Los Gatos All Stars are ready for some football
By Dick Sparrer
Richard M. Nixon was just days away from resigning as the 37th President of the United States, and Jack Nicholson's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was setting box office records across the country. The Boston Celtics had just won another NBA crown, and the Oakland A's were on the verge of winning their third straight World Series.
It was the summer of 1974, and Doug Cosbie and Don Schwartz were two of the 60 or so players about to play in a brand new football game... something called the Santa Clara County All Star Bowl.
Cosbie and Schwartz would both go on to star in the National Football League, Cosbie for the Dallas Cowboys and Schwartz for the St. Louis Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.
And that football game they both played in would go on to become a summer tradition in the Santa Clara Valley.
This summer that All Star Bowl, now known as the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game, returns for its 25th year and has grown from its humble beginnings into a summer classic.
And it all started because members of the Almaden Valley Rotary Club had an idea.
"Three Rotarians came to the police department and met with me at the PAL office," said game chairman Jim Guido, now a Rotarian himself but at that time the head of the San Jose Police Activities League. "They said, 'We have an idea for an all-star football game.'"
So Guido and his PAL staff went to work with the Rotarians to make the idea a reality.
"We had a marriage of sorts," said Guido of the relationship between the Rotary and the PAL. "They came up with the idea which was a good one, and we had the expertise to put the game together."
The first game was played in the summer of 1974 and, with the exception of 1976, the game has been played every summer since.
"The Best Game in Town" has featured over a dozen players (Cosbie, Schwartz, Jeff Toews, Rich Campbell, Carl Monroe, Greg Woodard, John Tuggle, Ben Bennett, John Faylor, Erik Howard, Randy Kirk, Tim Ryan and Pat Tillman) who have gone on to the NFL, and a couple more (Ken Caminiti and Bill Haselman) who have gone on to play major league baseball.
Countless players have gone on to succeed at the college level with a number of them playing in major bowl games, and many players have gone on to become successful football coaches. One, Millard Hampton, even went on to strike Olympic gold.
"The great thing about this game is that there are no politics involved," said Guido. "This game is for the kids."
Local "kids" who will play in the summer classic include Ryan Sorahan, Chris Cavanagh and Austin Neale of Los Gatos, and Ben Trap, Iszik Clarke, Jeremy Fowler and Adam Labare of Leigh.
The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday, July 23, at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium, the same site where it all began 25 years ago. Tickets are priced at $10 each, and proceeds go to the Rotary charity and scholarship programs.
Former local stars participating in the summer classic include:
Los Gatos
1975--Steve Hosmer, Pat Geary; 1976--John Breidenthal; 1978--Kirk Fraley; 1979--Jeff Petulla; 1980--Kent Cooper; 1981--Tom Havens; 1982--Dave Bearden, Al Schwimmer, A.J. Mathhews; 1983--Joshua Hatch, Orrin Childs; 1984--Dan Leonis, Stu Bailey; 1985--Brock Bowman, Todd Mayo, David Palaniuk, Pat Smith, Jeff Blaisdell; 1986--Jeff Borgese, Steve Priest, John Cundy, Leigh Haring; 1987--Marc Bresniker, Gary Norquist, Spencer Boyer; 1988--Mark Magee, Joe Farwell, Barry Teigen; 1989--Steve Lombardi, Matt Lemiere, Jim Copeland; 1990--Bill Berk, Jason Hallady, Max Fancher, Dave Hoffner, Burt Prentice; 1991--Trevor Wilson, Robert MacGregor, Sam Partovi, Ian Stone; 1992--Darren Fisk, Joe O'Hehir, Travis Rodgers; 1993--Brad Sanfilippo, Joe Musser, Cory Maday, Mark Cox, Ryan Marcos; 1994--Jim Lombardi, Dion Mejia, Chad Nelson; 1995--Jeremy Barth, Gus Farwell, Derek Krug, Gavin Hayes, Paul Willmes; 1996--John Giordano, Scott Grover, Manuel Neno; 1997--Josh Rogers, Doug Miller, Carlos Lanuza, Jeremy Malander; 1998--John Stengele, Alan Rosa, Austin Glover, Charlie Cucco, Enzo Iacomini, Mike Manson, Fred Luminoso.
Leigh
1974--Rick Foley, Jeff Beeson, Steve Leonard, Tom Clark; 1976--Steve McGarry; 1978--Bob Leal, Brian Usry; 1979--Mark Mena; 1980--Joseph Valenti; 1981--Ken Caminiti, Nicholas Neri; 1982--David Pruitt; 1984--Dino Sontag; 1986--Derek Rosas; 1987--Keith Usry; 1988--Dan Hall, Don Vigeant, Carl Cardarelli; 1989--David Mackey; 1990--Dave Dyer; 1991--Frank Mazzola; 1992--James Mazzone, Joe Cattolico, John Cerda; 1993--Clint Semon, Tom Stone; 1994--Brian Fong, Ronell Duffie; 1995--Chris Guthrie, Kevin Millering, Bryon Bratcher; 1996--Tim Garner, Patrick Guthrie, Scott Whiteford; 1997--Dan Ljepava; 1998--Kyle Padia, Kiijuan Fuselier, Sean Nagy.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
