Good morning!
Coach Barb Weinberg’s undefeated UMass field hockey team (6-0) knocked off BC in hostile territory last weekend. It’s always a big deal when UMass beats BC in any sport, but especially when both teams are nationally ranked. The win moved UMass up to 12th and dropped the Eagles to 13th in the National Coaches Poll.
Senior goaltender Myrte van Herwijnen of the Netherlands was named the National Defensive Player of the Week, largely on the basis of her five saves in the fourth quarter and OT against BC.
Nearly half the roster hails from overseas, including six players from England, three from the Netherlands and two from Germany and South Africa. The only players with New England roots both hail from New Hampshire — Sophia Ponzini of Windham and Anna Cowan of Portsmouth.
Emily Barrett of Sevenoaks, England, is the team’s leading scorer with five goals in six games, Neva Eisenga of Rotterdam has twice been tabbed MAC Defensive Player of the Week, and freshman Fiene Jenniskens of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is the team’s leading playmaker with four assists.
The Minutewomen hosted Kent State in the MAC opener on Friday and will play Albany Sunday at 1 p.m. at Gladchuk Field. Other MAC field hockey teams besides the usual suspects include App State, James Madison, Longwood University of Farmville, Va., and Bellarmine University of Louisville.
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Sports editor Jeff Lajoie’s leaving the Recorder, and that’s a big loss. Deadlines became earlier and game times started later, but Jeff’s organizational skills were masterful and he never wilted under the pressure.
Writing and editing the paper he grew up reading was special, but his career had gone as far as it would go on Hope Street. His new job fits him perfectly and as the Steve Winwood song goes, “While you see a chance take it, because it’s all on you.”
Good luck Jeff. It’s doubtful your next stop will be your last.
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Spotted a shopper in Big Y last week who was wearing a Colorado Rockies windbreaker.
“What’s a Rockies fan doing in western Mass?” I asked.
“Visiting,” he said.
A retired banker, he said he won’t buy season tickets until the franchise improves. “One of the owners did business at my bank,” he said. “I couldn’t tell him to get his head out of his a** because he was a client.”
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It took 91 seconds for Iowa to score against UMass on Saturday. The 47-7 win in front of 69,250 fans at Kinnick Stadium made coach Kirk Ferentz the all-time winningest coach in the Big Ten.
After graduating from UConn, Ferentz taught English lit and coached at Worcester Academy. Asked if he remembered Jim Smith he said, “The Deerfield coach? Sure I do. He’s a legend.”
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Speaking of whom, Mike Cadran reports that Smitty is Franklin County’s all-time winningest football coach with a combined 240 wins at Deerfield, Tech and Mohawk.
GHS coach Carl “Ump” Nichols is second with 210 wins, followed by Mahar’s Jim Woodward (194), Athol’s Don Ferrari (173) and GHS coach Mike Duprey (164).
Greenfield’s Mike Kuchieski is tops among active coaches with 149. The state’s all-time active win leader is Ken LaChapelle of Northbridge with 401, and Wahconah’s Gary Campbell is the WMass leader with 227 and counting.
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Two important people in my life passed away this week. Kathy “Digger” Bemben was a typesetter at the Valley Advocate. A Hopkins grad, Digger played on the Advocate’s coed softball team, listened to Woody Herman and boasted she could type 120 words a minute. She leaves her brother Pete and lots and lots of friends.
Also gone is John “Jack” Phelps who joined his wife Lois in the great casino in the sky where every spin wins. Jack supervised the Civil Process division under the late sheriff Fred Macdonald and he was a terrific boss.
One example was the day he called and told me, “Fred says if he sees you on the job wearing shorts again, you’re fired and I’m fired.”
Then he laughed and hung up.
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This week on WFAN Boomer Esiason told of when a Bengals offensive lineman quit during a game. “The coach had embarrassed him,” said Esiason, “He took off his helmet and sat down at the end of the bench. They told me to go over and talk to him.”
“Did he go back in?” asked his sidekick Gregg “Gio” Giannotti.
“Yeah,” said Boomer.
“What’d you tell him?” asked Gio.
“I told him I’d give him $10,000. I was making good money, he was a good lineman and I didn’t want to get killed.”
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Best showing by a MAC team this week was Bowling Green’s 23-13 win over Liberty as a 6 1/2-point underdog. Meanwhile Toledo scored 43 points in the second quarter of a 60-0 shutout of Morgan State.
Worst showing? Western Michigan lost to Illinois, 38-0 and Michigan routed the Central Michigan Chippewas, 63-3.
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SQUIBBERS: Madi Liimatainen was home for the weekend from St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt. The former TFHS star is adjusting to life in the classroom and on the field, and hopes to be playing shortstop when the team goes south this spring. … Memo to Doug Gaudet: Bryant got a $325,000 payout for playing (and beating) UMass two weeks ago. …. Former Recorder harness writer Stan Gutkowski has passed away at his home in Maine. … KC catcher Sal Perez hit his 300th round tripper and drove in his 1,000th career RBI on the same swing in Philly on Sunday. The fan who caught the ball wanted nothing more than a handshake, but Perez gave him a batting helmet, game jersey and batting gloves. … Northfield’s Ben Pike is related to Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. “He’s my mother’s sister’s daughter’s son,” said Pike. … It was cool to hear the Falcons’ starting right tackle introduce himself on Sunday Night Football as “Elijah Wilkinson, UMass Amherst.” … Vikings starting cornerback Isaiah Rodgers also played at UMass but chose to reference Blake High School in Tampa. … Adios and happy trails to retired UMass lacrosse coach Greg Cannella who had 256 lacrosse wins and was the last vestige of the Dick Garber era. … “Mets Suffer Tong Lashing” reported the NY Post after rookie pitcher Jonah Tong couldn’t get out of the first inning against the Rangers. One the inside the paper added another for good measure: “Jonah and the Fail.” … In case you missed it, Lloyd Howell resigned from his $3.6 million job as director of the NFL Players Union after he put a $2,426 night at the Magic City Strip Club on his expense report and purposed it as an opportunity to “grow the game.” … RIP Robert Redford, Butch and Sundance ride again. … If ever there was a quarterback who deserves to play for the Williams College Purple Cows, it’s Pitt’s signal caller, Eli Holstein.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com.