After losing just about everything in Canada in 1999, by 2003 we had made enough from our Ganja smuggling operation to pay our lawyers, our fines and to wrap up “Karma to Burn”. We managed to get a distribution deal for the DVD rights With the money we got from “Karma to Burn” we put a down payment on a small house in Santa Monica. This was in 2003 when they were giving loans to anyone. Our plan was to fix the house up, sell it and then buy another one. My dad and I got to work remodeling the house to get it ready to sell.
By this time Devon Wheeler had made a small fortune with Lone Ones, the sterling silver jewelry business he had started with father-in-law Leonard Kamhout. Leonard was a brilliant silversmith who had carved the silver jewelry for the Chrome Hearts brand but he also turned out to be an evil son of a bitch who began molesting his daughter Lila when she was 9 years old. Devon told me that after he and Lila ripped off her father Leonard and cut him out of Lone Ones, Lila had gone crazy. Devon had then filed for divorce from Lila but had given 1.3 Million dollars to his ex-girlfriend's dad to hide from his wife while they were getting a divorce.
When Devon first came to me and asked me to loan him $200,000 for two months to buy silver to fill an order for Japan I was surprised. Devon told me that if I lent him the money in cash he would have the money wired to me and he could deduct it as a business expense. The banks had stopped giving out jumbo loans to people who couldn’t prove their income and I wanted to buy another house so I lent Devon the $200,000 cash thinking that it was a win-win for both of us. Two months later Devon told me that the guy he had given the $1.3 million to hold for him had ripped him off. Devon said that he could pay me back but I would have to wait two years for his divorce to settle. Since we now couldn't get a loan to buy another house and flip it, we decided to keep the house we were living in. That is where we ended up living till this day.
By then my oldest boy Jordan was 9 and had just started playing tackle football for the Santa Monica Vikings youth football team. We lost every game but one the first year and after a year as an assistant coach I was tapped as the Head Coach of the Mighty Mite division (7-9 years old). My first year as head coach I was determined to win at least half of our games. A few years before that the legendary coach Norm Lacy had won CIF Championships at Santa Monica High School and at St. Monica’s High School running a two Tight End, 3 Running Back offense called the Double Wing. We decided to run this offense too.
At the time the two dominant teams in the Pacific Coast Conference were the Palos Verdes Broncos and the Lakewood Eagles. We had lost to Palos Verdes by 45 points the year before, but we didn’t have to play them till the last game of the season. That meant that we had the whole season to be ready for them. We barely won our first games against Tri-Cities and Torrance but then we lost badly to Gardena and Inglewood. From there we went on a 3 game winning streak winning against Culver City, El Segundo, and Mira Costa before losing our final game to Palos Verdes.
The Vikings ended the season with a 5-3 record and limped into the playoffs as a Wild-Card, but we had to face the dreaded Palos Verdes Broncos again in the first round of the playoffs. The game was a hard fought defensive struggle as the Broncos did an excellent job against our Double Wing Offense with their 5-3 Defense.
With less than a 1 minute left in the 4th quarter the Palos Verdes Broncos took a 14-7 lead on the Santa Monica Vikings.
On the kickoff the Vikings got to the Broncos 35 yard line with 48 seconds left to play.
We called a Quick-Out pass play out of Shotgun but the Center snapped the ball over my Quarterback’s head.
I quickly signaled in another play but again the Center snapped the ball over my Quarterbacks head.
The Clock continued to run and now with 38 seconds left in the game I called our last timeout.
My son Jordan, who was our quarterback, jogged over to the sideline calmly.
“No more shotgun plays,” Jordan said, looking at me.
“It’s 3rd and 24. We should try and pick it up on two plays but unless we get a first down or out of bounds we’ve only got time for two or three plays. What do you think” I asked.”
“We could just try and run 28 Toss twice and see if we break a long one on the cutback. They are tired.” Jordan suggested.
“That gives me an idea.”
I stepped into the huddle and asked the linemen.
“So we all know how to run 47-Counter?”
“Yes Coach!” the little Vikings shouted from the huddle.
“So we’ve run this play over and over out of spread now we are going to run it out of the Evil-I. That’s Double Tight End with all three Backs in the I Formation. Linemen block 47-Counter. Now the Full-Back is going to fill at the 4 hole as usual but the H-back will lead like it’s 28 Toss to pull the defense. Now remember Tight Ends you have to block your man down on both sides. If your man is outside you let him go for the guard or the tackle to pick up. Everybody got it.!”
“Yes Coach.”
“Ok Jordan, call the play.”
I stepped out of the huddle.
Jordan stepped into the huddle.
“Evil I 47-Counter on two on two”
Jordan looked at me and I gave him the nod. Snapping the ball on two was a good idea and if the Defense jumped offsides we might pick up an extra 5 yards and stop the clock again.
The Vikings came to the line of scrimmage and got set. Jordan started the long cadence sending the H-Back in motion.
“Reaaaadyt, HUT!” Jordan barked.
The Bronco defenders jumped across the line of scrimmage.
The Broncos jumped back across the line of scrimmage but it was too late.
The Yellow flags flew in the air.
“HUT!” Jordan barked out hoarsely. The Viking Offensive line surged forward catching the Broncos backing up and pinning them back.
Deep in the I-Formation our tailback #7 Atzlan Gonzales took two steps towards the right following two backs blocking for him.
Jordan took the snap from center and opened to his left as if he was going to toss the ball to the running back Atzlan..
A Bronco Linebacker followed the Pulling Guard into the backfield and slipped the Backside Tight End’s block. He lowered his helmet to take Jordan down.
As he was being tackled Jordan spun around and reached out the ball to the left.
Atzlan stepped to the left, snatched the ball from Jordan and followed the Right Tackle around the left side. He slipped the blitzing Linebacker’s tackle, picked up a block from the backside Tight End who had missed his first block but had connected on the second. Atzlan sprinted 58 yards down the sideline to score a Touchdown to send the game in to overtime
In overtime the Vikings and the Broncos scored back and forth and the game went to Triple Overtime. In Triple Overtime the Vikings scored first and kicked the extra point. Now it was the Bronco’s turn. They scored a touchdown and opted to go for the 2 point conversion.
The Broncos lined up in the I formation. The quarterback took the snap and pitched the ball to the left. The Bronco’s tail back dove towards the endzone and was about to cross the line and end the game. Suddenly our Defensive End Brandon Lapins reached in and punched the ball loose from the Bronco ball carrier. The Vikings Defense jumped on the loose ball and the Game WAS Over! We had won at the last second.!
The crowd rushed on to the field in celebration. The players and the coaches looked around at each other in total amazement. At the very last possible last second, we had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. I gathered the team on the sideline and we all took a knee.
“This was a great win guys.” I told them. “This is the kind of thing that doesn’t happen very often and I want you all to take a minute of silence to remember this moment. I want you to remember that no matter what happens, if you keep fighting, any one of you can make a difference and change the outcome of the game.”
We made it all the way to the Pacific Coast Championship but were defeated by the Lakewood Eagles. The next year we lost in the playoffs to the Gardena Mohicans who went on to defeat Lakewood in the PCC Championship. In my third year as Head Coach we played Lakewood again in the PCC Championship but again we came up short. I didn’t come back for a 5th season with the Vikings and spent the next year as an assistant coach at St. Monica’s High School Junior Varsity Team. Still, my ganja smuggling business was doing well. We were making plenty of money and I had a lot of time on my hands. It made me feel good to be able to give back and when I look back on this time it was probably the best time of my life. We had some great players and some great times.
Then in 2010 legendary coach Norm Lacy hired me to coach the Freshman football team at Santa Monica High School. Travis Clark who had played for Norm Lacy was hired to be the Head Coach of the program and he was on a mission to build Samohi into a powerhouse. My son Jordan was coming to Santa Monica High School as well as a lot of the players from the Pop-Warner Vikings team that I had coached. After a few years of mediocrity I was excited about the direction that the SAMOHI football program was heading. I invited my friend Devon to bring his son Chad Wheeler to Santa Monica High School. Chad was a 3 year starter at Santa Monica High School and was recruited to play Left Tackle for the University of Southern California.