Connect with us

Sports

'Divine intervention': Why Brian Brennan has officiated high school football for 54 seasons

Published

on

'Divine intervention': Why Brian Brennan has officiated high school football for 54 seasons

The L.A. Times ran an article on Orange County’s high school football officials in 1971 and listed a name to contact for more information: John Dickey, secretary of the Orange County Football Officials Assn.

The article included Dickey’s home address — a house on Brenan Way.

“I felt there was some divine intervention,” Brian Brennan recalled, seeing his last name — albeit one letter off.

The 21-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate knocked on Dickey’s door and introduced himself. Soon, Brennan was hired and hooked on officiating football. Fifty-four seasons later, he still is.

The spry 76-year-old with bushy gray hair growing horizontally off his head like a subdued Doc Brown is the white hat — the boss — on his crew. Brennan is in his third stint as OCFOA president and stands behind the quarterback for Friday night lights. When Capistrano Valley’s Todd Marinovich broke Pat Haden’s Southern Section career passing record in 1987, Brennan was there in his white and black stripes. Those were still his early days — later building rapport with coaches such as Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson.

Advertisement

“That doesn’t mean [Rollinson] didn’t yell at me,” Brennan said. “He understood why I was out there, and that made a big difference. That’s what I try to instill when I’m instructing young guys who are coming in to officiate.”

That rapport extended to Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and today’s young slingers.

“Are you going to protect me tonight, ref?” Brennan said quarterbacks ask him.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he responds. “Your left tackle protects you because you’re right-handed. Who’s on my backside? You talk to your right tackle. Tell him to make sure no one runs me over and I’ll make sure no one runs over you.”

“Everyone laughs, and from that moment on, there is no problem.”

Advertisement

When he began officiating, crews adjusted to yellow flags, switching from red. Now, Brennan’s passion for officiating collides with today’s changes.

Girls’ flag football debuted last year, expanding across Southern California. Brennan said he expects flag football to grow, and they need more officials. Only 60% of boys’ football officials referee both sports.

“If there’s more schools playing, you just add more officials,” Brennan said. “But if someone doesn’t want to do it, I can’t force them. That’s where the poor pay and some other things came into play. People struggle, and it’s expensive to live in Orange County.”

As OCFOA president, fixing officials’ problems is much of what Brennan ponders. And as one of the oldest officials countrywide, sharing wisdom is another responsibility.

”It’s my job to teach them what I know about football, to try to make them better officials,” Brennan said. “My real calling is to make them understand that what you’re doing is giving back.”

Advertisement

All of his crew are longtime partners. Two had Brennan as their rookie instructor. His longest-tenured compadre, Tom Innocenti, died of cancer at 63 years old on Aug. 13.

Innocenti spent 34 years — more than half of his life — on Brennan’s crew.

His crew meets at a local coffee shop before games, caffeinating as they review film and notes. In their changing room, they snack on Red Vines, Laffy Taffy and Skittles — hitting pregame sugar highs like kids on Halloween. They have fun, bickering and joking — as they did before officiating Sonora versus Northwood at Portola High in Week 1action.

With a wry smile, Brennan turns on his headset and adjusts the collar of his striped uniform as he closes the locker-room door to trot down to the turf.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Advertisement

“I’ll do it until I drop dead,” Brennan said.

Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna reveals that he’s changing his jersey number

Published

on

Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna reveals that he’s changing his jersey number

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 draft pick Gavin McKenna has already been on the ice with the team as it held its development camp this week, but the highly-touted rookie is going to have to make a big change for this fall.

His number.

When he was playing for the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers and then again at Penn State this past season, McKenna wore the No. 72.

THE TALLEST PLAYER EVER SELECTED IN THE NHL BLEW MINDS IN HIS DEBUT WITH THE SAN JOSE SHARKS

Advertisement

Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna has revealed that he’ll be opting for a new number for his rookie campaign. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

The expectation was that McKenna would wear No. 72 with the Maple Leafs, and he did so this week at development camp. Plenty of fans have also already ordered No. 72 jerseys with his name on the back.

On most rosters, No. 72 is unique enough that he wouldn’t run into any issues wearing it. However, on July 1, the Leafs signed two-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has worn No. 72 for most of his career, except during his first two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, when he wore No. 35.

So, some were wondering how this would work out. Would the Leafs want their new franchise player to get his pick of the number litter, or would they defer to a two-time Vezina winner?

FLYERS MAKE STUNNING OFFER SHEET FOR DUCKS STAR LEO CARLSSON IN BLOCKBUSTER NHL MOVE

Advertisement

Gavin McKenna wore No. 72 in juniors, as well as last season at Penn State. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

Well, it turns out that McKenna will be the one swapping numbers, and he’ll be switching to No. 92 this season.

McKenna had to get creative here because the obvious number changes were a no-go in Toronto. Adding 7 and 2 would be 9, but that was retired in honor of Charlie Conacher and Ted Kennedy.

Another option would’ve been to flip the digits and go with No. 27, but that was retired in honor of Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler.

ALEX OVECHKIN SIGNS A ONE-YEAR DEAL TO RETURN FOR ANOTHER NHL SEASON WITH THE CAPITALS

Advertisement

So, 92 it is.

However, McKenna reached out to one of the three previous players to wear the number, Jeff O’Neill, to ask whether he was comfortable with him using it.

It’s fair to say he was down with the idea.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

McKenna will be a key piece of a Maple Leafs team that is looking to bounce back after a nightmare 2025-26 campaign that saw them finish last in the Atlantic Division.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Sports

Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo praying his sister and stepmother will be found in Venezuela

Published

on

Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo praying his sister and stepmother will be found in Venezuela

It’ll be the culmination of nine minor-league seasons. But Eliezer Alfonzo‘s major-league debut on Sunday won’t include his family watching from Dodger Stadium.

Alfonzo’s younger sister, Eliana, and stepmother, Patricia, have been missing since last month when earthquakes caused widespread devastation in his home country of Venezuela.

“I’ve been trying to support my dad a lot, every day talking to him, trying to be with him,” Alfonzo said of the elder Eliezer Alfonzo, a retired major-league catcher. “It’s a little tough from here because I would like to be there with him, supporting him every day.”

His father, of course, would love to be in attendance for his son’s debut. He told him as much when he heard the Dodgers were calling him up.

The Dodgers switched their backup catchers Saturday, optioning Chuckie Robinson. They saw an opportunity to give Alfonzo some runway behind Dalton Rushing, with starting catcher Will Smith’s stay on the injured list expected to extend through the All-Star break.

Advertisement

The elder Eliezer Alfonzo, however, is doing whatever he can to locate his wife and daughter. Their dog was found alive, which gave the younger Eliezer Alfonzo hope.

“We’ve just gotta stay together as a family, as a country,” Alfonzo said. “Because I feel like we’re a beautiful country, we’re a really beautiful people over there. It’s not just about my family, it’s all families that have lost people already. But we’ve got hope. We just pray, we ask God to give them back to us alive.”

Alfonzo’s locker in the clubhouse is next to countryman Miguel Rojas’ stall. Rojas’ wife, Mariana, and their two children were in Venezuela, planning to renew Mariana’s passport and seek Venezuelan citizenship for their children, when the earthquakes hit. They managed to stay safe and have returned to the U.S.

“I just want to be here for him,” Rojas said. “At the end of the day, that’s the best thing I can do for him, is being a good teammate and being a friend for him. Because I know there’s going to be ups and downs. He’s going to have a lot of time to be caught [up] in baseball, and that’s going to probably take his mind away from stuff. But sometimes he’s probably going to feel weak, and he’s going to start thinking about his family. So I’m going to be here, I’m right next to him. And that’s what I told him.”

Rojas, who played against the elder Eliezer Alfonzo for years in Venezuela, reached out Saturday morning and promised him he’d save the ball from his son’s first major-league hit.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

Kylian Mbappé’s seventh goal of the World Cup lifts France past Paraguay in physical Round of 16 match

Published

on

Kylian Mbappé’s seventh goal of the World Cup lifts France past Paraguay in physical Round of 16 match

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The United States may not have been in action on Independence Day, but France — who fittingly played an important role in the Revolutionary War — was on the pitch in Philadelphia against Paraguay in a massive Round of 16 clash for a trip to the quarterfinals.

It was a hot day in the birthplace of our nation, and that made things difficult for both teams in more ways than one.

While Paraguay is a great squad, they were significant underdogs against a heavily favored French team led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, who has been lighting it up this tournament.

THIS ‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’ RENDITION BEFORE THE FRANCE VS PARAGUAY MATCH WILL GIVE YOU GOOSEBUMPS

Advertisement

French and Paraguayan players get into a shoving match during their Round of 16 match on Saturday in Philadelphia. (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)

Obviously, the heat itself is a factor, but it also made for a slower pitch, something that was believed to play into the hands of Paraguay.

However, most of the action in the first half was played on their end as France put the pressure on through the first half hour of the match.

It was intense, and that intensity boiled over in the 35th minute with some pushing and shoving after Mbappé and Paraguay’s Andrés Cubas started a wild shoving match.

VAR DENIES CROATIA’S GAME-TYING GOAL AS CRISTIANO RONALDO LEADS PORTUGAL TO ROUND OF 16

Advertisement

But while the intensity ramped up — and stayed high for pretty much the entire game — Paraguay weathered the storm and had every reason to feel good about reaching halftime with the game scoreless.

France got some more scoring opportunities in the early part of the second half, including a near-breakaway for Mbappé.

France’s Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal against Paraguay on a penalty kick. (James Lang-Imagn Images)

In the 67th minute, France was awarded a penalty kick for a foul against Desire Doue that had to go to VAR for review, and it was Mbappé who took it.

MESSI, ARGENTINA AVOID A SHOCKING UPSET IN WILD KNOCKOUT STAGE MATCH AGAINST CAPE VERDE

Advertisement

Mbappé has tended to do most of his damage in the second half, and that trend continued here with him drilling the penalty past Paraguay goaltender Orlando Gill.

That was his 19th career World Cup goal, and his seventh of this tournament alone, tying him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.

Paraguay seemed to fade after the Mbappé goal, but turned it on again late, forcing Mike Maignan to make his first save of the day about 89 and a half minutes into the match.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

It seemed like Paraguay’s plan was to try and get a rise out of the French, and they succeeded in drawing three yellow cards. In fact, they even tried to keep that going after the match with players meeting near midfield for some more pushing and shoving.

Advertisement

But France is moving on, and they will take on Morocco in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in Boston.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending