By T.J. Matsumoto, Courier Staff Writer
T.J. Matsumoto is a member of the James Logan Varsity Football Team
The anticipation of tonight's planned pre-season game against Fremont High School of Oakland was high this whole week. We had a great week of practice with very few distractions.
That all stopped when our coach stopped our Thursday afternoon practice with the news. Our first game against Fremont of Oakland had been cancelled.
He had been on the phone with the commissioner of the OAL (Oakland Athletic League) for half an hour. Fremont of Oakland was forced to forfeit because 11 of the 28 players on the roster were recently declared academically ineligible. You need to have at least 20 to play in a game.
Almost everybody on the team was shocked. Our defensive coordinator, Coach Coats was disgusted and had to walk away. Some of our players are friends with the Fremont players and were looking forward to competing with their buddies. They have been talking for a long time and they were extremely disappointed when they heard the news. The morale on the team went way down and the rest of the practice suffered.
Many of the first year varsity players were looking forward to their first varsity experience of wearing their uniforms to school and playing under the Friday night lights.
Now the already important game against Monte Vista just got bigger. Monte Vista is one of the best teams in the area and in the last ranking was only second to De La Salle. The competition between Logan and Monte Vista has been fierce the past three years. The first year, which was also head coach Zuber’s first year; Monte Vista crushed Logan by over 30 points. The next year, Zuber and the colts defeated Monte Vista on their way to a 12-1 season. Last year, they crushed us 41-13. It’s been a back and forth battle over the past few years. We intend to make a statement on September 11.
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