Remembering September 11th, 2001

Jeff Dingle - Villanova University

September 11th, 2001 started out as one of those crisp late summer, pre-autumn days.  It was sunny and crisp with little humidity in the air.  The day was almost perfect until a little after 9 am in New York City.  I was working at my regular gig calling on former owner of WISL 1480/95.3 Mick Haggerty about the upcoming Mount Carmel-Southern Columbia game.  Haggerty informed me that plans flew into the both towers of the World Trade Center.  Not being near a television or radio, I did not comprehend that these were jet liners.  Life as we know in the US, did change forever.  


Note:  The games did go on Friday, September 14th.

After the days and weeks settled down, I found at that anyone I had a friendship with from Villanova University who worked in NYC did survive.    Months later I did get to read the story of Villanova football player Jeff Dingle.  In my years at Villanova (1984-1988),  Villanova was trying to resurrect a football program that went through 3-year hiatus in the early 80's.  Jeff Dingle was running with exceptional ability and contagious smile that you would see around campus.  I was later to find out the Jeff basically became the stay-at-home dad while his wife was completing her studies to be a practicing pediatrician.  

On that Tuesday, September 11th, Dingle was reentering the workforce at a new job and was at a company breakfast at the Windows of the World Restaurant.  I found this online about Jeff while at Villanova, he had a great day on September 10th, 1988.

The story of Jeff Dingle has taught me try not to take things for granted and try to get the most out of life that we can. 

Since 9/11 our nation has held great regard for all of military which had taken a back seat since the end of the Vietnam War.  We still have men and women who may have been under 10 years old on 9/11 still volunteering to serve.  Hopefully, this will be a positive as our nation goes forward.

On the other hand, our political leadership on both sides of the aisle have adopted a "scorched earth" policy of the other side bordering on childish.  

Like the ordinary citizens who stepped out of September 10th and became heroes on September 11th, 2001, we are seeing that same spirit displayed as the worse flood in nearly 40 years comes to visit this September.

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

April 1st, 1985, 26 years and going strong!!!!!!

Villanova, Happy 25th NCAA Champs

Courtesy of philly.com

25 Things to Ponder!!!








It was April 1st, 1985 when Villanova shocked Georgetown in claiming college basketball's top prize in Lexington, Kentucy. 1985 marked the first year the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the last game ever without a shot clock.






Connally Brown 50 Sophomore Orange, TX
Veltra Dawson 10 Freshman highwood, IL
Chuck Everson 51 Center Junior Brentwood, NY
Brian Harrington 20 Senior


Harold Jensen 32 Guard Sophomore Trumbull, CT
Wyatt Maker 43 Center Sophomore Salinas, CA
R. C. Massimino 13 Guard Junior Dwayne McClain
33 Guard/Forward 6-6 Senior Worcester, MA
Gary McLain 22 Guard Senior Methuen, MA
Ed Pinckney 54 Forward/Center 6-9 Senior Bronx, NY
Steve Pinone 25 Sophomore Wethersfield, CT


Mark Plansky 31 Forward 6-7 Freshman Wakefield, MA
Harold Pressley 21 Forward 6-7 Junior Mystic, CT
Dwight Wilbur 4 Guard Junior Paterson, NJ

Happy Anniversary Guys!!!

Where I'll be today!!!!

It's not 1985, but it's Villanova vs. Georgetown.

The Voice with 1985 NCAA Tourney MVP Ed Pinckney

NCAA Final: Cinderella Sitting This One Out

"The Voice" and 1985 Tournament MVP Villanova's Ed "E-Z Ed" Pinckney

Kansas and Memphis, two number one seeds by the way, will battle it out for NCAA college basketball supremacy. The ingrediants that made this tournament great in years past are missing once again.

Heartland Conference

Three teams in the News-Item coverage area; Shamokin, Mount Caremel and Southern have their schedules posted for the 2008 season. Click here.

1985 NCAA Champions - The Villanova Wildcats

1985 Tournament MVP, Ed Pinckney, with the CoalRegion Voice after a game at Bucknell in December 2005

A Student's Perspective

Landing myself on the campus of Villanova University in the fall of 1984, little did I imagine how the spring of my freshman year would turn out. I would be witness to the epicenter of March Madness and of one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament final history.

Among the many topics of our freshman year was how good our bad the team would be in the Big East and a possible NCAA run. Little did we know that the history of the previous three seasons would prepare the 1985 Wildcats with destiny. The 1985 Wildcat team were led by three seniors, Ed Pinckney, Gary "Gizmo" McLain, and Dwayne "D-Train" McClain. The team was rounded out by juniors, Harold Pressley, Dwight Wilbur, and Chuck Everson. Also sophomore Harold Jensen and freshman Mark Plansky would round out the major contributors. Others on the team included Wyatt Maker, Veltra Dawson, RC Massimino, Brian Harrington, and Connally Brown.

HISTORY THAT SHOULD BE MENTIONED

On the surface the game looks like the 8th seeded Wildcats came out of nowhere. The core of this Wildcat squad made it to regional finals against North Carolina in 1982, Houston in 1983, and played against Keith Lee and Memphis in the 1982 tourney. Ed Pinckney had a big game against Georgetown his sophomore year with a 27-point, 22-rebound game while holding Patrick Ewing under 10 points. That era produced big men like Ewing and Hakeem Olajouwan that could run the court. They were a precursor of today's big men.

1985 Tournament

The first four games produced wins over:

Dayton - at Dayton's home floor

Michigan - #1 seed in the region

Maryland - Len Bias led

North Carolina - thank god Jordan was in the NBA

Semi's

Memphis - held the Tiger 27 points under average and a season low 45.

Final's

Georgetown - one last time the Jake LaMotta-Sugar Ray Robinson battle took place with the wildcats coming out on top.

Interesting tidbits:

Villanova shot 22 of 28 from the floor. 28 attempts are still the lowest by a winning team

and the Cat's only pulled down 17 rebounds. Dwayne McClain made 24 of 25 free throws in the tourney. Pinckney had 48 rebounds in 6 games.

Also, on April 1 st, 1985 Al Severance, long time Villanova head coach passed away at a Lexington hotel. I would compare it to John Wooden suddenly passing the day of a UCLA championship.

April Fool

It was hard to imagine what winning would be like. I never seen so many police in my life. I got together with some and watched the game at Sullivan Hall with about 20 people crammed into a small dorm room. Once the final buzzer sounded, I was in the middle of our quad. Car horns honking for miles. Still a blur, I believe I got back to St. Mary's around 4:30. Not being able to sleep I made to the cafe and phone rang. With Easter coming in five days, they decided to let us go home early, the campus had more toilet paper on the ground than Charmin. It would take a week to get the campus up to condition on Easter Tuesday. Legend has it, unused rolls of toilet paper were going for $10 the following morning.

For the Rest of Us

Living in St. Mary's dorm along with with half of the players was a true college experience. You got to see what national television wasn't showing you. They were true students and gentlemen. Our dorm had it's own cafeteria and on crowded days no one ever denied a seat at their table (They sat at the same place out of habit and not reservation).

As the rest of my four years continued, you can see what Division I basketball is about. A small group of men with a common purpose. When signing on the join a special fraternity. They pretty much come to breath Villanova sports. In comparison, when my friends and I are going home to families on holidays or enjoying spring or summer break, the team is always preparing for the next game by taking summer courses to lighten up the load in the fall or spring or working out. Today, I dust off the tape one more time and 22 years later. Whenever I think of something that can't be done, I think about that incredible April Fool's Day in 1985 and imagine the possibilities.

Postscript

Most of the 1985 Wildcats met some great success and person triumph. Ed Pinckney returned to Villanova and remains an assistant coach. Gary McLain probably has the most interesting story and you could read by clicking the link above. Gizmo has the true rags to riches to rags and possibly back to riches story. See where Florida coach Billy Donovan played an important part. Mark Plansky and I became friends through his junior year roommate who was from Pottsville, PA. If you want to read more about the team check out Pinckney's book. I have a direct link to it on the blog. Just scroll down on the left.