Officials put early emphasis on sportsmanship

COSTA MESA - The officials arrived on the field a few minutes earlier than usual.

Referees, coaches and game organizers, mindful of the pregame near-fight between the North and South and the brawl that shut down the game with nearly three minutes to go last year, did all they could to make sure sportsmanship problems were not repeated at this year's Brea Lions Orange County North-South Prep Football All-Star Game on Friday at Orange Coast College.

Officials were not shy about making personal foul calls, with four in the first half — three of them on the North. And they even gave the South a sideline warning to move the players away from the field.

"All of us involved with the game were embarrassed about what happened last year," game coordinator Phil Anton of the Brea Lions said.

"We talked with both coaches (North coach Lanny Booher of Anaheim and South coach Mike Jacot of Santa Margarita) about this from the time they were selected, and we knew right away that this thing was going to be above board. That was nice to see."

It was an All-Star Game, but not all of the county's stars participated.

Among the missing were the county offensive and defensive players of the year, Aaron Corp and Chris Galippo, respectively, who weeks before had communicated their intentions not to play.

Corp, a quarterback from Orange Lutheran, and Galippo, a linebacker from Servite, are bound for USC, and at the request of Trojans coach Pete Carroll, neither played.

USC is not the only college program that persuades incoming freshmen not to participate in All-Star games, but Anton called it "the Pete Carroll syndrome" when discussing the number of top players, past and present, who have opted not to play in the county game.

"Sure, Corp and Galippo are guys who are going to be able to play at 'SC pretty soon," Anton said. "And sure, you're going to be worried about your guys getting hurt. But chances are if they do get hurt, in six weeks they're going to recover."

Still, there were plenty of future collegians who did play, including three on their way to Oregon: Rishard Matthews of Saddleback (who has at least a year of JC to complete before going north), Charles Neal of Esperanza and Ed Pleasant of Kennedy.

Anton said the 2006 All-Star Game grossed around $60,000, with half of that covering much of the Lions' costs that include stadium rental, printing of programs and tickets, liability insurance and players' uniforms. (Sponsorship assistance by Citizens Business Bank covers the rest.)

The other half of game receipts goes to charities.

Since the Brea Lions started the game in 1959, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to such causes.

With a crowd of around 7,300 on Friday, a similar gross could come from this year's game.