Greetings from B-Town
The dog received a post card - well, a return phone call actually - from Bakersfield on Tuesay morning. It was from Serrano High and Chaffey College graduate Paul Golla. Golla is now the coach at Bakersfield High School, alma mater of Frank Gifford.
Golla's Drillers opened impressively last week, defeating Bakersfield East 35-0.
After playing at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., Golla became an assistant at Serrano. Then he became the coach at Silverado, leading the Hawks to their first league title.
He left Silverado for an assistant's job at Victoria Memorial in south Texas. But when the storied Bakersfield job opened two-plus years ago, Golla couldn't resist.
He was flown to the interview and, after a month of waiting, was offered the job. Golla was an immediate success in football-crazy Bakersfield, winning a CIF-Central Section title in 2005. Last year's team went 12-2, losing to Clovis East 14-7 in the CIF semifinals.
This week the Drillers have a tough home game, facing state power Sacramento Grant (13-0 last season).
Although football is huge in Bakersfield, it's king in Texas. Golla has fond memories.
“It's what everyone says it is,” he said. “When we'd travel, we'd take 12 chartered buses. It was a great experience.”
Hi John, I enjoyed our chat this morning so much. I REALLY enjoyed reading about Paul, Shelly and my little angels, Adria and Gunter Paul and of course about our Drillers (the greatest team ever)
Thanks for the interesting blogs, I'll be looking for them from now on. The dog is really a cute idea, by the way.
PS this is my first response to a blog.
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks again for your enjoyable reporting. Jeanie G.