— SAM HODGSON

Once again we're reminded this is the year of fathers and sons in San Diego sports.

Already I wrote, on May 25, about Tony Gywnn Jr. coming home in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to play for the Padres, the franchise his father led to two National League pennants and graced as a baseball Hall-of-Famer. A statue to Tony Gwynn and his 20-season career stands beyond the right field fence at Petco Park.

Then, on June 8, I wrote about Mac Fleet, the University City High miler bound on scholarship for the track mecca that is the University of Oregon, winning the CIF State 1,600-meter title to match. Fleet's feat matched the CIF State two-mile title his father, Dale, won in 1971 as a senior at Clairemont High.

Now comes Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton equaling his father, Bill, the basketball Hall-of-Famer, with an NBA championship. On June 14, the Lakers wrapped up the five-game series with a win at Orlando.

What's interesting to compare is all three sons established their own identities with their fathers determined to remain in the background.

That might sound like common sense, but it's not practiced in this age of the pushy father (and mother). When the Hall of Champions releases its Breitbard All-CIF teams for high school sports, I invariably receive e-mails or phone calls from angry fathers or mothers that say their son or daughter was slighted.

I've never heard from Mr. Gwynn, Mr. Fleet or Mr. Walton.

There are lessons to be learned from Mr. Gwynn, Mr. Fleet and Mr. Walton on how to stay out of the way and let your sons find their own way as they play with the pressure of a famous last name.

Funny thing is, all three of the kids say when the dads stayed out of the way, they had so much fun playing the game that they never felt any pressure.

Luke is the third of Bill Walton's four sons, but getting Bill to comment on any of his son's basketball success was like pulling teeth.

But now that Luke is an NBA champion, the restrictions are lifted. He's a proud papa ready to share his thoughts. Tony Gwynn and Dale Fleet have been the same way after Tony Jr. got off to a fast start with the Padres and Mac won his state title.

With Father's Day this weekend, I contacted Bill for his reactions to Luke joining him as an NBA champion.

Bill, who missed the NBA season as an ESPN commentator for health reasons, says his cell phones and e-mails have been swamped with well wishers, so he directed me to a column he wrote for NBA.com for his thoughts and to use any of them as I saw fit. Fair enough.

Walton has been generous with his time with me and the Hall of Champions in the past.

As an example, if you want to see Bill Walton's 1977 NBA MVP trophy from his NBA championship season with the Portland Trail Blazers, it's on display at the Hall of Champions. Maybe Luke can add some piece of memorabilia from his 2009 championship season with the Lakers to be placed alongside the trophy (that's a hint, Luke).

Here's a sampling of Bill wrote in the letter to Luke: "The smile on your face at the conclusion of the game and throughout the locker room is an image that is forever emblazoned on my spirit and soul. Thanks for making us all so happy and allowing us to share in your joy."

But this was the best — a reminder that Luke was named for Maurice Lucas, a Portland power forward that was so crucial to Bill on that championship team.

"Never forget why you were named for Maurice Lucas."

— TOM SHANAHAN

The father-son story of the year in San Diego sports is Tony Gwynn coming home to play for the Padres, where his father of the same name established a Hall-of-Fame baseball career and has a statue outside the right field fence at Petco Park.

But it's not San Diego's only father-son success story of 2009 — just the more famous one.

University City High senior Mac Fleet matched his father, Dale, by winning a state title Saturday at the CIF State Track and Field championships before 9,517 fans Saturday night in Clovis.

In 1971, Dale Fleet won the state title in the two mile while running for Clairemont High. After Mac's victory, Dale greeted him by saying "welcome to the club."

"There aren't too many houses that have two state champions," said Mac Sunday morning upon reflecting on his accomplishment.

It should be noted that there probably isn't a tougher state championship to win in high school sports than a California title in the sports of track and field and wrestling. That's for a couple of reasons.

The obvious is that California is the nation's most populace state. But the other is that track and field and wrestling in the Golden State are among the last holdouts in the nation to contest their state championships with all schools competing in one division.

This is an age of watered-down championships in high school sports, but not California track and field and wrestling.

In the fall, the Oregon-bound Fleet won the CIF State Division III title in cross-country, and he acknowledges the track title is the more rewarding accomplishment.

"First of all, it's the best state in the nation, especially for middle-distance runners," Fleet said. "To show you how tough it is, a guy who ran 4:11 for seventh place (4:11.89) didn't even get on the podium (the top six earn medals)."

Although the father-son relationships for Gwynn and Fleet are in different sports, oddly enough they both started in basketball.

Tony Gwynn Jr. says basketball was his first love until he realized as a 5-foot-11 guard he had a better future in baseball.

The 6-foot-1 Mac Fleet also says basketball was his first love until he got to high school and realized he had a better future in running.

"I was always around running because of my Dad," Mac said. "But it wasn't until I started running as a freshman in cross country and track that I realized I had a talent for it."

Something else both sons share with their fathers is their dads stepped back and let their sons find their own way and work with other coaches.

"My Dad put the least amount of pressure on me of anyone," said Mac, echoing comments made by Tony Jr. "It was nice to have his advice, but he stayed out of the coaching end of it. Coach (Jim) McCarthy and my Dad come from different backgrounds in running, so I had a nice medium with them."

— TOM SHANAHAN

Normally, the way it works at one of these NCAA baseball sub-regional sites is a smattering of fans turn out for the first game matching out-of-town teams and the stands gradually fill in as host school fans await the first pitch of the second game featuring their team.

But that won't be the case at 4 p.m. Friday when San Diego State and Virginia meet at UC Irvine's Cicerone Field before the nationally No. 1-ranked host Anteaters face defending NCAA champion Fresno State at 8 p.m.

It will be the second day of the double-elimination tournament, but not the first day when San Diego State junior Stephen Strasburg takes the mound. The projected first pick of the 2009 draft will fill the stands with Aztecs fans and curious Southern Californians.

The presence of Strasburg, the national leader in strikeouts with a

100-mph-plus fastball, no doubt helped the Aztecs secure an at-large berth in the 64-team NCAA tournament. It's the first time SDSU has advanced to the NCAA tournament since 1991.

"Oh, there's no question," SDSU head coach Tony Gwynn said of Strasburg's influence on the selection committee. "That's a big factor since he's the best player in the country. People want to see him. That's kind of like our ace in the hole."

Unranked SDSU (40-21) is seeded third and 9th-ranked Virginia (43-12-1), which won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, is the No. 2 seed.

Fourth-seeded and unranked Fresno State (32-28), the defending NCAA champion that won the Western Athletic Conference tournament title, faces No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked UC Irvine (43-13), which won the Big West Tournament title.

Amplifying Strasburg's impact was SDSU was the third Mountain West Conference team to earn a tournament bid from a conference that had never before had more than one entry.

Baseball, of course, is a different situation than basketball since Strasburg, as a pitcher, only plays one game in the sub-regional. But do you think SDSU's men's basketball team would have been left out of the NCAA tournament (they were believed to be the last team eliminated from the at-large selection process) if the Aztecs' roster included the projected first pick of the NBA draft?

That's not to say SDSU baseball doesn't deserve its NCAA bid. The Aztecs had an RPI rating of 44 and had been on the bubble of the national top 25 rankings. But considering the lack of national respect for the strength of the MWC, that's why there was so much nail-biting and hand-wringing before their selection was announced.

The MWC never had advanced more than it's tournament champion, with the automatic berth, before sending not just two but three teams this year.

SDSU was the third team since Utah, a sixth-place team in the regular-season, upset 14th-ranked Texas Christian and then SDSU to win the tournament title and automatic berth.

TCU, traditionally a nationally ranked team, earned a bid as a host team for a sub-regional on Sunday before the bracket was announced on Monday.

"I felt like we would get in," Gwynn said. "It's just a matter of where we were going and who we were playing. And now we know that. It's a nice feeling. It's been a long time since we've been there. The fact that our conference got three teams is a plus."

— TOM SHANAHAN