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The Smudge Pot Game

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Bonita vs San Dimas. It seems like I’ve heard about them before...(click here)

Oh yeah ... that Bonita and that San Dimas.

Trivia time: What is a smudge pot (pictured left)?

Like it or not Bearcats and Saints fans, right now, you are known as the schools with the volleyball hooligans. Here’s your chance to show that you can play nice in an athletic competition.

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Answer time: It’s a device, usually an oil container with some crude oil burning at the bottom, used in fruit orchards to protect against frost.

The rivalry started in 1972.

San Dimas, which comes in with a 4-0 record, leads the all-time series, 17-16-1, but Bonita (2-2) has won the last three and 10 of the last 11.

One of the coolest thing I found out about each school is the fact that Bonita has in its possession a Heisman Trophy. The trophy belonged to Glenn Davis, who passed away in 2005, but the story of how he came about giving his trophy to Bonita HS lives on.

The Times’ own Bill Paschke told the story in in 2004. He told it so well that it was voted best column of the year by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Enjoy it. I certainly did.

The Smudge Pot Trophy sits right next to that Heisman Trophy in the school’s trophy case.

Also, check out this 2001 essay by Danny Craig in La Verne Magazine about the history of the rivalry. A must read, whether you know about the Smudge Pot rivalry or not.

- Jaime Cardenas

--Image by Alan Hagman/Los Angeles Times

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