Bowl Game Gets a New Sponsor

It may be on its third name and at its third site, but there will be a bowl game played this fall in Orange County again.

Simple Green, the all-purpose cleaner, announced its sponsorship in the form of $5,000 for the game to be played Dec. 7 at Orange Coast College.

The money will go toward promotion and putting on the game as well as shirts and souvenirs for the players.

Doug Bennett of the Orange Coast College Foundation has taken over as game manager, a title previously held by Saddleback Athletic Director Keith Calkins.

This year, the game will be called the Simple Green Orange County Bowl.

“(Orange Coast) could pick it up and do a little more with it because it is on their campus,” said Calkins, who had served as manager since the first game in 1981. “I really enjoyed it all the years, but maybe it will be easier to have a group behind it on the campus where it is played.”

The game was played at Cerritos in 1981, at Santa Ana Stadium in 1982 and ’83 and at Orange Coast since 1984.

“That fact that it traditionally has been held on our campus made us very interested in running it,” Bennett said. “When the chance was there (to manage the game), we took it. We are very excited about being part of the game and looking forward to the opportunity.”

The game began as the PONY Bowl, sponsored by the shoe company through 1988, but financial troubles caused the company to pull out. The game has been called the Orange County Bowl the past three years because no new sponsor was found.

The bowl switched to a doubleheader format in 1987 and has remained that way to provide a post-season game for teams with deserving records.

“We’re not sure if it will be a doubleheader or not,” Bennett said. “That is one of the things that will be decided down the road, once we form a committee a little later this season.”

Football poll: The 16-team Mission Conference is well represented in this week’s Southland Poll, taking eight of the 10 spots.

The only two non-Mission teams are No. 1 Moorpark (2-0) and No. 10 Bakersfield (0-1), both members of the Western State Conference.

Pasadena (2-0) is No. 2, with Orange Coast (1-0) third, Fullerton (1-0) fourth, Mt. San Antonio (2-0) fifth, Saddleback (1-0) sixth, El Camino (1-1) seventh, Rancho Santiago (1-0) eighth and Riverside (0-1) ninth.

In top-10 matchups this week, Rancho Santiago is at Mt. San Antonio and El Camino is at Saddleback. Both games are at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Women’s volleyball: Cypress is 5-0 under Coach Gerry Livsey, who took over this season after taking a sabbatical last year.

Livsey coached the women’s volleyball team at Cypress from 1975-77, then switched to women’s basketball from 1978-89.

Cypress has two nonconference matches--Wednesday at Mt. San Antonio and at home Friday against Arizona Scottsdale--before playing host to a 15-team pool-play tournament that is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday.

Golden West, the defending state champion, is 2-0, and plays host to a pool-play tournament at 1 p.m. Friday.

Water polo: Golden West and Orange Coast have quickly established themselves as the top teams in the state. Golden West (8-0) won the Cuesta and Merced tournaments the past two weekends.

Golden West defeated rival Orange Coast (10-2) in the title game of each tournament. Carlos Uchoe scored with 21 seconds to play to break a 7-7 tie and give the Rustlers an 8-7 victory this past weekend at Merced.

Golden West is the favorite in the South Coast Conference, which opens play Wednesday when the Rustlers play host to to Mt. San Antonio at 3 p.m.

Orange Coast and defending conference champion Grossmont are the favorites in the Orange Empire Conference. OCC opens conference play Oct. 4 in a 3:30 p.m. match at Rancho Santiago.

Community College Notes

A trading card set of all-time UCLA basketball greats has been released, and Cypress Coach Don Johnson is featured on card No. 56. Johnson played at Fullerton College, then transfered to UCLA, where he played from 1950-52. He led the Bruins in rebounding both seasons and was an All-American in the 1951-52 season. . . . Rancho Santiago’s 49-0 victory Saturday over San Diego Mesa marked the most points the Dons had scored in a season opener. In 1979, the Dons defeated Chaffey, 40-13.