Me editing the Sports Editor...

This is good example of why newspapers are dying. Read: New book on Steelers creates stir

The sad, sardonic ramblings of a sports editor compelled me to edit him.

New book on Steelers creates stir
Louis Brewster, Sports Editor,
From: The Sun: San Bernardino and the Inland Empire
Posted: 10/05/2009 09:36:52 PM PDT

As a high school football player, Dennis Paulson was an undersized nose guard at Fontana during the Steelers' glory days, an era he relives in his first book, "The Fo." The paperback dropped in August and is the subject of some buzz, mostly in Fontana. It's the second book with Citrus Belt League football as the backdrop following the 2004 book "A Citrus Test: Football in Black and White" by Obrey Brown.

Whether or not it is well-received depends on the reader. One of the book's main characters, former Steelers coach Dick Bruich said he's not going to read it and stated, "I lived through it. Why do I want to read somebody's take on it?"

Lance Ozier, the current Fontana football coach, hasn't read it and probably won't "until I get a free copy. I know what went on. I'm not paying to read about that."

One who did read the book and was close to the Fontana program said, "It was full of half and quarter truths." That may be evident only to those who played on the Dick Bruich teams or were very close to players and coaches.

But as the author of the novel, Paulson is entitled to his own observations and opinions. After all, this is not an autobiography nor a history book. It's about his personal account of football when Fontana was atop the world.

Paulson apparently wants to option his book to make it into a movie. Which brings up the interesting question: What Hollywood type is best suited to play Coach Bruich? James Denton as the early Bruich, with Tom Selleck as the more mature Bruich? Or are Jack Black and Vince Vaughan more in the Bruich mold? ...

If you find Dennis Paulson's distant memories of playing high school football something hard to swallow, imagine what he feels like as a former coach for San Bernardino Valley College.

In the past, we've taken those in charge at San Bernardino Valley College to task for their seemingly ho-hum attitude toward athletics. A once-proud program is struggling to establish credibility in the community.

So give it up for Kevin Emerson, who directed the Wolverines to their biggest win since the late Patrick Swayze in "Red Dawn." It didn't look good initially when he officially was hired hours before the first practice.

But the 19-game losing streak is over and we expect SBVC to be competitive in the American Division of the Mountain Conference.