this from ESPN's Stuart Scott during SportsCenter ...

I’d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!

Finally a blog that didnt contradict it self, amazing writing. :)

This post is great. Thank you for this post. I like this type of people who share knowledge with others.

All this talk about coaches leaving reminded me of a joke.

At A booster club meeting the coach explains that he must move on to a larger school that will pay him more. There is a hush within the booster club. No one wants him to leave.

Joe Smith, who owns several car dealerships in the City, stands up and proclaims: "If the coach stays, I will provide him with a new Cadillac every year and his wife with a Honda mini-van to transport their children!"

The booster club sighs in appreciation and applauds. Sam Brown, a successful entrepreneur and investor, stands and says, If the coach will stay on here, I'll personally double his salary and establish a foundation to guarantee the college education of his children!"

More sighs and loud applause. Sadie Jones, a players' grandmother age 88, stands and announces with a smile, If the coach stays, I will give him sex."

There is total silence.

The coach, blushing, asks her: "Mrs. Jones, whatever possessed you to say that?"

Sadie's 90-year old husband, Jake, is now trying to hide, holding his forehead with the palm of his hand and shaking his head from side to side, while his wife replies: "Well, I just asked my husband how we could help, and he said, 'Screw the coach'.

Jolly Roger,

You've got me pretty convinced. Now, you're just going to have work on the upper management here at the Trib. Good luck with that.

Aram you are an idiot.
No one likes your writing.
If we as 'prep sports' fans had another choice of someone to read in this area then we sure as hell would.
What gets me the most is that you are such a 'homer' for Los Altos, West Covina and Amat that it makes people even dislike you more. Maybe you should go back to school and work on at least finishing 1 year at a JC. Oh wait, you want to tell the professor that you are going to do what you want - not what the assignment says and that is probably why you couldn't go to college in the first place. The only thing you are doing with your Saddam Hussien complex is stirring up hatred for you among alot of 'Prep Sports Fans' in the area.
Speaking for many prep sports fans, we wish you would move on so we could actually have an educated and balanced writer replace you. You would actually be a better fit as maybe a truck driver or a custodian or something like that.
Here's the salt and butter you moron.

And to all you that read this I have a question: Name another prep sports writer that drums up so much disdain as Aram in the area? Not one! That is because guys like Freddy Robledo, Jeff Gluck, Pete Marshall, Brian Baiotto, John Honnell, Doug Spoon etc. actually have class. Get a clue Aram and take some lessons. You have a lot to learn.

JollyRoger

Aram,

Maybe it's just "coach-speak"...ever thought of that? Like jounalists have "reporters-speak" ...generic terms that allude to real life realities and concerns. Like "our backs were against the wall" or "they have great speed" (alot of African Amerian players) code phrases..get it?

Spending time with my family is code for:

It was time to go
I've grown stale
Catholic schools pay nothing
Parents are a pain
Players are soft
I'm ambitions and want a greater challenge
Too far for the headache
Fooled around with_____and need to get out of dodge!
Larry Brown is my hero

No one's being dishonest. Grow up.

Randy

..you're right Cuccia got the shaft!

Anyone remember Coach Roddy Hyatt...coached at ELAC, the Centurions, and St. Paul? Back in the late 70s and 80s.

Enjoyed the Championship game with him tonight and this man's an awesome retired "COACH". What an honor to hear his insight and game analysis.

I heard Cowher is actually considering the DBHS spot....he knows its a cant miss program on the way back up from the ashes,.....he knows how well Cuccia poured his heart into this team (only to have it ripped out).....Cowhers our man as the top surprise of 2007!!! Yep, thats the latest on the DB side of the rumor mill!

I actually got alittle chance to talk to Cuccia about the whole deal over the weekend while at the gym,sure sounds like he got f*cked. I bleed purple and gold here people, and this episode is hard to take. He is truly a class act. Sounds like he was offered a chance to coach at a school in our league on the rebound, but chose not to coach against "his" kids. That is the kind of thing from another generation!

Short of Osama bin Laden being chosen as our new leader, I'm sure we are all going to "rally around" whoever is the new pick. But I will never forget Coach Cuccia, neither will my "rudy" like kid!

And Aram, how could you go with OSU? I wish woulda known that sooner, perhaps we coulda had a small wager on the game......

Is Bill Cowher (sp?)ex Pittsburgh Steeler coach in the same frame of mind.? He is claiming to spend more time watching his girls play over at Princeton?.....will he end up taking a year off then coming back to coach another team that has a coaching vacancy in 2008?...He is still young but left because the Rooneys did not want to give him a big money contract.....questions??...who is the front runner to coach the Al Davis Raiders...? also who is Diamond Bars next Head Football coach?

Prep FB Realist,

Nothing at all about DiFiori, personally, "irks" me. I just find it funny that most coaches refuse to be forthright with why they're leaving a position. "I want to spend more time with my family" is the reason most of them use. Then, they re-appear a season later somewhere else. There are a lot of paralells with the Nick Saban situation. I saw the similarities and posted a thread about it. So, it does, after all, have to do with prep sports. The point of the thread was to say "Look, this seems to happen at all levels."

As long as coaches continue to come with false reasoning as to their termination/resignation, I will continue to call them out. DiFiori was just the latest person.

I can truly appreciate a coach like DB's Nick Cuccia who came right out and said "I got fired." He wanted it out there. Good for him. I wish more coaches were like that.

Hey Aram,

I know you don't give a damn about anyone else's opinion...that's fine. I'm not asking for an apology.

What's so funny about your retort is that you didn't contest my remarks about DiFiori. That was the point of my post. I don't care about the number of hits you get or not.

Maybe you didn't respond about DiFiori because I'm RIGHT and you're WRONG. And that's what the problem is. Your quick to defend yourself and cast this whole image of me against the world, but not quick to point out when you're wrong. Maybe I should just call you "W."

The fact is your just over-sensative about the DiFiori resignation and criticism for that matter. But hey, it's your blog- feel free to hide from the truth and continue to bash others who bring up legitimate concerns.

Prep FB Realist,

Don't blur the line between offering criticism and being downright insulting. If you or anyone think I'm going to sit back and be bashed, you've got another thing coming. I love how some people come on here swinging for the fences, and when I hit back, I get "that's not being professional."

You can say all you want about this blog "losing" people. I've got numbers that say otherwise. Organize a boycott if you're offended.

About degrees - I can show you person after person WITH degrees who A. know nothing about sports and B. can't write themselves out of a paper bag.

I've worked my way up, apologizing to nobody along the way. I will continue to do so. Was that professional enough for you?

A-R-A-M...A-R-A-M...A-R-A-M

Hey big man, aren't you going to answer your bloggers or are you tucked away sobbing because someone hurt your feelings?

Aram...cheer up. First off, I don't think you have to have a degree to be an intelligent or thought-proviking writer. It does help.

However, you and Joe Amat back there need to get a serious grip on reality. Whether you want to admit it or not, DiFiori is really spending more time with his family now after leaving Amat just like he said.

Let's just look at the facts- He went from a Division I school (Amat) to a Division XI school (La Salle). He went from head coaching duties at Amat to offensive coordinator duties at La Salle. He lives in Arcadia and travels about 5 minutes to La Salle (Pasadena) rather then having to travel 20-25 minutes to Amat (La Puente).

What I don't understand is why does his stepping down at Amat to reappear at a lower level, lower position irk you so much? The truth is Aram and Joe Amat- he is spending more time with his family. I'm not sure what else to say about that.

As far as this blog goes, I think you're in danger of losing some people with your attitude. While you should have control over your blog, let's keep it to Prep Sports or at least not blast people who make that suggestion. Ease up there big man. You seem a wee bit too sensative there...especially with your earlier posts. So how about some Prep Sports talk?

You have not made a compelling argument yet. I destroyed your "these guys all have class" BS. Take a reading comprehension course. Ask someone to help you if necessary.

The best team does not always win. That is why they play the game on the field instead of in the press.

If you feel Ucla is a better team that USC, you are truly delusional and driven by blinding hatred and jealousy. Therefore your opinion is meaningless, your points are useless and your game is weak.

I'd like to go back to the adult sports conversation. Run along back to the childrens table now.

Don't come back unless you want another spanking.

You are stupid..you are exhibit "A" of my point.."best team doesn't win" that's a new level of stupid. Walsh "lousy person"? Chuck Noll "benefitted from great draft", John Wooden.."bad example"? Paul Brown "bad example..everyone was sedate"? Do you know anything other than saying bad eaxample and thinking that makes it so. Dude stay off the pipe. You've embarrassed yourself with those comments.

Class? Being lifeless does not equate to class. Let's see how your examples measure up.

Bill Walsh-great coach, lousy person. He'd stab his own mother in the back. Bad example.

Chuck Noll-great coach, benefitted from great drafts. Bad example.

John Wooden-great coach, Sam Gilbert and his backroom deals gets alot of credit though. Bad example.

Coach K.-great coach, Yeah he's pretty sedate. Good example.

Joe Torre-great coach, have you ever seen him berate an ump? Bad example.

Pat Riley-great coach. Are you kidding me? He is a bundle of energy. Are you old enough to remember the Showtime years? Bad example.

Phil Jackson-great coach. The zen master. Good example.

Paul Brown-great coach. He coached in the era of ties and coats on the sidelines. Everyone was sedate then. Bad example.

Mike Holmgren-great coach. He's a Trojan...surprised? He is more sedate as the Seahawk coach than as the Packer coach. Good example.

Joe Gibbs-good coach. The game has passed him by. Have you seen him at a race? He is not as crazy as those shirtless, wife-beating rednecks. But he does fist pumps. Bad example.

Bill Belechick-great coach. Also an a-hole in Walsh's league. Bad ezample.

Tom Landry-great coach. See Paul Brown above.

Pete Carroll-great coach. His emotions on the sidelines are a major source of annoyance to those who blindly hate USC and are envious of the state of the Trojan program.

All of these men are very different. All are successful. Thank God we don't have a bunch of boring-ass clones like Dorrell (who was pumping his fist and hugging everyone on Dec 2)on the sidelines at most programs.

I'm glad Pete annoys you. Prepare for many more years of his excitement and your pain.

BTW, the best team doesn't always win (Rose Bowl 2006 v. Texas and Dec. 2, 2006 v. the bruins come to mind) and get ready for the pounding the bruins will get at the Coliseum in 2007.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Nothing else matters except the glory that will burst once again in the San Gabriel Valley raining greatness in both the lands of academics and competitive sport.

After the rain ends, AMAT will shine through.

Aram,

Has anyone ran a story concerning players who will be competing in the BCS title game that are from the SGV. I believe Ryan Smith, formerly of Amat, is having a good year. 2nd team All American and he's only a junior. He was and still is a skinny and small kid considering the sport, but he can sure play!

First off- quit attacking Aram

Second- two mediocre teams beat S.C., and in turn they(S.C.)beat a handful of good teams and three very good/great teams Arkansas, Nebraska, and Michigan. They made all three look pretty stupid. So yes, those losses to Oregon State and U.C.L.A. were probably more to do with the Trojans beating themselves rather than the team who got the "W". Oh by the way, in case you missed it USC was a better TEAM then Texas. But, if you get beat by one man, you don't deserve to be called the champion anyway. So congrats to the '05 National Champion VINCE YOUNG. Thanks in part to Reggie Bush's bone head play at the 5, which cost them an oncoming big lead thus turning the game into a repeat of the Orange Bowl(USC vs. Oklahoma). Oh yeah, and Darnell Bings bone head face mask penalty, oh and Frosty Ruckers in-ability to follow coaching. You know they were screaming at him all week NOT to go outside(INSIDE! INSIDE!). So yes the Hook 'em horns are the champs. Praise be . . .

Third- in my field some of the biggest morons I've ever met have B.A. degrees. M.F.A degrees as well. It's shocking really. While I in no way discourage an education, don't assume an idividuals credibility based on a certificate, but what they know, and how they use it(whether or not they use it).

How did the topic here switch so dramatically?
It's gone from ripping Nick Saban, to being critical of Aram, to ripping Pete Caroll. I guess it's time to move on.

Are you stupid?

Bill Walsh 3x Super Bowl Winner, Chuck Noll 4x Super Bowl Winner, John Wooden 10x NCAA Champion, Mike Coach K 2x NCAA Champion, Joe Torre 3x World Series Champion, Pat Riley 5x NBA Champion, Phil Jackson 9x NBA Champion , Paul Brown 4x AFC Champion 3X NFL Champion , Mike Holgrem, Joe Gibbs 3x NFL Champion, Bill Belichick 3x NFL Champion, Tom Landry 2x Super Bowl Champion should I go on? Men who won like they've been there before and are all time greats!

Pete's behavior on the sidelines is "MTV Camera On Me!!" mugging. That's why Leinart and Bush last year still believed they were the better team when clearly they were not. This year the same thing with UCLA.....UCLA didn't win...USC didn't play their game...whose fault is that? Never acknowledge the other team. USC lost twice and still believes they are better than Ohio St? Go figure?

Front running coaches like Carroll and Stoops may have a short term run, with the whooping and hollering on the sidelines, but rubbing the blowouts in their opponents faces is classless! Pretty soon the players and programs start to fall apart. Look at Oklahoma they were unstoppable for awhile and hooped and hollered to prominence..look at them now. Who did you root for Boise St. or Oklahoma? It's not enough to play like a Champion..you have to act like one. Did you see the look on Stoop's face..looked just like Pete's after the UCLA game. Both were clearly out coached. Straight up!

No one is bigger than the game. I guess Pete Carroll forgot his "Humble Pie" coaching days in the NFL. Tone it down Pete...win like your mentor Bill Walsh.

ARROYO WRESTLING PINS RIVAL ROSEMEAD 45-27 on panthers' home mats
Why are there zero articles written about this great wrestling rivalry in the MVL? Robledo and the other news writers were caught off guard...naming the panthers as one of the best wrestling teams in the valley...well the KNIGHTS knocked off Madrigal and his puny panthers.. I remember in the 90s when ARROYO owned the title for 7 years in a row... then maddy started recruiting... but if rosemead would have won, i bet i would have seen a big title and article in the star news...but ARROYO proved robledo wrong for the second time and thus he pretends to not even know about it...just like when he said that he would add ARROYO FOOTBALL to the list of teams he covers, but then the all-area teams come out and ARROYO is snubbed again! Can I have an explanation? Ahh, nevermind. I dont want one anyways, cuz I know whos got the title. Congratulations Vorobieff! GO ARROYO!

Aram doesn't have his degree and he is less than a poorman's whatever.
Could you imagine him actually learning in the classroom?

Teacher: Aram, in order to get an A you should do this........

Aram: This is my paper teacher, I'll write it the way I want to cause it's my paper. For now I'll go for my fourth helping at the smorgasborg! Now can someone pass the butter and salt please!

Aram is not for the people, he is for himself. Not only does he have no character on top of no education but he's a front running narcissist not a real journalist. Give us a break.

John Robinson was also a great recruiter at USC, but those teams did relatively little during his second time around. Under Carrol's watch, USC has turned into one of the most physical teams in college football. With an almost entirely underclass defense, SC completely shutdown Michigan's offense, something that Ohio State was not able to do. Carrol has done a phenomenal job at SC. That said, I think he would be nuts to go back to the NFL. He has found his home and I hope he stays.

Attacks on Pete Carroll are the true definition of classless. He is a coach any real player would love to play for.

Let's do this:

You keep whatever sedate boring loser coach you have.

We'll keep the guy who pumps his fist, wins Pac-10 titles, wins BCS games, recruits top players, coaches Heisman winners and keeps a smile on his face.

I call that an even deal.

Anti17 ...so what! How animated at practice he is...it's classless to be that way on the sidelines. Totally classless. That's not being stupid that's having respect for your opponent. I don't care if he does backflips at practice the sidelines is different...especially when he looks like a horse's ass when he loses and makes stupid remarks about UCLA after the Michigan game. He's a front runner and a bit of a glory hog. Maybe he learned nothing sucking on Walsh's t#t when he was with the 49ers. Act like a Champion. Celebrate but don't taunt or flaunt you're semi pro team like your an AYSO coach winning 11-0!

Bishop Amat is a great coach away from returning to prominence. Look at UCLA. Great coach in Ben Howland and now UCLA is looking like the UCLA of old. No. 1 in the nation!

It's great coaching that turns a program around quickly but it's great players that give it longevity. Maybe Bishop Amat will enjoy that kind of success when they get a "seasoned" hotshot rather than retreads or young guns with "promise". Howland went fron Northern Arizona, to Pittsburg, to UCLA...and paid his dues.

God luck Lancers figuring it out..in the mean time continue to demand the best...just like the UCLA faithful that looked "unrealistic" before Howland came in and brought them back up to UCLA's standards...99 NCAA Championships!!!!

WOW hard to believe the energy put out on this blog. Aram, you did a great job this year and are continuing to do so.....it is your blog and you do get to decide what topics are discussed. Don't let any of this bother you.....I don't always agree with you but hey, this is yours not mine. I check the CIF website daily and the all CIF team isn't posted yet. Aram can't post what hasn't been decided.

Difiori left because he knew the team was in a decline and was not stocked and loaded and he was going to have a losing season. If Daniel Robles was a junior Coach D would have come back. He knew Carrillo was not going to pan out and the other underclassmen were just too small and not ready plus the added pressure of the new 4 team league...plus it is not easy coaching Amat their fans parents and alum want a winner and if you dont give them one you will hear it...I am sure coach D took allot of BS as he walked into the lockerroom at halftime or after games in which he lost...spend time with the family a lie or not is a gentle way of saying I quit this is not for me.........Verti fate will lie the same way....If this years team does not come out of the blocks and does not get to the playoffs he will have a lynching awaiting him.......heck it was already going on this past season..............He will then find a gentle excuse to step down........if he stays in there he has Stones because how much abuse can one coach take..........Amat people expect the best because of years past glory....those days maybe over or the glory days may be around the corner once again............whos knows at this point.

that had to be the stupidest comment ive seen on here in a while "go titans"....ever hear the phrase that players will mirror the image of their coach and leader. Ever go to a USC practice before? if you had, you'd see he is even more animated at practice than on the sidelines on gameday, and that is not fake, 100% genuine!
But maybe your right, maybe we should just go back to the Larry Smith days of no imagination, no enthusiasm and go 6-5, at least will will have your respect.

Pete Carroll is a front running whore! Never seen a coach hoop and holler on the sidelines like that before. Whata jerk! Liked the Boise State coach's demeanor- cool and controlled. Pete hasn't won a Championship without Norm Chow and now players are leaving disgruntled and feeling that Pete ain't straight up with them. Word has it Stefon Johnson is the next to leave. With the amount of NFL players USC has HOW did they lose 2 games this year? Vince shut Pete up last year and Walker quieted Pete up this year. That was classic USC with Booty saying they wanted to play Ohio State. Hope Pete leaves to the NFL and get's schooled again. Come on Pete..Norm and Vince are waiting for you...Go TITANS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aram what a ridiculous pet peeve. Coaches are paid to coach one team at a time. What is he suppose to say at midseason? As far as DiFiori saying he wanted to spend more time with his family why is that a questioned response? Have you learned nothing about the difference between coaching and the business of coaching.

By the way do you really NOT have a Journalism degree? You do have "a" college degree don't you? What school and what is your degree in? You once mentioned you didn't? Is that really true? Might explain your defensiveness.

Let's see you write about sports but never played, had the size but didn't compete, had the resources but did not manage to get a degree, wait are you a poor man's Joe McDonald?

As far as ignoring the blogger's request for All league and All CIF goes Aram already knows all the winners...he's a jounalists and the CIF office would easily fax them to the Tribune or any other paper that requested them.

And as far as burning brigdes back to the NFL..two words Pete Carroll..win and all is forgiven.

Jollyroger has a point Arim. You are making yourself look and sound like a tyrant by posting responses like you did. Saddam Hussein you are not, at least I hope not. Come to think of it, you sort of have the same attitude. Well look what happened to Saddam in the end. Whether you're the boss or not, it doesn't matter but what does matter is that your credibility and character are in question. Change the title to arat tolegian on sports like JollyRoger recommends, the people have spoken.

Aram will not tell anyone about all league either he does not know or he will not give his many bloggers the time nor the answers when so many have asked and been ignored.

ARAM

DO YOU PLAN TO POST ALL LEAGUE ANY TIME SOON?

I don't care for Saban for this...No, not that they he did different from what he said...Come on, it's the middle of the season, he has a team to coach and can't talk about another job, you saw what happened to Mora in Atlanta talking about Washington Univeristy job...what I don't care for is that he has a clause in his LSU and Alabama contracts that he's to be the highest paid coach in college...only egomaniacs would ask for that...The guy hasn't done anything compared to Pete Carroll.

As for sportswriters, you have to admit Aram that they sometimes have unbelieveable timing...Marty S. is 14-2 and ready to start the NFL playoffs and writers asking him about his relationship with the general manager...Hey, we just won the Rose Bowl, let's ask Carrol about the Reggie Bush stuff...I understand, looking for a scoop, but it's old sometimes. Most real sportspage readers want to read about the games, not National Enquirer stuff. I don't know the DiFori situation or all the supposed untrue things he said, but being the head coach at Amat compared to assistant at La Salle would be a big difference as far as stress goes for himself and his family.

I thought this was our blog too...no bloggers, no blog.

Those of you that didn't get the sarcastic reference to why it is related to prep sports can think back to the Difiori comment when he "retired" at amat to "spend more time with his family" only to show up on the sidelines as an assistant at La Salle.

sometimes it is not always spoon fed to you and we can expect you to have to think - just a little.

Sports talk is Sports talk........who cares what Aram Calls this Blog. Nick Saban took the money and that is what this Country is all about, Capitalism. The upside for Nick is he will be getting paid big bucks to coach Alabama and bring them back to or close to the top of college football. The downside is I feel he has burned his bridge in the NFL as far as coming back as a head coach. College may be better suited for Saban with the all the BS coaches have to put up with in the NFL. High priced players and demanding Owners. Look for Alabama to be in the thick of things in 3-5 yrs....Will Pete Carroll be next?...Money talks and I think Pete may be listening this time around.

Jolly Roger,

It says "Aram Tolegian" which makes me the boss and I'll decide what topics I put up - prep sports or not.

oh yeah and aram
part of being a sports writer comes with critizism (spell check!). its like a president, you never see elections going 80% to 20%. they always end up like 51% to 49%, half of the people are going to like it, half arent! thats just the business

barry bonds is the best baseball player ever!!the greatest!!

But the graphic on your blog says: Aram Tolegian on PREP SPORTS...not college sports...Now, if it said: Aram Tolegian on Sports. That, obviously, would be another matter. To go off topic, is like your boxing writer writing a column about Barry Bonds.

Hey Aram, I've got a question for you regarding college football. Is the Chris Peterson, the Boise State head coach, the same Chris Peterson that played at Glendora High in the early 1980's and played at Citrus College, and whose dad was a long-time Citrus College coach and teacher? If so, why have we not seen anything regarding him and his Valley ties during this bowl season-especially with their remarkable run to an undefeated season?

Giovani,

Did you see the part about "prep level?" And you know what, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH PREP SPORTS!!!!! It's my blog, my topics, you no like, you no visit.

what the hell does this have to do with prep sports