Pop Warner Wouldn't Like Pop Warner

Published: Oct. 23, 2012 Updated: Oct. 24, 2012 7:41 a.m.

Mickadeit: Pop Warner wouldn't like Pop Warner

By FRANK MICKADEITCOLUMNIST / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Lots of guys can say they played in Pop Warner. Julian Ertz might be the only guy still around who can say he played for Pop Warner.

In the late 1930s, Ertz was a reserve fullback at Temple University, where the legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner ended his career.

As such, Ertz, 93, believes he can say without qualification that Pop Warner would be mortified to learn that men who coach kids in the program that bears his name allegedly paid players to injure other players.

Ertz rang me up after reading the Pop Warner bounty scandal articles by Keith Sharon and me. Could Ertz actually be the last person alive who played for Pop Warner?

There's no easy way to know for sure, but he played on Pop Warner's last team, the 1938 Temple Owls, and he knows of no other living Pop Warner player.

"I know that from the way he conducted himself, that in no way would he have wanted one of his players to hurt another player," Ertz told me during my visit to his home in Laguna Woods last weekend. "A 'gentleman' is the way I would describe him." A College Football Hall of Fame site quotes a Warner mantra: "You cannot play two kinds of football at once, dirty and good."

Warner was already a legend by the time he got to Temple in 1933. He had already led three national championship teams at Pitt, coached Jim Thorpe at Carlisle, invented the screen pass and, oh, yeah, lent his name to a youth football program.

He also had invented shoulder pads – U.S. Patent No. 1,887,473 bears his name – and thigh pads which, ironically, a Tustin Pop Warner team allegedly altered to get a player in under the weight limit.

Ertz, by contrast, was just a 19-year-old kid from western Pennsylvania when he matriculated at Temple in Philadelphia in the fall of 1938. Warner had difficulty walking, Ertz recalls, so he stood on a raised platform on the sidelines and watched practices.

"On each play, he knew what all 22 players had done. He'd point and say very softly, 'OK, so-and-so, you didn't do this. And so-and-so, you didn't do that.' He never gave you hell in front of the other players, he was always analyzing."

Ertz doesn't overplay his role on the team. He was beaten out for starting fullback by a guy named Jim Honochick, who later became a Major League Baseball umpire. Nor does he claim Pop Warner was without vice. "He always had cigarette. He'd finish one and use it to light the next."

(Ertz had his own vice of sorts at Temple – he sneaked off for music lessons that he never told his teammates about.)

Warner was big on school. "Pop would softly say, 'Be sure to go to class and get good grades. ... You're here to get an education.'"

That Ertz did, receiving a degree in business. After serving as a B-24 navigator in World War II, he went to law school at the University of New Mexico. He practiced in Albuquerque for a while, then moved to Orange County, where he practiced some 30 years.

The scholarship side of football that Pop Warner embodied was not lost on Ertz. In O.C., he was a charter member and ultimately president of the local chapter of the National Football Foundation, which each year honors high school football scholar-athletes.

What does he think of the bounty allegations besmirching the Pop Warner name? "Terrible. Awful. If I were a parent and I had any choice, I'd see (the offending coaches) never got to work with the kids again."

Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com.

Pop Warner At It Again

Published: Nov. 9, 2012 Updated: 10:03 p.m.

Mickadeit: Pop Warner clears itself

By FRANK MICKADEIT

COLUMNIST / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

I'm disappointed national Pop Warner didn't find that a bounty program existed in Tustin, but I can't say I'm surprised. What did you expect? Pop Warner would say, "Yes, our coaches in Orange County conducted a bounty program in which players were paid when they knocked other players out of the game. Parents, please file your lawsuits against us accordingly."?

It doesn't work like that. There are investigations and there are independent investigations.

National Pop Warner's investigation into the Tustin Pop Warner was conducted by an 800-lawyer international law firm that defends Pop Warner in lawsuits. An independent investigation would have been conducted by a law firm or private investigator with no previous ties to Pop Warner and that was instructed to release its own report directly to the public about whatever it found.

This is not to impugn Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, or its L.A.-based attorney, Ian Stewart, who conducted the investigation. Wilson Elser has a fiduciary duty to be a zealous advocate for Pop Warner. The law firm can't lie, but it has no obligation to tell the public what it found and, in fact, it could be guilty of malpractice and face discipline if it did.

Given that, what the law firm conducted looks more like a series of prelitigation depositions than an investigation designed to tell the public anything useful.

Josh Pruce, the national Pop Warner spokesman, told me Friday that Wilson Elser was selected because "they have knowledge of how Pop Warner works." But how can the firm can be impartial when it is looking out for your best interests? I asked. Pruce replied: "I can't speak to that either way. I don't have a comment."

So, we'll probably never know what Stewart's investigation said, exactly, and why and how Pop Warner came to the conclusions it did about what it showed.

All we know about Stewart's investigation is what National Pop Warner released on Friday, a statement that condensed it to two sentences: "The investigation concluded that there was no pay-for-hits program or premeditated bounty system. The investigation did conclude, however, that one player may have been rewarded for his performance in one game."

Keith Sharon and I know what four players and two assistant coaches told us – the head coach and the defensive coordinator offered money for big hits and more money if those hits resulted in an opponent being knocked out of a game.

We know our sources talked to Stewart. As Keith pointed out Friday in the newsroom, there were fewer people who told the NFL about the New Orleans Saints.

Maybe the Tustin players and coaches told Stewart a different story than they told us. Maybe Stewart or Pop Warner concluded they lied or misunderstood and decided to believe the coaches who say no such offers were made. Did he believe some people and not others? Who? Why?

But Pop Warner would not discuss the evidence it collected or release transcripts or even summaries of the interviews. Stewart had not called me back as of my deadline Friday afternoon.

Still, some inferences can be drawn from what Pop Warner did do.

It suspended the entire coaching staff of seven for a full year. If just one player "may have been rewarded for his performance in one game," that seems like a rather Draconian penalty, doesn't it?

Pop Warner's statement says, "We hope members nationwide will learn from this incident and be reminded that the focus should always be on the safety and well being of our young athletes."

Pop Warner, however, doesn't link the player's "performance" or the "reward" for it with the "safety and well being" of players. How, specifically, does rewarding players make the game less safe? How did it do so in this case? To draw that causal connection would come dangerously close to admitting legal liability.

Reading between the lines, my best guess is that this was the best way out of a bad situation. Don't concede liability. But get rid of the bad actors for as long as you can and hope they stay away.

The most important question is: Has Pop Warner done everything it can to protect kids? Without knowing what people told Stewart, we can't know. All we know for sure is that by hiring a top-drawer law firm to conduct an investigation into its own actions, Pop Warner did everything it can to protect itself.

Mickadeit usually writes Mon.-Fri. Contact: 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com

Pop Warner Suspends Coaches

Published: Nov. 9, 2012 Updated: 10:08 p.m.

Pop Warner suspends coaches, denies bounties

By KEITH SHARON / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The entire coaching staff of the 2011 Tustin Red Cobras Junior Pee Wee football team has been suspended for one year, but a monthlong investigation by National Pop Warner ended Friday with the conclusion that though one payment "may have" been made to a player, there was no evidence of a broader bounty program.

Friday's report, which is the culmination of an investigation conducted by an attorney who represents Pop Warner in lawsuits, disregarded the statements of several parents who testified that Tustin coaches targeted opponents, offered their 10- and 11-year-old players cash for hard tackles, and offered more cash for knocking those targeted players out of the game.

Darren Crawford, who coached the 2011 Tustin Red Cobras Pop Warner football team, was suspended along with the rest of the team's coaching staff for a year. The suspensions came after Pop Warner's national organization concluded a monthlong investigation into allegations that the coaches paid players for big hits and to hurt other youth players. The investigation concluded that no bounty program took place, but at least one instance of a payer being paid for performance may have taken place.

"The investigation concluded that there was no pay-for-hits program or premeditated bounty system," said Jon Butler, Executive Director, Pop Warner Little Scholars in an emailed statement. "The investigation did conclude, however, that one player may have been rewarded for his performance in one game."

Butler's statement explained that since rewarding players for performance is against Pop Warner rules, all the coaches bear responsibility for the violation.

Former Red Cobra head coach Darren Crawford, former assistant coach Richard Bowman, former league President Pat Galentine and four other former assistant coaches will be unable to hold positions as coaches or administrators in Pop Warner football for one year. Included in that suspended group are former offensive line coach John Zanelli and equipment manager Paul Bunkers, two of the parents who made the allegations.

Seven families – all of which were represented in interviews with National Pop Warner investigators – have told The Register that coaches Darren Crawford and Richard Bowman offered cash to their 10- and 11-year-old players for big hits during three playoff games during the 2011 season. Crawford, Bowman and Galentine have said no cash was ever offered.

Crawford and Bowman did not return phone calls Friday. Galentine hung up when he was asked to comment about the suspensions.

The ruling confused the parents who made the allegations.

"It's like trying to argue that someone is half pregnant," said John Zanelli, the former Red Cobras offensive line coach, who was the most outspoken critic of Crawford and Bowman. "I think Pop Warner tried to split the difference in order to limit their (legal) exposure and still try to sound credible. This decision was a cop out.

"If there was no pay-for-hits program, then what was the player rewarded for? The best smile? Best attitude? Best dressed? Was he rewarded with cookies or cash? If there was no 'premeditated' bounty program, was it then a hindsight bounty program as we now know it to be?

"If one player 'may' have been rewarded, then why suspend the coaches? Was he rewarded or not? Are all of these parents and kids lying? Who's left to protect the kids if Pop Warner puts its own first?"

Bunkers said: "It's a joke. Either it happened or it didn't. If nothing happened, why are you suspending people? It's stupid."

National Pop Warner spokesman Josh Pruce refused to answer questions about the testimony saying it was confidential and no transcript would be released.

But the conclusion is clear: The investigators did not find enough credibility among the parents and players who said multiple players were offered cash in multiple games. Pruce said he would not answer the question: Did the parents who made the allegations lie?

"They had a predetermined outcome," Zanelli said of the investigators.

The Tustin Pop Warner board of directors released a statement Friday. In part, it said:

"Tustin Pop Warner is pleased to learn that an in-depth investigation completed by National Pop Warner concluded that there was no pay-for-hits program or premeditated bounty system at our League, or any evidence that Tustin demonstrated a lack of institutional control and responsibility ... We are disappointed that National Pop Warner has chosen to suspend members of our dedicated volunteer coaching staff, which includes Pat Galentine. National Pop Warner has advised us that Pat will not be permitted to resume his duties as president of our League during the term of the suspensions. We are saddened by this decision and want to express our appreciation to Pat for his service to the League."

The Orange County Register broke the story of the bounty program on Sept. 23 after four parents and four players confirmed Tustin coaches had targeted opponents, offered cash for big hits and offered more cash for knocking those targeted players out of three playoff games in the 2011 season.

In on of those games, a running back from Santa Margarita suffered a mild concussion, was knocked out of the game and a bounty was paid, Zanelli said.

In total, The Register contacted (some via email or written statement) 12 parents of the 22 Tustin Red Cobras players – seven parents said coaches offered money for hits, five parents said no such payoffs were offered. Four players contacted by the Register (one was through a written statement) said the coaches offered money for big hits.

The allegations didn't surface until long after the 2011 season, in which the Red Cobras qualified for the Pop Warner Super Bowl tournament in Florida before losing in the semifinals.

In May of 2012, one of the Red Cobras' players saw a report about the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal on television (Saints coaches were accused of offering money for taking opponents out of games, and several coaches and players have been suspended). The player told his father that the Red Cobras had used a similar incentive system during the playoff games of 2011.

That father (who is not being named to protect the identity of his son) called several Red Cobras parents, including John Zanelli, who was the Red Cobras' offensive line coach. Zanelli was in the midst of a battle with Tustin Pop Warner because he was the most outspoken of a group of parents trying to form a new team with seven of the Red Cobras' players.

The battle over the new team was ugly. Zanelli received a lifetime ban from Pop Warner after a confrontation with Tustin President Pat Galentine. Zanelli made allegations that Tustin coaches had cheated by allowing an overweight player to participate in several games. He made several other allegations that did not include the bounty program.

When the father asked the embattled Zanelli if Tustin coaches had paid money for big hits, Zanelli said yes. Zanelli told The Register at the time he was reluctant to talk about the bounty program because he considered it a much more serious offense than his other allegations. The bounty, Zanelli said, might bright down the entire league.

In May, Zanelli wrote up a chronology of allegations that included the bounty program for the first time. Zanelli circulated his chronology among some Red Cobras parents. The chronology was passed around to officials in other Pop Warner leagues and eventually was sent to the National Pop Warner office in Pennsylvania.

National Pop Warner turned over the allegations to the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). An investigation was launched, and despite testimony from six parents and four players that coaches had offered money for big hits on targeted players, the OEC found "no evidence" of a bounty program and cleared the Tustin coaches of wrongdoing.

It wasn't until The Register published its story – and the number of parents confirming that money had been offered grew to seven – that National Pop Warner decided to step in and investigate.

The story became a media sensation around the world. NBC, CNN and local television stations picked up the story. Radio stations in Pennsylvania and Florida covered the story. Even the British Broadcasting Company featured the Tustin Pop Warner story in Europe.

Gambling in Youth Football?!?!

BY KELLI KENNEDY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities said Tuesday they uncovered a massive gambling operation targeting youth football games in South Florida, leading them to arrest nine men, including several coaches with extensive criminal backgrounds who they say exploited kids to turn a profit.

The 18-month long investigation started when ESPN journalists brought Broward County Sheriff's officials surveillance video showing parents openly exchanging money in the stands while watching their kids' tackle football games. Authorities later uncovered the stakes on pee wee games were high, with more than $100,000 wagered on the youth football championship.

Coaches routinely met before games and set point spreads, investigators said, but they do not believe the games were thrown or that coaches encouraged players not to complete a touchdown in order to control the outcome. Authorities said they had no evidence that the players were aware of the bets.
"It's about kids being exploited unfortunately by greedy parents and greedy grown-ups and coaches who were basically nothing more than criminals," Sheriff Al Lamberti said.

After months of surveillance, digging through trash cans and raiding two gambling houses, authorities arrested alleged ringleader Brandon Bivins, known as 'Coach B' in the community, charging him with felony bookmaking and keeping a gambling house. Eight others were also charged Monday with bookmaking and some were charged with keeping a gambling house.

It's unclear if Bivins has an attorney. A phone message and email sent to one of the other suspect's attorneys was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Authorities said the suspects have direct ties to the South Florida Youth Football League and several have extensive criminal histories. Bivins has been convicted of cocaine possession, grand theft auto, and marijuana possession with intent to sell.

According to the league's website, it has 22 clubs and 6,000 players, ranging from pee wee to teens, in three counties. Many of the children come from impoverished neighborhoods.

Emails and phone calls to several officers in the league were not immediately returned Tuesday.

The website says the sole purpose of the league "is to benefit children" and instill wholesome values.
Bold print on the league's website warns that anyone taking bets on games will be asked to leave. "The SFYFL is taking a hard stand on gambling, recruiting, paying kids to play and big hits on players."

Perhaps more disturbing than the gambling operation was the extensive criminal background of six coaches, authorities said.

An affidavit claims Bivins ran a fake barbershop, complete with barber stations and vending machines, as a front for a gambling house. But behind what appeared to be a closet door was a narrow hallway leading to a seedy gambling room where Bivins and others took bets on professional, college and youth games behind conspicuously dark tinted windows.

An informant placed numerous bets at Red Carpet Kutz Barbershop and another gambling front, Showtime Sports, during the investigation, according to the affidavit.

Authorities said they seized nearly $40,000 from a drop safe at one of the storefronts and took another $20,000 from Bivins' home. They believe `Coach B' was skimming off the top of the bets.
"(Bivins has) been to Florida state prison. He's out and he's coaching youth football," Lt. Frank Ballante said.

Bivins was the president of the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes, one of the most successful teams, and oversaw the coaches. He also interacted with the players, Ballante said.

Deerfield Beach City officials ramped up their background screening process for youth coaches about 18-months ago when authorities told them about the investigation, but each city is in charge of setting its own ordinances and they vary widely on the issue.

Authorities worry that betting on games can lead to violence and other crimes. The gambling bust comes after a Miami youth football coach was arrested earlier this month for punching a referee in the face during a game. In another South Florida city, a coach followed another coach home and killed his dog in front of him, Ballante said.

Those incidents were not related to the gambling busts, but authorities said it's a lesson for cities to ramp up their background check ordinances.

Ballante warned gambling could end "up with a human being being shot over a football game and it's not because their team lost a game or their kid didn't score the touchdown it's because they lost $40,000 on that play."

Pop Warner Game = 5 Concussions

One Pop Warner game results in five concussions

By Bob Hohler

Globe Staff / October 20, 2012          

In an alarming case of young athletes being put at risk, five children suffered concussions last month in a Pop Warner football game that resulted in disciplinary action against both coaches and association presidents.

The injured children, all 10 to 12 years old, played for the Tantasqua Pee Wees Sept. 15 when they were overrun, 52-0, by a Southbridge team whose website’s banner states, “Are You Tough Enough.’’

The five children missed various numbers of school days because of their injuries, and one has not returned to the field.

The coaches, Southbridge’s Scott Lazo and Tantasqua’s Erik Iller, were suspended for the remainder of the season and placed on probation through the 2013 season after a lengthy hearing Thursday conducted by Central Mass. Pop Warner.

The association presidents, Lazo’s brother, Doug Lazo of Southbridge, and Iller’s wife, Jen Iller of Tantasqua, also were placed on probation through the 2013 season because they attended the game and failed to take action, according to the hearing committee.

In addition, the three officials who worked the game have been permanently banned by Central Mass. Pop Warner.

“Having multiple concussions in one game is something that should never happen, ever,’’ said Patrick Inderwish, president of Central Mass. Pop Warner. “One concussion is too many.’’

He said the hearing committee attributed the injuries to “bad officiating and decision-making by the coaches and all other parties involved.’’

“That game doesn’t represent what Pop Warner stands for in any way,’’ Inderwish said.

Pop Warner regulations require officials to invoke a series of mercy rules once the gap in the score reaches 28 points. But the mercy rules went unenforced and at least one boy suffered a concussion on a play that should have been ruled dead.

Inderwish said the officials had an obligation to stop the game if they considered the safety of the players at risk.

Tantasqua filed a complaint after the game, alleging violations of weigh-in procedures, the mercy rule, and player safety. Yet the hearing committee ultimately ruled that the Tantasqua staff shared responsibility for the injuries.

Jen Iller, whose son played in the game and was not injured, said she was very disturbed by the concussions. But she said she considered the discipline against Tantasqua “completely unfair’’ because the officials put the children at risk by failing to invoke the mercy rule and take other preventative measures.

Efforts to reach Scott Lazo, who is a member of the Southbridge School Committee, and Doug Lazo were unsuccessful.

Inderwish said the hearing committee disciplined the Tantasqua staff as severely as Southbridge’s because the Tantasqua officials also violated Pop Warner’s code of conduct obligating them to protect their players.

“There’s an obligation to walk across the field and say, ‘This thing is out of hand,’ and nobody did that,’’ he said.

Iller said Tantasqua staff members with emergency medical training evaluated the injured children during the game but did not consider their conditions serious enough to warrant further attention. Because the concussions were not diagnosed until after the game, the children continued playing. Numerous medical reports have indicated that playing with undiagnosed concussions increases the risk of more serious damage.

“Additional hits to the head in the minutes after a concussion can be devastating,’’ said Chris Nowinski, president of the Sports Legacy Institute, which is dedicated to addressing the problem of sports concussions. “We do a terrible job diagnosing concussions at the time of injury because they are so difficult to see as an observer.

“There is almost no hope of diagnosing a concussion in a child at the time of injury unless it is obvious because they are knocked out.’’

The incident raises questions about the ability of Pop Warner Little Scholars, the nation’s largest youth football organization, to enforce the rules it established in 2010 aimed at reducing brain injuries caused by concussions. The rules were strengthened this year to limit contact in practices.

“Nothing is more important to Pop Warner than the safety and well-being of our players,’’ the hearing committee stated. “Pop Warner has put in place the most stringent concussion rules in youth sports and we will continue to find ways to ensure football is safe and fun for our young athletes.’’

Bob Hohler can be reached at hohler@globe.com.

Pop Warner's Cover Up

Published: Oct. 18, 2012 Updated: 6:33 p.m.

A gap in Pop Warner video: Cover-up?

By KEITH SHARON / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Investigators looking into the Tustin Pop Warner bounty allegations have been given video of a youth football game played last season which could help them determine whether five missing minutes on the video is evidence of a cover-up.

The video supplied by the Tustin Red Cobras' videographer to team parents last October — and brought to the attention of The Register this week — is missing six of Tustin's defensive plays, two of which resulted in cash payments for Tustin players, according to a former assistant coach on that team.

The video has come to light at a time when National Pop Warner officials are investigating accusations that during the 2011 season Tustin's Junior Pee Wee coaches created an incentive program in which opponents were targeted and Red Cobras' 10-and 11-year-old players were paid cash for big hits and more cash for knocking targeted opponents out of games.

Former Red Cobra assistant coach John Zanelli on Thursday turned the video — plus a second video that shows every play in the game — over to Pop Warner investigators.

Head coach Darren Crawford and assistant coach Richard Bowman have denied paying money for hits. Crawford and Tustin Pop Warner President Pat Galentine have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

The video from last season's Oct. 29 playoff game against Yorba Linda was posted on Box.net, a file-sharing website that can be accessed only by team parents and invited guests. It shows the game's first two plays, then a disclaimer appears on the screen: "Missing Video through minute 5:54 in the 1st Quarter." Play then resumes from that point and continues uninterrupted until the end of the game.

The end of the video says: "CREDITS Richard Bethell (with apologies for the missing video)."

Zanelli, who is among a group of parents and players making the bounty allegations, was sent another video this week by a parent who is not being named to protect the identity of his son. Zanelli played the two videos side-by-side for The Register.

The second video shows two big hits by Tustin players. In the first hit, a Tustin player sacks the Yorba Linda quarterback, causing a fumble and resulting in a touchdown for the Red Cobras. In the second hit, a Tustin player makes a hard tackle, driving the Yorba Linda ball carrier into the ground on his back. Neither play resulted in a penalty against Tustin.

According to two players and two parents interviewed by The Register, both players who made those tackles were voted by their teammates as having made the game's "big hits."

The father of one of the players who won the vote told The Register he saw his son receive money from Crawford for that hit. Crawford told The Register that his memory is "hazy" from that day, and that "Maybe I did give him money to go to the snack bar."

The Bethell video does not include those plays.

"It is way too coincidental that the two players who received money were on both ends of the missing footage," Zanelli said. "The missing footage would help conceal the program from the parents who watched the video."

In an interview this week, Bethell said no edits (other than adding the disclaimer and credit line) were made to the video. Bethell, the team's videographer for the previous nine games of that season, said he simply "missed those plays." Bethell said he does remember adding the disclaimer including the color of the font he used. The video was posted on Oct. 31, 2011, two days after the game and has not been modified since.

Bethell said he did not remember what happened to cause the gap in the video.

"I may have gone to the car to get batteries," Bethell said. "Do I remember (going to the car)? No. Not precisely.

"If I had those sections of the game," Bethell added, "they would be in the video."

Bethell accused Zanelli of lying about details of the investigation.

"He (Zanelli) is probably not telling the truth about anything else involved in this matter."

So far in the investigation, The Register has confirmed that six parents and players have told National Pop Warner investigators that Red Cobras players were offered cash for hits during three playoff games in 2011.

Zanelli, former equipment manager Paul Bunkers and others have said players were offered between $20 and $50 by Crawford and Bowman for big hits in games against Yorba Linda, Santa Margarita and San Bernardino, and that the kids got more money when opposing players were knocked out of the game. In the Santa Margarita game, a Red Cobras player was paid after he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on a Santa Margarita ball carrier who left the game with a mild concussion.

The Red Cobras advanced to the Pop Warner Super Bowl tournament in 2011 before being eliminated in the semifinals by a team from Washington D.C.

Contact the writer at ksharon@ocregister.com

Pop Warner sued in the I.E.

Published: Oct. 17, 2012 Updated: 6:22 p.m.

Mickadeit: Pop Warner sued in the I.E.

By FRANK MICKADEITCOLUMNIST / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Even as Pop Warner investigates allegations that some Orange County coaches instituted a bounty program, the youth football organization and a coach in Riverside County have been sued by parents who say the coach wrenched their son's neck at a game.

The player's father contacted me after reading the articles Keith Sharon and I wrote alleging that coaches on the Tustin Red Cobras paid players who hit opponents the hardest, with added cash if they knocked them out of the game.

"Our goal is similar to yours, I think, in that we hope to bring light and attention to these problems so that the situation may be improved for the kids still in the program," wrote Brett Goldberg, whose 7-year-old son, Chase, played on the Riverside Buccaneers Pop Warner team last year.

The lawsuit alleges that at a game played on Oct. 2, 2011 coach Steve Tims was "seething in anger" at the play of Chase and pulled him from the game. "As Chase approached the sideline," the lawsuit says, "Mr. Tims violently grabbed Chase by the facemask, completely stopping his motion and wrenching Chase's neck. Mr. Tims then towered above Chase ... and began to jerk and pull Chase's facemask while screaming insults related to Chase's performance."

Chase's mother ran to the sidelines to intervene, the suit says. The next day, Chase's doctor found he had a "grade 3 neck contusion, consistent with whiplash (and) ... interior bruising on the front and side of his neck." He wore a neck brace for several days and took pain medication.

Tims told me, "It never happened. ... Absolutely not." He declined further comment.

The Goldbergs have alleged assault, battery and seven other torts.

Pop Warner had not filed an answer as of last week but was seeking arbitration, which Goldberg said he will oppose. Ian Stewart, a Los Angeles lawyer hired by Pop Warner, said he is investigating the incident and couldn't comment at this time.

Goldberg said his son physically recovered in about a week. "He was very frightened by his coach. I feel the physical injury is evidence of how extreme the verbal berating was. We don't talk about the incident with him (to date) and he's moved on, having lost interest in football. He plays soccer now at AYSO Riverside and we've been pleased with our experience with this organization."

Stewart is the same attorney conducting the Tustin investigation for national Pop Warner. Within the last week, at least six of the parents and former Tustin players who talked to Keith and me were interviewed by Stewart and another Pop Warner official. It's unclear when it will be concluded.

Contact 714:796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.