Cover story: Homecoming game for boyhood friends Cover story: Homecoming game for boyhood friends (December 28, 2005)

Annual football game brings back friends to the old neighborhood for nearly 50 years

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

There are no rain delays in football, which is why a group of guys in their 50s are out on a miserable December Sunday, slipping around on the sodden grass at Burgess Park and playing their hearts out.

The "Claremont Way All-Star Bowl" began in the mid-1950s as a pickup football game but it's become an annual event, a neighborhood reunion, a homecoming of sorts for a group of Baby Boomers who grew up together in a Menlo Park subdivision.

Back in 1956, the Linfield Oaks neighborhood was new and teeming with kids. After opening presents on Christmas Day, a group of boys headed out to the soccer field at nearby Burgess Park to play some ball.

The boys grew up, got married and moved away, but they kept the football game going every year. Now, nearly 50 years later, seven of those boys -- plus assorted offspring and relatives -- are cheering over receptions, arguing over downs, and assigning positions on the fly.

"I make this trek every year," says Rick DeZur, who is credited as being the quarterback and anchor of the annual football match. He's co-captain of the team along with Dave Crawford.

DeZur is on the "injured reserve" this year after hurting his back, he says. Even so, he's in the thick of the action, acting as scorekeeper, referee and game announcer.

Like any event that's been going on for nearly half a century, the Claremont Way game has a number of traditions. The game always starts at least half an hour late, team assignments change every year, and it always concludes with lunch at nearby Foster's Freeze.

Crawford and Bob Budelli are among the first to arrive, showing up perilously close to on time. One by one, the rest of the group assembles, dressed in a motley assortment of sweat pants and baseball caps: Gary Dilley, Gary Cunningham, Lou Vanoli and DeZur. They hit up Crawford, an internist at Kaiser Vallejo, for free medical advice, argue over who is the worst dressed, and toss footballs around.

For a group of guys so devoted to football, none of them has much to do with football anymore apart from this annual game and watching the 49ers. Several of them grew up to be baseball coaches. Budelli coaches at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, Cunningham is a baseball coach and counselor at Bellarmine, and almost everyone played baseball together for Menlo-Atherton High School; the exception is DeZur, who was a starting halfback on the football team.

There have been a few concessions to the passing years -- games last less than an hour, the playing field has gotten much smaller, and they've quit playing tackle football in favor of touch football. They've also had to stop playing on Christmas Day, at the behest of their wives.

The guys still like a good mud bowl, though, and they're not above prank plays. In one play, Cunningham, the kickoff receiver, hides the football under Budelli's shirt and runs in another direction, but the opposing team is on to his stunt almost instantly. One gets the idea they've seen this play before.

While there's technically no tackling, there are plenty of diving catches, and some egregious examples of holding that go unpenalized.

"These guys come home every year unbelievably messed up," says Dan Lockwood, Crawford's brother-in-law.

Budelli's younger brother Dick is playing, despite having suffered a heart attack this year. The All-Stars lost one of their teammates to a brain tumor this year, and another regular is out with a hurt leg.

Less excusable is the absence of Ian-the-Russian-Orthodox-priest, who claimed to be too busy to make the drive from Davis, says Crawford.

There's a notable absence of fans watching the game. "This is too ugly to have much of a crowd watching," quips Mike Benham. His daughter Mallory is the only spectator, and a fairly unwilling one at that. About halfway into the game she's pressed into service and becomes the All-Star Bowl's first female player.

There are some impressive receptions and a game-ending interception that results in a touch-down, but overall it's safe to say that NFL recruiters aren't missing anything. As for these guys, after almost 50 years, they wouldn't miss it for the world.

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