HAPPY EASTER! 
March
29- "It is dangerous
for men in power if no one dares to tell them when they
go wrong." Thomas Becket, writing to a friend
after being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, in
1162
DIRECTIONS TO CLINICS
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIFCLINIC
LOCATION 2-16 HOUSTON
CYPRESS COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
3-2 ATLANTA
CROWN PLAZA ATLANTA AIRPORT - 1325 Virginia Ave - 404-768-6660
3-9 CHICAGO
RICH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL - OLYMPIA FIELDS, IL
3-23 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ORANGE HIGH SCHOOL - 525 S. Schaffer St.., Orange
3-30 BALTIMORE
ARCHBISHOP CURLEY HS - Erdman Ave. & Sinclair Lane
4-6 RALEIGH-DURHAM
MILLENNIUM HOTEL - 2800 Campus Walk Ave., Durham 919-383-8575
4-13 TWIN CITIES
BENILDE-ST MARGARET'S HS - ST LOUIS PARK, MN
4-20 PROVIDENCE
COMFORT INN AIRPORT - 1940 Post Rd, Warwick RI 877-805-8997
4-27 DETROIT
MARRIOTT DETROIT AIRPORT- 30559 Flynn Rd., Romulus 734-729-7555
5-11 DENVER
site tba
5-18 SACRAMENTO
HIGHLANDS HS -NORTH HIGHLANDS, CA
6-1 PORTLAND/VANCOUVER
PHOENIX INN - 12712 2nd Circle, Vancouver WA 360-891-9777
6-15 BUFFALO
site tba
-
- A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Herman Wedemeyer was nicknamed
"Squirmin' Herman," and playing for St. Mary's, a small
California Catholic school of only 200 students in the
years following World War II. He was the first native
Hawaiian to earn national recognition as a football
player.
Talk about diversity - although he had a German surname, his ancestry was German, Irish, Scottish, Hawaiian and Chinese. His father was a German-born seaman who met and married a Hawaiian woman and between them, they raised nine kids.
It's hard today to believe that at one time there were Mainlanders who thought that Hawaiian kids weren't cut out for a rough sport like football, but evidently that was once the case. It was when Jim Phelan was coaching at the University of Washington that he paid a visit to the islands and got wind of young Herman, son of a judo champion, who was starring for Honolulu's St. Louis Prep.
Following Phelan to St. Mary's, he made All-American as a single wing tailback in 1945, a fantasy year for little St. Mary's in which the Gaels defeated USC and lost only to UCLA, 14-7, in the regular season. They faced Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State) and their All-American back Bob Fenimore in the Sugar Bowl, and stayed close for three quarters before finally falling, 33-13.
Joining Herman Wedemeyer in the All-American backfield that year were Army's fabled Don Blanchard and Glenn Davis, Alabama's Harry Gilmer, and Oklahoma A & M's Fenimore. They were the only five people named. Herman Wedemeyer finished fourth in the voting for that year's Heisman Trophy. It was the highest finish up to that time by any "non-white" player, and he continues to be the only Hawaiian ever to be a Heisman finalist.
When the All-America Football Conference was started, St. Mary's coach, Jim Phelan, was named coach of the Los Angeles Dons. It is fair to speculate that the ability to sign his star player may have had something to do with his hiring. Despite offers to play professional baseball (he was a .400 hitter in college), Herm did, indeed sign with the AAFC.
His stay in professional football was brief. Claiming that he was disillusioned with the more businesslike approach to the game that he found in pro ball, he returned to the Islands and a career in business and politics. And, down the line, acting -
From 1972 through 1980, he played police officer Duke Lukela in the popular TV series, "Hawaii Five-0." (The name "Duke" was given to the character as a tribute to the legendary Duke Kahanamoku, the man credited with popularizing surfing as a sport in the 1920's.)
In 1979 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and remains the only Hawaiian native to belong.
Former All-Pro Russ Francis, a Hawaiian native, credited Herman Wedemeyer with being the inspiration for the many islanders who have since gone on to play major college and professional football.
He died in 1999.
See a great web site devoted exclusively to "Wedey", as his friends knew him - http://www.wedey.hispeed.com/wedey.htm
Read also about Herman Wedemeyer's younger brother, Charlie, 20 years his junior, who played college football at Michigan State and went on to a successful career as a high school coach in California before being struck while still young with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) - http://www.wedey.hispeed.com/charlie.htm
- Correctly identifying Herman Wedemeyer - Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... Alan Goodwin- Warwick, Rhode Island... John Zeller- Sears, Michigan... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee ('I didn't know he was an actor but I did know his younger brother Charlie is a story in itself. He played for my Spartans in the mid-60's and went on to coach high school football even though he had Lou Gehrig's disease")... Tom Hinger, Auburndale, Florida ("Book 'em Dano-murder 1")... Joe Daniels- Sacramento... Donnie Hayes- Farmington Hills, Michigan... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky... John Reardon- Peru, Illinois... John Bothe- Oregon, Illinois ("Until I researched, I had no idea about his relation to Charlie Wedemeyer, the coach who fought ALS.")... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois ("Hawaii Five -O is one of my all time favorite TV shows so I was glad to see 'Duke' make it into a legacy question.")... Joe Gutilla- Minneapolis ("Any good ol' Northern California boy worth his salt would know about "Squirmin' " Herman Wedemeyer! Wedemeyer's St. Mary's Gaels are legendary. I had the good fortune of working at the University of San Francisco in 1980-81 as their club football coach. I had the privilege of meeting Dante Benedetti, long time USF baseball coach, unofficial school sports historian, and owner of one of the best Italian restaurants in San Francisco. Dante would share many a story over a plate of his pasta! In fact, he was able to get his hands on some old film of Wedemeyer's games against the Dons and played one of them for us at his restaurant. Amazing footage to say the least. I certainly can understand why they gave him the nickname "Squirmin". He was hard to get a hold of and as quick as the dickens!")...
*********** This is one Final Four I can't lose. I sure do respect those four coaches. Duke is out, and so is Oregon, so emotionally, I am uninvolved. I wanted Duke, but I picked Maryland in the family pool because I just think the Terps are... better. For me, Maryland is one favorite, because we lived in Maryland for 14 years, and three of our kids were born there, and Gary Williams, a Maryland guy, has done a wonderful job; Oklahoma is another, because I like Kelvin Sampson - he got his start in the big time at Washington State (which still was big time when he coached there) and he always impressed me as a man of great class; but then there's Indiana, where it can't have been easy for Mike Davis to prepare to beat the Big Ten and the shadow of Bobby Knight, too, and where he's taken the Hoosiers to a a place no longer familiar to Coach Knight - the Final Four; and then, of course, Roy Williams, the guy the Tarheels couldn't pry out of Kansas. Lord, after the way those Jayhawks got after Oregon, you have to respect them.
*********** How many of you have sat in a class and heard some female basketball player whining because everybody goes to the boys' games, and nobody goes to the girls' games, and "we're just as good as the boys?"
It even happens at Duke. Duke, of couorse, has a great men's basketball team. Unknown to quite so many people because of the lack of publicity the women's game receives, Duke also has a very good women's basketball team. In fact, while the men are sitting at home, the women are in the Final Four. I wish them look against the likes of Tennessee and UConn.
"It would be nice if we received the same amount of student support (as Duke's men)," Duke senior Krista Gingrich told the Associated Press. Hard to disagree with that.
"I don't understand why people wouldn't like to see us play." It's complicated, Krista. I think I have an idea, but the marketing people are working on it.
"Why does the student body put so much emphasis on camping out and waiting in line for wristbands (which admit them to the games and are non-scalpable) for the guys?" Now, Krista, you're in your fourth year at Duke. You tell me. I've heard that at Duke, it's sort of the thing to do. I've even heard it's why a lot of those kids went to Duke in the first place. (You guys out there thought it was for the physics department, didn't you?)
"We have very similar games." Yes, it's true. The object, as a matter of fact, is the same: shoot the ball into the hoop.
Here it comes, guys...
"We're just as good." She actually said that.
I used to hear high school girls say this, and I'd bite my tongue. But I'm not a high school teacher any more, so, Krista, here goes:
NO, YOU'RE NOT! NO, YOU'RE NOT! NO, YOU'RE NOT!
BE CONTENT WITH BEING THE BEST YOU CAN BE AT WHAT YOU DO, AND GET OVER THIS RESENTMENT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S HARD-EARNED SUCCESS!
*********** Talk about having it your way. A local girl attends a small 2A high school which doesn't offer tennis as a sport. So, taking advantage of a state regulation that allows her to do so, she competes on the team a nearby 4A school. By the time she leaves her own school and arrives at the other school, practice is half over, but her host school doesn't seem to mind. She is, after all, their number one singles player.
Except, that is, when the state tournament gets under way. Then, instead of sticking with the team she's played with all season, the team that has made it possible for her to compete in high school tennis, she will represent her own school - which is too cheap to have a tennis team of its own - and compete in the state 2A tournament!
Of course it's selfish. Of course it's a betrayal of the team that has provided her with an opportunity she wouldn't have had otherwise. But don't you see? She has her future to think about. "Recruiters go to state," she says.
Uh, girl, I hate to tell you - there's a lot of states out there besides Washington, states like Florida, California and Texas, with a lot of girls playing very good tennis. And many of the best girls are playing junior tennis, and not even bothering with high school competition. But if you think winning the Washington State Class 2A championship is going to light up the "recruiters".....
*********** I was listening to the radio and heard a mother lobbying for a helmet law for kids riding scooters. Her 12-year-old had been injured when he jumped a curb and hit a truck while riding one. She said, "maybe if kids know there's a policeman out there who'll give them a ticket, it'll give them a reason to wear a helmet."
Mom, sorry about your son, but our police officers have enough to do without being their fathers, too. In Portland, they claim to be so busy that they won't even respond to routine house break-ins. Car been stolen? Gee, that's too bad.
You suppose she ever tried telling the kid to wear a helmet?
Boy, that's one thing a dad is good for. Look, if my dad had wanted me to wear a helmet (or shoes, or socks, or a coat and tie), he wouldn't have needed the police to do his dirty work for him. Forget a ticket - I had all the reason I ever needed to do what he said.
It all started with a smack on the ass when I was little. Why don't you distraught mothers try it the next time your son doesn't do as you say? It's never too late. (Did I hear you say you're starting to see the value of having a man in your little boy's life?)
*********** I wanted to reply on the debate about coaches vs. players. As you know we do not cut players in our program. We let every kid play football that wants to. To keep the teams as well balanced as possible we have tryouts with all the kids that are moving up, or new comers.
The field is set up with cones, etc. We let them run agilities, catch passes. throw, and anything else the coaches would like to see. Then we have a draft. The team with the least returning players get the first pick and gets the remaining players to make the team numbers even,(if one team has 5 more player then the other he would get the last 5 players). He will also get the next late sign-up. This takes all the argument out of the debate. We have two (100 lb.), and two (120 lb.) teams.The same two teams are in the championship play-offs every year even when it is obvious that the loosing teams, at times have the better talent.
I think It is definitely the coach that makes the difference. I feel the main difference between coaches is that a good coach will always be competitive even with leaser talent, and when he has the talent his teams are usually the best. I would say it's about 60% coach, 40% talent. Look at the high schools in the same group, or class size. They go year after year using the same old cop-out, we just can't get the talent, or the other coaches puts to much pressure on kids to win.
I think the coach that said, we just tell them to go block someone, was simple blowing smoke. The same way I would tell a coach that asked, how do you get your kids to block the Super Powers. I think that to coach 40 to 50 kids has it's problems also. It is very difficult to coach that many kids good football unless you have a lot of very good coaches that are all on the same page.
I also want to point out that the coaches here, although they do not win as often are still encouraged to stay on and coach. They are very dedicated and do an outstanding job teaching the kids football, character, and how to accept the learning experiences while having fun.
It's not knowledge, or pushing players harder. It's something that cannot be taught or really explained. Some people can simply motivate people in a work place, on a battle field, or on a sports field. Frank Simonsen, Cape May, New Jersey
I do believe that if talent is reasonably close, coaching will make the difference. I also would bet my money on a good coach with so-so talent against a poor coach with good talent.
As for your final statement, you couldn't be more right. I do think there comes a point where either you've got it or you don't.
I firmly believe that to be true in the classroom, too. They spend fortunes in taxpayer dollars trying to make better teachers out of people who just don't have it and never will.
At least in coaching, persistent losing takes care of a lot of the guys who just don't have it.
*********** While checking out the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame (http://www.polishsportshof.com) last week, I came across Tom Gola's name. I grew up in Philly, and Tom Gola was a big star at LaSalle when I was in high school. Very big star. He is still one of the best all-round basketball players I have ever seen. One year, he was notified of his selection to some sort of All-Italian All-American team. He had to contact the selectors and thank them for the honor, but respectfully decline, on the grounds that he was Polish. Everyone in Philly got a big laugh out of that one.
I am now taking orders for "PRACTICE WITHOUT
PADS," my latest video production. It is geared
primarily to the youth coach, but it will be useful
to high school coaches as well. It deals with
subjects ranging from the organizational details
that you must cover before you even start to
practice, to pre-season workouts, and takes you all
the way through a practice to the sort of things
you might want to cover when you're wrapping things
up at the end. In between are drills dealing with
flexibility, strength, form-running and agility, as
well as the basics of proper blocking, tackling and
ball-handling. It ends with numerous fun-type
drills that you can use to build competitiveness
and morale among your kids, and send them home
wanting more. And the best part of it is, although
you might see players on the tape performing some
of the drills while wearing helmets and pads, these
are drills that you can do in the off-season, or in
pre-season before you're allowed to have any
contact! The tape runs approximately 1-1/2 hours in
length and sells for $49.95 - mail check or money
order to Coach Hugh Wyatt - 1503 NE 6th Avenue -
Camas, WA 98607
*********** I appreciate your recognition of Geno
Auriemma, a Philadelphia guy (I still hear the accent when
he speaks). My 77 year old mother never misses a UConn
women's BB game on TV (they are ALL televised in
Connecticut, can you imagine!). I think Geno could coach at
any level with either women or men. It seems to me that
coaching women in a sport like basketball would be even
tougher than coaching men (hope that doesn't offend
anyone)...Alan Goodwin- Warwick, Rhode Island
*********** Before leaving UConn's Geno Auriemma, and the great job he's done, I just had to pass along this wisdom which he imparted to Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times, on the subject of people who complain about UConn's dominance as not being good for women's basketball:
"Too many coaches don't push women as hard as men are pushed. When I play basketball with my son, I knock him around, I rub his face in the dirt. With a girl, if a pitch hits her in the chin, you run out and take her for ice cream and hope her mother doesn't get mad at you."When people look at us, I would want them to make their programs better. Push the women. Why would you coach girls different than you would coach boys? Expect the same things from them. Coach them the same way."
*********** James Kiick's dad died last week at his home in New Jersey. When I read that in the paper, I thought, "James" Kiick? James Kiick? Are you sure you don't mean Jim Kiick? Have you already forgotten? The Jim Kiick, of Csonka-Kiick-Warfield fame, Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid fame, one of the stars of the only NFL team to go undefeated through the regular season and the playoffs?"
The same, it turns out. George Kiick, his dad, was 84, a native of Hanover, Pennsylvania who moved to New Jersey after his days with the Steelers, and spent most of his working life with the old Rheingold brewery in New York.
Mr. Kiick was a pro football player too, coming out of Bucknell and playing two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, in 1940 and 1946, with a little World War II infantry combat sandwiched in between. While fighting in Europe, he earned a Purple Heart, and was awarded the Silver Star for crawling through "friendly" fire to alert the shooters that they were firing on other Americans.
According to his wife, he seldom talked about his war experiences. "He was a very quiet person," she told the Newark Star-Ledger.
According to Jim, he was just as reluctant to talk about his football days. "If it wasn't for my mother and her scrapbook, I wouldn't have even known he played football," he said.
Jim told of the time his mother and dad were sitting at home watching him play for Wyoming against Florida State in the Sun Bowl. It was 1967, in the early days of instant replay, and Jim scored a touchdown. "My father was just sitting there casually," he said. "My mom was jumping up and down.
"Then they played it again on TV. My mother jumped up and said, 'He's doing it again!'
"My father gave her a look and said, 'It's the same play.'"
Thanks for the article to Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey
*********** My heart goes out to Catholic priests.
There have been some ugly, ugly accusations made against some of them, and now they all suffer the pain of knowing that they, themselves, are now viewed with suspicion, that their beloved Church itself is under attack.
Just so that you know where I am coming from on this issue, I am not a Roman Catholic. For me, as a kid, it was a little like growing up in Belfast. I was Protestant, and I dreaded having to walk alone through the Irish Catholic neighborhood on my way to school, because my buddies and I went to Henry H. Houston School, and those kids went to Holy Cross, and we just didn't get along. We sometimes played sports together, but generally speaking it was us against them. They passionately, obnoxiously supported Notre Dame; consequently, my favorite teams were Penn, Army, or whoever Notre Dame was playing.
But I have long since put that nonsense behind me. I have taught and coached at a Catholic school and so has my son, and it has given me the opportunity to know many wonderful men who have dedicated their lives to the Church. My life has been enriched by knowing them.
As a teacher and coach who has looked on with anger and regret on those occasions when a teacher or a coach has been caught having sexual relations with a student, I just knew that there were people out there who were looking with suspicion at the rest of us. ("You guys are no better than the one who got caught; the only difference is you haven't had the opportunity. Or maybe you have had the opportunity - and you just haven't been caught.")
The Catholic Church and its priests are going through the most difficult of times now, and I wish there were something I could do to shield my friends from those who would use this opportunity to destroy them and the Church itself.
The accusations of child molestation are truly sickening. Clearly, the Church has an important job ahead of it as it repudiates and punishes those priests who have molested young men, deals with what appears to have been an institutional covering-up of the offenses, and undertakes to rebuild confidence in an institution that has been one of the great, unshakable pillars of our very culture itself - all while figuring out how to come up with millions and millions of dollars in legal settlements without having to take it out of the collection plates.
It will not be easy. While facing up to whatever its culpability may be, it faces a host of other foes, from those who have been waiting for their chance to push their ideas of liberalism on the Church, to those who are willing to lie under oath in order to try to enrich themselves (can you say "recovered memory?"), to those sickos who need someone else to blame for the way they've screwed up their lives, to those who just plain hate the Roman Catholic Church and everything about it.
I frankly don't see this sorry state of affairs as a convincing argument for ending celibacy. Most of the male teachers and coaches I know of who did the unthinkable and consorted with schoolgirls were not celibate. In fact, most of them were married men. So much for sexual hunger brought on by celibacy.
I have no way of proving that this is a homosexual issue, but I have my suspicions. Homosexuals will say that it is nothing of the sort, but after all, it is in their interest to throw us off the trail. But you can't help noticing that the complainants coming to the surface have all been male.
*********** THIS JUST IN, FROM THE ZERO-TOLERANCE FRONT
A 16-year-old honor student in Hurst, Texas, outside Fort Worth, was expelled from school for a year for helping his grandmother move. Well, actually, there's a little more to it than that - it was because during the move one of the boxes overturned in the bed of his pickup. Okay, okay - there's more to it than that. Really, it was because a butter knife fell out of the box when it overturned. And, unnoticed, there it remained, in the bed of the pickup, until the kid drove the rig to school and someone noticed it there. And brought it to the attention of school officials.
And, being the brainless automatons that school administrators can be, incapable of making judgments between bazookas and butter knives, they dove right into the school Zero Tolerance Manual and, yup, there it was, right there, in black-and-white - bringing a knife to school was a violation of the school district's zero-tolerance-of-weapons policy. Bingo. No mature judgment needed. See you in a year, son.
The kid's dad did what he could to make the issue public, and as a result, school officials took quite a beating, as well they should, in the news media and on talk radio. Finally, under the growing pressure of national ridicule, the school rescinded the expulsion and gave the kid two weeks in alternative school. With credit for time served. he is now back in school.
Now, I don't know a thing about the kid or the school. Maybe he is the sneaky sort, and was planning to stick the knife between his choir teacher's ribs, but on the face of it - he is an honor student, and he was helping his grandmother move - it doesn't sound that way.
I do know a thing or two, though, about the bureaucrats who run so many of our schools these days, these great equivocators that tell us that nothing is black-and-white. I think it is hilarious that these gutless wonders, who otherwise never saw an offender that they wouldn't give second chance to, suddenly find spine when they are able to hide behind the black-and-white of "zero tolerance" - an inflexible policy that takes mature judgment out of the equation.
On second thought, considering the lack of courage of most of those people and their limited capacity for mature judgment, maybe we are better off having them look in a book...
*********** WAIT - WE'RE NOT DONE WITH ZER0-TOLERANCE...
Back in November, a member of the school board in Sweet Home, Oregon, paid a call on the school superintendent. Sweet Home, a town of about 7,000, is tucked away in the heavily-forested foothills of the Cascades, about 30 miles of two-lane highway east of Interstate 5.
It is the Oregon you envision, even if you've never been there. The people in Sweet Home dearly love to hunt and fish, and as the board member and the supe walked out to the board member's pickup (what else?), the board member took out the rifle he'd just been given for his birthday and handed it to the supe. The supe took the rifle, raised it to his shoulder and,, eye to the scope, pointed the rifle at a tree. And the he handed it back.
But, whoa, Nelly!
A town resident, who lives across the street from the school district offices, must have been peering through his curtains at that precise time, because saw what was going on, and, recognizing an illegal activity when he saw one (a gun! on school district property!) he called the police. For some reason, he mustn't have felt that the community was in imminent danger, though, because he waited eight days - eight days! - before notifying the police.
The police chief dismissed the complaint, since state law does permit the person who is in charge of the school building to carry a gun. And, he reasoned, since the superintendent is in charge of the building, he is also in charge of the grounds, and therefore, no harm, no foul.
Not satisfied with the police chief's response, the helpful neighbor next took his complaint to the state's Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, which began an investigation of its own. It is not finished.
What if two students had done the same thing? the superintendent was asked. "I've been thinking about that lately," he said.
And there, my friends, is exactly why we are where we are. Because any damn fool can distinguish between two adults inspecting a brand-new hunting rifle, and two kids getting ready to shoot up a school. (Or, for that matter, between two kids inspecting a brand-new hunting rifle and two kids getting ready to shoot up a school.)
But, because nobody in a position of responsibility seems willing to use adult judgment and make that distinction for fear of certain members of our society (mainly those with a legal education) getting involved, and because the aim is to make everybody feel so much safer when we say that we will tolerate no weapons of any kind on school property, just adopt a zero-tolerance policy. And now everybody feels so-o-o-o-o much safer.
*********** Coach Wyatt, I coach at a suburban middle/upper middle class school. We have a reputation for fielding great soccer teams. These kids play on several teams at the same time. They usually are leaving our school's practice and then practice later that evening. I get some resistance from parents who don't want their boys playing football. One parent told me that kicking a football will mess up a soccer player's ability to kick a soccer ball. Our A back last season suffered a rash of leg injuries i.e.. hamstring pulls. He was playing fall soccer at the same time as football. I believe that he wore himself out doing two sports at the same time. South Carolina's high school athletics forbids players from playing high school sports if they also play for other teams after school. They discussed playing the same sport after school but I didn't read anything about different sports at the same time like football and soccer. What is your opinion about kids who play for two teams at the same time?
Coach, I am very hard-nosed on this issue. It is the point where team-building and selfishness collide. Unlike coaches of other sports, I don't care to own a kid year-round. But when it's football time, I want him dedicated to football. I think the demands of school and football are enough for a kid to have to deal with at one time.
I think that wanting to play for a school team and an outside team at the same time, regardless of sports, is the ultimate in selfishness and unwillingness to make a sacrifice.
The first thing I try to get across to kids is that the team comes first - so how can I tolerate a kid who immediately demonstrates that he is an exception - he comes first?
It is so typical of the you-can-have-it-all mentality that has so many young parents - women especially, when they find out how tough it is to balance a career and a family - so stressed out.
I was reminded of the Giants' second baseman who injured himself popping wheelies on his motorcycle, despite the fact that his contract specifically prohibited riding motorcycles. No matter - he wanted to ride his motorcycle.
One of the things that separates organized school sports from PE or recreational sports - or most outside teams - is that we can justify our sports because we can use them to teach kids important things about life. Among those things I hear mentioned frequently are sacrifice, commitment, and dependability.
How can we teach our kids about the importance of making sacrifices and making a commitment to teammates, and being dependable, and then let some individuals make a mockery of our lesson by putting their team and teammates at risk while they play another sport? What a great thing for a kid to say to his teammates: you can count on me - as long as my elite soccer team doesn't have an out-of-town tournament that day.
One of the great lessons we can teach kids is that life is full of choices. So choose, kid.
*********** After a coaching tenure at Davenport, Iowa Assumption High School that includes making the playoffs ten of the last 13 years, Mark Kaczmarek has decided to make the move across the Mississippi to another one of the Quad Cities (Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois) and a bigger school.
It's United Township High School, in East Moline, a school of about 1800 kids making it Class 7A.
Mark, like me a former World Football League guy (he played center for the New York Stars), said the former coach, Mike Tracey, a friend of his who is now the new AD, convinced him to make the move.
It is not a rebuild. United, in Coach Kaz's words, "has been solid during AD Mike Tracey's reign as coach. He has done much of the 'dirty work' (youth program/strength program and facilities)."
*********** Rick Rescorla, a Cornishman (from Cornwall, England) who fought bravely for us in Vietnam and became an American citizen, was Vice President for Corporate Security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, whose corporate offices were in the south tower of the World Trade Center. When the first plane hit the north tower, official voices came over the loudspeaker system in his building telling people to stay put - don't leave the building - the area is secure, blah, blah, blah.
Rick Rescorla was on the phone at the time to his best friend. "You watching TV?" he asked.
"The dumb sons of bitches told me not to evacuate," he said as he watched TV. "They said it's just Building One. I told them I'm getting my people the [expletive] out of here."
And so he did, and miraculously - on a day when miracles were few - he directed the evacuation to safety of 2700 of Morgan Stanley's employees. Only six of the company's employees perished. Rick Rescorla was one of them.
He is becoming famous, as well he should. NBC's "Dateline" devoted a major portion of the show last Wednesday night to Rick's story. Other than the fact that Jane Pauley kept lobbing "doesn't it just make you want to cry?" type questions at the people she interviewed, obviously pandering to that segment of the female audience that wouldn't sit still for a straight piece about (ugh!) a man's man, it was nicely done. Thanks to Cornwall native (and Double-Wing coach) Mike Kent, I even knew enough about Cornish tradition to recognize "Trelawny", the Cornish National Anthem, being sung in the background. HAVE YOU SIGNED THE PETITION ASKING THAT RICK RESCORLA BE AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF HONOR? DO IT NOW, AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO DO IT, TOO! I was #3533. Bill Livingstone, of Troy, Michigan, wrote to tell me he was #4290. Greg Koenig, of Las Animas, Colorado, was #8191 Keith Babb, of Northbrook, Illinois has signed http://www.petitiononline.com/pmfrick/petition.html
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Our Black Lion candidate is named Justin New. An important member of our team this season, this was only his second year playing football. Because of our limited personnel, he played Guard, B Back, A Back, DE, and OLB for us. Justin never complained, and played with a spirit and enthusiasm that was contagious to the entire team. Lou Orlando, Sudbury, Massachusetts
Good Afternoon Coach: We have chosen our award winner: Steven Haskell. This is his second and last year on varsity. We all knew coming into this year, that he would be a stand out offensive guard and defensive tackle. He has played those positions, and loved them, for four or five years. To see him pull and make a trap or kick out block, is to understand why his team nickname is "Thud." When we got beaten badly in our fourth game, we knew personnel changes had to be made and he was one of them. We switched him to linebacker and fullback. He went through the usual frustrations of learning new positions, but he never complained. He does whatever we ask, never complains and never makes excuses. He typifies and exemplifies what you want, not only in a football player, but in a young American male. He and those like him, mean this country will remain in good hands. Don Holleder would be proud of him. Bill Livingstone, Troy, MI (Also Hugh, when he runs a "G" you know why the double wing is a great offense. Take care.)
This year's award will go to our senior QB and Free Safety - Grant Zielinski. I have asked the Coaches that have had the privilege to coach Grant to write their thoughts and give them to me ASAP. I will combine everything in a couple of days and send it to you. After our last coaches meeting this past Tuesday it was decided that this award would be presented to the player who best exemplifies Don Holleder in all of Franklin Saber Football from Youth thru High School. Rick Senk, Franklin, Wisconsin
Our Black Lion recipient this fall goes to a senior who should have been elected captain but wasn't, played two defensive positions and two offensive positions and wasn't a very good athlete but hasn't missed in our weightroom since he started high school. He often could be overheard encouraging his teammates and underclassmen in sprints and games. He was the glue that held our squad together through some very difficult times and will be honored with this award. His name is AARON RUNGE. That is Aaron Runge! Thanks so much Hugh! Our awards banquet will Monday, November, 19th! Don Capaldo Hugh, I've received the Black Lion Award certificate. Looks great, thanks for everything. Our banquet is November 19th. I'm sure the Black Lion award presentation to Aaron will bring the house down. I will present it after I've presented all of our other awards. They're sure to be leaving the banquet with plenty to think about, players and parents alike. As you have said, in times like we experienced this season, one begins to really appreciate the good things we've accomplished and seeing Aaron's leadership and courage this fall is fitting testimony to the Black Lions and Don Holleder. Aaron came to us as a transfer from the local parochial school facing a 20 day suspension for an infraction while on his 8th grade trip that summer. He wouldn't have been eligible to play or practice as he wouldn't have been allowed to attend school for the first 20 days of the 1st quarter. His parents came to me and asked me what to do. I suggested that he transfer to our public high school and we would honor the violation of good conduct and penalize him by our standards. He would be able to attend classes and practice with us and be ineligible to play for two games. He played three different positions offensively that year and two defensively and worked his butt off. He continued his career in several other sports that year and through his sophomore and junior years worked to improve himself. Always the leader and hard worker, he had to as he wasn't the fleetest of foot or the most talented. This past fall was a lot like that year freshman year. He continued to be our hole filler. When we needed this position shored up he would do it. At one point we played him two ways. He played end, C back and corner and free safety. He got burnt on defense and fumbled and missed some blocks on offense but was always positive and showed he cared when he would come off the field mad more at himself than his play! Well, he just completed the 1st quarter with all of the things we dealt with this fall with a sparkling 4.0 GPA and will be very surprised and as you once recalled about "Doc" Hinger, will be self effacing. I'm sure he will credit his teammates and parents. He's a hell of a kid and this award is perfect for him! Go You Black Lions! God Bless, Don Capaldo, Keokuk High School, Keokuk, Iowa
Coach - I want to nominate Brandon Manolo for the Black Lion award. Here is why: Brandon is a first year player and earned his spot early in the summer practice. Brandon who is now affectionately known as "LoLo" worked his butt off and never quit. Though just 9 he has shown some amazing leadership for a youngster. He always gives 100% during practice and games. He encourages his teammates and , when needed, his favorite line to others is "Listen to the coach, quit talking and pay attention". When Brandon talks, people listen! He comes from a good home with good parents. Is respectful and a damn good offensive lineman! He is picture perfect when pulling for our 88 Super Powers. Blocks a pretty mean 3 trap at 2 also. A prince of a little fella. Coach John Torres - Manteca, California
(BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL (OR RE-ENROLL) YOUR TEAM FOR 2002! (FOR MORE INFO)
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF 
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Maybe you saw players in the Army-Navy game
wearing patches in honor of various military
units. Winners of the Black Lion Award are
not only eligible to wear the Black Lions
emblem shown at left, they are all going to
receive one.- Concerning this particular patch and the regiment it represents, I will leave it to General James Shelton, USA Retired, a combat veteran who served with the men honored by the Black Lion Award, to tell briefly the story of the Black Lions, as it appears in his soon-to-be-published book about the Battle of Ong Thanh:
- The 1st Infantry Division, "THE BIG RED ONE", was and is a very proud U.S. Army division. It was the first of the U.S. Army divisions formed from the formal system of regiments during World War I where it established a reputation for organizational efficiency and aggressiveness. The first U.S. victory of World War I is claimed by the 1st Division when the 28th Infantry Regiment attacked and seized the small French village of CANTIGNY on the 28th of May 1918. The 28th Infantry Regiment later became known as the "Black Lions of CANTIGNY". The 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry "Black Lions", the U.S. battalion which fought the Battle of Ong Thanh on October 17, 1967, approximately 50 years later, was from the same proud regiment of the "BIG RED ONE". General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, said of the 1st Division: "The Commander-in-Chief has noted in this division a special pride of service and a high state of morale, never broken by hardship nor battle." These words have never been forgotten by the 1st Infantry Division. All military units seek to be known as special and unique - the best. The 1st Infantry Division has been able, over the many years of its existence, to retain that esprit, and most of those who have served in many different US Army divisions remember the special esprit which the 1st Division was able to imbue throughout its ranks.
- General Shelton, an outstanding wing-T guard at Delaware, insisted on personally signing every Black Lions Award certificate.
- Originally, Black Lions patches had to be purchased for $5, but now, thanks to the generosity of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - a sufficient number of Black Lions patches has been donated for each winner to receive one.
MORE ABOUT DON HOLLEDER AND THE TYPE OF MAN HE WAS
"Major Holleder overflew the area (under attack) and saw a whole lot of Viet Cong and many American soldiers, most wounded, trying to make their way our of the ambush area. He landed and headed straight into the jungle, gathering a few soldiers to help him go get the wounded. A sniper's shot killed him before he could get very far. He was a risk-taker who put the common good ahead of himself, whether it was giving up a position in which he had excelled or putting himself in harm's way in an attempt to save the lives of his men. My contact with Major Holleder was very brief and occured just before he was killed, but I have never forgotten him and the sacrifice he made. On a day when acts of heroism were the rule, rather than the exception, his stood out." Dave Berry
By the way... to make sure the record is correct... There is no "n" in "Holleder." The correct pronunciation is NOT "Hollander" - there is no "N".
It was common, when Don Holleder was playing, for announcers to mispronounce his name "Hollander," and evidently it was a sore spot with his former wife, since remarried who, when I spoke with her, evidently thought I'd said "Hollander," and was quick to correct me!
HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE! TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES - AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES (ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE) THE BLACK LION AWARD 
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: He was a lot bigger than his older
brother, Ed, but because Ed was called Big Mo, Dick