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Hare, Fernandez on 'star team
By Dick Sparrer
Richard M. Nixon was just days away from resigning as the 37th President of the United States, and Jack Nicholson's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was setting box office records across the country. The Boston Celtics had just won another NBA crown, and the Oakland A's were on the verge of winning their third straight World Series.
It was the summer of 1974, and Doug Cosbie and Don Schwartz were two of the 60 or so players about to play in a brand new football game... something called the Santa Clara County All Star Bowl.
Cosbie and Schwartz would both go on to star in the National Football League, Cosbie for the Dallas Cowboys and Schwartz for the St. Louis Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.
And that football game they both played in would go on to become a summer tradition in the Santa Clara Valley.
This summer that All Star Bowl, now known as the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game, returns for its 25th year and has grown from its humble beginnings into a summer classic.
And it all started because members of the Almaden Valley Rotary Club had an idea.
"Three Rotarians came to the police department and met with me at the PAL office," said game chairman Jim Guido, now a Rotarian himself but at that time the head of the San Jose Police Activities League. "They said, 'We have an idea for an all-star football game.'"
So Guido and his PAL staff went to work with the Rotarians to make the idea a reality.
"We had a marriage of sorts," said Guido of the relationship between the Rotary and the PAL. "They came up with the idea which was a good one, and we had the expertise to put the game together."
The first game was played in the summer of 1974 and, with the exception of 1976, the game has been played every summer since.
"The Best Game in Town" has featured over a dozen players (Cosbie, Schwartz, Jeff Toews, Rich Campbell, Carl Monroe, Greg Woodard, John Tuggle, Ben Bennett, John Faylor, Erik Howard, Randy Kirk, Tim Ryan and Pat Tillman) who have gone on to the NFL, and a couple more (Ken Caminiti and Bill Haselman) who have gone on to play major league baseball.
Countless players have gone on to succeed at the college level with a number of them playing in major bowl games, and many players have gone on to become successful football coaches. One, Millard Hampton, even went on to strike Olympic gold.
"The great thing about this game is that there are no politics involved," said Guido. "This game is for the kids."
Local "kids" who will play in the classic include John Fernandez and Cory Hare of Willow Glen, Jeremy Jones, Kyle Pilgeram, Richie Alpers of Bellarmine, and Jason Murdock and Grant Murdock of Pioneer.
The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday, July 23, at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium, the same site where it all began 25 years ago. Tickets are priced at $10 each, and proceeds go to the Rotary charity and scholarship programs.
Former local star to participate in the summer classic include:
Willow Glen
1976--Mitch Bigger, Carl Roth; 1982--Steve Malik, Doug Ito; 1983--Bill Chavarria, Bret Gedryn, Chris Thomas; 1984--John Foster, Jeff Knopf, Fred Houston; 1985--David Williams; 1986--Rigo Gutierrez, Terry Fine; 1987--Scott Benning, Javier Gutierrez; 1988--Andy Brinck; 1989--Dave Miller; 1992--Curtis Given; 1993--Josh Ledger, Scott Hernandez; 1994--Jose Martinez; 1995--Mike Burse, David Duran, Dean Vinson; 1996--Bryan Navarrette; 1997--Tim Hare; 1998--Shaun Thompson.
Pioneer
1974--Randy Becker, Jim Ogle, Randy Vorsters; 1975--Kevin Douglas, Harry Reed, Dan Burke; 1981--Brent Zappacosta, Craig Wince; 1983--Jon Stewart; 1984--Jim Grzelak, Dan Hustaca; 1985--Mike Nedved, Paul Hembrooke; 1986--Jim Orlowski; 1987--Troy Marseline; 1988--Rick Grant; 1989--Bryan Hilborn, Carlos Vasquez, Richard Dole; 1990--Eric Perry; 1991--Issac Kendrick; 1992--Brian Yoshikawa; 1993--DePrice Kelly, Scott Howell; 1995--Adam Swantko, Edgar Alcala, Pablo Martinez; 1996--Tim Snow; 1997--Kyle Murdock, Nathan Jackson; 1998--Rob Basuino.
Bellarmine
1977--Dan Fahrner, Mike Kerrigan, Mark Rebboah; 1978--Andy Johnson, Jeffrey Morgan; 1979--Vince Stroth, Clancy O'Hara, Bob Palatella, Vince Canelo; 1980--Rich Martig, Matthew Ramirez, Miker Heffernan, Chuck Slone; 1981--Dave Ambrosini, Nick Holt, Joe Gomes, Sal Cesario; 1982--Mike O'Donnell, Greg Powers, Dave Diaz-Infante, Erik Howard; 1983--Bill Heffernan, Jim Banister, John Gatrousis, Randy Kirk; 1984--Pat Arnold, Todd Locicero, Josh Whitney, Cassidy O'Hara; 1985--J.P. Scandalios, Ron Caragher, Mark Dumont, Will Wall, Pat Wahler; 1986--Al Lemerande, Jered Wagner, Doug Robinson; 1987--Tyson Toles, Aaron Brubaker, Pete Fuqua, Chris Dean; 1988--Alan Frame, Vic Giacalone; 1989--Nick Stojanovic, Mike Filice, Nick Del Biaggio; 1990--David Popejoy; 1991--Armando Avila, Tom McNeil, Harry Kim; 1992--Troy LaCoursiere, Andrew Parkinson; 1994--Duffy Moran, Dion Campisi; 1995--Greg Gatto; 1996--Joe Cirone, Blake Elliott, Jason Kong; 1997--Erik Taylor, Tim Foley, McCabe Callahan; 1998--Sam Prada, B.J. Brust.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
