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• State of the City

• 'A wonderful guy to be around'

• Jury rules no money from state

• Few details on drowning

• Vinewood principal recognized as 'Boss of the Year'

• Regional Roundup

• Foreclosure rate makes Mountain House the 'underwater' epicenter

• Four out of five: Delta College disagrees with most of state's findings

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)

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Tokay coach leading his former schoolmates

Becoming a football offensive coordinator often requires years of playing or coaching experience at the high school or college level.

Very few, if any, are 17 years old when they land their first coaching job as an offensive coordinator in a prep football program as Alex Cesena has.

Cesena, who recently turned 18 in October, is in his rookie season as the junior varsity offensive coordinator for Tokay High under the direction of coach Josh Sitkin.

It was Tokay varsity head coach Louis Franklin who felt Cesena would be the perfect candidate to fill that slot and recommended him to Sitkin before the season began.

"Alex's football intelligence is second to none for anyone his age. We knew this last year when he was a player on the varsity football team, by the questions he asked, and how he prepared himself for practice and games. Watching film helped him to recognize defensive tendencies," Franklin said.

With the offense under Cesena's command, the Tokay junior varsity is currently in second place in the Tri-City Athletic League standings.

The offensive coordinator is generally in charge of managing all offensive players while developing a general offensive game plan and then calling the plays for the offense.

It requires quick thinking and being able to make adjustments on the fly during the game to counteract strategy by the opposing team's defensive coordinator.

That doesn't seem to pose a problem for the brainy and intelligent Cesena, who graduated Tokay with honors in advanced placement classes with a 3.85 grade point average and was the recipient of the U.S. Army Scholar/Athlete Award.

He is a freshman sports science major with an emphasis on pedagogy (coaching and teaching) at the University of the Pacific at a time when he should be a senior in high school.

"I think Coach Franklin picked up on the fact I had a head for the game that high school players usually don't have. I had that coaching mentality," Cesena said. "I have always been more of a smart player than an athlete with God-given talent. I think a lot of guys like me end up in coaching."

Tokay High junior varsity coach Alex Cesena embraces a player during a game this season. Cesena, a 2007 Tokay graduate, is the offensive coordinator for the Tigers. (Courtesy photo)

Franklin agreed with Cesena's self-assessment.

"The varsity coaches recognized Alex as a hard worker and a tremendous competitor which are both values we would love our football players to learn as they play football at Tokay," Franklin said. "Alex models this

'Please see Cesena, Page 12 by showing kids that while attending a full class load at UOP, he can still manage to make a full commitment to school and football by being disciplined."

Cesena, who played basketball for the Tigers last season and was named the TCAL Defender of the Year, also coaches in the Lodi Flying Tigers competitive basketball program.

His passionate devotion to coaching the youth of the local community has not gone unnoticed by some of the parents, with one nominating Cesena for the USA Today Youth Coach of the Year award.

According to Cesena, who eventually hopes to become a coach at a Division I college as well as teach, it was an emotional moment when he learned of the nomination.

"The nomination came as complete surprise to me," Cesena said. "I was teary-eyed when I found out about it, just knowing that I have had that much of a positive influence on those kids, and that they appreciated all that I had done."

Being perhaps the youngest prep offensive coordinator in California sometimes means being a bit of a gambler when calling certain plays in certain situations. So, its not surprising Cesena enjoys playing poker in his spare time.

"I consider myself a pretty good poker player due to my ability to read other people's hands. My parents don't seem to think so," Cesena said. "My Dad (Ralph) has said he would take me and my savings account to a casino now that I am 18 and let me find out once and for all just how good I am."