Tony Dodero -- From the Newsroom

I remember how shocked I was when I heard the statistic -- more kids

today play soccer than they do Little League.

Soccer?

I have to admit right now, I never did “get” soccer. To me, the whole

game seemed like a lot of running up and down the field chasing balls,

kicking and head butting with very little reward.

So how could it be? How could soccer be more popular than baseball?

More popular than pitching curve balls, or hitting line drives and in the

park home runs? More popular than the most revered thing in America next

to mom and apple pie?

Well I can’t explain it, but it is.

Which makes it a little more than surprising that the local Lions Club

dropped its annual soccer tourney a couple years ago that was known as,

what else, the Lions Cup. The abandonment of the Lions Cup left a void in

the growing soccer legions here.

Then came Kirk McIntosh.

The Costa Mesa attorney formerly served on a local American Youth

Soccer Organization board and coached the game at Kaiser Elementary. His

kids played in the Lions Cup tourney.

So McIntosh had a brainstorm one day while working out at the gym with

a couple of former Daily Pilot editors. Bring back the Lions Cup, he

thought, just call it something else.

The editors agreed and thus the Daily Pilot Cup was born.

McIntosh took the lead and attempted to get every school, both public

and private, in the Newport-Mesa area to put up a soccer team to compete

in the event.

The result was hundreds of boys and girls who participated in the

inaugural event last year and several hefty trophies to go around.

This year’s cup, which is slated to take place May 17-20, will have four divisions: Third- and fourth-grade boys, third- and fourth-grade

girls, fifth- and sixth-grade boys and fifth- and sixth-grade girls. It’s

the only tournament in the Newport-Mesa area that pits one school against

another, McIntosh said.

“I just like to see my kids play with their school chums,” McIntosh

said, explaining his push to revive the Cup.

But despite all his good intentions, McIntosh has found he needs

plenty of help with the event.

Most importantly, he badly needs school site coordinators and coaches.

So if you are someone who knows more about penalty kicks than stealing

bases, Kirk McIntosh would love to hear from you. Either give him a call

at (949) 650-2827 or e-mail him at dmhlawyers@earthlink.net.

Chances are you’ll get a kick out of it.

***

We learned a couple troubling things last week while keeping tabs on

the Costa Mesa City Council.

First we learned that City Attorney Jerry Scheer and the rest of the

top-ranking officials and council members had no idea that, according to

a city ordinance, abstaining from a vote without announcing a conflict of

interest was the same as casting a “Yes” vote.

That such an important law could be blurred into obscurity was a bit

troubling.

But more troubling was this quote from new Councilwoman Karen

Robinson. “My understanding of abstentions is that I’m not voting yes or

no. I’m saying either I don’t have enough information to make a decision

or I’m not prepared to make a decision.”

I kind of understand that. Whenever I go to a new restaurant and I

have all these choices to make, I’m never ready to order when the waiter

or waitress comes a calling.

The difference between me and Councilwoman Robinson, though, is that

the people of Costa Mesa didn’t elect me to order dinner for them.

They did, however, elect her to make their decisions for them, not to

tell them that she’s not prepared.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. His column appears on Mondays. If you

have story ideas or concerns about news coverage please send messages

either via e-mail to tony.dodero@latimes.com or by phone at 949-574-4258.