Thompson, a wide receiver for Patt Foster at CHS, was among the prize recruits of the late RANDY LINGLEof Lompoc. You may remember Lingle. He used to run B.J.'s Yogurt next to Albertsons. Actually his wife PAT LINGLE ran it. Randy talked sports with the customers.
In his spare time Lingle recruited, connived, counselled and cajoled a series of Lompoc kids into the academy, his son B.J. among them. (Lingle also deserves credit for planting the seed for this website but that's another very long story) Last October Randy passed away after a lengthy battle with Parkinson's Disease. The weekend after he passed, Vic Thompson dedicated his game to Lingle's memory. It turned out to be Thompson's biggest collegiate game. The Falcons nipped Colorado State 24-21 with Thompson pulling in five receptions including the winning touchdown.
Last May when he graduated and was commissioned, Thompson had not forgotten Lingle. To take Randy's place Vic invited B.J., now an English teacher at USAFA, to join him.
Then today this message came from B.J. at the academy:
"JMac -- We just got our class rosters today and guess what... it looks like DERRICK LUKEN will be in one of my freshman comp classes. Classes don't start until Thursday and things can still change, but how cool is that? RL must be at work!"
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