It was about a year ago when Matt McKenna became the athletic director at Lackawanna. He knew about the championship history of the Steelers. He knew about the great names of Steeler past.
But he didn't see any of them up on a wall.
Lackawanna, one of the top athletic programs in Western New York, astonishingly has not had any kind of a hall of fame. Until now.
The first class of the Lackawanna City Schools Athletic Wall of Fame will be inducted on Sept. 30, and it is a jaw-dropper: football's Ron Jaworski (1969), Ray Braxton ('88) and Mike Mamula ('91), women's pro golf coach Cindy Pietrusik ('77), late Canisius College basketball star Jeff Taggart ('85) and the late Gordy Bukaty ('57), who played, coached and was AD at the school.
"Coming into the [AD] position I realized the strong, rich tradition Lackawanna athletics had, and what a great time to develop an athletic wall of fame," said McKenna, a Kenmore East grad who coached for 10 years at Starpoint. "Just look at the names -- it's remarkable that there hasn't been one yet. It's much overdue."
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McKenna deserves a great deal of credit for helping develop something that will be a focal point for a community very proud of its sports, and rightly so. The Wall of Fame plaques will line the hallway that spectators walk through to enter the gym.
McKenna said there has been plenty of help from community members, including former Athletic Director Sandy Drozdowski, Lackawanna graduates Dennis DiPaolo and Ralph Galanti, former coaches Bill Pukalo, Steve Hetey, Mark Moretti and Rick Hubbard as well as three former Steelers involved in the football program: former coach Bruce Lakso along with current coach Adam Tardif and assistant Jeff Otremba.
Having been on committees to determine all-star teams -- from annual teams to all-time squads -- I'm impressed that the schools' first class is so compact. Sometimes Halls of Fame get a little carried away in size.
The induction ceremony -- at 5 p.m. Sept. 30 -- should be a great community event. It will be open to the public in the high school gym, and afterward attendees will gather at the homecoming football game against East Aurora.
McKenna said that while Jaworski's Monday Night Football duties will prevent him from attending, he would have representatives there and that he will send a video message. Mamula will travel from Philadelphia, Pietrusik from Boca Raton, Fla., and the families of Taggart and Bukaty will be in attendance.
For more information, contact McKenna at 827-6727, ext 5.
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Harvard Cup Hall back
After a one-year respite, the Harvard Cup Hall of Fame is back. Among the deserving candidates is former Buffalo Public Schools Athletic Director Dave Thomas, during whose tenure the hall came to fruition.
The rest of the Class of 2012: coach Larry Veronica of Bennett; Frank Scarcella of Burgard; Pat Ruffino, Garcia Leonard and Michael Patanella (posthumous) of Grover Cleveland; John Cervi of Kensington; Wesley Carmack and Ben Marando of Lafayette; Dennis Shephard (posthumous) of Riverside; Michael Custer and Frank Jablonski of Seneca; Michael "Mickey" Catanzaro (posthumous) and Prentis Henley of South Park; Edmond Gicewicz and Philip Serafini (posthumous) of Technical.
This year's inductees will be given a tour of All High Stadium and will be introduced on the field prior to the 7 p.m. game between South Park and Bennett on Oct. 14. The dinner and induction ceremony will be Oct. 15 at Pettibone's Grille. Tickets to the dinner are $40 and available pre-sale only. For event information, or to purchase tickets, please contact David B. Thomas at 533-6604.
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Around the halls
*Niagara Falls 6-foot-3 junior forward Jermaine Crumpton was offered a basketball scholarship by Canisius College, according to Falls coach Sal Constantino. Crumpton is a tremendous rebounder who has good size, a great demeanor, and even hit a game-clinching three for the Wolverines against Aquinas last year.
*I left messages with now-former Jamestown basketball player Jaysean Paige -- last year's News Player of the Year -- on Tuesday but they were not returned. Despite telling The Buffalo News last week in a phone call from Hazard, Ky., that he "possibly" would return to Jamestown, there seems to be no reason to believe he will be back with the Red Raiders, a sentiment that is shared by Jamestown coach and Athletic Director Ben Drake.
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Live chat tonight
Discuss the issues covered here, the young football season or anything in the world of high school sports with me tonight at 8 at buffalonews.com.
e-mail: kmcshea@buffnews.com
