Leonard Marshall with Ron Anderson award presented to long time member Mark Murphy
BY RICH ROONEY
I was excited to get up this AM, but when I went outside it was cold (about 28 degrees and windy), so I loaded the truck and headed for Stoughton/Randolph (Lombardo’s) good old exit 5 on your maps/GPS. I arrived early, about 9:30AM and Dave Stearns was already here and pretty much set up to sell his Sports Memorabilia. I set up the Photo table, hung the raffle items and began to greet people.
Leonard was on time, but a person of his magnitude still had commitments (Phone), he was in the venue in no time and people greeted him; and the folks began to get comfortable and no time, stories were flying and sports objects that people brought were being signed.
John Fragala was out front getting folks signed in, Barry (Belotti) was making his notes as to the agenda and who to introduce, and when; William Bendetson was unpacking his books “When the Cheering Stops”. John Berti was unpacking the Football’s and talking to one of the members about which player wore what number?
I spent a fair amount of time going around meeting / greeting folks after all it was a long season and most are like old family members, and we all have our stories to tell. One guy came from Douglas (Artie Adamiak) and hadn’t been to a NY Giants Fan Club Banquet since the mid 1990’s and was here specifically to see Leonard and capture the “Days of Glory”.
At the cocktail hour ended and all were getting to their seats and Barry was getting his notes ready, I took the opportunity to go around , like all years, and try to caption that various folks at their tables with my camera. Barry got things going and I hurried back to my seat. As always Barry is both congenial and entertaining as he ticked off his various points and highlighted the year and announced which table would go to the buffet first.
We had a tasty brief time to eat, as all wanted to get right to the main attraction, however as in endeavors like this, there’s always the physical , and how events would proceed pointing out the various important area’s (Bar and Bathrooms).
William Bendetson was announced first, he had a brief statement about meeting Leonard and about their book and how it came about and a little about the NFL and life after…
Leonard came next and requested we all bow our heads and take a moment of silence, in remembrance for Dave Duerson who took his life yesterday (Dave as you remember was a member of the 1991 Super Bowl Team). He thanked us for that moment and then gave a brief synopsis of his football years highlights (being drafted, life in training camp, coach Parcells and the “Hit”). He spent a fair amount of time discussing what Football was like in the NFL in his earlier years and the reality of Football now.
Questions about everything you can imagine were brought up and Leonard did a superb job about giving us the real story, from Howard Stern and what a regular guy he is; to what it was really like when he came to the NY Giants and how the team progressed to Super Bowl Champions. He spent time talking about the players that were in NY when he arrived and what transpired getting to the “Show”. About 20 players had to leave and upgrades had to be brought in and Coach Parcells had to decide if he wanted a good team, or take that extra step to becoming a great team.
Leonard also spent a fair amount of time talking about his personal life and paid homage to both his Mom and Dad for giving him the structure and discipline to achieve all. He also mentioned that his Mom had recently passed (just last week) and how he always called her before his games, the trip to Hawaii (Pro Bowl), talked about her health and how she didn’t travel much.
As time wore on he took a serious time to talk about the veterans, health issues (head injuries) and leading with your helmet and that was taught from an early age. The point was made that the man was to be tackled, going to the ground and very little thought was given to future health and what all the physical hits had to do with longevity and health in the future. He mentioned his time coaching players at the High School level and his being a Professor of Sports Management at Seton Hall University. Leonard ended the question and answer phase and we took a short break so all could refresh and come back for the raffles.
When we came back it was time to present the Ron Anderson Memorial Award, “The Big Guy” award. Barry Belotti did his usual great job in talking about Mark Murphy, about his longevity with the club and his hard core values as a long time NY Giant fan. Unfortunately he could not be here, as his sister had a sudden heart attack on Friday and was in intensive care at a hospital in NY which brought Mark out of town. So Barry accepted the award on his behalf. The club sends their best to Mark and his family.
Before going to the raffles, I need to take time here to thank two really great members and close personal friends. Both Steve “ol Giza” Giza and Lee Scofield for coming each year and volunteering their time and efforts to run our raffle for us. Without these two very special individuals this event just would not be the same. You can’t see it, but I’m raising my drink and tipping my hat to these two great members.
Also about this time we decided to auction off that very special ball, before going forward we talked about how to proceed. This Ball was one of only 1,000 ever made, also most years the balls we get are not always signed by the whole team. When you get a special ball like this it comes with all members of the team and the signatures are embossed. The Auction started slow and early on I didn’t think we would get many bids, because of the small turnout. But along came Artie Adamiak who had the high bid at $220.00. My thanks and great appreciation to Artie.
Before writing about the raffle and the closing of the Banquet I do want to mention a few people, not many members know that the Sito Family (Ron, Ed and Cindy) attend every year and really attacks the raffle hard, as they are major NY Giant fans and usually spend a couple hundred dollars on raffle tickets. Thanks to the Sito’s this event is successful and they end up going home each year with many fine pieces of sports clothing and memorabilia. Thank you.
Leonard started off the raffle and then with William Bendetson went to the rear of the room to sell and sign Leonard’s/William’s book “when the cheering stops”. The raffle was a big success and both Leonard and William stayed past the end and continued to sign many sports items. I think because of the turnout, many members thought this could be the last big banquet with a named celebrity, many hung around well after the expiration of the event. We all had a great time and now look forward to the NFL/Players signing the next CBA and hopefully the NFL Schedule can go off without any hitches.
