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This is a followup to Neil Rudel's column last weekend on the passing of former Greater Johnstown High School boys basketball Paul Litwalk.
I met a slew of coaches over my years, and more than a few allowed the heat of competition to bring out a darker side.
I saw Litwalk upset with officials, and I saw him be stern with his players, but I can never recall him being anything but a gentleman on the court and a sincerely kind and pleasant man I always enjoyed talking with off the court.
I remember a scuffle between a Bishop Guilfoyle player and Johnstown player one year when the teams were playing at Guilfoyle. The two kids were mixing it up, and the officials stepped in to broker peace.
Litwalk, believing that his player had behaved in an unacceptably unsportsmanlike way, made the player go over to the BG bench and make peace with his adversary during a timeout, likely called expressly for that purpose.
My four-plus years as athletic director at Guilfoyle coincided with part of his time as AD at Johnstown. Not surprisingly, he did that job very well, too.
He never lamented it at great length, but it didn't take a genius to deduce that it was a tough job as the city struggled and lost the vibrancy and people like so many mid-sized cities in the Rust Belt.
All these years later, we might also forget he was one of a group of coaches and ADs who helped organize and make the Mid-Alleghenies Conference the extraordinary basketball league that it was for a decade.
Some may recall the big crowds and thrilling games on the girls side, but I recall more than a few exciting boys games and seasons, too.
The televised game between Tom Lane's Guilfoyle team and Litwalk's Trojans at the sold-out Pleasant Valley Gym in the mid-1980s (when both teams were undefeated or very close) is still a vivid memory. Those years still stand out as a golden age, which has passed.
I recall Guilfoyle playing them at the old Joe Johns Gym in 1973. (That gym was an adventure in its own right.)
Though we had a very good team that year, we were overwhelmed by their massive front line. That Don Maser/Pat Cummings/Ken Horoho team was phenomenal and, as Rudel noted, was highly ranked the entire season.
They were shocked by Sharon at the War Memorial in the second round of the state playoffs after going undefeated through 25 games.
Especially after getting to know him as a peer, I always felt badly that a berth in the state championship game eluded him.
For many reasons, he deserved one of those big gold basketballs as much as anyone in these parts.
John Frederick
Tyrone