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By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
Season upon season the streak of consecutive football victories and notoriety mounted for De La Salle High of Concord, Calif: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 ...
Only when it reached 70 in a row, two short of the then-national high school record, did head coach Bob Ladoceur finally deign to address it openly.
"OK, let's break it (the record)!" Ladoceur relented before a cheering locker room. "Then, we'll be done with it."
Or, so he thought.
Five seasons later The Streak is still going strong, now numbering a beyond-amazing 125 and counting, and the small, 1,100-student, all-boys Christian Brothers school 30 miles east of San Francisco is inextricably linked to sports history.
Like year-round conditioning and team prohibitions against single-numbered jerseys, jewelry and taunting, The Streak is something the Spartans have learned to live with over their 10-year run.
It is something that follows the Spartans everywhere, even the 2,500 miles here for yesterday's kickoff press conference for the HHSAA/First Hawaiian Bank Football Classic, where it was Topic 1.
The Sept. 21 doubleheader at Aloha Stadium matches two-time state champion Kahuku against national power Long Beach (Calif.) Poly and St. Louis School versus De La Salle. But most of the talk was and will be about the school with the streak.
Politely, concisely in Readers Digest form, De La Salle officials answer questions about it when asked. They rack their brains to recall the details of the surprisingly few close calls.
Otherwise, "we really don't talk about it much on our own," said Terry Eidson, the Spartans' defensive coordinator and athletic director with the nonchalance of someone who has been there for the entire ride. "The kids know it is there. A lot of them have had brothers on the team, have grown up with it and had it passed on. Nobody wants to be the team that ended it. So, it is always out there."
It is in the national rankings where De La Salle is, at No.1 again, still the team to beat — if anybody can. It is in USA Today every week of the season and on a web site that coaches say has gotten more than a million hits.
For several dozen games now it has also been weekly fodder for signs.
Rare is the game when the opponent's sideline isn't draped in banners promising "The Streak ends here!" It has been inspiration for T-shirt makers the length of California who hopefully screen shirts with "118-1" or whatever the number has been when the Spartans have appeared.
"We have seen it all, believe me," said Mike Blasquez, the Spartans' strength coach.
Mostly they have seen the best their opponents have week in and week out. "We get everybody's best shot, no matter who they are. They save it for us and we expect it," Blasquez said. "They know it is their opportunity to end the streak and be part of history."
Said Eidson: "We know it will all end someday. And, when it happens there will never be another one like it."
