From fires to champions, 2007-08 full of big stories

Register colleague Mark Whicker sometimes writes opinions columns by which, as he puts it, "for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, even in sports." Without Whicker's permission, I am "borrowing" his concept for the final high school sports column of the 2007-08 school year.

A retrospective …

Action: De La Salle 35, Mission Viejo 7.

Reaction: A mismatch. But at least Mission Viejo was willing to take on a superior team, which we don't see enough of from football programs that play obviously easy nonleague schedules then complain they don't get respect in the rankings.

Action: Mater Dei 38, Servite 13.

Reaction: It sure says something about the rivalry and the loyalty of both schools' followings when around 20,000 show up at Angel Stadium to watch a game televised live. Some day, Servite's following will be rewarded. But when?

Action: Area fires and accompanying poor air quality force games to be postponed or canceled. Rescheduling has some football teams playing twice in the same week.

Reaction: Yes, no serious injuries resulted. But, as we sometimes tragically see, football is a risky sport for young people. Why make it more so?

Action: More than a month after the end of the football season, All-Southern California (formerly called "All-CIF") teams still had not been released. Nobody involved in the process understood why.

Reaction: Our student-athletes deserve better.

Action: Any soccer player whose coach was not a dues-paying member of a soccer coaches' association would not be selected to the All-Southern California team.

Reaction: Our student-athletes deserve better.

Action: Trinity League boys and girls basketball games use three referees.

Reaction: My fears that three-referee crews would call far more fouls and thus create more stoppages in play were unfounded. That doesn't always happen. Ask Phil Jackson.

Action: Corona del Mar stated that Dick Freeman resigned as its football coach; Freeman said he was fired. The school went through a hiring process, did not like the way it was going and started over. Former El Modena and St. Margaret's coach Jason Hitchens arrived at the Newport-Mesa district office to sign his contract to become Corona del Mar's coach, but the details of the contract do not match the verbal agreement.

Reaction: Hitchens eventually did sign. But what a mess.

Action: The Southern California Bowl Game, an area all-star football game, drew 950 at Cal State Fullerton, prompting this writer to question the game's future.

Reaction: Game organizers fire back at the writer. But this writer thinks the game's supporting organization, the Henry T. Nicholas III Foundation, now has bigger problems that really threaten the game's status (if you don't understand, do a Web search on the foundation leader's name).

Action: Magnolia's girls basketball team goes to the CIF State Championships.

Reaction: Some schools have girls basketball programs that almost annually are in contention for such glory. At Magnolia, it was a special group of girls who responded to Coach Mike Anderson's 1.21-gigawatts coaching style to create a once-in-a-hundred-years achievement.

Action: Mater Dei's boys basketball team wins a state championship.

Reaction: With three juniors and a sophomore in the starting five, wait 'til next year.

Action: Santa Margarita's boys basketball team wins a state championship.

Reaction: The Eagles' Klay Thompson was phenomenal with his 37 points in the state final. And when remembering that Santa Margarita was eliminated in the CIF-Southern Section semifinals and went one week without a game before embarking upon the CIF Southern California Regionals and then played its best basketball of the season in those Regionals and in the state final, it again becomes apparent that Santa Margarita coach Jerry DeBusk just might be the best coach of any sport in Orange County.

Action: Jerime Anderson of Canyon is the boys basketball player of the year.

Reaction: As good as he is as an athlete, Anderson might be a better person.

Action: Christine Babock of Woodbridge sets national distance-running records and is the girls track and field athlete of the year.

Reaction: The above about Jerime Anderson applies to her, too.

Action: El Dorado beat the No. 1 baseball team in the nation, Calvert Hall of Baltimore, in the Anderson Bat National Classic. El Dorado finished in last place in the Century League.

Reaction: That tells you everything you need to know about why high school baseball is great.

Action: A proposal that would have created separate CIF-SS playoff divisions for public and private schools dies of malnourishment and neglect before even going to a vote.

Reaction: The proposal will be resurrected. But it should be changed. Create three playoff divisions: one for private schools; a second for public schools who solider on with the kids from the surrounding neighborhoods; and a third for the public schools whose athletic programs thrive because of transfers and/or athletes that reside outside of their attendance areas (long list available upon request).

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com