Football: A week of pop corn, sweat and learning at Harvard-Westlake

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The varsity football team at Studio City Harvard-Westlake is spending a week sleeping in the old campus gym that has no air conditioning. That’s about the only complaint the players should have.

They’re getting catered meals three times a day. They’ve got beds and video games set up in the gym. One player even loaded all the Harvard-Westlake players’ names and stats into NCAA 2013.

At night, they head to the film room, where there’s a pop corn machine and a table filled with so much candy that it might cause a dentist to have a heart attack. Rocky IV was the first night film. Hoosiers, Glory and Miracle are on tap. On Friday, it’s skit night. On Saturday, a barbecue is planned.

First-year Coach Scot Ruggles is known for his no-huddle offense, and the Wolverines were trying to run 80 plays in 25 minutes. They open the season against Loyola at Valley College on Aug. 23. Nine starters are back on offense, and let me say quarterback Chad Kanoff, a Vanderbilt commit, will be as good as they come at the position.

The big question is can the Wolverines stop anyone on defense? If they succeed, beware. And watch out for a few players having cavities.

-- Eric Sondheimer