| Welcome to the Cooperstown Crier |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
12-27-2007 The Cooperstown Booster Club has decided to rename the annual Cooperstown Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament after longtime coach Dick White, who died from prostate cancer in October. Beginning with this year, the tournament will be named the Dick White Boys Holiday Basketball Tournament. Following is a story written by longtime Cooperstown boys basketball public address announcer Tom Heitz about White and his impact on the players he coached and the community as a whole. The tournament begins tonight with Westhill playing Clinton in one first round game, and Cooperstown playing South Lewis in the other first round game. The consolation and championship games will be played Friday night. By TOM HEITZ Things had not gone well at Red Bursey gym that evening for Coach Dick White and the team. And, as she drove to her home in Hartwick, Jane reflected on the sacrifices that she and other booster club volunteers had made, and all the work and effort that had gone into creating the tournament. And, Jane found herself feeling troubled. After leading the eventual tourney-winning New Hartford team 25-22 at halftime, the Redskins were held to just four points in the third quarter, and New Hartford coasted to a 62-45 win. The next night, the Redskins lost in the consolation round to Unatego by a 54-46 score, again relinquishing an early lead. That loss marked the first time in Dick White's varsity coaching career dating back to 1969 that the Redskins had lost three straight games on their home court - ostensibly an embarrassing and inauspicious beginning for a tournament that has since logged a quarter of a century. But it wasn't the outcome of that first-ever game that had Jane so unsettled. No, it was the realization that she had missed the opportunity to thank someone who had made it all possible. The tournament idea had come from Roberta and Joe Morley, parents of point guard Peter Morley, a starter and star player. Everyone in the booster club had rallied to the cause, and the Morleys' inspiration had become a reality. But it wasn't the Morleys either who had been left out. No, that night, in the wake of a Cooperstown defeat, someone else had not received an appropriate acknowledgement. After the tournament, Jane Johngren decided to correct that oversight publicly by writing a letter to The Freeman's Journal which appeared the following week, in the Jan. 3, 1983 edition. Jane's letter read in part: "... in one of those lost opportunities of life, following the first night's Redskin defeat, I at least missed saying thanks to someone who really made the tournament possible, who represents in many ways the reasons why I worked so hard in the first place. That someone is Dick White, Redskin varsity basketball coach. After the dinner reception for all the players which lasted until about 10 p.m., Mr. White was heard to comment on what an effort we, the Boosters, had put it, and how tired we must all be. A few of us responded, rather numbly, that the visiting participants seemed to have had a good time, and that the event had been a success. But, on the drive home, I realized that we had been extremely cowardly. It can't have been easy being Redskin basketball coach that night; in fact, with no blame intended anywhere, it must have been downright disappointing. Yet, words - any words at all - escaped us. So I will say now what I should have said that night - rather belatedly to be sure - that the profound respect and admiration I have for this man was nothing if not increased during the tournament. Even if things didn't turn out quite as Mr. White, and the team, and the rest of us had hoped, I think the job they all do, year after year, win or lose, is something to be proud of." Signed, Jane Johngren Beginning this year, in its 26th year, the CCS Sports Booster Club has renamed this tournament in Dick White's honor. Henceforth this tournament will be known as The Dick White Boys Holiday Basketball Tourney. This gesture, too, is belated. Nonetheless, the CCS Sports Booster Club hopes that renaming this tournament expresses the same deep, sincere gratitude, admiration and respect found in Jane Johngren's public message written in January 1983. Resources for the above provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library. Excerpts from Jane Johngren's letter quoted with permission. |
Copyright 2007, Cooperstown Crier, Cooperstown, NY All rights reserved