Fall Sports Heating Up as Year Ends

So you just realized today’s the first of December and panic is setting in fast. Do yourself a favor. Forget the Christmas shopping, forgo the tree, don’t give a hoot whether you have eggnog in the fridge or mistletoe above your head. Concentrate instead of what’s really important. That’s right--the last two weeks of the fall sports season.

Away we go . . .

Irvine girls’ cross-country. Judging by their dazed expressions, you might think the Vaqueros overdosed on pumpkin pie last week. Truth is, they’re still in shock. After barely making the top 10 at the county championships in October, the Irvine girls ran the race of their lives Saturday to win the State Division I title, upsetting nationally ranked Palos Verdes Peninsula in the process. Put simply, they out-Rudy’d “Rudy.”

Pom-Pom Wars. So the Edison and Los Alamitos cheerleaders nearly got into a brawl at halftime Friday night. How nice. Maybe next we’ll see a showdown between snack bar attendants. You know, chili in the face, Milky Ways to the mouth, nacho cheese up the nose? This sportsmanship thing was getting kind of boring anyway.

Steve Trammell. Certainly, it’s amazing that a kid with no previous football experience could walk into a starting position at Los Alamitos. But don’t be too amazed. Trammell, a defensive tackle, actually participated in the Griffins’ summer camp the summer before his sophomore year. He just didn’t suit up that fall.

Why? Something to do with a wild, preseason ride down a water slide--one that resulted in two broken toes.

Fountain Valley. Two years ago, longtime assistant George Berg replaced Mike Milner as Fountain Valley’s head coach. Now the Barons are playing in the Division II semifinals. That’s the happy part. The tough part is that Fountain Valley’s opponent is Los Alamitos, which dusted off Edison, 34-8, last week.

Berg, who received a table-full of congratulatory cheesecakes after his head coaching debut two years ago, probably won’t have much of an appetite after Saturday’s game. That is, unless the Barons are hungry enough to pull it off.

Carrie Garritson. The Buena Park senior first experienced controversy at 10, when, as a nationally ranked phenom, she referred to her older, more experienced running peers as “nerds.” The fact that she attended three high schools in four years didn’t help. Nor did the hard-driving reputation of her father/coach. Now, despite predictions that she would burn out before she finished high school, Garritson is running stronger than ever.

Burned out? Try just warming up. Garritson, who won her second State title Saturday, competes at the Foot Locker Western Regionals at Fresno this week.

Fred DiPalma. The Savanna coach meets his old boss--Valencia’s Mike Marrujo--once again, but this time it’s for a spot in the Division VI championship game. Sure, Valencia, the two-time defending champion, is the favorite. But Savanna, a 21-17 winner over Covina Friday, seems to be playing better each week.

You wouldn’t know it by the look on DiPalma’s face, though. If there is one thing he learned as an assistant to Marrujo years ago, it was the value of the stoic expression. Maybe after this week’s semifinal, he’ll be ready to crack a smile. Then again, maybe not.

Bananas, potatoes and broccoli. According to a survey by the Produce For Better Health Foundation, those are the Big Three on NFL training tables these days. We thought you might be wondering.

And finally . . . Marty Spalding. The Mission Viejo football coach resigned Monday after just one year. Could anyone blame him? Apparently, some Diablo parents did, particularly those who felt hiring the former El Toro assistant was tantamount to treason. It didn’t help that Mission Viejo missed the playoffs this season for the first time in 17 years. And with the death of former Diablo Coach Mike Rush last week, emotions within the Diablo community are, understandably, running high.

In spite of that, the reality seems to be this: Mission Viejo’s going nowhere until it solves its internal problems, starting with subtle pressures from the booster club. Was it so horrible that Spalding once coached for a rival program? That he wasn’t a “Mission Viejo guy?” Apparently so.

That probably explains why outsiders have come up with their own nickname for the school. They call it Mission Impossible.