By Ed Piper
I met Rick Smith yesterday.
A guy with a Rams logo on his cap was standing at my granddaughter's promotion, when fifth-graders were grabbing a bottle of water and a chocolate chip cookie, served by the moms, after the morning ceremony at a local school.
I went up to him, and said, "Rams. L.A. or St. Louis? I grew up in L.A. Rams territory. My wife was born in St. Louis."
The gentleman, about a foot shorter than me (as many people are), began to say something about Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams. I turned to my wife and asked her, "Who was the Christian guy on the St. Louis Rams?" She said, "Kurt...", not sure of his last name.
So I introduced myself. "Rick Smith," he said. "Rick Smith--I read your stuff," I said. "Partleton Sports."
The former Union-Tribune sportswriter, in retirement, explained how he had gone to Lincoln High as a high school student.
In a matter of moments, I had notes written on my left hand, thumb, backhand, and onto my palm, about the La Jolla High athletes he remembered: Jim Prather, 1948 football star; Charley Buchanan, 1964 county baseball player of the year; and others.
I quickly got his email address at Partleton (named after his father's "real" last name, the website dedicated to him) before I left.
Rick said, "And you are, again?" "Ed Piper."
I'll be looking him up for further Viking highlights through the ages, especially if he has information on pre-1950's players in different sports. He's a county goldmine of information about area high school sports history.
One tip Rick had for going further in investigating games way-back-when is going to the downtown library in San Diego and viewing local newspaper sports articles in the library's research area. "You can send an image to your phone," he said. That would make all the difference in doing research.
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