The Aram Tolegian anniversary tour: Looking back at the resurrection of Bishop Amat football

Amat 73...do you go to any of the Amat practices? I went once to a Verti Spring Ball practice and as much as I liked him personally too many mistakes were either over looked or not punished. I was talking to his Dad and told him...other than Spooner who would ball guys out for dropped balls and lazy routes not much was going on. Then Verti started to notice and took a kid to task...not another ball was dropped for at least 20 passes. That's when i told the Dad Verti's assistants were "just happy to be at Amat and might be in over their heads". The Dad was stunned by my bluntness but he understood.

I really want to see Hags do his thing. Plus it would be nice to see a real live Ram fan again. Hey...what about Kurt Warner...has that man been "touched by God or what?" Never see a man throw a prettier ball....ever!

What's the story on this Rio kid...I hear he's got an arm and allot of presence. Damien will put up a good fight but next year is when I think Damien really puts it together. Time for the Spartans to play with the Big Boys.

Anyway I'll go see Amat soon. I hear being a Grandpa is like heaven with sloppy kissing and limitless hugs...true???

They are doing great. My youngest will be playing Pop Warner this year and the older one is turning out to be a hell of an offensive tackle.He will be a LANCER in the fall of 2010. Man does time fly. Looking forward to the Damien game . They go to all the games with me so hopefully we will see you there.

No Amat 73...their names were Ronnie and Augie...back in the day we used to go to the beach about every day...when muscles were easy to come by and my stomach was as hard as a rock....GOD I MISS THOSE DAYS!!!

It took a while but I could tell them apart by their grins. Even now when i see them, which isn't often enough, I can't tell apart...talk about identical!

It still cracks me up when I see them disgusted when I start looking for features to tell them apart...if they're alone they say..."Are you kidding me! Frank it me!" talk about exasperated!

I always say...Yeah, of course! I knew that"

And then they roll their eyes and say..."what are you up to?"...every time...that and then.."Are you still married??? ...How does she do it!!!"

And Amat 73...I'm sure you've asked the same question yourself!!!! LOL

All I know is when I go...she'll be rich!!!..at least I did that!

How are the grandkids?

Hey Frank,
Were those twins Pat and John.

He might as well told me he liked red paint!! Inside info???

Is that what you got from my posts?

Dude you're funny...seriously...you crack me up.

Do you do parties?

You know the more I think about it maybe Joey is ...ppsssssttttt..C.I.A.???

That should keep you going for another 4 comments!!!!

Crazy times we live in!

So Canales was giving Frank C inside info? Man, never would have thought.

Pretty excited about seeing Petterson today! Also want to see Gano's daughter play. I hear she's a stud and already committed to a D1 school if I'm not mistaken. It'll be fun to see the famous Bonita-LA interaction and get to see some softball...which is pretty crazy!!

Not sure where all this "Canales outting" stuff is coming from I'll never know. I've known the Canales Family for 35 plus years. My brother actually dated his sister back in the day and his cousins, the 'twins", were my corners when I played safety at Salesian....sometimes I'd look sideways and do a double take! Pretty cool having twins corners don't you think???

I played against Joey my senior year when he was a Jr. at Cantwell..they beat us every year...even though they put sand on the field to slow down our "traps and counters" my senior year...lol So we go way back.

Last year , at the Bonita Passing Tournament, I ran into Joey. I hadn't seen him in a while (at South Hills actually when they had Wilksinson at QB.) and he seemed surprised and happy to see me.

"What are you doing here...do you have a son that plays football? Is Damien playing?" I told him no and that I just wanted to see al the schools. We talked about Verti and the team and a few of the players. And about the kid Johnson..he really liked him! We talked about allot of things.

Then he said he'd heard about my "gift" and told me his brother Gary, also a great friend, called him. "That was nice Frank"...and shook my hand again. I was pretty cool.

We talked on the sidelines during the game and not once did he mention the blog or anything he heard about me and my troubles at Damien. Not once did he tell me, as other bloggers who come clean tell me, "hey so and so...that's me ON THE BLOGGG!!!!!!..Boy are the Damien bloggers killing you!!!".

He never once ever said a thing about the blog. I've known all the Canales' to be straight up men of great integrity and are a fiercely loyal family. They are one of the few people in this world that i would trust with my life. They have been, over the years, amazing friends I've never heard a bad word spoken of any of them. The "twins" , their cousins and my friends, are some of the most decent people on this planet!

Joe Amat is not Joe Canales. Although I've grown to respect Joe Amat...I have never met him, don't know who he is but do look forward to someday picking his brain if we ever do meet.

It's sad that Joey Canales has been brought into this for whatever reasons. I wish you would stop...men like Joey and the Canales family in general are friends you never want to lose and are glad you have...and that's saying something in this twisted crazy world.

I've had my say, good day sir.

My, my, my. A bunch of grown men coming onto a blog to make comments about Aram...sounds like someone is JEALOUS. Hmmmmm, just a thought. We are talking sports here people, this isn't a beauty contest. Grown men checking out other grown men, shame on you! It makes me sick. I wouldn't worry about it too much Aram. Let them throw stones....And let's hope they have good arms...it's gonna be hard to hit you sitting at your desk looking down from your nice view at Fox....in Beverly Hills....some people just never get it. Sad, really.

BOMBS AWAY......

Ask Frank C. He'll be glad to out me again.

Joe, bleachers above the track?
That sounds like a great Idea, the high view would be great, the track stars would have a little shade to run in, and if you put in a coaches box the visiting coaches wouldn't have to use the annoying scissor lift to observe the game in, [I think it was at Amat where our coaches had to use the lift], and like you said, no buildings would have to be moved, I like it!

Who's Canales?

MR. MTC,
Nice to see you in print again. Everything is good and hopefully will get better. Your right Joe is tops and I am glad he's a LANCER. Hope to see more of your words next football season. Take care.

Fred what about it? What do you think about a story on the "CAR POOL" kids???

There careers at Bishop Amat are coming to an end and they have been a great group of individuals. They also show that race, religion and culture are but ingredients that make this world a better place.

I saw there picture in the Amat Football Program...yes I read every page...and thought...THERE'S A GRETA STORY WAITING TO BE TOLD.

Joey. I'm nothing if not an "idea" guy!!!!

Interesting suggestion about "The Car-Pool Kids" as you call them. Everyone always talks about sticking together and competing with your friends during the "public/private" debate. Here are some kids that did stick together - and went the private route. Pretty cool.

And, My Friend, you're right - Barr is a beast. But that's the norm in the Pac5 every week, at some position, someone has a flat out stud. Your Bro's gonna have a blast at Poly. They've got a dozen of 'em!

Dan - I'm with you about the visitors side. I suggested long ago that we put permanent bleachers on that side. The issue is you might have to move the field enough to create space. I asked them to think out of the box (God forbid) and examine the possibility of stands that would sit *over* the track and runners would run beneath the bleachers. That was too bizarre a possibility and viewed as costly - but maybe less expensive than moving the whole field and saves the space they're concerned about. And definitely less than the present plan to rearrange all the athletic facilities _ which makes NO sense at all... but that's MSGr for you!

SERIOUSLY - A.T. IS ONE F-UGLY DUDE! NICE MUG

BTW, just a thought here. Were getting very close to summer right about now, but we haven't heard very much about passing leagues or even about schedules for the schools that are going to participae in them.

I remember last years game with Amat and South Hills where the sidelines were just bristling with people.

South Hills got all the braging rights to that one, but i'll bet that if there is a rematch, that it will be just as big this time arround.

Dan

I have to tell you that eventhough the Amat visitors bleachers are low, they are perhaps just about equal to the visitors sidelines at both St Francis and Notre Dame.

The only difference that I could see was that both of those venues were in much better shape than the one at Kieffer.

BYW, was'nt it stated on this very blogg last year that one of the Amat coaches was suppose to make a big donation to the school so that they could upgrade Keiffer this year ?

Haven't heard much about that in a while.

Look at this Bring back old school "AT" and the boys are back in town.......

Bleeds Blue and Gold & Amat 73 guys I hope you are all doing great it's been awhile and it's great seeing those names pop up again here. Our boy Joe Amat is trying to hold this together and if I don't say so myself he's doing a great job with all the BS here now.

Oh well had to pop in and drop some props to you boy's.

Carry on!

I AM OUT!

Mike the Clone

Frank,
I'm old school and would still go with JL to start my defense along with Deacon at one end . You know I love that 4-3 .

Amat Faithfull,
Most of you probably haven't thought about it cause you don't sit on that side, but your visitors stands are not only in very poor shape
[I can imagine a law suite happening over a fan being injured] , but also they are the lowest stands I can remember sitting in, heck I thought St. Paul's stands were the lowest till I sat in yours.
Some new visitor bleachers would nice, at least 15 rows high so we could see over the visiting team.

what up 73...I don't need a flack jacket I need a good PR man! lol Joey hit it on the head...the "I told you so" angle was never my style...as you know...except for our discussion on LT...most of the time I just say..."This is what I think and this is why I think it"..like I said..."going away to school and dorming at least one to two years" increases your chances of finishing school. That statement almost had me decapitated...but you know 73...most of the time...I'm talking from experience. I panned out after two years and had to go back and "finish what i started" so many moons before.

I remember when I went to one of your Chalk Talk Nights...man you guys have it made...by the way...at one point I said...can teh coach run the film back...yeah! just ask him.....and Verti did!

remarkable place that amat...like football heaven

most bloggers have a hard time meeting up...I don't. we're all grown men...what's the problem? Maybe the blog makes people say things they always wished they could say but wouldn't. Maybe that's why I hate seeing football games with people who don't understand teh game.

Last year a SD parent told me he wasn't impressed by Amat...this was at the Loyola game. What can I say 73? How manyAmat player on that field would be GODS...literally at SD? Gaise, Bowens, Shields, Prieto, Johnson...and you guys were rebuilding.

Sometimes it's best to bite your tongue. Instead I said."You know that tackle out there for loyola is like 6'5" and 270 and doesn't have a gut. The DE is 5'11 and pretty tough. Amat is all technique"...and just then Prieto beats his man and runs in the blocked punt fumble on the fly....a one man wrecking crew.

I was impressed with Barr and again..well you know the story....SOSO...most bloggers it's so easy competing at that level...they have no idea! Well mayeb West Covina...heck they played MD and Amat...and wanted more!!

Props to them.

Say hi to the familia...hope Amat and LB Poly have another go at it...talk about bragging right!!!!

Menudo, sweet bread and a good football conversation....nice!

you know me...I'll say what's on my mind.

We don't need plastic for a field, we just need to do a little work on what we have now. The dirt is harder than heck, it just needs to be tilled, sanded, and seeded to soften it up.

Hey Frank how's it going. Looks like you need to invest in a flack jacket . Holy crap it's a tough crowd out there in blogland. That is a beautiful field at Salesian but I think we need to stay with the real deal .But could you imagine the speed we would show , as it is we usually have great team speed but on a top notch rug we could give your toy a run in the 40.

Joe or any other Amat honk, I still think the fake stuff is better in the longrun, but if it's not financially necessary, I see your point. BTW, who will be the quarterback next year. One of my buddies said the freshman on the baseball team, Ruiz I think, is giving McClananan a run for his money, or will give him a run. I hear Hagerty is high on this kid.

The A is not coming back on the field because this 2009 team has not earned a thing. Living on the accomplishments of the past is what got us in the situation we are in. My money is no A until 2009 earns it. Also the field management crew is average at best.

You got that right Joe. I see it is back in your posts , so I expect to see back on the field next season. Come to think of it that is quite a parallel between the two thoughts. I got it you really are Hags in disguise. HA HA HA HA .

My Pal Joey..whatsup 73...I'll keep it short becayse of flying bullets...lol

Played on the turf at Salesian a few years back and after 7 knee surgeries I'll tell you...my knees have never been the same...no kidding...I don't think I've played or ran the same since. took me months to walk without more limping than I already do. The " cuttings " great, it looks awesome and plays FAST!!!! but it really stresses joints..especially "tested" joints.

I did seen the Salesian Soccer team play on it and it's awesome to have a field you can play on and never damage. That's a tough call. As long as teh kids don't have increased injuries .....but than again....money's tight and those millions don't come easy.

My suggestion is either do the whole thing...bleacher, track, concessions...or don't do it at all.

Joey...any chance Fred does a pice on the "Car Pool KIds" and their contributions to Amat and how their friendship has held steady thru all the ups and downs. Great story..Prieto, Shields ect...are pretty amazing individuals. Surprised to see Prieto run track! 4x100 for a D Linemen??

Maybe that's why he got that TD against Loyola....and thoughts?

73,

Hags philosophy of "earning the A" is kinda like earning back the capital A in Amat !:?)

Can't wait to see it again!

I believe we have taken care of everything on the list but the stadium. With the hiring of Hags he saw to it that everything Aram listed got taken care of minus the field . I don't know how many noticed the Golden A missing from the 50 but that had to do with promoting the past to the players . Until it was earned it would not be there. You think it will be there this coming season . Hell Yes. I for one think our field should stay grass. Improve the seating and press box and also put in a better running track and for God sakes get a new scoreboard, complete with space to sell advertising. Mnsgr would love that . We could also upgrade the restrooms and snack bar.On a side note I commend the field crew for the fine job they do on one of the best turf fields in the SGV. Plus it's good for the enviroment . Stay Green.

Hey john,

You said, "Joe you're wrong". What's "wrong"?

I said, "... not completely sure that field turf is necessary..."

What about that is *wrong*.. unless you think it IS necessary. IS it? You think it's ABSOLUTELY required (after all - that's what "necessary" means) for a team to be successful they must have a turf field?

Honestly john, most of the elite teams don't even have their own on campus stadium, much less one with turf.

Actually the jury's still out on turf in general. Even the great new stuff. Imagine August workouts on the hot turf. Kids don't like that so much. And I'm still not 100% certain on the injury factor on turf vs grass either.

I will give you the "smurf turf" with a gold A would be an interesting "look". But our guys take great care of our natural turf and we have a pretty decent A every Friday night already.

Move the field 40 feet west (find some additional parking spaces elsewhere) add permanent visitors bleachers (that would eventually pay for themselves because we rent ours every year) and upgrade the home bleachers with ticket booths, secure storage, snack bar, and rest rooms beneath them.

Unfortunately - that's too logical for MSGr

Classic A.T.

#3 was hilarious.

OUT!

Mike the Clone

In reference to artificial surfaces (to digress) the same could be said for them POLYTRACK joints once i.e - "the poop hits the fan"... enough that Santa Anita Hollywood Park Golden Gate Keeneland will all have to switch back to natural dirt.

I mean I feel like I am suddenly in Middle Earth or something.

That's really nice. But let's redirect to this - Aram should go to glamour shots and take a picture to make that fugly ass face more presentable. Holy S! That guy looks like part troll and part geek.

Lance R

Man, you really hit on the head there. Some really good points.

However, I do want to expand on one part of what you said and that was with the issue of coaching.

Hagerty is no doubt a good coach as is his entire staff. And if you folks all remember, when we were speaking about the team, this time last year, one of the biggest question marks was about how the line (on both sides of the ball) were going to stand up to the type of competion that Amat was going to face.

Well, for what it's worth, there is a picture of this kid who plays for Lutheran on you-tube, who just looks like a monster. Well, if memmory serves me correctly, Amat more than handled that line along with a similar group of linemen over at Long Beach Poly last year.

It seems to me that coaching had a great influence over how that team performed last year.

And I have to say that, I for one, can see the same thing happening next year.

Keep in mind that Amat has some very good position players returning next year, so don't sell out the Lancers quite just yet.

Joe you're wrong, a fake surface would serve Amat well. Not only footbal, but would help improve boys and girls soccer and a track team that seems to be improving. Think of the smurf turf at Amat with the big golden A in the middle. How priceless would that be. Players would love it and you know it. they're not old school grass like we're, they like to show their athletic skills on the fake stuff.

Bishop Amat will have a terrible football season. They have an even tougher schedule and lost too many weapons, especially in the trenches where it counts. I don't if Verti was a good coach or not but obviously players were unhappy because several left right, and good players. That should never happen you need to be recruiting them in not transferring out. that was his biggest downfall.

The choice of Verti was a bust and most knew it from day one. It was a choice Amat made and stuck with it for two years when it should have been one and done, talented players of those two years suffered because of it. Verti is a very nice guy but he is just not head coach material. Hagerty looked good last year but had a good stock of players to work with. This is the year Hagerty will have to show if he is for real with what is left over as far as players. Some say Amat may be in a down year again, I say yes, maybe, but if Hagerty can coach he will win games on that alone, a good solid coaching staff. As far as the field and all that other nonsence none of that matters as long as Amat has a winner and is making consecutive appearances in CIF. All Amat needs in the revamp stage of the stadium is the home side seating to be new and redone, it is time for at least that, it is a decay mess. Natural Grass is still the way to go and the grounds crewman keeps it nice come football season. Those new fake fields are too expensive and not worth the money..they look nice but natural Grass is where football should be played.

I think it's clear that we've addressed 1,3,4,& 5.

I'm not completely sure that field turf is necessary - although a stadium upgrade is necessary. Probably won't happen as long as MSGr is around. Cross your fingers.