Edited By Larry Harris

A Cruel Confluence Of Circumstances

Sophocles’ message still holds true today, but it obviously isn’t registering with the people who profess outrage at the revelation that Michael Vick, once one of the most talented football players in the NFL, will receive an Eddie Block Courage Award at the foundation’s 32nd annual banquet in March.

The messenger in this case is Sam Lamantia, the founder and chief executive officer of the charity organization whose purpose is to alleviate the suffering of child abuse through a nationwide affiliation with Courage Houses set in NFL cities.

The people who have rained down hate upon the Block organization do not seem to understand that Michael Vick, the convicted dog-killer who spent two years in prison and lost a fortune for his crimes, did not ask to get one of the coveted awards. His Philadelphia Eagles teammates -- no one else -- voted unanimously that he would be their representative, along with one player from each of the 31 other NFL teams, at the coming banquet.

The announcement raised pure pandemonium among animal lovers, and the Ed Block organization became the immediate and most convenient target for their furor. Phones have rung nonstop, the group’s Internet connections have been shut down by overload and individuals who say they have long supported Ed Block swear they will never do so again.

Lamantia, a barber by trade who had a benevolent vision more than 30 years ago and has spent much of his time since then trying to turn it into reality, is a mild-mannered man. A staunch Catholic, he rarely raises his voice, but he is street-smart and stubborn and the very existence of this charity is due to his iron resolve. While other well-meaning sports-related programs have foundered, the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation has survived over the years principally through Lamantia’s tenacious ability to fight through the bad times.

“I only wish people could accept it for what it is,” Lamantia said of the latest challenge. “They [the players] vote; we give the award. That’s as simple as it gets.

“Now I hear from all these people who say they have backed us in the past and won’t do it anymore. Don’t they realize they are helping to destroy our organization?

“As far as Michael Vick goes, where is the forgiveness? How long do you hold a hate? How long does rehabilitation take? Has this man paid his debt to society? A team of his peers has seen this man in his element and spoken out. Who am I to judge?

“We at Ed Block like to think we have done some good over the years in our purpose to combat child abuse. We have initiated many programs to help not only children to heal, but to promote the healing of entire families.

“Now I would like to invite our critics to help us in our purpose, to put aside their hate and join in our campaign to fight child abuse.”

The announcement of Vick’s winning the award triggered all sorts of knee-jerk reactions, the most repeated of which went something like: “Eddie Block must be turning over in his grave.”

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were among the first to ring in with this statement:

"The Philadelphia Eagles fumbled when they gave Michael Vick the Ed Block Courage Award, which was named after a man who advocated in behalf of abused children. Michael Vick should not be the person anyone points to as a model of sportsmanship, even though he has now exchanged dogs for touchdowns after serving time for extreme cruelty to animals. We wish him well in educating others, but this is not appropriate and does not mark a joyous moment in NFL history."

After the initial shock, other more levelheaded voices have sounded. One of those belongs to Joe Ehrmann, the former Colts defensive tackle who is an ordained minister and has been a spiritual force in Baltimore sports for three decades.

“This has certainly put the Ed Block organization into a difficult situation,” said Ehrmann, who currently presides over a business called Coach For America that provides counseling and seminars for sports-related groups nationwide.

“It is essential that the Block people maintain their good relationship with the players and trainers who elect their representatives each year. The Eagles obviously felt that Michael Vick is deserving. He has plainly gained the trust of his teammates -- but in the context of the Ed Block Awards he doesn’t seem to be a good fit.

“But if we don’t learn to rehabilitate and give second chances, then how far have we come? I hope Michael Vick can speak out on this issue when he comes here."

Raymond Berry, the Colts’ Hall of Fame pass receiver, understands both sides of the troubled circumstances and offers some possible steps that might prevent similar confrontations in future years.

“Under the normal guidelines, I don’t see how the Block organization could do anything but accept the nomination,” said Berry from his Tennessee home. “Obviously it is a situation that is very sensitive and could be very embarrassing, but that is something Michael Vick must be strong enough to deal with. There are many pet owners who have strong feelings; it’s a huge issue with a lot of people.

“But there are a lot of other wrong things going on in the NFL these days -- drug abuse, spousal abuse, weapons violations. There are many cases of wrongdoing that fans don’t approve of.

“Perhaps the Block folks should sit down and construct a different set of guidelines for the future -- change the language of the award so that there is more of a filtering process. Perhaps this should serve as a wake-up call.”

The question still remains whether Eagles players realized their decision may have repercussions that severely cripple the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation. Meanwhile, the endangered messenger, Lamantia, sits dumbfounded and wonders how 32 years of dedicated blood, sweat and tears could come under such siege.

***
Eddie Block, the man for whom the foundation is named, was a World War II hero who served as athletic trainer for the Baltimore Colts for 24 years. He also was the trainer for the inaugural group of U.S. Astronauts and a respected author and humanitarian who fought tirelessly for disabled children and against child abuse before his death in 1983. He was inducted posthumously into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame last year.

The Block Foundation’s program at the annual banquet always features this passage written by its namesake: “By virtue of you coming here and reading this, you are among the compassionate of the world. No higher accolade can be given. Compassion is the soul of all religion. Compassion is the noble way of life, a great guide for the truly noble of heart.

“Compassion manifests itself in the desire to help one’s fellow man. To be of service, either directly through the contribution of time or money, which is used in a noble way. To work toward alleviating suffering and especially to alleviate the suffering of those who cannot help themselves.”

Over the years, several former Baltimore Colts have served as honorary or active presidents of the organization including Lenny Moore, Jim Mutscheller, Art Donovan, Tom Matte and Ehrmann.

--Larry Harris
*The author helped to form the original Ed Block organization.

Loyola’s Boylan Hanging It Up

Joe Boylan  (Larry French)

The nun had expressed her disappointment that young Boylan would not be attending Loyola High School, which the family could not afford. She told him if he did not attend the school, he would go to hell.

“I said, ‘Mom, if I’d known that I would have come here a lot sooner,’” Boylan recalled with a laugh. 

Perhaps making up for lost time, Boylan has seen immense achievement happen at Loyola throughout his 20-year tenure which will end in July 2010 he retires.

All programs gathered success as both men’s and women’s teams made it to the Division 1 level. The school has hosted championships in men’s (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010) and women’s (2002) lacrosse as well as golf (2005). The Greyhounds’ women’s soccer teams from 2000-’04 made tournament appearances while men’s soccer made it to the NCAA College Cup games in ‘07-’08. Loyola hired coach Jimmy Patsos from Maryland to revive its basketball program. Enhancements to Reitz Arena and the building of the new Ridley Athletic Complex made Loyola a more attractive place for recruits.

Boylan has seen the ups and the downs of Loyola athletics and remembers most the people who have made his time there an enjoyable and successful one.

“Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams going to the NCAA tournament in ’93 and ’94 with Patty Coyle and Skip Prosser was a magical moment for Loyola, no question about it," Boylan said. "Our soccer programs have been good; Diane Geppi-Aikens, her whole battle with her brain tumor and then being No. 1 in the country her last year and losing in the semifinals."

He brings himself back to that day -- the day the women’s lacrosse team had just lost, heart-wrenching since they wanted so desperately to win the title for Geppi-Aikens.

“Being in that locker room, knowing this is it, there’s not going to be another year,” Boylan said. “She’s in a wheelchair, and as she went around the room asking, ‘What was the best thing that happened to you this year?’ Those women came out of that locker room thinking about all the good things that had happened that year, not that they had lost the game. That was extraordinary.”

Strength and perseverance on and off the field have made Boylan’s job a breeze -- with a large staff at the office and a staff of two at home.

“There’s a sacrifice for a wife," Boylan said, "especially when you’re out 12 months of the year. … You have to have somebody that really understands even at a job like this.”

Molly Boylan understands. The couple have been married 43 years and have one daughter, Heather, who married Dave Wojcki, a former student-athlete at Loyola who graduated in 1991 and still holds the only triple-double in Loyola basketball history. Wojcki is now an assistant coach at Wake Forest.

Joe and Molly met in 1969, when Boylan was coaching the freshman basketball team at American University. At that time, Boylan was also teaching at Lansdowne High. He remembers back then there was no I-695 on which to travel the 140 miles round trip from Lansdowne to teach, to American for practice, and back to Prince George’s County, where he lived.

American’s varsity coach at the time was Tom Young, whom Boylan had previously recruited for at Catholic University (where Boylan’s brother played and once scored 60 points in a game) and the University of Maryland. When Young relocated to Rutgers in 1974, Boylan followed as Young’s associate head coach.

He helped lead an undefeated (32-0) team into the Final Four in 1976 but got beaten in the semifinals by Michigan. Though the team didn’t make it to the championship, they remained a close-knit bunch over the years. 

“The interesting thing about that team was it was before cable,” Boylan said. “So for two years, especially in the East, we were on every weekend or every other weekend when there was only one or two games on.”

The special nature of that team extended far beyond the locker room. Boylan can recall meeting Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss at an event a few years ago, and when the author discovered it was Boylan who had coached the 1976 team, he rattled off the roster as if he had coached the team himself.

Boylan’s legacy from 30 years ago is still remembered today, as his legacy from today will most certainly be remembered in another 30 years.

“It has been a real pleasure working with Joe over the years,” said Morgan State director of athletics Floyd Kerr. “He has been one of the best in the business. What he has done in leading Loyola to its current level of success in intercollegiate athletics is exemplary and very much worthy of recognition. … We will miss his leadership and wisdom.”

Towson athletic director Mike Hermann has “had the good fortune” of working with Boylan on many levels and said, “Joe never took himself too seriously, which is ironic because I know that he has had a serious impact on the athletics program at Loyola and his influence is evident in our community and on the national stage, particularly in the sports of lacrosse, basketball and soccer. He’s had a splendid career and deserves to retire, but our industry will miss him when he does.”

“The sad times don’t even come close to what the wonderful times were,” Boylan said. “You like to think that where your footsteps were, people have made things a little bit better and that’s all you can hope for.”

-- Krystina Lucido

Sports Obits List Is Long

Another year has come and gone -- and with it numerous sports celebrities are gone as well.

Just eight days into 2009, Mervo High School track coach William Vaughan passed away after complications from pneumonia. The 41-year-old former Mervo runner also put in time with the cross country and girl’s badminton teams.

The new baseball season turned sour when news came from Los Angeles that Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart -- who starred at Williamsport High School -- was killed in a car accident April 9, just hours after the 22-year-old pitched six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics with his proud father in attendance.

Adenhart's death came just five days after former Morgan State basketball star Marvin Webster died at age 56. The "Human Eraser" was a shot-blocking phenom who led the Bears to a national championship (Division II) in the 1970s. 

On April 13 the voice of the Phillies was silenced when Harry Kalas collapsed and died in the broadcast booth. Known for his "Outta here!" home run calls, Kalas called the first and last game at Veterans Stadium as well as six no-hitters, six National League Championship Series and three World Series.

Two days before the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes, Bill Passmore, a former jockey who rode in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness before becoming a Maryland racing steward, died at age 76. During a riding career that spanned nearly 40 years, Passmore won 3,531 races. After making his last mount in 1986, Passmore spent nearly 20 years as a steward for the Maryland Jockey Club.

Steve McNair (Sabina Moran/PressBox)

The following month, local sports fans and outdoors enthusiasts lost one of their best voices when Bill Burton, longtime outdoors columnist for the Baltimore Evening Sun and Annapolis Capital, died at age 82. As Larry Harris wrote in the August issue of PressBox, "Whether Burton was chasing monster bluefish on the bounding main of the Chesapeake or coaxing a minnow out of some place called Muddy Hole, he painted glorious word pictures that made a reader want to be there with him."

Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington Wizards, died Nov. 25 at age 85. The NBA's longest-tenured owner led an investment group that bought the Baltimore Bullets in 1964 for $1.1 million. Four years later, he bought out his partners and moved the team to Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, there isn't nearly enough room to cover all those who passed in 2009. Other notable sports figures include former Baltimore Colts Nelson Munsey and Mike Woods; former quarterback, congressman and vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp; Heisman Trophy winner Doc Blanchard, the "Mr. Inside" to Glenn Davis' "Mr. Outside" in Army's dominant backfield in the 1940s; former Maryland football coach Lou Saban; and Bill Weber, a former teammate of Babe Ruth who was the oldest living ex-major leaguer.

Here is a complete list of 2009 sports deaths.

--Kevin Heitz
 
It’s Time Again To Shake, Shiver

Polar Bear Plunge (Sabina Moran/PressBox)

Just the thought of it probably makes you want to grab your Snuggie and curl up in front of the fireplace with some hot chocolate.

Well, while you are warming up, think about those who will be freezing Jan. 30 for Special Olympics Maryland’s 14th annual Polar Bear Plunge.

The event has grown immensely since its inception, something Dan Herr and the Ravens Roosts have been witnesses to since they became part of the event eight years ago.

In 2003, Herr, then president of Ravens Roost 60, had just raised money for Special Olympics through a bull roast when a woman from the organization suggested the group participate in a crazy event called the Polar Bear Plunge. Herr took it to the main council and they set a “modest goal” of raising $5,000. By the time the event rolled around, 50 Roost members participated and raised more than $17,000.

Since then Ravens Roost participation has grown and their relationship with Special Olympics along with it. Roost 60 is now a community partner with the organization.

Herr has been plunging from the beginning but became a super plunger three years ago. This means he submerges himself in the Chesapeake Bay not once, not twice, not just three times -- but once every hour for 24 hours.

Regular plungers plunge just once, and this year will have two opportunities to do so. Since the event has attracted so many freezing wannabes, plungers can either wade in at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. to make the event run smoother.

“They all go in once,” Herr said of the regular plungers. “For the most part a lot of people when they do the regular plunge, they might go in up to their waist or something like that. For the majority all of the super plungers, when we go in, we go in all the way. I think for the most part 90 percent of us, on every plunge we dunk all the way under.” 

The super plungers jump-start the event at noon the day before, this year on Jan. 29. Supporters of the super plungers who want to take a dive with a family member or friend can do so at about 7 or 8 p.m. during the “Family and Friends Plunge.” Participants super plunge through the night with a final plunge at 10 a.m. on the day of the main event, Plungapalooza.

“You go out around one, two o’clock in the morning,” Herr said. “You see one or two cars going across the Bay Bridge, the water’s calm, it’s peaceful and quiet out there.

“And then you got 50 to 55 raving lunatics that start jumping into the water.”

Ravens Roost got involved with the organization in large part because of the fact that, of the organizations they were researching at the time, Special Olympics donated the highest percentage of its proceeds to the cause. Herr has no personal connection but loves watching the athletes and their excitement and determination to participate.

He also can’t help but enjoy the reactions he gets from inquirers who have never heard of the event.  

 “I enjoy seeing people’s faces when they say, ‘You’re doing what? You’re crazy,’" Herr said. "But to see the athletes … the determination of the athletes to finish, to participate. It’s well worth it."

“You’re cold for a few minutes, a half-hour, an hour, but these athletes have challenges above them each and every day.”

--Krystina Lucido

From The Cheap Seats

• Unlikely Result: Who could have predicted the Ravens-Patriots wild card game would be so boring?

• Shades Of The Past: Will the uncalled face mask penalty that gave the Cardinals an overtime win over the Packers become as long-lived as the controversial Green Bay field goal that beat the Baltimore Colts in 1965?

• Who, Who, How, How: David Segui’s name on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot must have been someone’s idea of a cruel joke.

• Check The Webster’s: Has the word “ensuing” ever been used anywhere except in connection with a football kickoff or possession?

• Lines To Love: From Titans speedster Chris Johnson to the Sporting News: “My first job? I was 16 years old and the ‘chef’ at the finest Mexican restaurant in all of Longview, Texas -- Taco Bell.”

• Hard Times: Pepsi dropped its advertising for the Super Bowl. Now, how many of those media outlets that for years have been moaning about sending reporters to cover the event will be brave enough to follow suit?

• Who’s Your Daddy: Early in the basketball season, near the end of a blowout loss to Villanova, Malcolm Washington, a 5-foot-9 walk-on at lowly Penn, picked up a loose ball, drove and scored. His papa is some guy named Denzel.

-- LH

Issue 145: January 2010