The John Gust legacy lives strong

ROGER CARLSON

Alumni football games are often a source of entertainment, but the

bumps and bruises usually overshadow any form of glory, and dreams

quickly give way to reality.

Nevertheless, it’s always interesting to mull over potential lists

of past prep football stars and wonder how they’d do against another

roster, such as Newport Harbor vs. Corona del Mar, or Estancia vs.

Costa Mesa, that sort of thing, which actually happened a couple of

times a few years back.

There is a specific roster I’d like to entertain, which comes from

Newport Harbor, but it is not just a list of past stars, but one of

shooting stars, as their list of credits proves out.

Tonight No. 31 will be added to the roll call at the Sailors’

annual football banquet in the form of the John Gust Desire Award,

celebrating the exploits of a 17-year-old who was cut down in the

prime of his life because of an auto accident while on a skiing trip

to Mammoth in December of 1973.

It’s important to pore over this list from start to finish,

because each reflects upon that young and promising athlete, who,

with honors as a center in football for Coach Don Lent and as a

heavyweight champion at the renowned Fountain Valley Five Counties

wrestling invitational, was all set for Washington State.

It’s the overall list which provides the insight into just what

makes the honor as coveted as it is, which is given for a lot of good

reasons, but with “improvement” perhaps outweighing the rest for the

award. It is sponsored by John Gust’s parents, Marilyn and Ev.

It’s sort of like when you look through old school annuals and see

who was “The Most Likely to Succeed,” and realize they knew what they

were talking about.

It’s not a popularity contest, it’s the coaches who have the say.

And nobody knows better.

There are other awards, such as MVPs and captains, but in the

“bigger” game, this one carries a lot of weight.

With the help of some rather amazing insight from Kay and Bill

Brown, here is a Long Gray Line to consider, with their jersey number

reflecting their senior season:

73 - Mark Duffy, a school principal.

74 - Tom Bazacas, one of the owner/operators of the Newport Beach

Athletic Club and a pastor of Messiah Ministries.

76 - Greg Steverson, a CPA in New Hampshire.

77 - Doug Brockmeyer - a neurosurgeon in Utah, specializing with

children. He and wife have two children.

78 - Dave Thompson, believed to be with an ad agency in San

Francisco.

79 - Alan Gaddis, a senior director at RJT Compuquest, who with

wife Mary Lynn, has four children.

80 - Robert Anthony, who resides in Concord, Mass., with a private

consulting business.

81 - Jamie Kitchens, an Air Force Academy graduate.

82 - Bill Brown, a Utah State graduate, a sports and family Doctor

of Chiropractic, a volleyball coach who, with wife Laurelee, has

seven children.

83 - Rich Powers, a businessman in Redlands. With wife, Debbie,

they have three children.

84 - John Spangler, a school teacher.

85 - Scott Craig, who completed a two-year mission for the Mormon

church in Chile. A Doctor of Optometry in Costa Mesa, he and his wife

have a son and are expecting an addition soon.

86 - Jason Granneman, a hydraulic engineer who travels the world.

87 - Perry Mason, a school teacher and wrestling and football

coach in Arizona.

90 - George Greenwalt, a teacher and football coach at Costa Mesa

High.

91 - Darin Mangnall, an assistant district attorney in Colorado.

92 - Justin Ketcham, a junior college professor in California.

93 - Matt Burns, a teacher in Orange and a football coach at

Newport Harbor, married with one child.

94 - Jack Hogan, a real estate developer in the Newport Beach

area.

95 - Ramsey Allen, a student who works at Hi-Times in Costa Mesa.

96 - Ian Dorish, who works with Bill Johns in Costa Mesa,

developing various products.

97 - Garrett Govaars, a teacher and football coach at Newport

Harbor, pursuing his master’s at UCI.

98 - Lance Chavez, who completed his college football career at

New Mexico and is scheduled to get his degree this year.

99 - Kelsey Peterson, attending the Naval Academy in Annapolis to

become a Navy Seal.

00 - Jim Erickson, attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

01 - Jeff Marshall, continuing his football career at Montana.

02 - Jack Skahen, in his first year at Annapolis.

Steve Bruno (75), Sean Ellis (88) and Don James (89) fell through

the cracks and time ran out on the search.

John Gust would have turned 48 in a few weeks and one can only

wonder “what if?” judging by the credits of The Long Gray Line.

How much longer will this tradition continue? Only time will tell.

They had a George Yardley Award at Harbor once, but it only lasted

two or three years because George got carried away at the ceremony.

But that’s another (funny) story.

Newport Harbor High product Al Irwin, the Sailors’ original No. 1,

is one of three to be honored at Pacific in Stockton on Saturday with

the presentation of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award of Merit.

What justice for the football coach of that memorable 1949

Sailors’ football team, the championship Orange Coast College team of

1956 and distinguished efforts at UC Irvine in aquatics, and as an

athletic director.

The award recognizes those who participated in athletics at

Pacific (it was College of the Pacific when Irwin played under Stagg)

and who have gone on to achieve distinction in his or her life

through the notable examples of integrity, dedication, idealism and

team spirit that the man known as “The Grand Old Man” personified.

No one could possibly fit the bill better than Al Irwin, who is

scheduled to be feted on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Pacific Club, and

to be recognized later that afternoon at halftime of the Tigers’

basketball game against UC Santa Barbara.

Here’s a date to remember for one of the best to come down the

pike: Saddleback High football coach Jerry Witte, who recently

retired his clipboard.

A very casual dinner is planned for Feb. 28 at the Moose Lodge in

Garden Grove, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

More information on this is available through Curt Heller at

Saddleback High (714) 513-2900, ext. 2169.

Hey! See you next Sunday!

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

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

[email protected].