By Eddie Baker
Sports Editor
3/26/09
Something to be proud of: Duke University did not get a No. 1 seed in this year’s men’s NCAA tournament, but according to USA Today, Duke comes in first in a way that all its students appreciate. Duke grads are paid more than the graduates of the other 64 teams in the tournament. Cornell was second and Southern California was third.
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As many of you Milton athletes know, Jason Green is dedicated to helping future Milton stars. This former Milton High football/basketball star and University of Rhode Island football star, who is now a football coach at Milton High, has a program coming up on Saturday mornings at the Tucker School gym. It is for elementary students, and the dates are from April 4 to May 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $25.
Green’s program is called the Future Stars Mentoring Program. It is designed to develop good reading skills and self-image, and build a bridge between high school and elementary students. Student-athletes, under Green’s supervision, will run reading and sports clinics stressing the fundamentals of athletics while sharing the importance of reading and the rewards that come from accomplishments. The sports clinics will involve all of the students.
For more information or to register, call (617) 696-5040, ext. 5544.
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Did you see where the No. 1 tennis player in the world, Serena Williams, has put a new gym in her home and has taken up boxing?
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Dr. Owen Kiernan, former Milton superintendent of schools and Massachusetts commissioner of education, celebrated his 95th birthday recently with family and friends at the Daniel Webster Inn, in Sandwich. The former Thompson Lane resident was once the championship baseball coach and principal at Sandwich High School.
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Former Milton High and Thayer Academy star Matt Doherty just concluded a terrific season manning the blue line for the Stonehill College hockey team. Doherty, the only freshman defenseman for the Skyhawks, broke into the regular lineup halfway through the season and continued all the way to the Northeast-10 Conference championship game against St. Michael’s before Stonehill succumbed, 3-2, in a burner of a game.
With four top defensemen graduating, Doherty will look to step up even more next year.
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Former Merchants President Bill “Whizzer” White says that Milton High’s recent victory in the state basketball championship was just tremendous, not only for the high school but for the town and South Shore community. White, who watched some of the tournament’s final games, says that as a 1943 graduate of the high school, he believes he was the oldest alumnus in attendance.
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It was good to see Northeastern University and the University of Vermont, even though they didn’t make the NCAA or NIT basketball tournaments, get an invitation to play in the College Basketball Invitational tournament. The University of Rhode Island and Providence College made the NIT. Providence’s loss to Boston College in a non-league game probably kept it out of the NCAA tourney.
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The BC women’s basketball team, which plays in the ACC, probably the toughest league in the country, finished sixth. The five teams ahead of BC in the league all got into the NCAA tournament, but the Eagles didn’t have any wins against any of those teams, nor did they win any big games outside their league.
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Have many of you Milton stars tried The Snug, the Irish bar in Hingham? It was rated as one of the top Irish bars in the country recently by USA Today.
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Although U.S. tennis players Andy Roddick and James Blake are good friends, practice a lot together and often travel together, they differ on their opinions of how long to keep a tennis coach. They both turned pro in 2000 and since then, Blake has had one coach and Roddick has had seven.
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According to the Cape Cod Times, sports on the Cape this summer are going to take a big cutback. First up of the region’s big sporting events is the Figawi Regatta Race held in late May. With the current economy, it is predicted that there will be fewer entries in the national sailboat race and fewer people at its elegant charity ball.
Also, the Cape Cod Open golf championship, in its 18th year, may not be held due to lack of sponsorship.
Meanwhile, the Falmouth Road Race has its major sponsor, CIGNA. However, other sponsors such as TD Banknorth are not expected to be back this year. Last year, there were 12 sponsors contributing either money or products to the race, and director Rick Sherman doesn’t expect that much support in 2009. Entries also could decline a little, although Falmouth has never had a problem with entries.
The Cape Cod Baseball League also is bracing for a tough year financially, according to the Times. Major League Baseball will give the league its annual grant, but the loss of quite a few sponsors is expected. The league is also considering going back to two umpires, even though it doesn’t want to, and switching from wood to aluminum bats.
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Last year at this time, we suggested putting up a birdhouse with the hope of attracting bluebirds, which are extremely little birds. Their numbers have been down for years now but over the last couple of years, we have seen them rise a little bit. We got an e-mail from a couple of Milton stars saying they were successful but most we spoke with were not. Well, now would be a good time to try it again – and if successful, you will enjoy them and they will probably have two families this summer.
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Andre Agassi should give the Outback Steakhouse’s Outback Champions Series, which has more than 30 men’s tennis players, a good picker-upper when he joins it this fall.
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Martina Navratilova is on the Boston Lobsters’ tennis roster again this year, and will play for them in one home match July 15 and in three road matches. All of the Lobsters’ home matches are in July at the Ferncroft Country Club. For tickets or more information, call (508) 435-6585. The country club is on the North Shore, in Middleton.
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This Sunday, March 29, at noon, the Curry College baseball team is home in a doubleheader with Salve Regina University. Next Tuesday, March 31, they are home at 3 p.m. with Babson College. Former Milton Legion star Bill Besinger is playing for Babson.
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Tom Kelly has been doing very well this year, both at pitching and playing the outfield, for the University of Vermont. Another Milton star, Matt Duffy, has returned to his shortstop position for the university after being out with a hand injury. In one recent game, he went 4 for 4, with a home run.
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Did you see where well-known Milton Boy Scout and Sea Scout leader (and gardener) John Cronin was a judge in the horticultural exhibits at the Rhode Island Flower Show? Many Milton stars missed the Boston Flower Show, which is usually held annually at this time but not this year. Let’s hope it is on again in the future.
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We were sorry to see that Boston University has decided to let veteran basketball coach Dennis Wolf go before his contract is up. Taking everything into consideration, we thought that the veteran coach, who played his basketball at the University of Connecticut, did a good job. Dennis, who is a disciplinarian of a coach, had his team always in contention, even in the last couple of years when he had some injured players and others who transferred to other schools. BU, considering the league its in and the fact that it only plays about 20 percent of its home games in its beautiful new Agganis Arena, doesn’t exactly have an easy time getting recruits. Sports can be funny; only a couple of years ago, BU gave Wolf a long-term contract following reports that he was going to leave to take another college coaching job.
Former successful Curry College coach Pat Sherry, now an assistant at Providence College and who played his college ball at Tufts University with Milton’s Joe McMann, is reportedly a top candidate for the job.
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Former Randolph High and Milton Legion baseball star Barry Needham, who switched to being a top pitcher in softball, is once again giving clinics and lessons on pitching girls’ softball. For information, call (781) 749-6466.
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The Boston Athletic Association is holding a 5K (3.1-mile) road race on Sunday, April 19, the day before Patriots Day and the Boston Marathon. The race starts at 8 a.m. on Boylston Street and crosses the marathon’s finish line, which is also on Boylston Street, upon its conclusion.
(Ed Baker can be reached at miltonsports@hotmail.com.)