Those We Honor

Highlights of the Second Annual 5th Quarter Football Club Reunion Party

“Dandy Don” Meredith, the pioneer quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys during the glorious 1960s and who also MC’d Monday Night Football on NBC with Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford after retiring from football, had a little jingle he would sing near the end of the game when he felt the end was immanent. That famous jingle was, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over!”

Well, for this year, 2012, the Second Annual 5th Quarter Football Club Reunion Party’s lights have been turned off, this year’s party is indeed over…but on many other levels, the 5TH QUARTER FOOTBALL CLUB’S PARTY has just begun. The word is finally getting out, our data base of members is growing and we are committed to our mission for the future.

The evening began with entering the Gilbert Sports Center to sign in and get our tickets…
and what is the first thing we encountered? Pretty girls and drink tickets! All of you out there who couldn’t make it this year can only imagine the fun we had!

Hightlight

The Program for the evening is fully shown in the masterfully designed program created and organized by Don Kindred, Cal Lutheran Class of 1972 and owner of the San Clemente Journal. The highlights following of this very enjoyable event generally follow the printed program. Here is a link to the full printed program:

http://issuu.com/5thquarter/docs/program-2012pdfsonline

The Emcee for the Program was Bob Trevathan who appeared to have quarterbacked before. After a warm welcome to everyone, Bob introduced Ray Garcia, former Mayor of Thousand Oaks and a 5th Quarter Football Club Board Member, and Tom Farmer, the one and only Captain Kazoo and original KAZOO Band leader. The Captain then led the crowd in an absolutely terrible rendition of “Seventy-Six Kazoos Led the Big Parade”. (Half of the football players didn’t know whether to blow on a kazoo, suck on it or throw it!). Nevertheless, Ray and Tom were not deterred and “marched the march and kazooed the kakoos” in grand style.

Tom Farmer sent an afterthought for everyone 3 days later:

FIVE SIMPLE THINGS WE ALL CAN DO TO SUPPORT THE 5TH QUARTER:

Commit to ensuring this organization becomes the "cornerstone" of the CLU Athletic

Get involved by volunteering to be of service in any capacity.
Communicate with all of your teammates and get them up to speed on the potential of
the 5th Quarter.
Offer suggestions as to how 5th Quarter can better serve the CLU "family."
Stay the course as this is not going to happen overnight.

The Invocation followed by Kirk Diego, ‘77-‘79, which set a wonderful tone for the evening; everyone was indeed thankful and proud to be a part of the Cal Lutheran tradition. Kirk was in attendance with his wife, Denise, and has been coaching football for the past 30+ years.

The National Anthem and God Bless America was then sung by Ralph Mauriello, the
Father-In-Law of our own Dan Stoffel. These songs were sung in the same grand operatic style as Ralph often performs these patriotic songs at Dodger Stadium.

A few introductions and acknowledgements were then made by 5th Quarter President, Bob Trevathan, and a special thank you to all of those who had helped beyond measure to make the night a success, including the 5th Quarter Board Members, Jeff Miller and others involved with event planning at Cal Lutheran and Don Kindred for the evenings’ Printed Program.

Bob Trevathan then introduced Cal Lutheran’s 5th Quarter Coach Emeritus, Bob Shoup, who then spoke about “What CLU Means to us”.

Coach Shoup talked principally about so many of the fine players and young men it had been his honor to coach over the years who had found themselves and direction for their lives at Cal Lutheran. So many of these men had found their faith at Cal Lutheran, and this connection was the principal element that could be seen throughout the evening as so many players talked about Cal Lutheran and their lifelong relationship with Coach Shoup and with other players. As Coach Shoup talked to those listening, this writer looked around at the faces attentively following every word of “their Coach” and it was clear that everyone innately understood what CLU has meant to all of us.

Ray Garcia then brought to everyone’s attention the important City of Thousand Oaks Commendation endorsed by Mayor Jacqui V. Irwin and the State of California Resolution endorsed by Senator Fran Pavley acknowledging that Cal Lutheran University had provided 50 years of excellence in football to the citizens of Thousand Oaks and the State of California.

Such resolutions are normally given only for milestones of significance, and 50 years of football with the winning percentages compiled by the Kingsmen is truly worthy of these acknowledgements.

The Don Garrison Fellowship is a recent honorarium formed by the 5th Quarter Football Club in honor or Coach Don Garrison, a Coaching colleague of Bob Shoup at Cal Lutheran for so many years. He was a man of faith that took great personal interest in his students in coaching both football and wrestling. He brought out the best in everyone and produced great winning teams with Bob Shoup who had encouraged his coming to Cal Lutheran.

Don’s son, Jeff Garrison, a man big in stature and in heart like his father, accepted the honor on behalf of his father, saying that his Dad’s years at Cal Lutheran were the happiest years of his years in coaching. He then called Coach Bob Shoup up to the microphone and personally thanked him on behalf of the entire Garrison family for all of the years of friendship and support he had given their family and how much it had meant in their lives. It was a wonderful moment in the evening that everyone innately identified with.

CLU’S TEAMS THROUGH THE AGES – 5 DECADES OF “LU BALL” - This portion of the program brought forward football player representatives from all of the first five decades of Cal Lutheran football. As the presentations unfolded it was very apparent why each speaker had been chosen to represent his team and his decade; they were young and old, backfield and linemen, some more serious, some hilarious…and all were well received.

The 1960’s were represented by John Luebtow, a presentation that was one of the evenings’ highlights. It was so good, in fact, so funny and so well put together that we are going to share it with you in its entirety:

click here to watch slideshow from the evening

The 1970s were presented by Mark Weber, now living in Provo, Utah, and currently BYU’s Offensive Line Coach. Mark lived in Simi Valley while he was coaching at UCLA and is now one of the premier assistant coaches in the coaching field. He shared his affection and respect for Cal Lutheran, for Coach Shoup and his teammates, and spoke thankfully about having found his faith while at Cal Lutheran which has stayed with him throughout his life.

The 1980s were represented by Dan Stoffel, ’79, ’80 AND ’82, who was, in in the eyes of “Coach”, an intelligent, well prepared interior lineman. His joy of having been involved with Cal Lutheran football was apparent. The 1980s were a winning and a building decade, and Dan talked about the environment of the Cal Lutheran he had known and had experienced, and how important the spiritual component was that had influenced his life decisions. He mentioned the names of many players and coaches he had developed life-long friendships with, and being involved with the 5th Quarter (he is on the Board) has helped keep these relationships alive and well. He urged support for the efforts of the 5th Quarter.

The 1990s were represented by both Erik Lundring (the son of Alumnus Karsten Lundring who has not missed a single home game of Cal Lutheran football in the last 50 years), and Scott Squires, the Coach of the Year in 1992. At this point in the program, we began to see less grey hair and bald heads, but a consistent strand of “joy to have been involved with Cal Lutheran football” continued to be shown in each of the speakers.

The 2000s were represented by Jesse Matlock, who stood very proud as a wide receiver regarding his role in representing his team, his Coach, his school. He comes from a football family, with both his brother having played at CLU, and his father, Steve, who has provided training presentations at the Athletic Department’s High Performance Lab.

Today’s CLU Team – Coach Ben McEnroe, Class of ’93, is the first Cal Lutheran Alumni football coach in the school’s history. He said he fully embraces the rich history of Cal Lutheran’s football traditions and has an open invitation to all alumni players to join the team in the locker room prior to home games. He also embraces the “blue slippers”, a pair of which were presented to him by Coach Bob Shoup at the conclusion of the 2007 Football Awards banquet, and the team is now 31-8 since the slippers returned to the locker room.

The last five seasons have been the most successful in CLU’s NCAA era. During this period, the Kingsmen have won 75% of their games, including four Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships and have made the first three NCAA playoff appearances in school history. CLU has not lost a road game in the SCIAC since 2006 and is 28-2 in the SCIAC since 2007. We are riding a 20-game conference winning streak and have won 15 consecutive games at home.

This year’s team will have 15 returning starters from the 2011 SCIAC Championship squad, including 8 All-SCIAC Honorees. The offence returns 6 starters, including three starters at Wide Receiver, led by All-SCIAC Eric Rogers. Defensively, CLU will be led by defensive line all-stars Rian Younker (All West Region) and Chris Carr (2ND Team All SCIAC).

HALFTIME was a brief interlude filled by two individuals who everyone initially mistook for convicts based upon their dress, but then were recognized as Fred Kemp and Gary McGinnis, linemen from the 1960s and Board Members of the 5th Quarter, who were simply there to make sure that everyone in attendance filled out an information card so that the 5th Quarter could keep everyone properly informed about ongoing happenings.

The KEYNOTE ADDRESS – “ALMA MATER” – by Dr. James Kallas

Our beloved Jim Kallas, religion professor, mentor, chaplain and football coach for over 16 years to so many alumni football players in the 1960s-1970s, then put the entire evening in context by portraying our football experiences at Cal Lutheran in a framework of “our lives being born”. His words are written here in their entirety for your enjoyment and inspiration:

“Fifty years of Cal Lu football! Fifty years – half a century – five decades! And we had a speaker for each of those five decades!

John Luebtow started it off. In his own unique, semi-coherent fashion John told us about the first decade, the 60s. Those early years, our struggle to get started. I thought of that very first victory, Cal Tech in the Rose Bowl. We were losing 7-0 and then we scored, 7-6. George Engdahl was from Spokane, Washington. His father was the President of the International Rotary Club. George was our kicker. If he made that extra point we’d be tied. We tried to encourage Georgie….we told him, “George, if you miss this kick, you’re going straight to hell!”

And then Mark Weber talked about the next decade, the 70s, the glory years. We played twice for the national championship. We lost one of them, to a sister Lutheran school, Texas Lutheran of Seguin, Texas. But we beat Westminster College of Pennsylvania in a magnificent game. It was smash mouth footfall, a seven-seven tie deep into the second half.

Then Westminster made a mistake – they scored! And then this skinny-legged kid, Galloway, forever after called “All the Way Galloway”, took the kickoff on about the eight yard line and went all the way to tie the game. As time was running out, Mike Sheppard knelt down to catch the center for a field goal try, not letting his knee touch the ground to be grounded, and when the ball came he took off around the end and went all the way to win the game.

Those were the two decades I remember best; the 60s and the 70s. Darlean and I left in 1978.
I went back to Nebraska to be President of Dana College. But our son Kingsley played in the 80s, a starting guard for Bob Shoup in ’80-’81. We flew back home for ther final game with Azusa Pacific. If Cal Lutheran won, they’d be eligible for a post-season playoff invitation. They won, but the invitation didn’t come.

Then the Squire years. Coach Squire was honored tonight. Good years. And now Coach Ben has us once more thinking about national championships.

But the one thing I noticed most tonight about these men, aside from them all being different, exciting, another facet of football at Cal Lutheran…beyond their differences a common theme arose, a red thread that tied all of those years together.

With every speaker you got the feeling that life began, truly began, on the football field. The uncertainty of high school had ended, the awkwardness of adolescence was over, and every player seemed to be saying, “I made the varsity. I was part of a team; for the first time I found my own talents. I got cemented together with friends I’ll have until the day I die.”

It sounded like a birth, as if life began on the football field. That’s why we call it, alma mater, adoptive mother. That’s what the phrase means, foster mother, my mother, where I matriculated, the place where life began.

FOOTBALL is not an end in itself. Football is a beginning. Football is like labor pains…Alma Mater, foster mother, the place where our life began.

My own life began on the camus of a college of the church. It wasn’t Cal Lutheran, she wasn’t there yet. It was St Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

That was where I met Darlene. It was in September of 1948. There were two groups on campus. The football team back early for practice, and the freshmen who came early for orientation. I was on the football team and she was a freshman.

I can still remember what she was wearing. Want to hear it? Nod your head yes, because I’m going to tell you whether you want to or not!

She had on a green knit dress, white piping and white buttons down the front. And she had those brown and white saddle shoes that everybody wore back then.

She was so beautiful. Unbelievable teeth, marvelous smile, a pile of brilliant blond hair on her head. Just looking at her, you could tell she had never said a single bad word and had been drinking milk all her life.

When I first saw her, it wasn’t love at first sight, it was stage fright! It took me two weeks to work up enough courage to call her. I scored two touchdowns against River Falls State Teachers College that week in our first game and was so emboldened, I telephoned her and she said “yes”.

We walked downtown. There’s a river in Northfield, the Malt-o-meal plant is there. Big carp come to feed off the effluent. That night the plant looked like Camelot, and the fish were wrapped in celophane; they looked like magnificent gold fish.

We held hands. We went to the Gates Café. We ate cheeseburgers on rye bread…and my life began.

The miracle of my life is that I went through this adventure twice – my own life began at alma mater, foster mother – at St. Olaf…

And then, for twenty years I was here – with you – and I watched your lives unfold. You have all given me memories that will stay alive until I cross the Jordan.

I remember Freddie Kemp. He was on the early teams. Even then Freddie had no hair. But he was a giant on the line. I had the feeling when I looked at Freddie that he would have a tatoo on his forehead reading, “Do not tread on me.”

I remember Davey Regalado, he was like a son to me. Everybody liked Dave. But he was teased; they called him “taco.” Then one day Davey said, “Don’t call me that; don’t make fun of my bloodline.” That was the day Davey became a man. Alma mater, his life began.

I remember Hank Bauer, how proud we were when they called him Mr. Touchdown on TV. But for me, Hank’s most impressive moment came along before he crossed the goal line for the Chargers.

When Hank graduated from Cal Lu, he went to the Dallas Cowboys. But they cut him; they cut him! The dream was over. The drama ended. But Hank did not dissolve in a puddle of self-pity and dispair.

Hank came back to the campus, he worked as a life guard at the pool. He never wilted. He worked out, and when he was invited back to the pros, he knew not the odor of despondency.
That was courage.

Friends in Christ, courage comes in all colors. It is not confined to football alone,

Don DeMars is the author / designer and editor of our 5th Quarter football club website; he does a marvelous job. He never played football. He was born 20 years before Salk perfected the anti-polio serum, and Donnie got hit hard. His body was bent. Even as a student back when he was young, even then he had a hard time walking. But Don became our first Student Body President and he brought enthusiasm and excitement to the campus.

Later, after he graduated, he spent over six months at Rancho Los Amigos hospital in Downey.
Rancho was a grim place. All of the twisted tragedies of illness, and accident were there. Thalidomide babies, people without limbs, cripples from crashes and various medical malformations.

When Donnie got there they strappped him into two large aluminum wheels that looked like bicycle wheels. On one end they had screwed his head to the bracing to hold it immobile, then elevated his legs. Out of his sides came wires that were internally fastened to his spine. By tightening those wires each day, they hoped to straighten his spine and give his internal organs more room to lengthen his life.

Darlean and I tried to get down to Downey at least once a week, and the only request that Donnie ever made was to be wheeled around the hospital to cheer up those who were really handicapped.

If you look up the word courage in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Don DeMars there.

I also remember Axel Lundring, a major insurance executive on the west coast in the early years. Rolf Bodding was an officer with Alta Dena Dairy. Both men knew Orv Dahl, the first President of Cal Lutheran. They were probably with him when he wrote and first recited our own Alma Mater –“Oh, summon your sons and daughters…near blue pacific waters…”

And Axel sent his son, Karsten…and Rolf sent his daughter, Kim…and their life began at Alma Mater; fifty years of married life. Karsten never played football, but his son Erik did, and Kim was one of our first cheer leaders.

Karsten was a character; he wore a tan tuxedo to our first prom. Although he wasn’t gay, he was so pretty I wanted to kiss him. The only problem was that the tuxedo had short pants!

They gave Karsten a diploma…if he promised never to come back. He never did come back, because he never left! Fifty years of football and Karsten Lundring has never missed one home football game, and when we score…there is candy in the air!

So many memories, football players and non-football players. All of them have poured pleasure into my life, made it rich and rewarding.

Don DeMars is still here, his wife Carol, too. Her father just died, but she is here, at his side, as she has been for half a century. And Jerry Halweg is here. Jerry is the Secretary of the 5th Quarter, the group that put on this banquet. Jerry’s life, too began at Cal Lu, alma mater. It was here he met Judy Lavenberg and they’ve been married for five decades.

I could go on, friends. The memories are many and they ae all marvelous. But we’ve run out of minutes. In a short moment I am going to have you stand and we will have the final benediction.

But before I do that, just one quick word about the 5th Quarter Football Club, Bobby Trevathan’s creation.

The 5th Quarter is not a fund raising group. We will never be competing with the Annual Fund or any other official Cal Lutheram program. But there are all kinds of things we’d like to help with. We’d like to help Coach McEnroe find the money to send out a recruiter to the schools in the area to strengthen our team. We’d like to create some murals to decorate the walls in the new stadium areas to emblazen our pride. Wouldn’t it be great when Coach McEnroe leads us to our next national championship, to have enough funds to send all of our cheerleaders to the final game!

These are just some of the many ways we’d like to help. If you’d like to help, five dollars, fifty dollars, five hundred dollars – whatever – we would appreciate it. You know the names of the officers – they’re all on the website – just contact them with a gift. Thanks.

Now, rise please, and hold the hand of the person next to you as we say our closing prayer.

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we render unto thee our heartfelt thanks for this evening, and all of the blessings you have poured into our lives.

We thank you for this school which has welded us into one. Our fervent plea is that we can live up to the goals in that song we have sung for so long,…

Your love of freedom cherish.

Your love of truth prevail.

Your love of Christus merit. Alma mater, hail, All hail, ..all hail!

At the conclusion of Dr. Jim Kallas’s address, John Luebtow stepped forward to give him an
award from the entire 5th Quarter as a measure of our own affection and our awareness of his own reputation as a formidable college running back that had ripped the competition. He was referred to in the press in his St. Olaf days as “the Galloping Greek”, and so that was the name we gave the award.

Jim had apprently not expected this, turning red and looking back at Darlean as if to say, “Did you know about this?” …but was obviously flattered by our gesture. (A full history of the Galloping Greek, a picture of the award placque and its wording will be on the website soon).

HERE, NOW, ARE JUST A FEW GROUP PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT. NOTICE THE JOY SHOWN IN EVERYONE’S FACES / IT WAS CERTAINLY A FUN EVENT!

Community Sponsor Boosters of Kingsmen football / Just click on each booster to access their website offerings.