Coasters: A day to remember

Steve Virgen

Ray Rosso had a grin so wide, not even an Orange Coast College

football loss could turn it down.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get a win for you there, big guy,” Pirates Coach

Mike Taylor told the 85-year-old Rosso, a former Coast coach, after the

Bucs dropped a 39-16 loss to visiting Fullerton Saturday, when OCC paid

tribute to Rosso’s 1951 championship team.

“It’s OK, that’s all right,” Rosso said with a smile. And you can tell

the man’s words were honest, especially when you looked around the Basil

Peterson gym’s foyer and saw his former players talking and laughing of

old times.

“Seeing these guys come together after 50 years and meeting each other

again, that meant a lot to me,” Rosso said. “Fifty years really goes by

fast. I think they have that same feeling when they see each other.”

The OCC football team reserved its halftime for Rosso’s Eastern

Conference champions, the school’s first title-winning team. The Pirates’

cheerleaders formed a path near midfield and each player walked through,

while their name was announced.

Syd Manning, an all-conference defensive lineman, was there, as was

Fred Owens, a former Marine, and Ron Quigley, a 6-foot-5 gentle giant who

could also school foes in hoops. Ashley Houghton, another Pirate who used

to wear those old helmets with no facemask, made the trek from Tulsa for

the reunion.

The game’s announcer, Jim Carnett, called out each name and also

described the setting back in the day, when the roughing the passer

penalty was as rare as Jim Brown going down after one tackle.

The 1951 Bucs won the Eastern Conference title with a 7-3 overall

record and 6-0 mark in conference. They wore school colors of maroon and

grey. And many swore they played the game with passion, all heart. Had

to. It was the only way.

In that championship season, OCC traveled to Boise to play the squad

that evolved to a Division I university that upset the Fresno State

Bulldogs this season.

Most of Rosso’s Bucs lived in the school’s dormitories, where every

night seemed like a party. Back then, OCC’s enrollment was 662, like a

high school or even a big, tight family.

“It was a team of character, but it was also a team of characters,”

said Bob Woodhouse, who, like some of the vintage Pirates, played offense

and defense.

Woodhouse drove from Cottonwood, Ariz., just to be with his former

teammates, whom all met in the gym’s foyer for a dinner party after

Saturday’s game.

“That season was fun,” Woodhouse said, misty-eyed, as he surveyed the

room. “Playing the game was kind of secondary. We played the game because

we liked it. But, we had a lot of fun being together. That’s what made it

a good team. That was the main reason I drove here today, because there

was so many guys that had so much fun together. It’s still proving to be

true. This has been a great affair. We saw (former teammates) walking up

the stands and the guys heckling them because they couldn’t make it,

that’s some of the character of this team.”

Inside the foyer of the gym named after the school’s former president,

Margaret Gratton, the current president, welcomed the gang and reminded

them of their importance to OCC’s proud tradition of winning and

camaraderie.

Gratton spoke of the state championship squads that have been a part

of OCC, including the women’s volleyball and water polo teams, which are

on the road to the title this season.

“That’s a legacy you all left,” Gratton told the ’51 championship

team. “It’s a pleasure you’re all here.”

Then Rosso spoke to his former players. He looked around the room. His

eyes could probably tell just as many stories then he could ever

remember.

“Fifty years,” he said. “It just goes by. It’s amazing how many people

you recall, but it’s amazing how much things change. Fifty years.”

True, much has changed since 1951, when Truman was president and gas

could be purchased at 20 cents a gallon; when being true to your school

was as important as marriage, from a wedding in 1951, of course.

In 2001, 13 of Rosso’s players attended Saturday. Some were not told

of the reunion. Some were too old, too sick to make the trip. Some had

died.

“We have found out a few of them aren’t here because they died,” said

Mel Smalley, a Newport Harbor High product who played the game with one

eye after a shooting accident when he was 9. “It was just a crazy bunch

of guys back then. (Today,) we had a lot of guys who we couldn’t

recognize. Me they can recognize, because I have the one eye.”

Smalley, who was described as the hardest worker on the team, handled

most of the punting and conversion kicking duties. A 5-11, 170-pounder, he was the epitome of Rosso’s Bucs: Gritty, hard-nosed, hard-hitting and

playing for the love, not a paycheck.

What else made these Bucs champions?

“They were well-prepared to play on offense and defense,” Rosso said.

“That was their No. 1 quality. Our line had better abilities than any

other team that we played. We had great balance. Guys were playing both

ways. They had a lot of fire. They were always ready.”

As Rosso ended his speech to his players (he held his cane in his left

hand, the paper with the speech, in the other), he wittingly spoke of the

future.

“If we stick together and stay in touch, who knows, we could be doing

this again soon,” he said.

The OCC women’s water polo team started its road to the state

championship final Thursday against Foothill in the state tournament’s

first round in Merced. The Pirates are poised to capture the title. It

should come significantly special for the sophomores and assistant coach

Mike Giles, who finished runner-up last year.

The final is set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Merced College and will

most likely be played against Sierra or Riverside.