A reminiscence from last year that fell into the cracks ...
My first trip back to Cornell for the Ben Mintz/CFA Golf Outing initially met with some resistance. I had not attended previous August events over the years for a variety of excuses.
Then the week before, I was flying into Jersey from Florida to begin a whirlwind week commencing in Newport Rhode Island for a family reunion, and ending with a wedding back in Belleville NJ.
Sandwiched in between was this stop in Ithaca to attend a golf tournament in which I would not even be playing.
My wife didn’t have to speak. I knew what she was thinking: You sure about this trip to Cornell, Joe? You’re not even playing golf. We were just up there in April to see the guys. There are a million things you can do home in Jersey.
On the other hand, her thoughts never made it into words. She, my daughters, and I knew that the imminent moments at Cornell would surely add to the priceless morsels of memories that our great university, the town of Ithaca, and Cornell Football always seem to do. Indeed, today yours truly is richer for the trip, and I know that all who attended are as well.
It seems that for worthy affairs at Cornell the good Lord must always smile down, because our memories of the gray Ithaca weather get quickly quenched with majestic and sparkling summer days. Could the warm western New York State sun have been more soothing and comforting for the Tournament? And the trip back to our idyllic setting at Cornell never gets old, regardless of where they put a new building. “The Hill” will always be “the” hill upon which America prettiest campus is on display.
However, upon my return, biggest was my anticipation of seeing the “guys” with whom we shared a few special moments earning the right to become a “Wearer of the C”. The icing on the cake at Cornell is represented by the dozens of others who support the future of Cornell Football, working diligently for its success. They all have become like brothers. Indeed, the men and women supporting the Cornell Football Association were the ultimate attraction.
The Ithaca Sporting Club? What’s this place like in the bowels of our college town? Well, the exhilaration of our first activity of the weekend erupted beyond my wildest expectations.
- First there were Dom Albanese and Captain Steve Garrison immediately greeting me, the same two behemoth (everybody is big to sixty seven inch former running backs!) with whom I had worked for years in Newport and then at Marriott.
- Then the treasure of Pete Noyes gave his always sincere welcome, introduced me to his life-long friend in Fran… a non-Cornellian who even had encouraged his sons and his buddies from Boston to visit Pete every year at Benny Mintz’ outing… all because of these great Cornell guys that Pete, Coach Pendergast, and the CFA have corralled for one glorious August weekend;
- Mrs. Noyes was right with Pete, celebrating this reunion of lovers of Cornell Football, in spite of her family’s profound loss this year; then Marinaro with dozens of pictures of young “Edward Louis”;
- A lean Dick Storto (could he really have been Big Ed’s ferocious escort on those legendary Ivy Football Saturdays?);
- Captain Fred Devlin leading the CFA, inflicted a bear hug that could not be forgotten;
- The spirit of the immortal Gary Wood surely loomed, as alums from his teams began to arrive;
- Ratner, Hanlon, Wilson… those who went before some of us who will always be bigger, smarter, tougher, and more mature than any of us could ever be. (Football always does that for those of us who label our leaders as heroes.);
- “The guys” came filing in, one after another. Great food, drink, and fellowship… how can it get better than this tomorrow?
The validation of my decision to be at the Golf Tournament was confirmed even further as soon as I arrived at the Moakly House on Saturday morning. There sitting before me was Dr. George Arangio, the same spunky lineman who finished his playing days a season before I arrived, but whom I had come to know as the Psi U football player on his way to Cornell Medical School. Wow, I had thought to myself some thirty-eight years ago, this guy pulled it off… football and the classroom.
For the next two days George and I shared our common passions for our heritage, the blue collar grit of our parents who sacrificed so much for their Cornell-bound sons, his experience as one of the few of our band of brothers to spend multiple years on The Hill living with priests (?), and, of course, talking about this game called football that would have us come to love coaches like Chuck Gottfried who turned boys into men in the trenches of linemen warfare.
Could that be Ted Thoren, now moving confidently on his new hip, calling me by a nickname only he, my late father, and I would ever remember; and Tommy McGorey still sporting that warm smile that always signaled some needed fatherly advice would follow his artistic tape job? Coach Paul Pawlak looked as young as I remember him in the sixties… this game of football has done him well. My wife should see how worthwhile this trip is turning out to be!
Man, I wish I were playing golf, I thought. But I’ve never been on a boat ride on Cayuga Lake. Next year the hips will be ready, so let’s see how Cornell looks from our fabled Finger Lake member. And how majestic and serene did it reign above Cayuga waters, convincing me that this was becoming my best weekend of the summer.
With Dr. Arangio on one side of me once again, but now on the other the inimitable and legendary Richie Moran of Cornell Lacrosse, I was convinced that …every recruit should be in the presence of these two, and then we wouldn’t lose one to another Ivy League institution! Dr. George and Coach Moran were manifestations not only on how to be successful in life, but also … significant in the lives of others.
By the time the dinner, speakers, and auction had arrived, I was convinced the value of being at the Tournament could not get any greater. Wrong! From Marinaro’s auctioning of his young son (??!!), to the best pep talk I’ve heard in years from our cerebral cheerleader emeritus, Dr. Ken Blanchard, I couldn’t wait to call my wife to tell her that she should plan on traveling with me in 2004.
With Fred Devlin as our CFA master of ceremonies, Kornheiser and young Schaap put on a masterful show of entertainment and sports knowledge that made the price of admission now seem miniscule.
And our auctioneer, Buck Briggs, … what a new day job he has if he wants it! But what about our leader of Cornell Football? So confident that the work of his staff and that of the kids would be paying off soon, Head Coach Pendergast showed us his unique blend of humility and steely will to get Cornell to the top of the Ancient Eight. We were all encouraged.
As the weekend drew to a close, I knew I was not the only one who had dedicated himself to return next year. Hopefully, we all will bring others like me who had previously never participated in the Ben Mintz/CFA Golf Tournament. The more we can give to the young men of Cornell Football, the more we will become their heroes like the ones each of us all have looked up to over the years. The more we support this event and others like it, the more significant we can become in the lives of future Cornellians… all through the football program.
As I headed back up Dryden Road on Sunday morning to return to Jersey, I couldn’t help but think that Mintz, Dick Schaap, and guys like Eamon, Tanner, Wood, Doc Kavanaugh, Coach Musick, and the other Cornell greats who have gone home to their eternal reward would say that a job was well done this year… a job that would be another seed to guarantee Cornell greatness in football in the future. And as my mind’s eye glanced back on the weekend that was ending, I began to whistle “Give My Regards to Davey”. Yes, we’ll … “be back next fall” …and next summer, because Cornell has given to each of us more than we could ever return.
Indeed, it was … “The Right Choice”… to be at this wonderful event this year; so right, that I can’t wait until next year!
Comments