Takahashi Changes His Surroundings, Not His Integrity
He was, for the moment, human slush, an ice man, as frosty as a Fudgsicle. His players had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head in celebration of their victory, leaving him shivering on the sideline. Still, Roger Takahashi was feeling quite warm inside.
Anytime a coach finds himself calling plays against his former team, he’s bound to be buzzing with nostalgia. And so it was for Takahashi on Friday night at Garden Grove High. The La Quinta Aztecs, a team he guided for eight years, lined up against the Lobos of Los Amigos, of which Takahashi is now offensive coordinator. Los Amigos won, 31-6.
“I have mixed emotions right now,” Takahashi said quietly after the game. “You really want to win a game like this, but . . . “
His voice trailed off. His smile, somewhat wistful. He walked off the field in time to catch his brother and parents leaving the stands.
It’s still a bit of a shock to see Roger Takahashi listed as an assistant coach, especially at a traditionally so-so program like Los Amigos. After all, isn’t Takahashi the coach of fun-to-watch, finesse football? The master of creative play-calling? The guy who treats a game the way Calvin and Hobbes treat a comic strip, one daring scheme after the next?
He is indeed, though that didn’t get him the El Toro job this year. What he got was a reduction-in-force notice at La Quinta last spring, and with it, the realization that budget cuts might soon claim his teaching job. He resigned as Aztec coach, thinking another county coaching position would soon open up. After a long, uneventful wait, he called Los Amigos Coach Steve Bolton, and was hired as a health teacher and football assistant.
Nowadays, Takahashi wears the headphones and orchestrates the Lobo offense, while Bolton paces the sideline, pats kids on the back and generally--and generously--agrees with every play Takahashi calls. Any smart man would do the same.
If you don’t think it works, check out Mater Dei last season. Coach Bruce Rollinson had a half-dozen assistants making decisions for him. How else do you think he had time to do things like lip-sync AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” for the Monarch student body?
Certainly, we’re not suggesting Bolton do such a thing (he seems more like a Springsteen type anyway) though it is commendable how he buries his ego so. Like all Lobo fans--especially those who suffered through the team’s 1-9 record last season--Bolton is more than a little appreciative that Takahashi accepted his offer this year to become a true amigo.
The Lobos--now 2-1-2 and second in the Garden Grove League standings at 1-0-1--are thankful as well. The players love the unpredictability of the offense. They love the fakes and screens. They love to hear their fans oooooh when a trick play works just right.
In fact, Chong Vang, a 5-foot-5 receiver/cornerback/kicker, seemed downright ecstatic Friday night. He was zipping around the Lobo sideline like a 6-year-old on a sugar buzz, bouncing off players twice his size and giggling with glee as he reeled off his favorite bit o’ nonsense--”I wish I were a fish, I wish I were a fish, I wish I were a fish . . .”
You never know how winning will affect some kids.
You never know how losing a coach will affect some others.
Before Friday’s game, several La Quinta players let it be known that their motivation to beat Los Amigos wasn’t fueled by Garden Grove League standings or longtime rivalries as much as wanting to beat their old coach, Takahashi. Said La Quinta senior Jack Irving: “I think if we lost, we’d go home and kill each other.” Coach “T,” he complained bitterly, was a traitor.
La Quinta senior Chris Ortiz said the players were told by their coaches that Takahashi had been talking trash about his former team and they were going to make Takahashi pay. Ortiz was asked if he thought his coaches said those things just to get the La Quinta players fired up. He didn’t seem to think so.
That Aztec attitude--coupled with what seemed to be a taunting “One, two, three, T!” warm-up chant--might seem a natural reaction to a coach’s leaving. But it’s too bad those La Quinta players and/or coaches with sour feelings didn’t give it a bit more thought.
Maybe they could have remembered that Takahashi is the class act of the county, a soft-spoken man who speaks with sincerity, acts with integrity and never ceases to show his players respect. Maybe they could have showed their old coach the same.
Fortunately, some did. After the game, seven La Quinta players shook Takahashi’s hand. Senior receiver Jim Livernois was the first in line. He gave his old coach a big smile, and a similar-sized hug.
Unlike some of his teammates, he knew how to melt the ice.
