The team he coaches is having a good year. Undefeated. Eight and Zero. Riewer Field has been tough on opposing teams. PHS seems to be on a mission. No one is talking about playoff or anything like this. Not even being mentioned. Don't want to tempt Fates, I guess. Been so close for so long that its been disheartening.
Its been one game at a time this tear. Every big test they faced this year has been met with Iron resolve. There were times when the game's certainty was in doubt. However, the team has met these challenges. Valencia a perennial winner has always beaten Palmdale. Based on several attendees of the game, Valencia gave up. In the battle of best running backs in Southern California, Quartz Hill got broke. Undefeated AV just got beat.
History has been rough on PHS. Close to the prize, but this year feels different. Quality players are stepping up. Coaching has been steady. Stadiums are filled at home and away games. A ritual for the Coaches' family meeting on the field has been joyous. Everything is being filmed. Local TV coverage has been regular. The second biggest paper in Los Angeles has been visiting on occasion. Local TV stations have not been covering, but I see this as a good thing. Being under the radar, makes the target on back smaller.
One thing I believe about successful organization is leadership is Top Down. Tone and expectations are set by the leadership in charge. A team's strength are set by the standards laid down and the execution of its plan. Success breeds success. Good players want to gravitate to winning programs. My Brother is part of that leadership.
There were critical times in the team's evolution. I remember when the team was 0-10. Yes, no wins at all. It was a tough year, but then it changed. Following year, Worst to First. There were runs to the playoffs. Then Golden League championships. Then deep runs into CIF Southern Sectionals. One season the team was playing at the Home Depot Field for the Southern Sectional Finals. It was something. PHS did not win, but it was great to be there. Since then other teams in the division has stepped up its game and has marked Palmdale as must win to contend for league supremacy.
It is an event to go to the high school games. Pregame music has loud and proud. One song in particular at last night's game made me shudder with possibilities. It comes from a movie that I love, When We Were Kings. It was a movie about Ali fighting Foreman in Zaire. He was going to fight the toughest, meanest, biggest heavy weight of his time. Ali, a former championship fighter, was getting out of a long term suspension stemming from his legal battle with the government over his dispute with his induction to military regarding the Vietnam War. A younger George Foreman exploded on the scene decimating world championship fighters. Boxing experts gave the rusty and older Ali no chance to win the fight.There was real fear in the Ali Camp would be seriously hurt. Still in Ali style Braggadocio would enter his training session screaming and shouting, "The Champ is Here. . .The Champ is Here. . .The Champ is Here."
At the game, there was a re-mix song that played loud and repeatedly those words, "The Champ is Here. . .The Champ is Here. . .The Champ is Here." It was inspiring. When they played the song during the Pregame, it visibly bothered the other team during their warm ups. 
Lots of things can happen during a game. With so many components, the outcome of game could be changed in an instant. Bad call by a ref during a critical time. Injury to a key player can silence a crowd. Changing weather. Equipment malfunctions. Poor game preparation. Attitude. Momentum changes can happen in an instant. It is hard for uninitiated to see the forces that can have effect on a game. Stars must align to get a win.
There were critical times for the continued success of programs. Team needs to win or coach loses job. Coaching bonds needed to be formed. Good players must be recruited and guided. During key moments of the team's success the program was tested. Players were benched for academic performance and violating team rules prior important games. Top players were being recruited hard by College Division One programs. Upper division high school programs were poaching players from the school district. High Schools from other cities were recruiting coaches for their programs.One time there was serious works for the high school football staff in mass to leave for a junior college program. My Brother coached the Daily News All Star Game.
So many possibility through the years. Yes, here and there, life could have been very different.
Can't even imagine other undercurrents that I wasn't made aware of. When I think of the success of the football program and the underlying positive effects this program this has inspired, I am not surprised that is built on the shoulders of people like my Brother. My Brother is a good man. My niece during her birth got sick. Its a story that I have written about before. Seeing the kind of strength and vulnerability he showed during this time made think that I am lucky to be his Brother. I would go on and write about his many, many, many accomplishments. I will leave it simple. Kevin, my Brother, is a good man and I am good to know him. The influence of his life will live long past him.
