College Football

We, the residents of Newport-Mesa, live in the world’s comfiest, most charitable time zone. What on earth, you wonder, am I talking about? Once upon a time, people rarely left the time zone in which they were born (all time was local, anyway). It’s said that Alexander the Great traveled from Greece to India in the fourth century B.C., crossing at least four (yet to be identified) time zones. It took him weeks or months to cross each. I can’t find a single reference to the fact that he needed to adjust his chronograph as he traveled east, or that he sat jet-lagged (or camel-lagged)

Since the first kickoff of the season you’ve waited all season long for this. Today is the National Football League’s Championship Game, better known as the Super Bowl. What is left to tide you over until next season? Check out some of these game winners that will keep you full of football anticipation for helmet-to-helmet action during the off season. Theron Hopkins , author of “The Eighty-Yard Run,” journeys across the country stopping in 20 towns in 20 weeks.

For Matt Burgner and Shaun Mohler, the huddle was a symbol as much as a ritual, a metaphor for the bond that abolished the polarity of their existence off the football field. Matt was a straight-A student from the postcard family who wanted for little. Shaun was a learning-disabled, so-called slacker whose ample daily doses of love came from a divorced mother struggling to make ends meet. But their allied passion for the game was hardly limited to the fall practices and games they shared from grade school through Corona del Mar High, where both became Orange County All-Stars with All-CIF Southern Section credentials.

Daily hardships and family sacrifices have been incurred in order for Kevin Ah-Hi to pursue the chance to earn a free college education in the United States. So, Saturday, with his father in the stands, having flown in from Idaho, Ah-Hi was more than happy to show he, too, was carrying his share of the load. Carry, and carry, and carry he did. An Orange Coast College-record 48 carries later, Ah-Hi had amassed 266 rushing yards, just nine shy of the school single-game record, while helping the Pirates earn a 20-14 triumph over Mission Conference American Division rival Long Beach at OCC. After being blanketed with congratulations from teammates and coaches from both teams, and also dealing with the media after Saturday’s game, Ah-Hi was eager to share the experience with his father, Vena.

Shaun Mohler spent his childhood within punting distance of the football field at Bonita Creek Park, where his passion for the primeval elements of the game softened the edges of what was often a frustrating existence. The oldest of two brothers in a single-parent home in which love trumped disposable income, Mohler never lacked for achiever friends, a ride to the beach, or a hearty meal cooked by his devoted mother Deanna. But when not at home, or on the gridiron, the baseball field or the basketball court — where his prowess made him special — he was often the butt of jokes at school.

Saturday night’s a big night. San Diego State vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats in college football. As an alumnus, I’ll be in attendance. What’s unusual, though, is with whom I’ll be watching the game. Several weeks ago I received an invitation from Stephen Weber, the president of SDSU, inviting me and the wife to join him in the presidential suite for the evening. Now with the Aztecs recent success, or lack thereof, on the football field over the past number of years, my guess is he couldn’t get anyone else to go with him. After all, the invite certainly couldn’t be as a result of my stellar academic performance there several decades ago. And then you get your hopes up, maybe, just maybe, he wants to talk to me about an honorary doctorate.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is scheduled to welcome college football legend Lou Holtz to its 20th annual Circle 1000 Founders' Brunch Monday at the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel and Spa. The former Notre Dame football coach, who now works as an ESPN college football analyst, is scheduled to speak about his wife's battle with squamous cell throat cancer. She is a 10-year survivor. The Circle 1000 Founders' Brunch hosts its one event per year as a way for people to donate directly to the Hoag Cancer Center without having to belong to committees or attend meetings.

COACHES WILL VOTE ON RONNIE LOTT TROPHY The Master Football Coaches organization has signed a contract with Newport Beach's Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation to be the exclusive voters for the Ronnie Lott Trophy. The trophy is given annually to the top defensive player in college football, rewarding integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity. The Master Football Coaches is a group of 17 current and former college coaches. The distinguished list includes John Cooper, Terry Donahue, Vince Dooley, Pat Dye, LaVell Edwards, Hayden Fry, Don James, Frank Kush, Dick MacPherson, Bill Mallory, Don Nehlen, John Ralston, John Robinson, Bo Schembechler, R.C. Slocum, Gene Stallings and George Welsh.

OCC football's hawaiian connection featureHawaiians, in increasing numbers, are drawn to OCC to pursue their football dreams.For a significant portion of the Orange Coast College football team, paradise wasn't good enough. With no community college football and an often inadequate recruiting pipeline to four-year schools, high school football players in Hawaii are often faced with a stark reality about their future in the sport. "At home, it's pretty much the University of Hawaii or nothing," said Hoku Van Den Handle, one of 10 Hawaiian imports competing for the Pirates.

Barry Faulkner An NFL draft that began Saturday with the selection of a Utah hero, ended Sunday by refocusing a more subtle spotlight on the southwest corner of the state. But St. George, Utah native Andy Stokes, chosen by the New England Patriots with the 255th and final pick to become Mr. Irrelevant XXX, seemed no less enthused about his football future than former Utah quarterback Alex Smith, who went No. 1 to the San Francisco 49ers. As Mr. Irrelevant, Stokes will be the featured guest of the 30th annual Irrelevant Week celebration, scheduled June 20-25 in Newport Beach.