Sports 08-06-2015

From the Press Box

The Announcers

By Jim Lederman

Do you believe in Miracles! The words of Al Michaels in 1980, when Mike Eruzione’s goal helped the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team defeat the Russian, 35 years ago!

I have always admired play-by-play announcers, since I was a teenager. Howard Cosell, Curt Gowdy, Johnny Most, Brent Musberger, Gill Santos and Bob Neumeier, are just a few of the ‘icons’ in sports.

I used to listen to the legendary ‘Spike’ Brown on radio station WESX in Salem. When my high school team upset Swampscott at Blocksidge Field, I had the opportunity to meet Spike Brown.

Spike was a football announcer who started out broadcasting high school football games on Saturdays. Spike stepped up to broadcast Harvard University football games.

Radio was big time before television in Boston advanced from three stations to become worldwide with 24-hour stations like ESPN.

I broadcast my first WHS game in 1970 and WCAT broadcast the 1992 WHS super bowl game at Miller Field, 23 years ago!

Mike Gorman and Tom Heinsohn have broadcast Celtic games for over 30 years. ESPN ‘Sports Center’ is on 24-hours a day. The football season arrives this month. Are you ready for some football?

Patriots Report

Yes, the world champions The New England Patriots are practicing in Foxborough!

There is another Patriots team that has optimism for a successful 2015 season. The Revere High School Patriots.

The Patriots won the seven-on-seven Under Armour Tourney at Bishop Fenwick.

They advanced to the New England championships.

Revere quarterback captain Dan Murphy, was interviewed by my colleague Cary Shuman, “We are excited about the 2015 season. I feel we will be in the playoffs and we can hardly wait until we play in our new stadium (Harry Della Russo Stadium)”.

Let me remind you, the last time Revere had a winning season was 34 years ago, 1981. They lost to the 1981 Viking super bowl team (Coached by Bob DeFelice) 49-13!

The Patriots and Vikings will battle on turkey day. It should be a memorable game!

Hall of Fame

Nominations for the 2015 Winthrop high school Hall of Fame will close August 15^th.

The 2015 WHS Hall of Fame induction will be Friday, Nov. 26 at the Winthrop Lodge of Elks.

Nomination applications are available at the office of Attorney Chris Tsiotos, 193 Winthrop Street, information is avail able by calling (617) 846-9192.

By the Numbers

3,145 – Career strikeouts for Pedro Martinez.

106 – 15-year Viking football victories. Number one on the North Shore (2000-2015)

9-0- 2014 undefeated Vikings – NEC champions.

33 – Undefeated Viking winning streak (1981-1983) under coach Bob DeFelice.

Sam Jones and Dwight Evans

10 – Viking quarterbacks James Fucillo, Will Milano (31 touchdown passes) and Dylan Driscoll.

16 – All-Scholastic ex-Vikings Chuck Sullivan, Anthony Palmer and Anthony Fucillo.

33 – Matt Murphy (2-time all-scholastic) Larry Bird and Jason Varitek.

5 – Bill Walton and Dino Mallios.

Trivia

Trivia: Back in the 50’s – WHS played non-league power Winchester High School. The Bellino Brothers – Mike and Joe played for the Sachems.

Joe Bellino played at the Naval Academy and won the prestigious ‘Heisman trophy’.

Joe Bellino played for the original Boston Patriots. I will have to get more stories from Joe Duplin, Kenny Goddard and coach Jack MacDonald!

The Ivy League

Many WHS graduates have excelled at Ivy League schools. You don’t have to attend Malden Catholic to get into Harvard or Yale! WHS student-athletes include:

Harvard – Eddie Rossi, Bob McDonald, Jackie Burke, Greg Zikos, Shannon Barker, Lisa Bernstein.

Yale – Danny Brugman and Kevin Lydon.

Cornell – Steve Miles, Phil Ratner, Bob Milne and Dana Stone.

Princeton – Ron Miles and Kevin English.

University of Pennsylvania – Michael Welch, Steve Rubin, Jamie Keough.

Dartmouth – Tommy Trainor.

Summer Legends

I will take a technical foul for omitting some Winthrop Summer League standouts!

Massport defeated ‘City’ in a classic 5-game series. Mike Driscoll, Bob DeFelice, Chuck Mullane and Scott Conrad, led Massport. The ‘City’ had Nick and Chris Tsiotos and Steve Mahoney. ‘Bad News’ had Steve Demetriou, John Kalogeris, Billy English and ‘Spoon’ Corkhum.

On the Range  with PGA Golf professional james bruce

In our first article we covered putting. Working our way back to the tee this week we will cover iron play. Strong iron play is crucial to low scoring. One of the biggest stats on tour is proximity to the hole. It basically identifies the best iron players on tour. If you currently average 40 feet from the hole on your approach shots, think of how much better you will score if you lower that to 25 feet from the hole.

  The first key to being a great iron player is distance control. If you face a shot and are between 7 iron or 8 iron always take the 7 iron. Take the club back 3/4’s and follow through 3/4’s. This will allow you to keep your balance and flight the ball with a penetrating trajectory. It also helps to slightly narrow your stance and swing at 70 – 80%.

  The second key is having the correct angle of approach. Too steep and you will chunk the ball. Too shallow and you will skull or thin the shot. Start by dragging the club away low and slow. Stay level with your knees, no lifting or bouncing. This will allow you to deliver the club on a consistent angle of approach.

  The finish is the final key. Most poor iron shots are caused by an incorrect finish. Guard against coming out of the shot. The best way to finish the shot is to keep your head slightly behind the ball as you transfer your weight to the left side. Focus on hitting down and through the ball.

  Remember practice as much as you can. Proper practice will allow you to build a repetitive swing and increase enjoyment of this great game. Please see myself or any other PGA professional for help with iron play or any other phase of the game.

James Bruce is in his 16th season as PGA Head Golf Professional at Winthrop Golf Club. Winthrop Golf Club has membership openings available. Please contact the Golf Shop at 617-799-1455 for more information.