Class of ’04 shows its stuff

ROGER CARLSON

What do Harvard, Princeton, the United States Military Academy at

West Point, BYU, Indiana, Michigan, Washington, Texas, USC, UCLA,

Loyola-Marymount, New York University, Cal, Stanford, Arizona,

Colorado, Long Beach State, San Diego State, UC San Diego, Willamette

University and Orange Coast College all have in common?

They all share in the spoils of the recent 43rd annual Athletic

Awards Breakfast where Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high

schools’ blue chips were honored at the Radisson Hotel.

The Commodores Club, a group of 35 local businessmen, are

responsible for a number of events over the course of the year, among

them the Irrelevant Week Arrival Party at the Newport Dunes, the

Flight of the Lasers Boat Race out of Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the

Sandcastle Contest at CdM State Beach, the Lifeguard Appreciation

Beach Party, the Harbor Christmas Boat Parade and its awards dinner

and auction, and the Athletic Awards Breakfast.

This year’s toast featured Corona del Mar High’s Kevin Artz, Josh

Bradbury, Sara Claster, Brittany Holland, Kinzie Kramer, Vivian Liao,

Andy Lujan, Todd Macklin, Kim McKay, Chris Ringstrom, Dominic Rubino,

Lauren Snell, Barrett Sprowl, Sarah Stern and Jeritt Thayer.

Also, Newport Harbor’s Jessica Ball, Michael Bury, Elizabeth

Clayton, Carolyn Conway, Morgan Govaars, Will Guzman, Alyson

Jennings, Chase Kelly, Kevin Lim, Lauren Miller, Lauren Paul, Adam

Schlesinger, Victoria Swigart, Joel Walker and Jillianne Whitfield.

The Class of ’04 joins a long list of blue chips over the years

... the Class of ’62 is now entering their 60s, which, believe it or

not, is starting to dissolve the generation gap.

Among those in the “gap” from the Commodores Club are Norm Loats,

Russ Alexander, Roger Alford, Bill Barrington, H. Seymour Beek, Eric

Bezko, John Blom, Kirk Dawson, Duncan Forgey, Stanford Green, Bill

Gunderson, Marion Halfacre, Dan Hamilton, Brett Hemphill, Lloyd

Ikerd, Bill Jacoby and David Janes.

Also, Tom Johnson, Paul King, Mike Lawler, George Lesley, Ray

Lewis, Gil Luksoky, Linda Mongno, Bill Mountford, Malcolm Phillips,

Bill Pierpoint, Bill Rhinesmith, Paul Salata, Ray Saporita, Jerry

Sewell, Lee Sutherland, Mike Whitehead, and Glen L. Zagoren.

The beautiful athletes deserve their accolades, but in the

background and supporting them all these years, has been a long line

of blue-chip backers under the heading of “The Commodores Club.”

It’s the Commodores Club, operating under the banner of the

Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, which really makes Newport Beach

the unique community that it is, and they deserve your consideration.

All of the student athletes were notable with standout credentials

and college choices revealed, but it was Corona del Mar High’s Vivian

Liao, headed for Harvard with a 4.4 GPA, who rang the bell and had

everyone’s eyes doing 360s.

The keynote speaker was former two-time gold medal winner Brian

Goodell at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

The one-time golden boy in the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle in

swimming still has that familiar barrel chest and spoke of the

remarkable exploits of the late Arnold Beckman.

Goodell, who prepped at Mission Viejo High, was celebrating his

20th wedding anniversary that day, and was basking in the exploits of

his oldest son, Brian, a junior at Mission Viejo, who had in recent

days clocked a 48.69 to finish fourth at the CIF Division I track and

field finals in the 400-meter run.

How good is that?

Two-time CIF 4-A champion Brian Theriot of Newport Harbor stopped

the watches at 48.5 and 48.0 in 1974 and ‘75, and was the Masters

champ with efforts of 48.6 and 47.8.

Needless to say, the younger Goodell is running in good company.

As for the elder Goodell, we’ll never know how many more gold

medals would have come his way following the ’76 Games because of the

forever terrible political decision by then President Jimmy Carter,

who denied American athletes the right to compete in the ’80 games in

Moscow with a boycott because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of

Afghanistan.

*

What’s new at Irrelevant Week Headquarters, where Salata and his

“rascals” are gearing up for Irrelevant Week XXIX?

Fountain Valley High product Andre Sommersell, with a background

that includes Estancia High, will be toasted and roasted on June 23

at the Newport Marriott, the centerpiece of the weeklong celebration

of the last college football player picked in the NFL draft.

The Colorado State linebacker is going to be an Oakland Raider,

just like last year’s choice, Ryan Hoag, who was recently released by

the New York Giants.

Among the celebrities expected to attend are former NFLers Bob

Golic, Matt Willig, Doug Smith, Art Powell and Paul McDonald, as well

as longtime official Jim Tunney, USC football assistant coach Dave

Levy and sportscaster Ed Arnold.

It is not known if Dave Levy will be allowed to speak, but I can’t

wait for a chance to interview the highly respected Ed Arnold, who

was “replaced” as a sportscaster for KTLA a while ago for what was to

become, undoubtedly, the worst sportscaster to walk on the surface of

this planet. I can’t remember her name. And I challenge anyone to

come up with the answer.

If it had been a trade in the NFL, it would have been the

equivalent of Dan Marino for Lynndie England.

*

Here’s another item with an Irrelevant flavor.

Carson Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner from USC and featured

celebrity at Irrelevent Week XXVII, now with the Cincinnati Bengals,

will host the 2004 Carson Palmer Open June 28 at Pelican Hill Golf

Club.

It includes a pre-tournament party at the Sutra Lounge in Costa

Mesa on June 27 at 9 p.m.

A putting contest, the Open and a cookout in the evening is

planned for he next day.

Bring your wallet, it’s $3,000 per foursome and the cookout is

$100 per fork, but it’s a great place to rub elbows and the charity,

Hillview Acres in Chino, is deserving. And, Pelican Hill is pretty

special.

For more on this, call (949) 475-2251.

*

For the record - My headline in a recent focus on former Mater Dei

High football coach Dick Coury didn’t add up. “The original ‘Big O’,

long before Oscar” should have read, “Another ‘Big O’, in step with

Oscar.”

My misguided thought was to liken Coury’s amazing record of

shutout victories from 1957-65 with that of Naismith Basketball Hall

of Famer Oscar Robertson as a Milwaukee Buck in the early ‘70s.

It would work except for the fact there’s the matter of the “Big

O” as an Indiana prep phenom of the mid-’50s, with the University of

Cincinnati in 1956-60 and the Cincinnati Royals of the NBA throughout

the ‘60s. So my “long before” was way off target.

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected].