Recently, I’ve explored the Neopolitan based slang used in our HS locker room and mentioned Coach Mel. But, there were many coaches from youth through college. I remember most, and each had some effect on my development as a player AND as a person.
I respected my coaches, even those I was not close to. That respect was enhanced when I started coaching, especially HS athletes! I’d not understood that the human side of coaching was way more important than X’s and O’s until I coached and even more so as a boss at work.
Caboo Gatz – Part II!
Before I continue, I found this “gabbadeegats/capa di cazz’ – ball face (capo di cazzo) [gaa-baa-dee-GATS].” This is from the American-Italian Dictionary (link here).
So, there you go! It’s a “real” word! Kinda!!!!
My Coaches
My first coach was my father. He started working with me as a baby! He was an offensive lineman but wanted me to be a quarterback, but I didn’t have the body! So, I was O-line bound!
I wished the same for our son, but even though he had the body and brain to be a QB, he wasn’t given the chance and ended up being a center in HS and college too! Oh, well, might still have a chance in the future? Fingers crossed!
In HS, coaches Pagano, Berrier, and Mack had responsibility for our offensive line. They would drill into us, “Man On, Front Side, Back Side!” I’d repeat it on the field, at school, at night, when I ate….and still repeat 46 years later!
So, what’s “Man On, Front Side, Back Side?” It was our HS blocking rule. “What’s a ‘blocking rule’?” It’s a rubric to make quick decisions by our o-line as to who to block and such that we’d block in unison knowing what each other would do.
ASIDE – Coach Kopko was our head football coach. In the classroom, he was our history teacher and pretty laid back except if someone acted up in class. He’d get furious and corporal punishment was generally accepted back then, especially in a “Catholic” school! In order to minimize that fury, he’d expect his players, especially us captains, to keep order.
Diametrically opposed to this was our head baseball coach, Mr. Schmidt, our accounting teacher. Coach Schmidt was laid back all the time! He’d routinely send a note to the office to release us from school early in the morning to head over to the baseball field to rake and line the field before the game! What a boondoggle!
ASIDE FROM ASIDE – Once, Carmen I., Carl P., and I were released early after a morning rain to get the field prepared. Carl had the great idea of getting kerosene, pouring it into the puddles, then setting the puddles afire to burn off the puddle! WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!
So, we took Carm’s old baby blue Oldsmobile out to Saybrook to the gas station that had kerosene next to St. Angelo’s Bowling Alley. We loaded 10 gallons in two cans into the Old’s trunk and started back to Ceaderquest Park (our field). While crossing the railroad tracks on Rt. 45, the old Old’s stopped, ON THE TRACKS!
I’ve never been sure if Carm was kidding, but as the gates started to come down indicating that a train was approaching, the car started and off we went to the field! (More on Carm’s driving in another post!!!!)
BTW – POURING KEROSENE IN A PUDDLE TO BURN OFF THE WATER DOESN’T WORK!!!!
END ASIDE FROM ASIDE!
Coach Kopko’s fury would come out during practice and before games! We’d hear a screaching “HELLS BELLS” or my all time favorite “JESUS, MARY, and JOSEPH…DO IT AGAIN!” after a botched play in practice!
ANOTHER ASIDE FROM ASIDE – I used “JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH” nearly daily in my 15+ years of coaching. My reputation as a “yeller” as a coach preceded me! I’d grown up in a different time, and place and did (and still do) little to adjust to a PC mentality!
I actually had a parent approach me before the season in fear that I’d yell at her child too much…I promised that I’d not yell at him any more than any other player!!! BTW – I’m friends with that parent now! AND, WHEN I SEE THAT PLAYER TODAY, AS HE’S NOW AN ADULT, HE STILL SAYS, “HEY COACH!” AND HAVE BEEN TOLD DIRECTLY BY HIM, “YOU WERE MY BEST COACH!” This boy (adult?) played college football!
This was one of my most proud, non-parent moments…END ASIDE FROM ASIDE!
Coach Kopko would truly release his fury in his pregame speeches! His nostrils would flair, spit would be flying from his mouth, his hat would jump off his head, and in the meantime, our team’s lather would rise! Then, after his speech, he’d release us to the field. No door was needed on the locker room, we’d run through the wall for that man!
Only twice, in 3 years, do I remember Coach Kopko releasing the responsibility for the pre-game speech to another coach. During my senior year, a close friend died after several months in a coma after being hit by a car on his bike. Both of us captains were close to the boy, and very tight with his brother.
The coach that did the speech used the boy’s death as the body of his pre-game speech. We were fighting for a state championship berth, but that speech was so bad, we laid an egg, big time! In that game, against a team that we should’ve easily beat, we lost. Luckily, that loss didn’t stop us from making the playoffs. I don’t believe that Coach Kopko gave up his pre-game speech again throughout the remainder of his career….END ASIDE
“What does ‘Man On, Front Side, Back Side’ mean?” My job was to make snap decisions using that rule, then to execute a block based on that decision:
- my first decision, block the guy in front of me (Man On)
- my second decision, if there’s no Man On, block the first guy toward the side that the play is being run (Front Side)
- my third decision, if there’s no Man On or Front Side, look to my Back Side to see if there’s an opponent to the other side of the play that could disrupt us
- my final decision, if there are no defensive guys to block based upon the above decisions, go downfield and block someone – THIS WAS MY FAVORITE!!! I loved to make open-field blocks because most times the person was running to the play, and many times off-balance and unaware of me…leading to some tremendous pancake blocks that LOOKED GREAT ON FILM!
Long before there was a “zone blocking” scheme, we, the mid-’70s, ran a predecessor called the Veer. Zone/Veer schemes rely upon smaller, quicker (and smarter!) lineman and running backs to create running angles versus “bull” blocking and pushing people out of the way.
As I mentioned in another post, we didn’t have many big guys in our HS, and the big guys that we had were put on our defensive line. I might’ve been our biggest o-line player! Just look at the picture above of #79 (D-line) and me (O-line)….Yikes!
And, our running backs were tinier…Bobby G., Mark C, and Jamie B….double yikes! Boy, but we were fast, deceptive, and routinely ran the ball over 300 yards in a game! (more on Bobby G. in another post…)
BTW – we couldn’t run crap in practice…we’d get beat up by our own D-line 😦
Now, I still repeat my blocking rule. That’s good coaching and the fact that I remember these coaches, their mannerisms, and style speaks to their effect on me!!!
ASIDE – So, “What about the Coach Mel story?” The last that I saw Coach Mel was at a teammate Larry L’s winery in 2002. He had risen through the ranks and was the Athletic Director (AD) at a different HS in the city.
He relayed a story to me, that I carried with me as a coach and a boss.
He told me that he’d tell his players about “a kid that he’d coached as a sophomore (when I gained the nickname VooVoo), that was fat, overweight, and slow and got an arm injury and missed several weeks’ practices.”
He continued, “when that kid returned as a junior, we, as coaches, had written him off. But, we needed a center and had a 3-way competition for the job. I’d seen him running past my house almost every day that summer!”
“He came to camp in better shape and out-hustled the other guys to win the job! Later that season, he was nominated as a league lineman of the week. By senior year, we named him co-captain, and he earned all-league and all-county honors, and helped us to the most successful season in the HS’s history to that point.”
He finished that he loved to tell that story to his students and players to motivate them to persevere, AND more importantly, he said “IT TAUGHT ME (Coach Mel) TO NEVER GIVE UP ON A KID!” END ASIDE
AND THAT’S WHY GOOD COACHES ARE SO IMPORTANT!!!
Great Pizza Search (GPS) #24!
On Sunday, T and I had decided to do a challenging ride around Canandaigua Lake in NY’s Finger Lakes. But T, as a first year resident, spent the week in ICU and was rather tired. So, we switched up the ride to a large 60 mile, gravel loop south of the city of Rochester (Strava Link) taking in several of the old railroad beds around town. This would be T’s longest ride ever!
Also, we’d meet C. and M. and Lil’ Spicy for pizza at about the 40 mile mark with C. and M. biking there!
We decided to meet at J&L’s Pizza Corner (website link) in Fairport, NY. J&L’s HAS AN INTEREST PIQUING “ABOUT US” SECTION ON THEIR WEBSITE! So, there was hope it could be a “joint!”
In addition, this pizzeria backs up to the Rochester, Syracuse, and Eastern Rail Trail (trail link here, railroad link here) which was part of the final 20 mile section of our route.
Ambiance and Presentation
From the get go, J&L’s is NOT A JOINT! From the outside, it’s a newish building with no brick. From the inside, there’s tables along on the right side, but the counter is along the left side. Finally, the box is of great quality, but there’s no branding for J&L…why do pizzeria’s not understand that a little extra cost for personalized branding goes a long way?
Especially in J&L’s case. Their “About Me” from the website would make great marketing and graphic material for a better experience.
Overall Ambiance and Presentation – MEH (which is not good!)
Dough/Crust
The crust was very soft but due to sogginess without crunch. The sogginess is likely due to the abundance of sauce and cheese. I’m not sure that was the plan. There was massive tip sag. Finally, the dough was not airy, it was dense. Dough/Crust Rating – MEH
Sauce
Finally, a pizza with an abundance of sauce. I JUST WISH THE SAUCE HAD FLAVOR! The sauce dripped off the pizza which I like, but other than a very little tinge of oregano, there was little flavor; not even a good tomato flavor. Sauce Rating – MEH
Cheese
Also, there was a large amount of moozedell, but there was no taste of parmigian. Cheese rating = Good
Overall Rating – MEH
Would I go back? That’s an interesting question for J&L’s. In general, NO! But, like Pizza D’s (GPS #14) in Mendon, it’s right along a gravel trail that we ride a lot in the spring and fall. So, if you really need a “pizza fix” during a ride, they’ll do, but I’d not search them out normally.
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