SAN ANTONIO — Some of my best sports feature stories over the years have come from simply keeping my eyes and ears open, and then sometimes those stories end up sitting on my 'working list' longer than I'd like. But this summer I finally got around to one that was high on my list.
Driving around San Antonio the last couple of years I began to wonder if Rittiman Road had any connection to the Rittimann family, and specifically Alamo Heights High School Football Head Coach Ron Rittimann?
So we took a drive this summer and asked him that very question.
"According to my dad's stories that he shared with me, his grandfather owned property along Rittiman Road," said Coach Rittimann. That's where his ranch was.
Coach told us that the story went that back in the 'old days', if you will, street names were given according to the family name that owned the property along the street.
But then here was our first bump in the road, no pun intended. The Rittimann family name, as you'll notice, ends with two n's while 'Rittiman Road' has only one. That was the next question.
"My aunt told me that back in the day there were two n's on the street sign, but when the city re-did them all they (simply) dropped it," Coach Rittimann explained. "Save money? The name was too long? I don't actually know. I wish I did. I wish I could tell you."
Whenever somebody who knows Coach Rittimann is on Rittiman Road, they always let him know.
"Oh yeah! I get all the time. It is guaranteed that somebody will drive along the road and they'll take pictures or text me and say 'I'm on your road,'" he said, laughing. "I just respond and say thank you. I don't even know what to say."
Coach told us it doesn't even matter if they know he's a high school football coach in town, somebody will always ask about the last name comparison.
"I think it is a source of pride, stability, loyalty or whatever you wanna call it." he said. "It has been home for us and we sure do enjoy it."
I told coach the only way to complete the story now is to someday live on Rittiman Road.
"I would never say never, and you just never know," he said. "I think for now we'll just enjoy driving by and through there and think back to what I would assume are great memories for our family."
