Let Me Tell You a Story...
Some of you might remember...
When Puffcat figured out that I was a
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Carle Place Frog.
Yes, I attended the fine Long Island public institution,
that proudly wore the Green and White [Just
like the Jets
did eventually] and produced the hero
of Super Bowl III - Matt Snell.
I've got two stories, actually - the first about
the "Snell" Team
and the year that followed:
Matt Snell
was the first black kid to ever attend Carle
Place, and one of the most gifted athletes
ever at the home of the Frogs.
He played halfback in an old full house T formation, coached by one of
the University of Delaware's
heroes, Joe Coady. With Snell leading the rushing, and FB Buddy Tooze
and HB Jimmy Rappaport behind QB - OK I forget - and an O-Line that
averaged over 260, they were unstoppable. Call a penalty on a TD and they
scored from 5 or 10 yards further out.
They were undefeated, a Long Island powerhouse
in Nassau County Div III, back in the days before playoffs, and the
brag around CP was that if we played Hofstra, we'd win!
Then came 1960 and everyone but the Center had
graduated. Carle Place
was "defeated" - every game in '60. We came back in '61 because we dropped
down to Div IV [our student base dropped], but after the 1960 season Joe
Coady vowed he'd never play an all senior team again.
Well guess what, NU
Coach Randy Walker had the same thing
happen last year. Look at the talent that graduated to the NFL!
3 on the O-Line, the star QB, the star WR, the
star (but hurt) running back, 3 of the best linebackers to play at NU,
We can argue about talent levels, and the collapse of the team last year,
but folks, you don't replace 5 of 11 on O and the middle of the defense
and come out playing at the same level a year later.
So lets pick up the Carle
Place Story...
Shift to 1963, Carle
Place has
a young and unproved squad - half juniors/half seniors. But we have a Jr.
QB who can throw the ball 70 yards; we have a Sr. Fullback who has lifted
weights for 2 years; we have two wide receivers, a Junior who has worked
his butt off learning to catch and hold, a Soph who is the #2 QB, but who
can fly. And we have an O-Line and defense of all grades (including my
"little brother") that all wrestle, lift weights and are generally typical
obnoxious HS football players.
There is a team in Nassau
County
- The Mineola Mustangs [our version of dOSU]. Located in the County
seat, 1/2 again larger than Carle Place,
we'd lost to them on TV the year before, almost as bad as NU
lost to Air Force
Saturday. Very embarrassing if you were a Frog.
A year later, comes the rematch. The QB Joe
Clavelle is Joe Namath, WR Dickie Weigang and his high flying
counterpart are unstoppable, and the FB, Richard VonWeigang
rumbles up and down the field. Carle Place
beats the nationally ranked #5 Mineola by 2 TDs. The Mineola Band
is crying in the busses - so is their team.
The moral of this story is that the kids that suffered
through 1961 and 1962 were the kids that won the game in 1963. Joe
Coady had been the winningest coach in Nassau County prior to 1960. He was
called the "Cautious Crier" because while his teams averaged
1 loss a year his first 10 years at Carle Place, he always talked about
his team's weaknesses when he talked to the media! To listen to Joe
Cody every September, Carle Place had a decent team, but just not enough
to win the division again.
I'm not sure what his final record career record
at Carle Place
was, but I know he is still a legend in New York.
So my fellow Wildcat Fans, don't give up
on the present Wildcats!
1. I was just a Frosh back in 1960, but
I knew that talent was coming up, they were my classmates. Despite what
you think you see this September 3rd, I truly believe that the Talent
is There in Evanston.
2. Maryland
fans gave up on Ron VanderLinden - his recruits won the conference
the year after he was fired. 75% of his recruits lost to
N**** D*** last Saturday night. Makes
you wonder...
All we need to do is wait for the Cats to mature.
It might be Saturday - it might be in October - but we have to be patient
or we become losers again, forever.
-- da Coach
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about it on the Ryan Football Board
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- Beat 'em All!
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All Materials Copyright 2002: Roy
Lamberton, the Writer or Purple Reign/Alliance Sports
