Top 103 always keeps in spirit of things, no matter what

S.J. Cahn

In September of 1993, the editors of the Daily Pilot -- current Los

Angeles Timesmen William Lobdell and Steve Marble -- wrote this about

their first Daily Pilot 103: “It was an impossible task, like putting

together the best basketball team of all-time.”

I can only assume that the duo really had no idea how true that

would continue to be.

As the clock ticks toward deadline on Tuesday night, completion is

feeling a bit like an impossibility, although if you’re reading this

now, we must have made it.

And it’s like this every year.

I have that on good authority: Rich Dunn, our sports editor, who’s

been at the paper for all of the 103s.

“That’s been the spirit of it,” he said while talking about the

previous editions and maybe sensing, just a bit, my panic setting in.

But that statement doesn’t quite capture this special section or

that spirit. Much better was his first response to my asking him

about it: “Oh, man, man, man.”

I was right there with him.

But then Dunn switched gears on me and turned his thoughts to

Lobdell.

“It was one of the first big things he ever did, and it was a

great thing he did,” Dunn said, noting that Lobdell was young when

took the Pilot’s reins (he was 29 when named editor).

The community viewed the paper differently after that first 103

came out, Dunn said. The paper was taken more seriously, but always

with that sense of fun.

As one measure: PR agents have told him over the years how

important it is to get their clients on the list. (If yours didn’t

make it, perhaps it’s because you’re talking to Dunn, who isn’t in

charge of making the decisions.)

Hearing all this, I called Lobdell at his Costa Mesa home to pull

from him a tale of the genesis of 103.

“No comment,” he told me after I refused to tell him who No. 1

was, even though it was already 7:30 p.m. (He insisted about the

time, as though that would make any difference.)

Fair enough, and in keeping with the spirit of the thing.

That first 103, by the way, was peopled by a pretty influential

list at the top: Donald Bren, Marian Bergeson, Henry Segerstrom, Roy

Alvarado, Martin Diedrich, Jean Watt and Leigh Steinberg.

Four of them now reside on our “Untouchables” list, and Alvarado’s

number 106 was retired in 1996. (I have no idea why Watt’s name

hasn’t been greenlighted to the list.)

That “Untouchables” list has turned out to be one of the more

controversial pieces of the puzzle within our newsroom. This year

there was a move to return the 11 names on the list to the ranks of

the regulars. The reason they remained untouched is clear if you look

at previous editions: Not only do the “Untouchables” take up 11

spots, but they crowd the top numbers.

The other great controversy, it seems, is whether the spirit of

fun at times overwhelms the seriousness of the matter.

Should Dennis Rodman have been No. 11 in 2001, one ahead of Irvine

Co. honcho Larry Thomas? How did “Wild” Bill Goodwin make the list in

2000, at No. 58 no less, even though he’d been deceased a year? What

did Newport-Mesa’s two mayors in 1999 think when they both came in

below their employees, the cities’ managers? Who OKd the Newport

Beach Mayor John Hedges photo with cigar in 1996? Should I mention

the Samoa House, Grand Canal ducks or, oh, I already did mention

Rodman.

Some critics may have a point, after all.

At the same time, you have to forgive us if things get a bit

off-kilter. Consider the following:

After much searching, I may have found the only photo in existence

of Seymour Beek. It runs alongside his brother’s, who has been

pictured in the pages of this newspaper innumerable times, including

once when his beloved VW Bug passed 500,000 miles.

Finding a photo of Doug Bennett was not much easier.

This morning, the wife of Editor Tony Dodero gave birth to the

couple’s first son, and third child. And Beth Dodero insisted he be

at her side.

What about the baby we’re birthing here, I asked? (I’m keeping my

fingers crossed he didn’t tell her that.)

I won’t mention who narrowly squeaked back on this year, or why.

But there were a few.

There always are.

And that’s how it sometimes goes, with the unforeseeable coming

into view at the last possible moment.

As always, for your enjoyment.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes. com.