Dear Sports Fans

#1
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PerfectEffort

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Jun 28, 2007
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#1
Dear Sports fans,

My name is Stephen Lilly, I’m an independent filmmaker. I’m also an alumus of Cal Berkeley football and before that a member of the 1992 team that started De La Salle High School’s 12 year 151 game winning streak.

In 2000, I returned to De La Salle to film a behind the scenes feature length documentary about the philosophy of the Spartans’ winning tradition.

7 years in the making and many obstacles overcome, “Perfect Effort” is now complete. It’s an inspirational story, which reminds us all that high school football at its core isn’t about winning games, it’s about growing-up.

The film is a completely independent production (translation: I’m broke and all I have is this film) and will be released this fall online and at select theaters in Northern California. DVD’s will go on sale in Oct.

Over the past few months we’ve held a few screening events and have received some awesome endorsements from special guests like John Madden, Tom Flores, Joe Morgan, Chris Mullin and Tony LaRussa.

We’re planning more great events during the upcoming football season and would like to keep this (forum) updated.

In the meantime we’ve launched a grassroots campaign to get the word out and build our mailing list. We’re also looking for people to host “screening parties” across the country. This is a great way to get a sneak preview before the formal release.

If you or anyone you know is interested in high school football or the story behind De La Salle’s streak, please check out our website and join our mailing list. We have a trailer and some great clips available on youtube under perfecteffort.

Thanks for your time.

Stephen Lilly
Director-“Perfect Effort”
 
#5
#5
You sure Simon played Safety? I think that was Burnett. If both of them did, then I did not know it.
 
#6
#6
allvol123 said:
You sure Simon played Safety? I think that was Burnett. If both of them did, then I did not know it.
Click to expand...

You're right. I was confusing the two. Simon was straight up LB. They're both from California, though. And they both wore #2 at one point. It's easy to mix them up.
 
#7
#7
This actually sounds kind of interesting.

I always assumed that De La Salle was just another major private high school that offered scholarships to recruit athletes to their school, like Brentwood Academy or St Joe's from Hoop Dreams. I mean heck, they won 150 games in a row and have had an excellent D-I recruit count in the process. But in an interview Kevin Simon gave, he said he was on a recruiting trip to UCLA, and an assistant coach there was like, "you guys recruit, right?" He said he anwsered no, that it's really not like that, that there are guys who's family's sacrifice just to send their sons to DLSHS, that there is a great pride factor to it. Anyways, the UCLA coach apparently couldn't believe it, and it affended Simon, and as we all know, he ended up on the Hill. I don't know the reality of the claimed fact that De La Salle doesn't recruit or even offer some assistance, but I think it speaks that Kevin was willing to tell this story openly on the radio.
 
#8
#8
PerfectEffort said:
Dear Sports fans,

My name is Stephen Lilly, I’m an independent filmmaker. I’m also an alumus of Cal Berkeley football and before that a member of the 1992 team that started De La Salle High School’s 12 year 151 game winning streak.

In 2000, I returned to De La Salle to film a behind the scenes feature length documentary about the philosophy of the Spartans’ winning tradition.

7 years in the making and many obstacles overcome, “Perfect Effort” is now complete. It’s an inspirational story, which reminds us all that high school football at its core isn’t about winning games, it’s about growing-up.

The film is a completely independent production (translation: I’m broke and all I have is this film) and will be released this fall online and at select theaters in Northern California. DVD’s will go on sale in Oct.

Over the past few months we’ve held a few screening events and have received some awesome endorsements from special guests like John Madden, Tom Flores, Joe Morgan, Chris Mullin and Tony LaRussa.

We’re planning more great events during the upcoming football season and would like to keep this (forum) updated.

In the meantime we’ve launched a grassroots campaign to get the word out and build our mailing list. We’re also looking for people to host “screening parties” across the country. This is a great way to get a sneak preview before the formal release.

If you or anyone you know is interested in high school football or the story behind De La Salle’s streak, please check out our website and join our mailing list. We have a trailer and some great clips available on youtube under perfecteffort.

Thanks for your time.

Stephen Lilly
Director-“Perfect Effort”
Click to expand...
The Knoxville Museum Of Art often screens independent films on a fairly regular basis. I think your film sounds like a perfect match for a Friday night before a UT home game. You might want to contact the KMA and explore that option.
 
#9
#9
Hey thanks for the tip, we'll definitely be looking into a screening at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

As far as the recruiting question, Kevin Simon hit it right on the head. De La Salle does not recruit because they don't have to. The program has such prestige that kids from all over the Bay Area do what they can to be a part of the team. If De La Salle were recruiting they would produce more D1 college players and NFL pros; the truth is that a majority of the players do not go on and do great things in college; the experience helped them grow up and become functional adults and carried them into their adult lives.

Thanks again for the great comments, everyone.

-Stephen Lilly
Director, Perfect Effort.
 
#10
#10
Last summer I read a book about the De La Salle football team. It was most definitely one of the best books I have ever read.
 
#11
#11
De La Salle
Elder played them this year on a bad year for them and got destroyed.
It was played a couple years after our Back-toBack State Titles
 
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