By Ed Piper, Jr.
Sitting on folding chairs on the sidelines with Floyd Thomas, Daniel McColl's grandfather, I thought I had reached Nirvana.
No heavy camera to negotiate. Only a notepad and an evening of La Jolla basketball to look forward to.
I was surprised at how involved I felt during the Vikings' narrow loss to Serra on the Conquistadors' home court. Unshackled from my machinery, buoyant energy-wise without the demands of juggling photos and game notes, I was able to make observations on the zone defense Coach Paul Baranowski has employed since Fri., Feb. 3.
My seatmate, Floyd, who I nicknamed "Pink Floyd"--"I've heard of them," the spry grandpa said--caught a constant earful as I yakked up the game and rode with the excitement as the game tightened up in the fourth quarter.
Principal Chuck Podhorsky checked in. I shared my analysis of the first half with him. Paul Thiel, a frequent cornermate at games and father of McClain Thiel, passed by and said hi.
What I'm trying to communicate is that the last three games have been exciting and enjoyable to watch. Principal Podhorsky, who came to La Jolla High from Hoover, said his heart was in his throat as the Vikings' league game at Hoover Friday night came down to the last moments and nearly ended in disaster for the visitors.
I joked with him about the heart-throbber at Serra, "If I pass out, will La Jolla cover me?" "Oh, yes," replied the administrator, who has friends on the staff at Serra, whom he visited with, as well at Hoover, where he was principal, in addition to several other area schools. He graduated from Madison back in the day. A true local.
I called out to Floyd when his grandson made a turnover, "Daniel got called for traveling." Said Grandpa, "Now, why did he do that?"
His wife, Yolanda, who cooks all the incredible Mexican food for team dinners, the end-of-year team banquet, as well as the football team's big dinner to end the season at La Jolla Presbyterian Church, was sitting in the stands a short distance away. She looked really serious--really into the game--as she watched the game with their daughter Anastasia, Daniel's mother.
Yolanda has confessed in the past, "I like the football events better. There are more people and there is more to do." She loves hosting and preparing the food, drawing on her roots in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Anyway, I'm not walking around with a sad puppy-dog look at this point in the basketball season. Every team has lost players--Serra lost their one inside player, Tate Samuelson, for the season weeks ago. You just have to play with the players who are available.
The Vikings are playing their hearts out, and they are entertaining. I haven't seen Baranowski as active on the sidelines recently, up and roaming, shouting instructions as if it was life-and-death. His Vikings were playing within themselves, under control, without excessive turnovers.
It's fun to see Hammel and McColl acting as captains. They are long-time teammates in football and basketball. They were both all-league in football last fall. Francisco Ramos, a senior nearing the end of his high school years, is getting to play a big role on the court handling the ball. What redemption after not being with the team last year, and missing two months of this season after surgery on his hand.
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