This Drama Raising a Few Sparks

Today’s after-school special, “The Sparks Keep Flying: A Tale of Teen-Age Runaways,” is brought to you by a grant from Mater Dei High School, where the only thing more important than winning football games is winning basketball games.

Our cast:

Derek Sparks, star high school running back who moves to California and can’t believe all the friends he has.

Leland Sparks, Derek’s cousin, a slick quarterback/wide receiver but a troubled student.

Jerome Sparks, Derek’s ever-attentive uncle and former legal guardian. Also a big Michael Jackson fan.

Eric Sparks, another uncle.

June Sparks, another Sparks, and a key one. She is Derek’s mom--the latest to get caught up in the Wharton, Tex.-to-Santa Ana Gardens migration craze.

John Hazelton, football coach and middle man.

Steve and Susie Goldbaum, good neighbors.

George Giannini, Montclair Prep football coach who gets to borrow Derek for one season and one game.

Lyle Porter, new principal at Mater Dei High, a school that served a one-year probation in 1988-89 for illegal inducements given a freshman quarterback at Corona del Mar.

Bruce Rollinson, embattled Mater Dei football coach with an 0-2 record, some hyperactive boosters and a sorely deficient running game.

Our story:

A wicked wind howls through the streets of the tiny town of Wharton. Dust blows. Tumbleweeds roll. This is no-man’s land--certainly no place for a young man like Derek, who, as Uncle Jerome has noticed, has an uncommon gift for carrying a football long distances.

Uncle Jerome lives in Inglewood, not far from the Forum, where he runs a carpet cleaning business. One day, he makes the acquaintance of Coach Hazelton, whose Banning High football team has a long and storied winning tradition. Coach Hazelton wants to keep it that way. When Jerome mentions his nephews, Derek and Leland, Coach Hazelton invites Jerome to stand on the sidelines during Banning games.

Jerome likes what he sees. He arranges for Derek and Leland to visit the school. He arranges for Derek and Leland to enroll in the school. Banning, however, decides to make a coaching change and while Derek is rushing for 1,394 yards as a sophomore, Coach Hazelton is out job hunting.

Eventually, Coach Hazelton finds work as an assistant at Montclair Prep in Van Nuys. Montclair Prep is a nice school, much nicer than Banning, where June has heard stories about gangs and guns. Jerome does some investigating. He knows Derek could play for Coach Giannini--by this time, Derek could probably play for Coach Paterno--but Jerome wants to know about Leland. How about quarterback? Leland’s credentials, according to Jerome: He played “some quarterback in ninth grade” and could “dance like Michael Jackson.”

Montclair Prep’s principal tells Jerome that Michael Jackson once attended the school. “Oh! That’s good,” Jerome exclaims. Jerome is sold.

Soon, more arrangements are made. Derek agrees to transfer to Montclair Prep under one condition--he is allowed to live with Uncle Eric. No problem. Montclair Prep has a boarding-school license; Derek, Eric and Leland can share an on-campus apartment. The sooner the better.

For a while, all is well. Derek and Leland lead Montclair Prep to a 12-1 season. Only a junior, Derek rushes for 1,944 yards and 35 touchdowns. Coach Giannini knows he has something special. So does every Division I football coach in the country.

But nothing lasts forever, not even in Van Nuys. In early 1990, Montclair Prep approves a building expansion, which means the Sparks’ on-campus apartment is razed. The Sparks split--Leland and Eric find new quarters off campus, Derek hooks up with the Goldbaums, whose son, John, also plays football for Montclair Prep.

Jerome doesn’t like this setup. He likes it less when a county juvenile court declares Derek an abandoned minor and grants the Goldbaums legal custody.

Tension mounts. Because Montclair Prep made Leland repeat the 11th grade, he has to petition the Southern Section for a fifth year of eligibility in 1990. Montclair Prep travels to Hawaii to play its season opener and two hours before kickoff, Jerome gets the word: Leland is declared ineligible.

Derek plays in the game, Leland does not. Afterward, Jerome makes a decision: Aloha, Montclair Prep.

Events happen quickly. The Goldbaums relinquish custody of Derek and Jerome pulls both nephews out of school. Somehow, Mater Dei gets involved. Doesn’t Mater Dei always get involved? (For additional reading, please see Tom Lewis, Mike Mitchell, Stu Thomas and Dan O’Neil.) One day, June Sparks awakens in Wharton. Next, she’s living in a house two blocks from Mater Dei.

A new legal guardian! Welcome to Orange County, Derek Sparks.

Southern Section commissioner Stan Thomas, however, remains suspicious. He demands a hearing along with a study of grade transcripts and Mater Dei’s admission policy before Derek goes anywhere.

Mater Dei is a Catholic school and the commissioner notes that neither Derek nor Leland is Catholic. No problem, says Principal Porter, who issues a press release that states: “Unlike some private schools, Mater Dei admits a wide range of students in respect to abilities, ethnicity and religion.” This includes the abilities to run, block and score touchdowns.

It is Thursday. Derek has been practicing with the Mater Dei team for three days and attending classes for one. Mater Dei plays Tustin that night, but the commissioner refuses to clear Derek to play until his transcripts are signed by the Montclair Prep principal and reviewed.

Gary McKnight, Mater Dei basketball coach, athletic director and something of an expert on student transfers, is dispatched to Montclair Prep to make sure the papers are signed. Mission completed, McKnight is to phone Principal Porter, who is to phone the commissioner. Once Derek is cleared, Porter is to phone his assistant principal, who is waiting at the football game to give Coach Rollinson the word.

Says Coach Rollinson: “The minute he’s eligible, he’s in the game.”

Derek is on the sidelines, suited up, stretching, waiting for the phone call. Cut to close-up of phone. At last, it rings. But the news is bad: The transcripts are signed but the commissioner wants another day to look them over. Derek is forced to cool his heels. Mater Dei is forced to absorb a 27-3 defeat.

The next day, the commissioner announces that Derek’s grade-point average for the spring semester was below the 2.0 eligibility requisite. No problem, Mater Dei says. Derek will just be placed on academic probation, meaning he can play until the end of the fall semester, which ends, conveniently, just after the football playoffs.

Mater Dei football is saved!

Derek Sparks finds a home!

And everybody lived happily ever after?

Only their consciences will know for sure.