My Two Cents

Got some e-mail responses (yes, they were positive!) this week to a couple of recent stories I wrote. First, the UB football history story sparked some memories in a couple of former players who were a part of that chapter (1969-74) in Purple Knights history.
Second, was a memory of watching Floyd Little take his first steps toward AFL stardom.

Chris, As a member of the 72,73,74 UB football squad I found your article to be satisfying. You nailed it. I think it was over when L. (Leland) Miles became president of the school. He was at Alfred U. the year before when we beat them on the last play of the game, a Hail Mary from Sanders to Bove for about 60 yds. Alfred had no scholarships and Miles thought since they were as good as UB, UB didn’t really need
them either. The team still gets together every couple of years for golf outings or a weekend in the Poconos. Most everyone is pretty successful. Once again, really enjoyed the article.
Sincerely,
Tom Pfeiffer

Chris, Thanks, great story, it needed to be told. Loved the pictures of those old uniforms, they were unique. Talked to (Dave) Campo, he had just received it.
Regards, Tony (Wise)
(Campo was a defensive coach at UB in 1974 and later coached the Dallas Cowboys. He was just hired as the defensive coordinator at Kansas. Wise – UB’s offensive line coach in 1974 — was a former OL coach with the Chicago Bears and retired as Pitt’s OL coach after the 2010 season.)

Chris,
I received a copy of your article about the UB football team of the early 70′s. I was a member of that team. I think you really captured the the aura around the team. I was a linebacker on that team and to this day I still think we hold a record that will never be beat by any team at any level of football. We had a 13-play goal line stand against Springfield College in 1973. I still have the article which was printed in the school paper the “Scribe”. It was just one of those special events during those magical years.
Thanks for bringing back some great memories of a bunch of great guys.
Keith L. Molchan
First Vice President/ Community Bank
Anaheim, California

Chris,
Thanks for the article on Floyd Little. It brings back a memory of the greatest high school football game I ever saw. Not sure what year it was, 1959 maybe, and I think the final score was (#1 ranked) Hillhouse 44, Danbury 42. Under the lights at the old Osborn Street stadium in Danbury, You could see his greatness even then.
Vic Francis

And now, some random thoughts:
Great job by the Providence athletic department offering the first 2,000 fans to the Marquette game on January 21 an “Ed Cooley” bobblehead doll.
All I can say is … I want one … I Want One … I WANT ONE!!!!
Did you see the doll? (Here’s a photo).

Man, the head looks just like Ed’s head … but the body? Since when did coach get so “cut.” I mean, look, the bobble dude is just ripped. I’ve heard of airbrushing and photoshop but this is ridiculious.

Another cool thing was … did you see the picture of Shabazz Napier wearing the T-shirt to support Tennessee’s women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt, who’s fighting the early stages of dementia? It read: “I Bleed Blue & White But I Wear Purple to Back Pat”
All the Huskies men’s players wore the T-Shirt prior to their game on Saturday in Knoxville against the Vols.
Purple is the signature color of Alzheimer’s charities.

On the UConn athletics website, it said that those T-Shirts were available for purchase but when I checked (cost: $19.95) the link said they were “out of stock.”
Hopefully that means that UConn fans everywhere bought out the supply to help fight dementia and Alzheimer’s
A portion of the proceeds from the shirts will be donated to programs supporting people with dementia and Alzheimer’s in Tennessee.
Here was the description for the T-Shirts on the UConn website:
Since 1974, Coach Pat Summitt has led the Lady Vols basketball team to national prominence in the SEC. Proving her sound determination and total dedication, Pat announced in August 2011 that she will continue to coach the Lady Vols as she always has despite a diagnosis of early onset dementia. It’s time for you to step up as a UConn fan to show your support for a fellow conference icon with this custom “We Back Pat” T-Shirt featuring your team’s colors and logo over, “I Wear Purple To Back Pat” lettering on the front and the official Pat Summit Foundation logo printed on the back with bold purple accents to symbolize Alzheimer’s Awareness. Even though you may “Bleed Blue & White,” you can show that the Huskies care for their associate athletes and coaches no matter what. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this product will go directly to the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund to provide education about, support of and research for those battling Alzheimer’s disease – now and in the future. The SEC and its member institutions will support the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund’s efforts to increase Alzheimer’s awareness during “We Back Pat” week, January 15-22. For further information about the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund, or to donate directly to the Fund, please visit www.patsummitt.org.

Here’s the link to the University of Bridgeport football story that ran in Sunday’s Connecticut Post. Also, here are some photos that I scanned from some of the old UB yearbooks. Enjoy.

UB Foootball once among the elite

They have exceeded everyone’s expectations.
They stand undefeated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
They have, perhaps, two of the best players in the league.
And on Thursday night at the Webster Bank Arena, they play a huge game against an arch-rival.
No, I’m not talking about the Fairfield men … I’m talking about the Fairfield women.
Coach Joe Frager’s team improved to 4-0 in MAAC play Monday night with a 52-48 win over Siena. Through 15 games, the Stags are a solid 11-4 and will now head into a Thursday showdown against six-time defending regular season and tournament champ, Marist, at the WBA.
The reason I mention this is this: that game is “Pack the House” night and if anyone deserves to play a big game against the league champion in front of a lot of fans, it’s this team. It’s a chance for the Stags to grab first-place alone and take a potential tie-breaker advantage over the Red Foxes (Marist is also 4-0 in MAAC play) with a win. With Rider, Canisius, Manhattan, Iona, Niagara with two conference losses, Fairfield could take a huge step toward winning its first regular season MAAC crown since the 1999-2000 season.
It’s also a chance to see senior guard Desiree Pina – a warrior if there ever was one and an all-MAAC preseason third team selection – and senior forward Taryn Johnson, a first-team preseason pick. Johnson is averaging a team-best 12.1 points with Pina right behind at 11.7.
It would be great to see at least 1,000 people at the game Thursday night, especially since tickets are buy one, get one free.
Show up and support the Fairfield women.

Here’s the blog about the game from the Fairfield website
January 12, 2012
Women’s Basketball vs. Marist @ 7pm (Webster Bank Arena)
NCAA Pack the House: Help the Stags pack the arena! The Stags will compete against the other MAAC schools for the best single game attendance. The NCAA grassroots initiative helps to grow women’s basketball players and fans, and increase attendance.
2 for 1Thursday: Fairfield fans will get two tickets for the price of one.

Who knew?
Who knew that our old head coach at Fairfield, Ed Cooley, was a TV star? Just check out this video created by the Providence athletic department. The Santa cap looks good on him, don’t you think?

Ed Cooley\'s Providence Christmas Commercial

On Sunday, I wrote a column on a local guy competiting in the “World’s Toughest Mudder” event in Englishtown. N.J. It’s a 12-mile obstacle course set up by the British Army Rangers with such fun things as climbing a 10-foot wall (and jumping into a lake of water), crawling under barbed wire, running through a wall of fire, sliding down a zip line, you know … everyday stuff. NOT!
Well, the local guy, Brandon Campbell of Stamford completed two trips — that’s 24 miles — around the course before the cold and the wet forced him to end his competiton. Not bad at all.

In case you missed it, here’s the link to the column:

Toughest Mudder

I’m guessing that, in the end, Fairfield University athletic director Gene Doris must have felt discretion was the better part of valor. (Thank you Mr. Shakespeare).
Why? Because the Connecticut 6 tournament lives on and, at least in 2012, will be played at the University of Hartford’s Reich Family Pavilion – a building that only holds 3,508 seats.
At the recent Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference media breakfast in Springfield, Mass., Doris told me that the deal with the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena wouldn’t be renewed because the building is now hosting the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip Off Classic – set for Nov. 19-20 — that used to take place at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. He also told me that Howard Saffan, the president of the 9,000-seat Webster Bank Arena, had made a “solid offer” to bring the Connecticut 6 back to Bridgeport.
Doris finally said that five of the six schools were in favor of heading back to the Arena.
One wasn’t. Hartford.
It seems that the Hawks athletic director, Pat Meiser, was threatening to pull Hartford out of the Connecticut 6 tournament – something that Doris said he could have worked around with the five remaining schools – but … if each school was given a chance to host the event, then Hartford would likely continue to be a willing participant.
I’m not saying that Doris caved in to Meiser’s demand but it seems rather than lose one school and be forced to make it a four-team (with one team having to sit out each year) field, Doris agreed to see how playing the tournament at Hartford’s site will work.
For next season, anyway.
One would hope that Saffan stays on the hunt and works to get the Connecticut 6 back for 2013. Watching the attendance grow from 3,016 at the Arena in 2010 and then jump to 3,829 last November at the Mohegan Sun, wouldn’t you expect that the attendance figures would keep growing as more fans (and students) become familiar, and excited, with the tournament?
And because of Fairfield’s potential this season (the Stags have nearly their entire team back from a 25-8 record and a NIT tournament berth last year), I would think that Stag Nation – led by the student-run Stags in the Stands – would travel up I-95 en masse to the Mohegan Sun for the team’s opener this Friday.
You would think that the fans of Yale, Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut, Quinnipiac and Hartford, would do the same.
So then, why move the event to the building that only holds 3,500 next year? It doesn’t make any sense to take a step backwards.
And forget about playing this at any of the other venues. Yale’s Lee Amphitheater holds 2,800 while Sacred Heart’s Pitt Center holds 2,062, Central’s Detrick Gym 2,654 and Quinnipiac’s TD Bank Sports Center 3,254.
This tournament deserves to be played on a big stage. Not in a small room.
Maybe it was because Meiser threatened to take her ball and go play someplace else. Or maybe it was because the Doris didn’t want to destroy a good thing and decided to try Hartford’s experiment in 2012. At least the Connecticut 6 will take place in 2012.
And here’s hoping the Reich Family Pavilion is packed to the rafters next year and tickets are sold out. That way, it will be a lot easier for Doris to pitch the WBA for 2013.

By Chris Elsberry
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN – Before a standing-room only crowd of family, friends and well-wishers, the life of former Sacred Heart University basketball player Chauncey Hardy was celebrated with a memorial service at the Cross Street AME Zion Church.
Hardy, 23, who grew up in Middletown and attended Xavier High School before playing four years of basketball for the Pioneers, was killed in Bucharest, Romania on Oct. 9, just hours after leading his professional CSS Giurgiu to an overtime win. While celebrating the win at a local club, Hardy was punched by an attacker and hit his head on the floor, fracturing his skull.
And while the attacker is in custody in Bucharest awaiting trial and questions abound over whether a fair trail will take place, in Hardy’s hometown, they stood as one and applauded the life of someone who touched every person he met.
“It’s not the quantity of the years, it’s the quality,” said the Rev. Kim L. Cotten, co-pastor of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. “We’re here to celebrate these 23 years. Celebrate Chauncey’s life.”
Hardy played for coach Dave Bike from 2006-10, scoring 1,247 points in his career. Twice, the Pioneers won 18 games and reached the Northeast Conference championship game.
“He was such a great kid. Never had a problem. Always smiling and ready with a joke,” said former teammate and current SHU assistant coach Drew Shubik. “We didn’t really hang out a lot together off the court, but on the court, we were the starting backcourt for two seasons and we won 36 games. We had such a good connection on the court. That’s something I’ll always remember.”
After taking a year off from the game after graduating, Hardy got himself signed by CSS Giurgiu and started to rediscover his love foe the game. He scored 10 points in Giurgiu’s 73-62 season-opening win over Czriova on Oct. 2 and then netted a team-high 22 (along with 9 assists and 6 rebounds) in a 91-86 overtime win over Dinamo Bucharest on Oct. 8, just before the attack took place.
The man who punched Hardy, Ionut Adrian Tanasoaia, surrendered to police on Oct. 10. He is being held for 29 days as he awaits trial. Local news authorities have written that Tanasoaia belong to a local gang in Giurgiu that has alleged criminal ties and is connected with the city’s mayor.
“He touched all of our lives in one way or another,” said former Xavier High principal Bill Garrity.
“Chauncey was Xavier, Chauncey was Middletown, Chauncey was ours,” said Yvette Highsmith Francis, who read the obituary. “Chauncey was all of ours.”

Chauncey Hardy’s funeral will be Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Cross Street A.M.E. Church, 440 West St., Middletown, according to the Biega Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Pine Grove Cemetary.