I had a Seals’ hockey puck like this, although mine was trashed from getting slammed against a washing machine.
By John Murphy
Perusing social media, I came across a photo of a San Francisco Seals hockey puck. I had one as a kid, having won it in a St. Robert’s sports night raffle.
My brother and I did the logical thing – we made hockey sticks and propelled shots at my mom’s washing machine, which didn’t please her.
The Seals played at the Cow Palace in Daly City. It’s a famous Bay Area venue that hosted such acts as The Beatles, The Who, Elvis Presley, and even Nirvana.
I saw Elton John there, preceded by the Kiki Dee Band. Perhaps you recall Kiki Dee’s only hit, “I’ve Got the Music in Me.”
I also saw the Harlem Globetrotters and a Ringling Bros. circus there – back when the circus still had elephants.
It was a thrill as a kid chatting with Warriors’ star Jerry Lucas during a power outage at San Bruno Rec.
More vivid are my memories of San Francisco Warriors games. I recall them playing the Cincinnati Royals, who had stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. Later in Lucas’ career, he was traded to the Warriors.
The Warriors practiced at the San Bruno Rec Center. One night the power went off, interrupting play. Lucas left the court and sat next to me. We chatted until the lights went back on – about what, I have no clue. But he was nice.
The Cow Palace, like Candlestick Park, was a place I went to as a kid that brings back fond memories. We always had a good time there, though I never saw any cows.
I didn’t get to see the Beatles or Nirvana at the Cow Palace, but does the Kiki Dee Band count?
Shoveling pea gravel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
By John Murphy
Saturday I watched a livestream of a high school football game from San Francisco. That’s how exciting my life is.
Then I drove to Redlands where the remodel of my house is in full swing. Guilty at my lack of contribution, I did some work. I shoveled pea gravel from two big piles over a portion of the front yard. I also rolled white paint onto a ceiling in a spare room.
Early on I appointed CalTrans Girl as my project manager. I just Tom Sawyered the whole thing over to her. I didn’t want my strict regimen of lollygagging interrupted.
Moving the tan gravel one shovel at a time, I imagined that I was Paul Newman in “Cool Hand Luke.” Naturally CalTrans Girl became Walking Boss Godrey, the rifleman “with no eyes” because of his mirrored sunglasses.
“Use the rake instead of the shovel,” CalTrans Girl told me. I followed orders, lest I be sent to the hole.
I wouldn’t flourish in a prison environment. The early wake-up calls, the bad food, and getting “shivved” in the prison yard – not really my thing. Nor is that other deal that sometimes happens in prison.
I did better painting my spare room than moving gravel. Although when I smudged white paint onto a brown wall it elicited an “ay nako” from CalTrans Girl. She is Filipina and that expresses frustration or disbelief.
Dropping half of my paint onto our dog Mia also disappointed. But luckily Mia has white fur, so it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t get sent to the hole.
South San Francisco High grad Greg Jones (43) was a three-time All-Pac 8 player for UCLA in the late 1960s.
By John Murphy
The other day I wrote about my first experience watching high school football, as a pre-teen in the Bay Area.
My dad taught at South San Francisco High School, a powerhouse in the 1960s. The Warriors were led by running back Greg Jones. Jones was a three-time All-Pac-8 player at UCLA who later played for the Buffalo Bills.
Bruce Grantham passed along my blog to Jones who was nice enough to send me a message via social media.
The former South City star not only complimented my dad but said the Bell Game (South City vs. El Camino) was big because some of the El Camino players had previously attended South City.
“The Bell Game became a great crosstown rivalry,” Jones said.
Jones said he attended a South City game here and there after graduation. I recall meeting him at a Terra Nova game in the 1970s.
The former star said he eased off attending Warrior games when the program plummeted but that he noticed South City doing better in recent years, highlighted by a section championship in 2023.
“I had the fortune over the last couple years to go to a couple of games,” Jones said. “The reason – to watch a couple of grandsons of one of my best friends from South City back in the ‘60s!”
Added Jones, “I enjoyed your article. South City was such a great place to grow up in, with some wonderful memories.”
That message made my day after covering a ho-hum SoCal game in the rain on Thursday night. Some 60 years after he starred for South City, Greg Jones continues to impress.
The Bell Game between South San Francisco and El Camino high schools at Clifford Field, with Sign Hill in the background, was always a hard-hitting affair.
By John Murphy
Sixty years ago I attended my first high school football game.
My dad was an English teacher at South San Francisco High, and the powerhouse Warriors were a hot ticket. They had Greg Jones at running back before he starred at UCLA and then became a Buffalo Bill.
I was 9 or 10 years old and I’d grab a warm coat for a fall evening at Clifford Field. My dad drove my older brother and me up the El Camino Real to “South San Francisco The Industrial City,” as it says on nearby Sign Hill.
We parked on a cul de sac behind See’s Candies and climbed concrete steps. We trekked across a practice field and saw the Friday night lights. The excitement grew.
Prep football in the 1960s was different. When South City played rival El Camino in the Bell Game, the stands were packed. There were bands, cheerleaders, and fans cheering, “South City, South City, South City High!”
My brother Jim, witnessing all this, was impressed. So he played with Lynn Swann at Serra High against the likes of Dan Fouts at St. Ignatius.
Nothing gold can stay, as Robert Frost wrote. By 2018, South San Francisco High football had cratered. The program lost more than 20 consecutive games, then forfeited its varsity schedule in 2021 due to lack of student interest.
But now the Warriors are back, as proved by a 12-2 record and section title in 2023 and a 9-3 mark in 2024. And though the team is only 2-3 this year, it’s nice to see the Warriors relevant again. They were, after all, my first football love.
Recently I’ve been remodeling my house on the north side of Redlands. More accurately, I’ve hired companies and handymen to do it. I only remodel sentences.
There are alleys on the north side, an unusual feature of the area. One is behind my back fence.
That’s where an unusual man hung out, in an alcove he claimed as his own.
He had an artificial leg and a silver walker and he drove a beater car. He was jovial and greeted me on occasion.
But mi Espanol es malo. I usually didn’t understand him. It didn’t help that it was always 95 degrees and I was talking over an eight-foot fence.
Then this: “On Friday, October 3, 2025, at 3:25 p.m., the Redlands Police Department responded to the 1000 block of Texas Street in Redlands. Carlos Serrano, a 58-year-old resident of Redlands, was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
So that was his name, Carlos. He was the man who was so upbeat despite his situation and who liked to feed stray cats out of tuna cans. Some of those empties remain, three days after this death.
There is a shrine to him now. “RIP Carlos” it says. Pink rosary beads decorate a wood cross. Candles are lit. His walker is off to the side.
This is the fragility of life; how someone is gone in an instant. You learn this lesson as you age, then you relearn it.
I’m sorry I didn’t know Carlos better. He was a nice guy. Que en paz descanse.
This kid is better looking than I was, he’s tatted up and he would not have passed the Serra High dress code. Otherwise, a perfect match.
By John Murphy
Today is National Walk and Roll to School Day. Back in the 1960s while attending Catholic grammar school, we didn’t have this junk.
As a first grader, I walked 5-6 blocks to school with my older siblings. We went to the same school as actress Suzanne Somers of “Three’s Company” and thigh-master fame — though she already graduated.
When I was older, I walked to school by myself or hopped on my gold Sting-Ray bicycle. That is, until my bike got stolen at the San Bruno Rec Center. Oh, the pain.
Back in the 1960s, kids were not chauffeured everywhere. There were times my parents drove us to school or ball games but just as often we walked.
I played a lot of baseball with a classmate named Steve Mutto. Sometimes we had more fun walking downtown after practice than playing ball. Given the number of corner markets, pinball arcades, and bakeries along the way, it was understandable.
By high school, walking was not an option. It was 11 miles to my Catholic high school in San Mateo so rides were arranged – though I recall taking the bus and hitchhiking on occasion. Hitching a ride is not recommended by the folks pushing National Walk and Roll to School Day.
My most memorable commute was in 1974 when I rode my Raleigh 10-speed down to 451 West 20th Avenue (Serra High School).
Along the way I rolled through Hillsborough to check out the mansions. Pedaling up a well-manicured, tree-lined street, I saw a large gathering of satellite trucks. Odd. But then it dawned on me — this is the Hearst Mansion and Patty Hearst was just kidnapped!
I took in the circus briefly, shook my head and pedaled on. I still had five miles to go, and I didn’t want detention.
A photo from the mid-1970s with some of the rec rats, including rec leader Paul Accinelli (far left), yours truly next to Accinelli, the late Joe Krumm with the long hair, my BFF Keith Larsen, rec leader Jim Beck, Mitch Fontaine in the front row on the left and Mike Mitchell, the little guy on the right. Mitchell was a star basketball player who played for Digger Phelps at Notre Dame and then became CEO of Dreyer’s Ice Cream.
By John Murphy
I have received a few emails and text messages about an event in the Bay Area on Saturday, Oct. 12.
It is dubbed “Bringing Bruno Back” and it is a reunion of sorts for former San Brunans, especially those in the 50-plus years old category.
That includes my former kids from John Muir Playground where I was the recreation leader for four years.
This event is the brainchild of Tim Bowler, a Menlo-Atherton High teacher who starred on my flag football and basketball teams almost a half-century ago.
I have never seen a kid score so much in such a variety of sports – as a flag football quarterback, a point guard in basketball, playing indoor soccer and hockey, you name it. I was a pretty smart coach when I had Tim on my roster.
Some of my playground kids became quite successful. Adam Battani is a lawyer now in Atlanta. John Xerogeanes is the Georgia Tech football team doctor, a surgeon at Emory University, and operated on a U.S. president. Back in the day, we didn’t even know he was smart.
I smile and shake my head at some of the shenanigans that occurred. The O’Reillys lived across the street from my playground and all three boys played for me — Sean, Phillip, and Michael. One day their mom, Rose, sent me over lunch. I opened the bag and it included a sandwich, an apple and a beer! I thanked Mrs. O but mentioned that I really wasn’t supposed to drink while working.
During flag football, the rain cascaded down, and our normally organized practice degenerated into a game of “smear the —–.” Afterward, the kids headed home covered from head to toe with mud. I disconnected the phone.
During the summer a female leader and I worked on playground from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We had arts and crafts, movies, sports and occasionally massive games of “Capture the Flag.”
I looked out on our large expanse of grass and there were 120 kids playing Capture the Flag. I learned later that a kid from Crestmoor Elementary broke his arm and then simply hopped on his bike and rode home. That’s class San Bruno stuff. If it happened now, can you imagine the lawsuits?
Well, I don’t know if I’m going to make the “Bringing Bruno Back” reunion. I have a high school football game to cover the night before and San Bruno is 400 miles away. But I’ll think about those kids I used to coach who are now grown men and women, and even the moms like Rose O’Reilly who provided that interesting lunch so many years ago.
Friday morning I grabbed our dog, Mia, and headed out for a walk. Destination uncertain.
Soon I found myself headed for downtown Redlands, always a worthy destination. We parked on Orange Avenue behind a small restaurant and started out.
First up on the right is the Downtown Redlands Station train depot. The station was built in 1910 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was preserved and reopened on Oct. 24, 2022 as part of the Arrow commuter rail service. The depot is a beauty and I took photos. Click-click-click.
These old mosaic murals by Millard Sheets brighten Orange Avenue.
Trudging ahead we came upon Finney’s Crafthouse, one of many craft beer joints in town. On the side of Finney’s is a mosaic mural by artist and architectural designer Millard Sheets.
According to a column by my friend David Allen in the Press-Enterprise, Sheets did these works of art – about 150 of them — for financier Howard Ahmanson from 1956 through the 1980s. Many of them were on Home Savings banks, a business that preceded Finney’s on this corner in downtown Redlands.
Ahead we plodded, up State Street. Mia was mostly cooperative but had to stop and sniff or pee every so often.
Mia was nice enough to pose in front of this vintage advertisement.
We stopped at the plaza one-third of the way up State and Mia wandered around in front of the old Western Star Soap advertisement. The restored sign is cool and makes for good photos. I took some.
Next was Citograph Printing which is the oldest business in Redlands (circa 1887) and site of the old Citograph Newspaper. Inside the front door is an ancient printing press that’s beyond cool. Nostalgia enveloped me.
Pro baseball player Robert Anthony Cruz frequented Lappert’s when he lived here and it really should have a treat in his name.
Farther up the street on the right is Lappert’s Ice Cream, a fine dispenser of frozen treats. I smiled, recalling that pro baseball player Robert Anthony Cruz is a big fan of Lappert’s. Cruz is an Arrowhead Christian Academy grad who now plays for the popular Savannah Bananas professional baseball team.
When Cruz lived in Redlands after getting cut by the Washington Nationals, he’d walk to State Street and go to Lappert’s each day. How the guy is so trim and rocked up, I’m not sure.
Something about this establishment says Jon Flick spent time here, downing a few brews and listening to some Whitesnake.
Onward we trekked, past Yum Yum Donuts (“Always Open!”) and Cuca’s Mexican food as we returned on Redlands Boulevard. Cuca’s is next to the Thrif-T-Lodge and I always imagine my writing buddy Jon Flick spending a night or two at Thrif-T partying. I don’t know for sure that it happened, but I’m not betting against it.
Redlands Boulevard has some interesting businesses such as Landmark Coffee where I have not yet been. But just the fact that it’s not Starbucks is good.
Then there’s an old standard, Indian Motorcycle, and across the street Parliament Chocolate. Parliament made some righteous chocolate in its day but did not survive COVID and is now shuttered. Too bad.
Speaking of closed, time to shut this entry down. Downtown Redlands is interesting and worth a visit no matter what your purpose. I know I enjoyed it, and Mia didn’t complain either.
I could go for a Parliament chocolate bar right now — too bad it’s closed.
Swanky Sacred Heart Prep (pictured) was apparently so eager for some athletic glory in the early 1990s that it hired a character from Daly City, Mike “Chubby” Ciardella, to run its girls basketball program. Ciardella won 80 consecutive games.
By John Murphy
The other day at 3 a.m. or some godforsaken hour I got a message via my blog from an old friend.
It was Mike “Chubby” Ciardella, the former Burlingame Recreation Department supervisor who is better known as a former championship basketball coach at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton.
Ciardella won 168 games and lost 13 as the girls basketball coach at Sacred Heart Prep from 1992 through ’96. The Gators captured four consecutive state titles.
Now Ciardella, with the Giants not involved in the MLB postseason and no basketball team to coach, is apparently so bored that he is reading my blog.
Said Ciardella via message, “Love the articles Murph, glad to see you’re still covering high school sports. Burlingame Rec, San Bruno Rec, Papa Jess and the Padres, and John Muir School! I love all those past memories! Keep up the good work! Much success going forward! Mike (Chubby) Ciardella.”
Ciardella is not really chubby – he was just called that by the late Carl Reyna, a gregarious man with an intellectual disability who hung around Burlingame Rec. Carl was Capuchino High’s most fervent all-time fan, and its football stadium is named in his honor.
Carl was a character. Following a Giants’ baseball game at Candlestick Park, my car got a flat tire. I was standing next to my rig on the freeway when Carl rode by and yelled, “Hey Murphy, get a horse!”
That’s the way we rolled in Burlingame in the late 1970s. I was a Recreation and Leisure Studies major (yes, it’s a real thing) at San Francisco State and did my internship in Burlingame. That mainly consisted of talking sports with Ciardella and his merry band of rec leaders that included Steve Picchi, Clay Rice, and others. Carl was always there, and a pile of donuts was usually involved. It was light duty.
Other luminaries were Ray “Daddy Wags” Wagner who was the rec supervisor and another supervisor named Brock Riddle who I think was a male model on the side.
When things really got boring, Daddy Wags would gather the troops, and we’d drive to like Berkeley to investigate a playing surface for no apparent reason. We also attended the Tournament of Champions basketball tournament at the Oakland Coliseum Arena which was a forerunner to the state tournament. We were all hoops junkies and wannabe coaches — except for Ciardella who was a real one — so watching hour after hour of boys and girls hoops was bliss. Ah, good times.
Toward the end of my internship, Daddy Wags – no doubt impressed with my contributions but knowing I was headed for a newspaper career – said something like, “Well, this internship thing is good, but next time I think we should get an intern who is actually going into recreation.”
A creek that runs along the ESRI campus out to Tennessee Street is picturesque.
By John Murphy
Highland is not the most walkable city, so I often cross the wash into Redlands and hit the pavement.
Wednesday’s wanderings took me to the historic Kendall Street area. I headed down the hill to State Street and took a left. There’s a psychic shop there and those always amuse me. But I stopped short of having my palm read.
I passed the Breakfast Shack which suggests folks “eat more bacon” and Saverino’s Italian Deli and Market. Saverino’s is not sponsoring my blog, but it’s an outstanding deli – reminds me a lot of Roma’s in my hometown of San Bruno.
The thought of a roast beef and provolone on a french roll had my mouth watering.
I was on the Orange Blossom Trail now, a designated 7-mile path that cuts across the city. I took a path that runs along the border of the ESRI campus. It took me over a bridge and along a creek. There I admired the handiwork of some of our finest spray-paint artisans.
I passed Jennie Davis Park and then reached Tennessee Street. Cyclery USA is right there, and I made a mental note to get my bike tuned up. I haven’t used it in two years, and my bathroom scale suggests it’s time.
This bridge spans a creek that runs along the sprawling ESRI campus.
Heading west, I passed the former office of the Redlands Community News (guffaw). Then I crossed a street and saw the Zanja, an ancient waterway built by indigenous people that bisects the city.
Soon I was plodding past Carolyn’s Café and thinking about coffee cake. Then I was on Brookside and headed back to Kendall. But first I passed the impressive-looking Museum of Redlands. That’s the much-awaited gem that is on the former Redlands Daily Facts site.
I peered inside and spied some cool neon signs – La Posada Hotel, Redlands Camera, Stanton Liquors, City Florist, etc. I love history and look forward to the museum opening.
When I first moved to Southern California in 1992, I worked for the Victor Valley Daily Press. We used a Tandy word processor to type our sports stories and then connected the thing to a phone and transmitted.
The old Redlands Daily Facts building is the future home of the Museum of Redlands.
When a High Desert school played Redlands High, I often sent my story from the old Daily Facts building and then yukked it up with former Facts sports editor Obrey Brown late into the night.
Neither one of us imagined a Tandy would be a collector’s item or that newspapers would turn into museums. But it’s 2025 now and that’s where we are. Go figure.
Main Street Dog 