The game: In this year’s Tribskin Pick’em, Aram will I will do it a little differently. We’ll pick all games from the SGVN coverage areas of the Tribune, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena Star-News for an all-encompassing, all-out bragging right for 2014, since nobody ever pays the dinner bet. I won last year, ending Aram’s two-year win streak.

WEEK 0: Lot of great games to choose from Thursday through Saturday to start the season. Northview coach Marcel Perez was extremely confident in a conversation this summer, so I’m taking the Vikings on Thursday along with La Puente. On Friday, the tide has turned and it’s no longer an upset to take San Dimas over Monrovia, which I’m doing with confidence. Bishop Amat will turn some heads in Orange County with a victory over Santa Margarita and Charter Oak will get knocked off by some team from Nevada. Diamond Bar will get a win at Montebello for its new coach and Wilson will do the same for Greg Gano. I like Arroyo, but like San Marino better (drinking the Steve Ramirez Kool-aid). Same goes with Muir, good team but Salesian probably better. On Saturday night, South Hills is at least a three-touchdown favorite over Covina. So there you go, we’ll come back next week and find out who we did. But go ahead, make your own picks and lets play. Aram is on vacation today and will make his predictions on Tuesday.

Thursday’s games
Rosemead vs. Northview at San Dimas HS, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Northview); Aram (Rosemead)
Ralston Valley vs. La Serna, 7 p.m. — Robledo (La Serna); Aram (LS)
Verbum Dei vs. La Canada at LA Southwest, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Verbum Dei); Aram (VD)
Sierra Vista at La Puente, 7 p.m. — Robledo (La Puente); Aram (LP)
Friday’s games
Monrovia at San Dimas, 7 p.m. — Robledo (San Dimas); Aram (SD)
Bishop Amat vs. Santa Margarita at Saddleback, 7 p.m. — Robledo (BAmat); Aram (Amat)
Green Valley, NV., at Charter Oak, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Green Valley); Aram (CO)
Diamond Bar at Montebello, 7 p.m. — Robledo (DBar); Aram (DB)
Tesoro at La Mirada, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Tesoro); Aram (Tesoro)
Bonita at Schurr, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Schurr); Aram (Bonita)
El Toro at La Habra, 7 p.m. — Robledo (La Habra); Aram (LH)
Claremont at El Rancho, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Claremont); Aram (ER)
Firebaugh at St. Paul, 7 p.m. — Robledo (St. Paul); Aram (St. Paul)
Santa Fe at Santa Maria St. Joseph, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Santa Maria); Aram (SM)
Whittier vs. Sonora at California HS, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Sonora); Aram (Sonora)
Arroyo at San Marino, 7 p.m. — Robledo (SMarino); Aram (SM)
Muir at Salesian, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Salesian); Aram (Salesian)
Bassett at Maranatha, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Maranatha); Aram (Maranatha)
Alhambra at Arcadia, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Alhambra); Aram (Arcadia)
Pasadena at South El Monte, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Pasadena); Aram (Pas)
Compton at La Salle, 7 p.m. — Robledo (La Salle); Aram (LS)
Blair vs. Flintridge Prep, at Oxy, 7 p.m.– Robledo (FPrep); Aram (FP)
Duarte at Cerritos Valley Christian, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Cerritos); Aram (Duarte)
Keppel at Ganesha, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Ganesha); Aram (Ganesha)
Ribet Academy at Rio Hondo Prep, 7 p.m. — Robledo (RH Prep); Aram (RHP)
San Gabriel at Montclair, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Montclair); Aram (Montclair)
Baldwin Park at El Monte, 7 p.m. — Robledo (BPark); Aram (BP)
Workman vs. Wilson at La Puente HS, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Wilson); Aram (Wilson)
Diamond Ranch at Nogales, 7 p.m. — Robledo (DRanch); Aram (DR)
Santa Monica at Los Altos, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Los Altos); Aram (LA)
Gladstone at Jurupa Hills, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Jurupa Hills); Aram (JH)
Alta Loma at Rowland, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Alta Loma); Aram (AL)
Walnut at Don Lugo, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Walnut); Aram (Lugo)
West Covina at Colony, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Colony); Aram (WC)
Saturday’s games
Covina vs. South Hills at Walnut HS, 7 p.m. — Robledo (SHills); Aram (SH)
Bosco Tech at Pasadena Poly, 2 p.m. — Robledo (Bosco Tech); Aram (PasPoly)

As most of you know, the Whittier Daily News is part of the San Gabriel Valley newspapers coverage and its team of reporters, local sports editor Fred Robledo, football writer Aram Tolegian (aram.tolegian@langnews.com) and reporters Steve Ramirez (steve.ramirez@langnews.com) and Keith Lair (keith.lair@langnews.com). Former prep editor Dave Felton is now on the sports desk, leaving it to the four of us to provide prep news in Whittier and the San Gabriel Valley. Look at us as one team that serves three newspapers, the Whittier Daily News, Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune. We don’t view local news as just what’s happening in Whittier, we view local news as what’s going on in Whittier and the surrounding areas. The digital world is evolving and so is your taste for local news coverage. Whittier teams are part of leagues and CIF-SS playoffs divisions that compete against teams in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, so why limit your prep news to JUST Whittier. While Aram will cover most football he also will keep Whittier readers entertained with his SGVN “In the Huddle” football blog. Aram will provide most of the football content for you, so feel free to email him anytime with tips. Keith Lair and Steve Ramirez will focus on other sports like girls volleyball, water polo, cross country, etc. Feels free to contact them anytime. We’re all here for you and hope to make this another fun and entertaining season. Feel free to reach out to any of us with tips or story suggestions. Also, if you’re a high school sports fan interested in covering high school football games in Whittier, send Fred Robledo an email to chat about it

LEAGUE PREVIEWS: League previews for every team in the Star-News, Tribune and Whittier Daily News areas, as well as rankings in Whittier and Pasadena.

COVER STORY: Bishop Amat’s Trevon Sidney, Muir’s Taeon Mason and La Mirada’s Tony Brown lead way

ARAM’S SEASON PREVIEW COLUMN: CIF football playoff groupings set the stage for new rivalries, champions

BEST GAMES: Fred Robledo’s week-by-week look at the areas best games

RECRUITING RANKINGS: Bishop Amat football’s Trevon Sidney heads list of area’s top recruits

TRIBUNE PRE-SEASON ALL-AREA TEAM: Find out who made the pre-season all-area team

TRIBUNE RANKINGS: No Surprise, Bishop Amat starts at No. 1

By Aram Tolegian
At 68 years old, the last thing Charter Oak High football coach Lou Farrar needed was a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
But there the veteran coach was last week, surrounded by his team and in front of cell phone cameras, documenting his acceptance of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that’s sweeping the country.
“It was shocking,” Farrar said of the experience. “My assistant coaches were joking that they had the paddles ready to go in case my heart stopped. But I think the cause is important. If that means getting doused by some football players on a hot afternoon to raise awareness, then it’s a very small thing to do. I was very happy to bring some awareness to the issue.”
Awareness and the subsequent donations are the ultimate goal of the challenge, which has gone viral thanks to social media. Quite simply, the challenge is getting a bucket of ice water poured over your head, then posting video of the ceremony on social media and extending the challenge to somebody else.

@SGVNSports Coach Johnson Impacted me! When I saw him come to practice Everyday in a Wheelchair, My complaints about practicing Evaporated

— Chris Rix (@CoachRix) August 20, 2014

By Aram Tolegian
John Johnson might be 52-years-old, but he often feels like he was born in 1984.

“And when I came down, I obviously made a mistake and cartwheeled in. I broke my neck. I don’t remember the last few seconds of the crash. What I remember is that my right wing tip hit the ground and that made me cartwheel and I made contact with my forehead with some part of the glider. Albeit I had all the equipment I should be wearing, I hit the glider so hard with my head that it caused my neck to hyper-extend.”

Must read "@SGVNSports: Bishop Amat football's John Johnson inspiration after life-changing hang gliding accident http://t.co/AoJdqsQi7M"

— Beto Duran (@DuranSports) August 20, 2014