Francola Finds Ill Feelings in Goodwill Move

Kennedy High football Coach Bob Francola has an announcement for the school’s students, fans, players and their parents.

“I am not a martyr,” Francola said. “I’m not St. Francis of Assisi.”

Francola is taking considerable heat for his decision to back out of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs in favor of Crenshaw. But don’t make any snap judgments about his decision, Francola warns, until all of the evidence has been considered.

Tuesday morning, Francola reported to school and found an anonymous, sarcastic, handwritten note on his desk, apparently delivered by one of his players. It read: “Thanks for thinking of us, coach.”

At Sunday’s playoff seeding meeting, in an attempt to democratically fill the two remaining 4-A playoffs berths, coaches were allowed to vote for the teams they believed were best. League records were not considered, only perceived strength and level of competition.

Garfield, Kennedy and Crenshaw finished 1-2-3 in the battle for the final two berths, meaning that Crenshaw was left out in the cold. Crenshaw, the defending 3-A champion, finished 5-4-1 and fourth in the tough Pacific League at 2-3-1. Garfield finished 6-4, 6-3 and third in the less-powerful Eastern League; Kennedy finished 4-6, 4-3 in the North Valley League.

What’s more, Crenshaw defeated Kennedy, 32-15, in a nonleague game in September and knocked off highly regarded Saugus, 21-16, in a nonleague game last week.

Consequently, Francola insisted that Crenshaw and Kennedy were the two teams most qualified for the playoffs, not Garfield and Kennedy.

In a show of sportsmanship, Francola backed out in favor of the team he viewed as more qualified. Garfield is another story altogether.

“I walked out of that meeting so hot I couldn’t see straight,” Francola said. “Crenshaw deserved to go (to the playoffs) and so do we, but not Garfield. How could I go to the playoffs knowing what happened between us (and Crenshaw)?”

Francola called a team meeting Monday to explain what took place at the coaches’ conference. He said players were confused and upset but that none spoke when given the opportunity.

Then he found the note.

“What bothers me most is that the players are disappointed in me,” he said. “That’s real hard to take.”

FALSE ALARM

It spread like wildfire, as rumors sometimes do. Then it took on a life of its own.

And considering the prevailing bunker mentality within the cash-strapped Los Angeles Unified School District, perhaps it should not be considered particularly surprising.

City Section football coaches began receiving written notice from the City athletic office this week that their coaching stipends of $1,800 were being withheld until January because of reasons relating to the well-documented financial woes in the district. Coaches were scheduled to receive the stipend Dec. 4 but were told the checks would not be issued until Jan. 4.

Cleveland football Coach Everett Macy was notified Monday in a memo from the City athletics office Monday that the freeze was related to the “continuing negotiations” between the teacher’s union and the financially strapped district.

City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness issued the memo so coaches wouldn’t be caught off guard, according to Dick Browning, an administrator in the Senior High Schools Division.

Coaches, who along with other teachers had their pay reduced last month because of district-wide salary cuts, were openly critical.

“It may not sound like a big deal to some, but a lot of us rely on it, especially for Christmas,” said Macy, who said he lost $462 in take-home pay last month because of salary deductions. “It’s a nice little addition, something to look forward to.”

Said Francola, sarcastically: “Obviously, this (stipend) is a source of major revenue in L.A. Unified.”

Other coaches, informed of the stipend delay by a reporter, were angry the district had waited until the regular season ended before notifying coaches the stipend was being withheld.

As it turns out, it was all a false alarm. Browning started hunting the source of the news Tuesday, figuring the order to freeze the payment must have come from an official in the district payroll or accounting offices.

No. Accounting personnel assured Browning that the checks would be sent Dec. 4, as scheduled and that if the athletics office had informed coaches otherwise it was a mistake.

Said Browning, chalking the whole matter up to a rumor gone wild: “The (athletic office’s) intentions were good, but somebody must have misunderstood something along the line.”

THE BEST POLICY

In like a lion, out like a lamb? Oak Park tailback Tarik Smith started the season as an All-American and ended it as a fall guy. At least, that’s what his mother believes.

Last week, Smith and three teammates were suspended for the remainder of the season for an alcohol-related offense at school. Betty Smith believes school administrators are making an example of her son.

“I’d say the term ‘sacrificial lamb’ applies,” she said. “I think the school wanted to show that if they’d do this to a football player, just think what they might do to any other student who did the same thing.”

Betty Smith, on the same telephone line with Tarik and a reporter, said she thought the suspension was excessive and was made “for no good reason.”

Whereupon, Tarik won big points for honesty. He responded: “Well, I don’t know about that, mom.”

WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR

Canyon’s Ed Williams does not have many fond memories of his games against Hart, the Cowboys’ Santa Clarita Valley archrival.

Williams, the Cowboys’ junior tailback, fumbled with Canyon driving for the go-ahead score last season in a 32-27 loss.

Last week, Williams was forced to leave the game because of a sprained right ankle in the second quarter. He watched the second half of Hart’s 36-0 win while sitting on the bench.

“It was difficult because I saw what was happening but I couldn’t do anything about it,” Williams said. “Guys kept coming up to me and asking me how I was doing, but I just told them not to worry about me and keep focused on the game.

“My ankle hurt a lot, but watching the game hurt more.”

Williams said he will make the most of his final game against Hart next season. “I’ve still got one more shot against them,” Williams said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

DUTCH FEET

Mike Westein, a foreign-exchange student from the Netherlands, provided a little international flavor to Newbury Park’s 38-23 Marmonte League win over Camarillo on Friday by booting the extra point after the Panthers’ final touchdown.

Westein, who did not join the team until the start of the school year and was attempting his first point-after kick, has spent the season learning the game and practicing PATs--which Newbury Park finds little use for.

The Panthers almost always try for a two-point conversion and have attempted only seven conversion kicks.

“He has never practiced kicking with the team,” Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said.

“He goes off by himself. He plays soccer, but he’s a sportsman and he wants to learn about the game. The first time we asked him if he could kick the ball, he said, ‘That’s not a ball, that’s an egg.’ ”

The coaching staff experimented in practice by using Westein as a receiver, “but the kid couldn’t catch a cold,” Hurley said.

“In Europe, they don’t use their hands in sports,” Hurley said. “The first time we played catch with him, the ball went right through his hands and hit him in the face.”

Hurley said Westein plans to join the school’s soccer team.

IMPROVEMENT OF A SORT

Hoover was a bad team last year. The Tornadoes won one game. But they were much improved this season despite winning one game again. Coach Dennis Hughes explains.

“We’re pleased with the improvement we’ve made this year,” he said. “Record-wise, it didn’t show, but we were in every ballgame and that’s a change from last year. I think our kids were more competitive because they knew they could score.”

Therein lies the difference. The 1991 Tornadoes scored six touchdowns and 45 points. This season, helped by a new, pass-oriented offense, Hoover surpassed those totals in the first two games and finished 26 touchdowns and 178 points.

Quarterback Nate Dishington, the team’s only NCAA Division I prospect, completed 127 of 325 passes for 1,763 yards. Dishington threw 12 touchdown passes and ran for seven more scores.

One consolation for the Tornadoes: They were the only Pacific League team to score on league champion Muir, losing 55-12.

VICTORS VALIANT

St. Genevieve Coach Richard Fong finally got a shower he had waited to take for two years. It was on the sideline.

With about a minute to play in the Valiants’ 20-0 win over Cathedral, the players doused Fong with water in recognition of the end of St. Genevieve’s 23-game losing streak.

“During a timeout, I was going out to the huddle trying to pick ice out of the back of my shirt,” Fong said.

A small price to pay. The Valiants’ last victory was Sept. 28, 1990.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.