3-pointers
made, has had the luxury of being paired with another historically great shooter
in Klay Thompson. The last three years, Kevin Durant, whom the Warriors
signed as a free agent from Oklahoma City, has joined the Warriors. Durant is
considered by some the best player in the NBA.

However, it should also be pointed out that Curry was hitting 3-pointers before
Thompson or Durant arrived and while playing in a scheme like Jackson’s that
was not as well-suited for him. Curry was also hitting 3-pointers when the
Warriors were struggling under Don Nelson.

Another “system player” argument that gets mentioned is NFL quarterback Matt
Cassel but you can somewhat intertwine this theory with New England Patriots
signal-caller Tom Brady. The Patriots drafted Brady in the sixth-round in 2000
and has led the franchise to five Super Bowl titles, more than any quarterback
in NFL history. Though some consider Brady the best quarterback of all time,
there are others that believe he would not be the player he is without the system
and culture fostered under head coach Bill Belichick.

In 2008, Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener at
Kansas City. Cassel replaced Brady and the Patriots went 11-5 but missed the
playoffs based on losing out on the tiebreaker to Miami, which won the AFC East
that year with the same record and beat New England twice. With Brady
returning healthy the next year, the Patriots traded Cassel to Kansas City,
where he had a couple decent years but has not recaptured his 2008 success.
Cassel has since been on five other teams and is the current backup in Detroit.
It could also be pointed out that Cassel’s success in 2008 not translating was
predictable because he was a career backup in college (USC) and only threw
34 career passes. Perhaps, there was a reason he was never a starter.

The overarching conclusion I draw is that while it is true that some systems will
get more out of a player’s ability than others, at some point you either have the
ability to perform or you don’t. As for the system argument, for one, any coach
worth his salt is going to put players in a position to succeed. For example, do
you honestly think any NBA coach worth his salt would ask Shaquille O’Neal to
camp out on the 3-point line and shoot? No.

Joe Montana is completing passes whether it’s the offense of Bill Walsh, Bill
Parcells or Mike Ditka because he could read defenses and throw accurately at
a high level. Steph Curry is hitting 3-pointers whether he’s playing for the Warriors
or Orlando Magic. Perhaps, Curry would not get the number of open looks but he
would still connect on more than plenty.

Pure and simple, at some point, it comes down to either the player has the ability
or he does not. The tools provided are irrelevant. For example, I have a brother
and cousin (shoutout Mike and Kevin) who are car enthusiasts. You could take a
three car garage, put the engine of a 1968 Camaro in each of them with the same
tools. Put Vince in one bay, Mike in another and Kevin in another. I’m not a car
enthusiast whereas Mike and Kevin have put cars together. I could be given the
same engine and tools but that doesn’t mean I’ll put the car together as well as
they can? In fact, you could bet money that I won’t.

In some cases, the term system player can be accurate but too many blind
assumptions get made when using the term.

I say, “System, Schmystem.” Talented players find ways to produce regardless
of system.