Gary Blades Memorial MVP award set for 13th Big Game

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

While Friday will mark the 48th Big Game between the San Marcos Royals and the Santa Barbara Dons, it will also be the 13th season that the Gary Blades Memorial Big Game MVP Award will be issued to an outstanding prep football athlete.
The award was founded by Chris Rabe in 1995 to honor Blades, who was a left tackle for Santa Barbara in the mid 1970s.
The recipient of the award is voted on my members of the media and three representatives from each team and the winner is announced on the field following the game.

While the award doesn’t always go to a Dons player, regardless of how much Rabe might want it to, it does represent a shard of sportsmanship which brings to surface what the game is all about.
In its inaugural year, Rabe said the MVP award went to Det Hardy, a San Marcos standout who rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown during the game. The only problem, San Marcos lost 28-26.
When he heard Hardy had been voted the MVP, Rabe looked at the throngs of celebrating Don’s fans and briefly considered changing the rules.
“I had to go over there and tell them all that a Royal had won the award,” Rabe said.
But when the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table rolled around the next Monday and the award was issued to Hardy, Rabe said Blades’ parents were present and remembered that their son had coached Hardy in the Youth Football League.
Rabe said it’s these kind of connections that make the award and the Big Game special.
Ask Rabe about any one of the Big Games in the past couple of decades and he can probably tell you who the leading rusher was and a number of other high points.
The same goes for San Marcos Coach Dare Holdren, who will lead his embattled Royals onto the field at Valley Stadium tomorrow at 5 p.m.
“I have a lot of good memories from the Big Game,” Holdren said. “That was a lot of fun.”
Holdren played on the 1993 Royals team that beat the Dons 32-12.
Will Gonzales, Santa Barbara’s head coach, played during Big Games for San Marcos during the 1985 and 86 seasons and as a former San Marcos coach, said he has fond memories of the Blades Memorial award as well.
“It’s a special award because it really epitomizes what the Big Game is about,” Gonzales said. “It’s about playing with heart and dignity.”
The recipient of the award receives an individual trophy and a perpetual trophy is held by the respective school for the year. Rabe said the perpetual trophy has each of the past MVP’s names and Big Game achievements engraved onto it.
Before the game, Rabe said the trophy is displayed on a table and it’s not uncommon to hear Youth Football Leaguers talk about how they hope to win the award one day.
“It’s kind of neat to hear them talk about winning the award,” Rabe said. “It gives them something to really dream about on a good tact.”
Whether spectator or player, Rabe believes poignant memories exist for all who pack the bleachers of a Big Game.
“You’re always going to run into someone in town that remembers Big Games,” he said.