.........Biggest disappointments this season.........

I am also a webmaster. I do think we ought to help each other. What is your opinion about exchanging links?

I love the expression. Everyone needs to express there own opinion and feel free to hear others. Keep it up :)

Muddy,

Few things Gallagher went 2 and 9 his first year. New head coach went 1 and 9 not too different. New La Salle coach found out he was the head coach around May. Kind of hard to get an offseason program started. The O-Coordinator has coached at the high school level and I think he in fact won a ring. Much of what you said was true. Should they have ran the ball more, without a doubt. I think we need to give this coach at least one more year before we jump off the bandwagon. Just some food for thought.

Alhambra- too much talent to go down like that
Muir's sudden end, all be it to a quality team
La Salle and Arcadia's injury-plagued, non-playoff season
Pasadena's dismal 10-week journey
Blair- last year is just a fond memory
Marshall Fundamental- no where to go but up

Muddy

No wonder you sing the blues.

What kind of talent does La Salle have in the meat locker for 09? You may need to branch out into Gospel sounds soon if you are gonna say it ain't much.

Take care my friend.

Oh, Miguel.
You really don't want us to go there do you?

I'm just glad no one said my reporting was the biggest disappointment this season lol (did I just jinx myself?) ...

NY

The way it has gone in the past, things go down clandestinely....maybe this time the laundry will hang where others can see it and have a say. I hope so.

Next year I want it all. I will be in the mix.

Miguel,
I see you liked my idea of “Biggest Surprise/Disappointment” of the year as a topic. Well done!

WARNING: Rant ahead… (Don’t say I didn’t warn you)

No, I am not going to mention PHS this time. There are plenty of other posters that will do that.

ONE of the largest disappointments in the SGV, without a doubt, is the La Salle Lancers.

One of the top teams in SGV the previous 2 years provided 2 league titles, a CIF runner-up to a stacked Verbum Dei, 3 deep in a second CIF run, multiple 1st/2nd all league selections, and talent at the skilled positions (not to mention a top talent at QB), 3 returning starters at O/D line from last year’s League Champs, multiple senior players in multiple positions, and a program that was becoming a winning tradition at La Salle.

After the head coach left last season, the La Salle AD/Pres hired an unproven Head Coach (NEVER coached at that level before as a head coach) and brought in an unproven O coordinator (NEVER coached at the HS level before) to run what was once a potent offense. This new head coach dumped the “ball control” offense for a bizarre Red Gun offense where the QB was in shotgun 98% of the time. What did they think was going to happen? Anyone ever heard, “If you can’t run, you can’t win?”

Don’t believe me? Stats don’t lie: http://www.calpreps.com/2008/9_Camino_Real.htm Ugh... What happened to this La Salle defense that was so well coached?

The last game of the season La Salle actually tried to run the ball. The outcome you ask? With a 3rd string running back starting, he gained 230 yards on 27 carries behind the same O line that was the scapegoat as being “young.” It only took this new head coach 9 games to figure out he could run the ball. The stands were full of laughs saying, “Where was this all season?!”

Need more? (Don’t say I didn’t warn you, again)

Shall I bring up the lack of conditioning program and player injuries? Those that know the program understand what I am speaking of. Shall I mention the players being humiliated and degraded under this new leadership? Then there were the infighting between some coaches during the season causing one to leave. Shall I bring up some of the other sports that are also having problems under this AD’s leadership? The list goes on. Sadly, what was left was a 1-9 team.

La Salle, stop “Saluting as the winners go by” and making the other guy salute you for a change. Get your head out of the sand and get back to winning football.

OK, queue the La Salle defenders/apologist…

Biggest disappointment has to be Blair… Did not think it would turn out so bad…
PHS...
Muir loosing to DR in the playoffs
San Marino…I thought they would have gone further

Disappointments in no particular order:

-- Todd Golper's early injury and of course the big one later in the year. I was hoping he would bang heads with the east.
-- Blair's crash.
-- South Pasadena losing to Blair.
-- Pasadena's complete implosion.
-- Muir not getting to play Charter Oak.
-- Monrovia self-destructing against Arcadia.
-- St. Francis losing to Chaminade.

Goldenarm,
I hope that you dont just standby passively and watch this thing at TC unfold. Get involved with the process.

The biggest disapointment this year????

THE VALLE VISTA LEAGUE

Northview, San Dimas and Covina were slated to scratch out the eyes of everyone on this side of the 605. The changes to Mid-Valley were supposed to be the open door to walk over the bodies of "weak" teams like Monrovia, Temple City and others. It did not happen.

Who knows, it could be the case next year, as these are no doubt solid football programs, filled with quality athletes. But this year, NOT.

Miquel,

Fred has a topic up stating "the guess is Backus will not return". I have heard that "guess" as well. I don't see any reason to go around hyping my guess or anyone else's guess...especially when a man's reputation and career are on the line.
Should you guys be reporting - or joining the guessing game?
would'nt the high road be to let it play out and then inform??

I did not think I would find myself the enemy of the print media - but this season, it seems so. My post to the Trib is below:

Fred
It is unlikely you know anything more than anybody else on the TC coaching situation, unless Backus has stepped forward and chosen to tell you he does not wish to return.

The TC administrative aspect of this has been tight under wraps from day one. This is why PSN reported it as "breaking news" 8 DAYS after it happened and 7 days after Backus himself stood in front of the team and explained he would not be around.

You do a disservice to your readers, basing the outcome on a 50/50 possibilty you may be right. Truth is, you could just as easily be wrong.

Let the process go it's course and THEN report the outcome. Speculating has already factored into the death of our economy, it does nothing positive in this situation either.

With Muir's talent load and defense, it is disapointing losing a good shot at having a CIF Champion in Pasadena.

The collapse of RHL champion Blair was disapointing, though the picture looks somewhat better now.

PHS Bulldogs losing and losing, yes disapointing.

Making Dena pretty much the epicenter of football disapointment this season.

For me, the season's worst disapointment was not having your head coach as you enter CIF bracket play. That was followed by the season's greatest achievement, overcoming that disapointment.

As tough as it is to agree with you on this one Miguel, I've got to say you're right. 9-1 teams should be playing past the first round, bottome line.

Part of the dissapointment stems from the "luck of the draw." Muir was one of the top teams in the Southeast along with CO, DR, and SH. IMO, any of those teams can beat each other on any given night. We beat DR early in the season, they beat us late in the season. It just so happened that we were slotted to play them in the first round and they got the best of us. Had we played in a different bracket I'm quite sure things would have been different. But it didn't work out that way, we lost to the team placed in front of us, and the truth is, the two best teams are in the title game.

I guess the "upside," if you can even call it one, is that the only two losses Muir had this year were to two CIF finalists and potential champs (OC and DR)....that softens the blow just a little. Btw, the Stangs lose A TON of talent and are going to be a VERY young team next year. It'll be quite interesting to see how things unfold.

But yeah, Muir's finish was definitely a dissapointment.

Miguel,

I would have to put my team at the top of the disappointment list.Injuries,kids getting kicked outta school,kids getting suspended for disciplinary reasons,and we're talking impact players.Politics
behind the scenes,certain coaches not being able to coach for reasons I wouldn't even begin to talk about.The list goes on and on...
The bright side is that all our studs will be back next year.Mitchell Crockum,Darrian Cazzarin,Vai Peco,Brandon Wilson,just to name a few.I'm pretty sure Coach Rudy will go one more year to finish off with his grandson,"Cazz",and all the drama and political B.S.
will be long gone next year.Look for the Moors to be a solid in 2009!