While I was gone, Star teammate Loren Ledin wrote a fine feature on the Ventura College football team preparing for the debut of its on-campus stadium Sept. 5.

"It will make a huge difference," said coach Jon Mack. "Always before, a home game meant getting on the bus and going to Larrabee. It's supposed to be a 15-minute trip, but who knows? You can run into traffic, or some hangup. We always had to leave early, because we couldn't be late. In a way, we were visitors too.

"Now we really have a home-field advantage."