Sports connections attract all athletes toward center mass
Electromagnetic sports attractions - Drop an athlete and a location in space and time, and connected molecules are attracted to a center mass or even Catholic mass and the attraction will keep them coming like super colliding atoms into infinity. Villanova basketball upset Kansas to move on to the Final Four, led by point guard Ryan Arcidiacono from Langhorne, Pa. Ryan went to Neshaminy High School, where my nephew Mike, years earlier, was co-captain of the football team along with Bill Vergantino who started at quarterback for Delaware. My boyhood friend Richie Cornwall was a great guard at Neshaminy in '64, later played at Syracuse in backcourt with Dave Bing and Jimmy Boeheim. Richie's first cousin is retired Delaware State Police Captain Tom MacLeish, whose son freshman Sean MacLeish scored the winning goal last weekend when Bridgewater College beat Virginia Wesleyan 12-11. MacLeish had three goals in the game and teammate Blake Mann, from Milton and Cape, had five goals. Back to Sean’s Uncle Richie, whose daughter is married to John Mullen, brother of former Dream Team basketball player Chris Mullen, a two-time Olympic Gold medal winner and former general manager of the Golden State Warriors. Richie Cornwall, my brother Tom, nephew Mike and myself were all inducted into the Bucks County chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame along with some kid from Council Rock High named Jay Wright. Jay went to Bucknell, as did Dr. Michael Ax, football; Paul Kmetz, football; and Marge Peck, former Cape athletic director. Jay Wright has been in the Cape gym during Slam Dunk and I could go on with a story that started with a guy named Ryan Arcidiacono, but it is never ending.
Twist of fate - Howard Porter led Villanova basketball to the NCAA championship game in 1971, where the Wildcats lost to UCLA 68-62. Porter was named Outstanding Player in the tournament, but his trophy and team placement were vacated when it was discovered that Porter had signed a pro contract. In 2007 while serving as a county probation officer in Minneapolis, Minn., Porter was found severely beaten in an alley and later died of his injuries. Players on that team coached by Jack Kraft were Clarence Smith, Hank Siemiontkowski, Chris Ford, Tom Ingelsby, Bob Gohl, Mike Daley, John Fox and Joe McDowell. Villanova won the NCAA title in 1985. The trainer of that team was Jake Nevin, who died that same year from ALS. The Villanova field house is named after Nevin and jersey No. 1 is retired in his honor.
Stat line - I write about sports and I’m the first to admit that designated defenders who generate no stats have a tough time finding their names on the sports pages. Goals and assists in soccer and lacrosse, and hits and runs scored in baseball and softball, of course, only tell part of the story. I know who the good defenders are and those players in baseball and softball who make tough plays look routine. Track usually goes no deeper than first-place finishes and only real track people know what the numbers mean. I throw some of it back at coaches, asking them, “If you have an athlete who is doing great things, let me know so I can write about them."
Snippets - Cape softball lost to Nandua Good Friday 2-1 then came back to beat Mardela 7-1. Temple lax beat the California Golden Bears 18-3 March 26 to go to 8-2 on the season. Anna Frederick (Cape) had her first collegiate hat trick with three goals. Temple plays at No. 2 Florida Saturday, April 2, a rocket-fast team whose roster is littered with players from Maryland and New York. Jake Dmiterchik has played his way into the starting lineup for the 11th-ranked Salisbury Seagulls baseball team. He is batting .404 with four home runs on the season. There are so many road races on the calendar that overall numbers are down. Running is way beyond a fad sport, but the body and checkbook can only take so much punishment. I have broken, in fact shattered, the 70-74 age group state record in the marathon of 3:57 by running 3:38; of course, I was 34 when I did it. The record of 2:24.43 in the 30-34 age group was set by Steve Sinko in 2006. Alberto Salazar, born in Cuba in 1958, then emigrated with his family to the United States, ran 2:08.52 at the 1982 Boston Marathon. I wonder what was his path to amnesty, same as Cruz and Rubio I guess. Go on now, vamanos!
