Neil Muranaka:
CLASS OF 1979
San Pedro High SchoolClass of 1979
San pedro, CA
Neil's Story
Neil is from San Pedro, California. Neil's schools include San Pedro High School. Neil later attended Moorpark College (Music, Dance, Computer Science) , UCLA (Chemistry) , Metropolitan Community College Omaha (Computer Programming Technology) .
Music Neil likes includes Boss 501, The One O'Clock Lab Band, Good Shive Low. Books Neil likes include Drawn and Quartered, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Holy Bible. Movies Neil likes include The Devil Wears Prada, An American in Paris, Dirty Harry. TV shows Neil likes include Hogan's Heroes, Original Star Trek, Thunderbirds.
One of Neil's favorite quotes is:""...any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: I served in the United States Navy."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
1917-1963 (35th President of the United States)
"The most important thing about the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as in life the most important thing is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to conquer, but to have fought well."
Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Founder of the Modern Olympic Games
“… Still, I’m only human. I’d like to see again, if possible, Rocky Marciano with his nose bleeding, behind on points and the other guy coming.”
“I guess I would like to see Reggie Jackson with the count 3-and-2 and the series on the line, guessing fastball. I guess I’d like to see Rod Carew with men on first and second and no place to put him, and the pitcher wishing he were standing in the rain someplace, reluctant to let go of the ball.”
“I’d like to see Stan Musial crouched around a curveball one more time. I’d like to see Don Drysdale trying to not laugh as a young hitter came up there with both feet in the bucket.”
“I’d like to see Sandy Koufax just once more facing Willie Mays with a no-hitter on the line. I’d like to see Maury Wills with a big lead against a pitcher with a good move. I’d like to see Roberto Clemente with the ball and a guy trying to go from first to third. I’d like to see Pete Rose sliding into home headfirst.”
“I’d like once more to see Henry Aaron standing there with that quiet bat, a study in deadliness. I’d like to see Bob Gibson scowling at a hitter as if he had some nerve just to pick up a bat. I’d like to see Elroy Hirsch going out for a long one from Bob Waterfield, Johnny Unitas in high-cuts picking apart a zone defense. I’d like to see Casey Stengel walking to the mound on his gnarled old legs to take a pitcher out, beckoning his gnarled old finger behind his back.”
“I’d like to see Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali giving a recital, a ballet, not a fight. Also, to be sure, I’d like to see a sky full of stars, moonlight on the water, and yes, the tips of a royal flush peeking out as I fan out a poker hand, and yes, a straight two-foot putt.”
“Come to think of it, I’m lucky. I saw all of those things. I see them yet.”
Jim Murray (Los Angeles Times)
From "If You’re Expecting One-Liners, W...Expand for more
ait, a Column"
1 July 1979
"It is true of any subject that the person that succeeds in anything has the realistic viewpoint at the beginning in knowing that the problem is large and that he has to take it a step at a time and he has to enjoy the step by step learning procedure."
Bill Evans
From 1966 interview on the Creative Process and Self-Teaching (Enjoy Every Step)
"As you go through life, be sure to take a few minutes to stop and smell the roses."
Coach Richard Jenssen (my Cross Country and Track coach - from Health Class during Fall 1977 semester)
San Pedro High School
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
“There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”
“Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he’s got to play from the ground up – from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.”
“Running a football team is no different from running any other kind of organization – an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win – to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.”
“It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are there – to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules – but to win.”
“And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.”
“I don’t say these things because I believe in the “brute” nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he’s exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
Vince Lombardi
What it takes to be Number One
Why climb up the mountain? "Because it is there..."
George Mallory on climbing Mount Everest (from the 1920s)".
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos