The Eagles soar…
Congratulations to Officer Rob Fung of Northern Station swing watch. Rob is among the most successful varsity baseball coaches in the history of George Washington High School. On Thursday, May 12, 2011, Coach Rob Fung led the Washington Eagles to San Francisco’s Academic Athletic Association Championship Crown by defeating Balboa High School 4-1 at AT&T Park. This season marked Rob’s 18th season as baseball coach at Washington and his teams have been incredibly successful having led his teams to section title games in seventeen of his eighteen years and taking the city title five times!
The Washington Eagles were a dominant 14-0 going into the title game and displayed the numbers to support their great play. The team batting average was .306, the base runners stole a very impressive 109 bases in 116 attempts, and the pitching staff’s earned run average was 3.37!
Even more impressive is Fung and the varsity team’s contribution to a very impressive high school sports program. With the Baseball Championship victory, the Eagles became the first school in San Francisco history to win an AAA Championship in football, boys’ basketball, and baseball in the same year since the AAA of San Francisco was established in 1924 – 1925.
(Note: I found that record very interesting as I was sure that though Saint Ignatius had never enjoyed much such success in its athletic programs --- especially during the troubled Delagnes years at S.I. --- I was almost positive that Sacred Heart High School in its Golden Age of athletic city dominance had achieved that feat many times over…hmmm.)
The Balboa Pirates took an early 1-0 lead in the championship game but Washington overcame that obstacle scoring single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth and then plating two insurance runs in the sixth as pitcher Dane Van Guchte shut down the Buc’s the rest of the way with help from relief pitcher Chris Hau in the seventh and final inning paving the way to the city crown.
After the game, Coach Fung met with the press and exclaimed, “The first word that comes to mind is that it’s just crazy! It’s history, it’s never been done, and this is something that no one will ever take away from this group.” Our very warmest congratulations to Coach Rob Fung, the City Champion Washington Eagles in varsity baseball and all the student athletes and coaching staffs of the Washington High School championship teams this year!
It should be noted that many graduates of Washington High School have gone on to very successful careers in the SFPD, including former varsity quarterback Captain Keith Sanford; the recently promoted Commander Rich Correia; former varsity basketball standout and inductee into the SFPOA Sports Hall of Fame, Captain Ann Mannix of Northern Station; and the recently retired Eddie Chow, a great, great basketball player in his own right who was not too long ago inducted into the San Francisco High School Sports Hall of Fame as well as the SFPOA Sports Hall of Fame. The San Francisco Police Department has very close ties to the students and alumni of Washington High School, which has a long and storied history in San Francisco, and we look forward to continuing our wonderful relationship for many years to come.
SFPD Baseball Benefits Fire Burn Institute…
On Sunday, June 26, 2011 the San Francisco Police Baseball team, the SFPD “Blues” will play the Sacramento Fire Department in a charity baseball game benefiting the Fire Burn Institute of Sacramento. The game will be played at Raley Field in Sacramento with an approximate starting time of 4:40 pm.
Through the created partnership of the Sacramento River Cats, the Sacramento Fire Department, and the San Francisco Police Department the following goals will have been achieved during this very special event: Generate awareness for Burn Institute on a large public scale; Support a fundraising event with proceeds going to the Fire Burn Institute and provide opportunities to recruit and recognize volunteers and donors.
The day’s event will also include a Sacramento River Cats vs. Reno Aces baseball game starting at 1:05 PM. The Sacramento River Cats Baseball Team is a minor league affiliate with the Oakland A’s Baseball Club.
The S.F.P.D. Blues is a great baseball team comprised of the following SFPD members: Captain/Coach Pablo Ossio; Rob Fung; Dan Rosaia; Phil Gordon; Jon Rocklin; Jimmy Trail; Ryan Seto; Josh Kumli; Greg Buhagiar; Mike Hara and last but certainly not least, the Pride of the U.S. Navy, “The Great” Steve “I love Notre Dame” Pamatto.
Please consider coming out and supporting this great team made up of some equally great guys for a very worthy cause.
For further information regarding tickets and other features for this very special and worthy event, please contact the Sacramento River Cats, Sgt. Pablo Ossio of the Airport Traffic Bureau, or any member of the S.F.P.D. Blues. GO BLUES!
Doodling Googler …
The POA also offers warm and heart-felt congratulations to seven-year-old Matteo Lopez of South San Francisco, his parents Rudy and Maria, and his extremely proud uncle, Officer Jose Lopez of Mission Station. On May 19, 2011, Matteo was proclaimed the national winner of the “2011 Doodle-4- Google” contest, beating out over 107,000 artwork contestants from across the country.
Matteo is a second-grader at Monte Verde Elementary School where he is an outstanding student and an excellent representative for his school and his family.
Over five million votes were cast nationwide for this very prestigious artwork contest. Matteo and his family are very grateful for all the votes and support offered by members of the SFPOA, which was overwhelming! Prior to getting to the national finals of this contest, Matteo placed first in the state of California earning him a spot as one of the 40 regional finalists, which was quite an achievement in its own right!
As a result of winning this contest, Matteo’s doodle was on Google’s home page all day, May 20, 2011; His school will receive a $25,000 technology grant for a computer lab, and Matteo will receive a $15,000 academic scholarship to the school of his choice. Matteo’s artwork will be on display along with 40 other pieces of artwork by other contestants at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Howard Street from May 20 through July 19, 2011.
Matteo’s schedule has been a very busy one of late. He took a trip to New York City to appear on the nationally televised “Today” show. On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, Matteo was honored in his hometown’s council meeting as South San Francisco Mayor Kevin Mullin presented Matteo with a key to the city as well as a certificate of recognition for his outstanding achievement. The Mayor was very complimentary of Matteo and congratulated him on an outstanding effort.
The POA is very proud of Matteo’s accomplishment and we offer our best wishes for a great and promising future for an outstanding young man.
UCSF visit…
A very special thanks and a tip of the hat to officers Gary Constantine, Cezar Perez, and Alexander Lentz of Southern Station who graciously volunteered their time on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 to visit some wonderful children at UCSF on our monthly POA visit. Gary and Cezar are old hands as they have made several visits, while Alex was a very welcomed first time visitor. It was great to have a couple of veteran officers join with a newer member of the department to bring smiles to the faces of children and their parents and families.
I am always so very grateful for the efforts of our members when it comes to visiting the youngsters at UCSF. There can be no greater joy than to bring comfort, warmth and joy to an infirmed child and their parents. Some of our members have had their own children in similar situations to many of the children we visit and in turn are very supportive of other parents and families as they know first hand the fears and difficulties of these situations.
Gary, Cezar, and Alex did a great job and were on the very top of their game when visiting the children. Thanks again guys for an outstanding job well done!
TTF Reunion…
Friday, April 1, 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the Tenderloin Task Force/Tenderloin Station Reunion held at the Parc 55 Wyndham Union Square Hotel in downtown San Francisco. It was a great event and was very well attended by “rats” young and old. A capacity crowd filled the room as current and former members of the TTF gathered to share some great stories and memories associated with the Tenderloin Station.
A veritable “Who’s Who” attended this historic event, and the attendee’s were treated and regaled with outstanding offerings from some of the finest that our department has ever had. The featured speaker of the evening was the very first Commanding Officer of the TTF, Captain George Kowalski, a great man and leader and certainly one of the greatest cops this department has ever seen. The retired Captain spent several minutes recounting some of the events during his time at the helm. Also on hand to entertain the throng of guests with their thoughts and words were retired Lieutenant Michael McNeil; Retired Lieutenant Tom Carew; Captain Croce “Al” Casciato, (former commanding officer of Tenderloin Station) and current Commanding Officer of Tenderloin Station, Captain Joe “Big Red” Garrity. Dominic Panina, one of the funniest members of the department along with the recently retired Mark “the exploding head” McDonough were the outstanding masters of Ceremonies for the nights event.
Also in attendance were special guests of the POA, Robin Schneider (wife of deceased Sgt. Kurt Schneider of TTF) and their lovely daughter, Ashley. Both Kurt and the beloved Sgt. Kenny Sugrue were both fondly remembered as being outstanding members of the vaunted unit.
It was on Saturday, April 1st, 1991 when the S.F.P.D. changed the configuration of the Central Police District and essentially took the 1- car sector of Central Station and converted it into its own police district. We originally operated out of the fifth floor of the Hall of Justice where beat men and women would walk from the Hall to their beats through the Southern Police District. By the end of the 1991, our collective unit made more than 5,000 arrests! There was some outstanding police work being done by really great cops who were led by true leaders. It was a great time and we had some real characters on board…Tony “Daddy T” LaRocca; Jose “Nido” Pubill; Greg Breslin; Guy Pursley; Larry Barsetti; Steve Hutzler; Jimmy Miller and my trusted partner for sometime, Jerry DeFilippo were only a few of the very colorful characters who made up our unit. Those names have now been replaced by the likes of Kevin Lyons; Brian Philpott; Joe McCloskey, Mike Cesari as well as Brian and Irene Michaud. (Irene is a much nicer person and a much better baseball fan than her counterpart who still has the unmitigated gall of being a Red Sox fan!) How does she do it?
A truly great time was had by all in attendance thanks in great part to the wonderful efforts of Kim and Jerry D’Arcy; John Centurioni, the aforementioned Joe McCloskey, and “The Great” Larry Chan who did a masterful job in planning and arranging the event. Thank you all very much for a wonderful evening.
More outstanding Achievements…
Congratulations are in order for young Matteo Porcedda, a senior at Sequoia High School in Redwood City who has overcome tremendous adversity to become one of the state’s premier high school wrestlers and an outstanding academic student-athlete. Matteo is the grandson of Sgt. Ronald Vernali, S.F.P.D. who retired from our department after a stellar career in 1995.
Matteo began wrestling in his freshman year after encouragement from a friend. Matteo soon found his niche on the wrestling mat and his success in wrestling carried over into the other facets of his life. Academically, Matteo made great strides in the classroom attributing his scholastic success to the discipline and focus he developed while wrestling. During his sophomore year, Matteo’s father, Ignazio, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral scelorsis (ALS) a highly debilitating motor neuron disease also known as Lou Geri’s disease. Ignazio was given eight weeks to live.
The terrible news was indeed quite a shock to the family and really threw a wrench into Matteo’s wrestling regimen. Matteo’s father was against his son giving up a sport he knew Matteo had gravitated to and strongly encouraged him to continue with his sport.
As Ignazio’s condition became more difficult, Matteo’s independence and sense of home responsibility grew. He began working harder than ever to keep his grades up and improve as an athlete.
As a junior at Sequoia High, Matteo was named one of the top twelve wrestlers in the 189-pound weight class during the Central Coast Section championships.
Matteo also became a mentor to younger students and to one student in particular. On a river rafting trip, Matteo developed a special relationship with this student. “I met this one kid and I knew he had a lot of heart but he didn’t know where to direct all his energy and all his motivation. And I felt he had a lot of potential”
Matteo’s coach and Vice-Principal Mike Kuliga could not have found a better mentor for the younger student.
”He’s a genuine kid,” Kuliga said. “He’s humble and he’s nice and he’s sweet, but he’s also real good at being firm…He took the kid from being very close to being expelled and has been setting up meetings with the student and his teachers so Matteo can work out what the student needs to do.”
As a senior, Matteo chose to wrestle in the 171-pound class and again found great success. He finished as runner-up in the Peninsula Athletic League to 171-pound champion Calvin Nicholls of South San Francisco who went on to take the Central Coast Section title.
Matteo finished his senior year as a semi-finalist in the CCS finals by upsetting and defeating the third seed Nick Alspaugh of Serra High School and by defeating fourth seeded Omar Ortega of St. Francis High School in Mountain View.
Matteo credits both his mother and father for his inspiration. “My mom’s always been there. I really want to thank her for that.”
Academically, Matteo has maintained a 4.2 GPA and has been accepted into 12 of the 13 colleges and universities for which he has applied. After much consideration Matteo has settled on U.C. Berkeley as his future school but is yet to declare a major.
There is no doubt in my mind that Matteo will do just fine in his future endeavors. The success he has enjoyed to this point in his life will continue to flourish well into his future.
On behalf of the S.F.P.O.A., I want to extend my warmest congratulations to Matteo and his family and wish them all the best in all areas of their lives.
I recently had the great pleasure to meet Matteo’s mother and found her to be very pleasant and engaging with a warm friendly smile. There is no doubt that Mrs. Porcedda is as proud of her son as is her husband.
Okay guys, that’s it for this month. God Bless all of you, your families and loved ones. Be safe out there and take care of each other.
Go Giants!…Go Yankees!…the Red Sox can just plain go…
