Height wasn’t always important in basketball
One last cleaning out of the notebook before 2002 hits the road…. -While rummaging through some old papers recently, we came across a picture and final game scores of the 1953-54 Connellsville High School basketball team. Talk about little, skinny guys!
For all too long, the basketball emphasis has been mostly on height. Gotta’ get the big guys underneath to control the boards. There wasn’t much height, or weight for that matter, among players like Jack Taylor, Jack Ritchie, Delnor Gales, Russell Watson, Kenny French, Jim Rossi, John Smarto, John Shields, Bill Landymore, Ron Karfelt and Ralph Lepre. Joe Spak was head coach and Danny Cypher the equipment manager. Some of those guys looked like they would need help just lifting the basketball.
-The team, then known as the Cokers, started off 7-0 and finished 11-9 that year, with two of those losses to Uniontown, 61-49 and 53-40. Of the schools they played, seven no longer exist. Dunbar Township is now part of the Connellsville Area District, West Newton is in the Yough District, Georges Township later was merged into the Fairchance-Georges District and now Fairchance-Georges is part of the Albert Gallatin Area system. Scottdale is in the Southmoreland District, Derry Township is in the Derry Area lineup, while North Huntingdon and Irwin are now Norwin.
-Wonder if the rules could be changed in the NFL to where no field goals can be kicked except in the last two minutes of each half. It gets old after a while to see teams cross the 50, go three downs, and then send in the kicker. Go for the yards, make the game more interesting. When I was on the pro football beat a few years ago, I heard a coach say that any time his team was across the 50, he wouldn’t be afraid to let his kicker go for three.
-How about that mouthy muttonhead playing Skip-to-my-Lou through the Steelers in the pre-game introductions at Tampa? Wonder why he didn’t do an encore after the game. If I had only one tackle all day, I would hide too.
-A writer once asked Chuck Noll why he didn’t allow the Steelers to wave their arms in the air or strut around after making a tackle or catching a pass.
Noll said he would allow such displays, “provided they wave their arms in the air and call attention to themselves after they miss a tackle, drop a pass, or make some other mistake.”
-Think back. Not only did the Steelers not clown around under Noll, can you ever remember the Green Bay Packers doing that around Vince Lombardi? Or Dallas under Tom Landry?
-Reports out of Dallas are that Bill Parcells will become the Cowboys’ new head coach. Good. They deserve each other. Parcells was never one of my favorite people.
-To Carmichaels and Southmoreland – good job on your respective holiday basketball and wrestling tournaments. Good competition for the athletes and the spectators had both the occasion to see some good events and enjoy a social outing as well.
-Who really cares about all this hoopla surrounding The Masters Golf Tournament and the fact they won’t allow women to play, or even be members of the Augusta, Ga., Club.
I respect the Masters committee for refusing to give in to the squawks of that NOW loudmouth. That is a private club, financed by the members, and no government money involved, so they can do as they darn well please as far as membership goes. There was one report recently that even Bill Gates, with all his billions of dollars, couldn’t get a membership. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to belong to any club or organization that I had to get into through coercion or legal means. They don’t want me and I don’t need them, so that makes us even.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!