It’s time to step up to the plate

Tony Altobelli

Sometimes an objective view from outside the battle zone can bring

a swift air of reality to the picture. I’ll sure give it a try.

This is in reference to the goings on with the Estancia High football

team and the lack of senior participation due to the transfer of Coach

Dave Perkins from Eagleland to Costa Mesa.

If I was a senior-to-be and my coach took off to the archrival school,

I’d be pretty ticked off, too.

Three years of busting my butt, dealing with two-a-days, dealing with

playing at the lower levels and waiting for my shot down the road, only

to find out my coach left me high and dry when my opportunity finally

arrives.

Would I be mad? You betcha. Would I be upset? Absolutely. Would I be

confused? Most likely. Would I want to quit? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. Here’s

why.

By quitting, you’ve already admitted defeat. You’ve given the Mustangs

the last laugh and believe me, they’re going to laugh out loud,

especially playing a senior-less Eagles’ squad.

With the addition of first-year coach Jay Noonan, perhaps he’s a

football genius in the making. He’s eager to make a positive difference

to the program, but you’ll never know this because you’re not playing in

your final season.

Picture this scene for a minute. Your senior season, playing Perkins

and Costa Mesa for the last time. All your hard work pays off and you

pull off the win, not only against your former coach, but the school

you’d most like to see fall off the face of the Earth. Stranger things

have happened.

But all this is just hot air, because the seniors are behaving very

unseniorlike.

In a sense, I was in a similar situation during my prep career.

I had a situation my sophomore year on the Newport Harbor baseball

team. A teammate of mine was being kicked off of our junior varsity

baseball team with two games remaining because he was not respectful to

the coaching staff.

We players were so ticked off at the situation, we had a meeting that

very night and it was decided we were not going to play the final two

games of the season. That’ll show ‘em, right?

Well, the coaching staff caught wind of this little meeting and

basically told us if we didn’t play, we wouldn’t play varsity baseball

next year or the year after that and so on because they didn’t want

quitters in the program.

We were so stuck in the present, we didn’t even care about what the

future held. Despite the very real threat, we were STILL going to sit out

the last two games anyway. We were trying to make a point and we were

trying to right a wrong.

It took a number of long chats with our parents to finally convince us

to finish out the regular season, which we did.

I learned a valuable lesson during all of this. Sometimes life stinks

and it doesn’t go the way you want it to go. You can either wash your

hands of the whole situation or you can suck it up, deal with it and make

the best of the situation.

Hearing this recent Eagle revolt brought that not-so-pleasent memory

back into my brain. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am that

cooler heads prevailed and we were talked into playing again.

I played my junior and senior years on the varsity squad, which turned

out to be my final two years of competitive baseball.

I especially remember my senior year, knowing I went from a puny,

uncoordinated little freshman to the senior captain of the varsity

baseball team. Like a great majority of athletes, my senior year was the

peak of my playing career and I’ll never forget it.

Oh yeah, we were 2-23, so don’t even try to explain your revolt on

account of a less-than-strong football team. That’s just a cop-out. Will

they be a better team without you?

In conclusion, to those seniors still trying to figure out what’s

right or wrong in this situation, the answer is simple. Stop crying, turn

the page, get back on the field and finish up your high school career

with pride and a sense of accomplishment.

If you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. That I can

guarantee.