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 Bernard, R. Daniel Goñi and Lou Petrossi of Saratoga, Vik Rajagopal of Lynbrook, and Ryan Brando and T.J. Aimonetti of Westmont.
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 star to participate in the summer classic include:
Lynbrook
1976--David Halliday; 1979--Bill Nicholas; 1981--Don Handley, Mike Nicholas; 1982--Doug Bloyd, Jim Cooke, Stephen Hopkins; 1983--Archie Rodich; 1984--Brian Hays, Steve Andris, Chris Saxen; 1985--Joe Urban; 1986--Dave Gillen; 1987--Chris Hart, Charlie Bostic, Dean Bambrick; 1988--Travis Lee Boeck; 1989--Daryl Rogers; 1991--Brian Martinez; 1992--Scott Schneider, Mike MacPherson; 1993--Ted Cocoles, Kevin Berns; 1994--Jeff Menold; 1995--Joel Rogers; 1996--Dan Sullivan; 1997--Steve Horner; 1998--Jason Chiang, Tony Klabo.
Saratoga
1975--Larry Worman, Kyle Heinrich, Mike McKenna; 1976--Mike Heinrich, Travis McNulty, Bob Walter, George Zimmerman; 1978--Steve Worman; 1979--Rob Orlando, Jeffrey Lane, Mike Meteer; 1980--Lindsey Meggs, Dave Lynch, Don Kern; 1981--Kevin Tanner, Kurt Heinrich, Rick Worman, Mike Stypula, Greg Stangland; 1982--Matt Currie, Marshall Howard, Pat Sende; 1983--Kyle Druey, Ted Macauley, Vince Casarez, Phil Daggett, Darin Franklin; 1984--Bob Gatiss, Bill Haselman, Steve Fisher, Mike Bates; 1985--Gary Batiss, Mike Schroeder, Gary Wilberding; 1986--Kevin Grant, Keith Wilson, Greg Mount; 1987--Joe Fragiadakis, Marshall Lee, Ken Henderson; 1988--Steve Mollin, Dave Rossi, Sam Meteer, Tim Hall; 1989--Dan Edson, Dan Pacheco, Jim Wild; 1990--T.J. Summers, Matt Donati; 1991--Mark Coleman, Brian Gaspar, Jason Balogh; 1992--Marc Hall, Peter Feng; 1993--Bill Hagman, Chris Byrer; 1994--Matt Jones, David Silberstein, Carl Martin; 1995--Kyle Goni, Chris Kron, Chris Varnell; 1996--Gabe Calebotta, Joel Reikes, Johnny Taylor, Mike Wayne, Mike Whitcanack; 1997--David Goni, Brennan Carroll; 1998--Tyler Hooper, Jeremy Devich, Michael Black, Matt McKenna, Cory Schwaderer.
Blackford
1976--Sean O'Carroll; 1978--Guy Gandengerge; 1981--Greg Hershberger, Vinnie Daniel; 1982--Ed Conley, John Aimonetti; 1983--Greg Campodonico, Joe Lynam, Don Teague; 1984--Mike Guerrero; 1985--Scott Fitzgerald; 1986--Todd Kaanapu; 1987--Floyd Foreman; 1990--Ryshiem Henderson, Roelof Ytsma, Bert Gomez; 1991--Jeff Frederick.
Westmont
1976--Eric Stark, Rocky Pena; 1979--Gregory Gorman, Steve Moore; 1980--Tod Devlin, Paul Hamill; 1981--Steve Cisowski; 1982--Brett Dawson, Russ Cooper, Scott Athearn; 1983--Ken Roberts, Gregg Skarmas; 1984--Matt Allison; 1985--Wesley Denton; 1986--Kelly Bailey, Pat Connell; 1989--Troy McFadden, Mike Zimmerman, David Jamison; 1990--Eric Liljenstople; 1991--David Seo; 1992--Ronnie Rogers; 1993--Beau Fernald; 1994--Eric Glader; 1997--Mat Meade; 1998--Dan Butler.
Prospect
1979--Phil Rebboah, Randy Chase; 1980--Dave Maloney, Greg Kent; 1983--Mike Bosco; 1984--Greg Bernarding; 1985--Kirk Niemeyer, Steve Walker; 1986--Mike McRoberts, Dean Crew, Steve Bosco, Kerrall Robinson, Donny Togisala; 1987--Dean Witkin; 1988--Ken Begnal; 1989--Jason Snodgrass, Eric Stafford; 1991--Steve Augenstein; 1992--Derrick Barnes; 1993--Brandon Peterson; 1994--Erwin Reyes, Jermaine Walker; 1995--Rich Curtis; 1996--Craig Nomura, Honeya Ordoubadi; 1997--Brandon Morgan; 1998--Matt Heling, Brad King.
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
