BETWEEN THE LINES -- Byron de Arakal

Who can argue that Dave Perkins -- the now expatriate Estancia

football coach -- shouldn’t have the freedom to coach the game at any

high school that will have him? I can’t. No one can. But the fiery

pigskin general’s abrupt defection in May to the gridiron of cross-town

rival Costa Mesa High School has had me bothered nevertheless. And until

recently, I wasn’t quite sure why.

But now I know what’s been gnawing at me about this unfortunate

episode in Costa Mesa prep sports history. It’s about loyalty and winning

and how times have changed. Here’s what I mean.

The pinnacle of one of Orange County’s greatest high school football

rivalries, in my estimation, occurred in the latter half of the 1970s.

The combatants were the Vanguards of El Modena High School (my alma

mater) and the Spartans of Villa Park High. And it was a rivalry that had

a particular magic to it at the time. That’s because Elmo and Villa Park

consistently fielded dazzlingly quick and hard-hitting teams that

routinely made it deep into the CIF playoffs.

It was a time, too, that showcased some of the finest running backs

the county has seen. El Modena had Mike Merk and Randy Bauer. Villa Park

had the speedsters in Bruce BenBen and Robbie Martin, who went on to play

for the Detroit Lions.

Now apart from the visceral competitive disdain the two schools had

for one another, the buzz surrounding the annual contest centered on the

friendly rivalry between the schools’ two coaches.

Bob Lester -- a brilliant football teacher whose name is still

mentioned in the same league with the legendary Dick Hill -- was the

general of El Modena’s Vanguards during their heyday in the ‘70s. Across

the field, leading the silver and blue Spartans, was the equally renowned

Ted Mullen.

As I recalled these football battles from my youth, it occurred to me

that Bob Lester was, is and always will be an El Modena Vanguard, just as

Mullen will always be remembered as a Spartan, though he later moved on

to coach at Foothill High School. It is simply inconceivable to me that,

had the opportunity arisen, Lester would have chosen to jump ship to

coach Villa Park, or that Mullen would have led the El Modena Vanguards.

That’s called loyalty. It’s what the Beach Boys sang about in “Be True

To Your School.”

I do have somewhat of a personal stake in this story. But it serves to

illustrate the point. My eldest son attends Estancia High School. He’s an

Eagle. He’ll graduate as an Eagle. Indeed, he’ll always be an Eagle. So,

as a matter of course, I am a rather vocal Eagle supporter. But that

doesn’t make me an Eagle. I am, instead, a Vanguard and my loyalty is

with El Modena High School. The distinction is important, and one that I

hope my son will someday appreciate. I’ve imparted to him how my loyalty

to El Modena is fortified each time I walk into the gymnasium at Estancia

High. That’s because 24 years ago, as a member of the 1976-77 El Modena

varsity basketball team, I played in one of the most memorable games of

my life in that facility.

As I remember, we entered the contest tied with Estancia for first

place in the Century league. We had Steve Trumbo, one of the best

pure-shooting big men ever to come out of Orange County. The Eagles had

Pete Neumann and the sharpshooting Ray Orgill. It was a

standing-room-only contest, and I can still hear the deafening roar of

the crowd. We had beaten Estancia, 49-36, earlier in the season in our

gym. Neumann, Orgill and company wanted revenge. They got it, beating us

42-39, and went on to capture the Century League crown.

So while I can cheer for Estancia today, given it is my son’s school,

I will always be a Vanguard.

Perhaps I’m a rank sentimentalist, a provincial old boob that can’t

accept that times have changed. Nevertheless, I’m still deeply bothered

that Perkins readily chose to lead the enemy against the very Estancia

team he brilliantly coached for three years. His decision, and his barely

subtle criticism of the level of support he says he received (or didn’t

receive) while at Estancia, was utterly devoid of any sense of loyalty.

“I think Estancia is really trying to gain ground and to get better,”

Perkins told the Pilot’s sports writer Barry Faulkner. “But I think it

falls short in a couple of areas.”

Now, had it been Lester or Mullen facing the challenge of building a

successful football program at Estancia, I’m betting they’d have dug in

and got it done. Bailing out to coach the already successful cross-town

rival would have been anathema to these men.

Perkins’ decision, while it’s perfectly within his right to work

wherever he wishes, disquiets me because it seems to elevate winning and

success over loyalty. A high school football coach is a teacher before he

is a coach. And it seems to me that instructing young men in the virtue

of loyalty is far more important than teaching the fine art of trap

blocking or putting up numbers in the win column.

Instead, what we have here is an entire coaching staff, including two

former Estancia players, readying to lead a football team against the

very players who sweated and busted their butts for them.

Worse, a small contingent of seniors has chosen to follow them. Once

Eagles, they’re now Mustangs. The whole affair, by my way of thinking,

shreds the very important institutional loyalty for one’s alma mater that

plays such a definitive role in shaping our character and our identity.

And that’s too bad.

* BYRON DE ARAKAL is a writer and communications consultant. He lives

in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays. Readers may reach him with

news tips and comments via e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

For Pilot Sports Editor Roger Carlson’s take on Coach Dave Perkins’

move, see sports, Page XX.