I have been planning this column for years. Ever since the TVHS freshman football team went undefeated and we knew they would split to two high schools. The TVHS freshman baseball team added expectation when they went undefeated also. It was apparent the class of 2000 had athletic talent. I thought I would be feeling rah-rah-sis-boom-bah. Instead I feel overwhelmingly sentimental.

Many of these kids grew up playing sports together. Indeed, they are products of the beginnings of organized sports in this valley. Now, I don’t want to take all the credit here, but I was Kyle Kramer and Christopher Crall’s first soccer coach. Well, I was the team mom, but no one could coach, so . . . you know the story. They were only six. I’ve cheered the speed of Temecula’s Luke Rowley from a soccer sideline and been thrilled by the grace of a Luke Watson throw from home to second.

I think of Wally Fanene, one of Temecula’s big defensive linemen, as an 8-year-old, coming to the door when I picked up his sister to babysit for us. Of course, I think of Chaparral’s Bobby Steele and Sam Agajanian as little guys too.

Heck, you know who else used to babysit for us? Mike Maxwell, one of Temecula’s all-time great quarterbacks. My kids loved his rough and tumble style of babysitting. Who knows, maybe he taught Christopher a thing or two that is coming in handy now.

The district did a wise thing for both athletic programs when they did not allow transfers into Temecula the first year. If they did, no doubt Rudy Lopez would be getting the press as the big league quarterback. I’ve been nudging Mike Rowan, Chaparral’s athletic director, for years on who he feels got more of the athletic talent. After all, he was the freshmen coach who led that undefeated season. He has always been diplomatic.