The Oceanside Blade – August 30, 2016 | San Diego Business Attorney

Oceanside Pirate Standout launches “O’Side First” Sports Column

Welcome to Opening Day!

Say “Opening Day”. Then watch the sports fans smile and beam with pride. Opening Day is when our favorite team is tied for first. Fans are filled with enthusiasm, excitement and hope.

What sports fan doesn’t believe that Opening Day should be a holiday? Yeah, we know it isn’t the same day each year. Guess what? We don’t care. It’s Opening Day.

I’ve been fortunate to witness many kinds of Opening Day festivities. My baseball Opening Days include the Padres and Oakland A’s (during their World Series run from 1989-1991), football’s Chargers, basketball’s Golden State Warriors and even several Daytona 500’s, the Opening Day for NASCAR.

This summer I attended Opening Day for local Little Leagues. Talk about excitement and hope. The 12-13 year-old’s wonder if this is the year they will go to Williamsport and the 6-7 year-old’s hope the parade ends soon so they can get to the bounce house.

This is Opening Day for a sports column focused on Oceanside!!! Wow, where do I start?

So, some of you may be thinking, who is this guy? Why him? Must be his Oceanside roots and connections. You’re right.

My connections to Oceanside go back to the early 1940’s when my grandfather, John Frenzel, started his Los Angeles Times newspaper distributorship. He served 20 years on the Oceanside School Board and 8 years on the City Counsel. Lion’s Club (John Frenzel) Park in South Oceanside is named in his honor.

Yet, among his proudest moments were pictures with his John Frenzel Little League teams in Oceanside, which he sponsored for 25 years.

My father is legendary Oceanside and El Camino high school football coach Herb Meyer. The football stadium at El Camino High School is named in his honor. Needless to say, I grew up in an Oceanside sports house.
An Oceanside native, I recall my Opening Days as a catcher for an Oceanside High CIF Championship finals team, an infielder with a MiraCosta College state championship team and many other Opening Days.

No surprise that sports were as celebrated as most holidays in my home. And Opening Days were considered holidays. Absolutely.

With high school football kicking off last Friday, it was, yes indeed…another fabulous Opening Day.

In my column, I intend to celebrate, highlight, question, laugh about, cry about and critique sports of all levels and share my stories and opinions. Sports is many things to many people. To some it’s a way of life, a passion, to others a welcome distraction.

We who have had the opportunity to participate in sports in our youth and work in sports throughout much of our adult life, it is both.

Few people remember the glitz and glamour of the day after Opening Day. While Opening Day is awesome, it’s the beauty and passion of sports in the daily grind that follows, that keeps us fans smiling.

So let’s toast to Opening Day! Let’s celebrate the excitement and hope of today. Enjoy the rest of the day, while I get back to work bringing the grit, grind and, most importantly, the beauty of the days after Opening Day.

The Oceanside Blade Article for August 30, 2016 (pdf version)

Look for new articles every other Tuesday in The Oceanside Blade.

You May Only Use My Work If You Link to The Blog Articles.