Kathy Smith heartily agreed that former Frontier Regional School girls’ basketball coach Vi Goodnow wouldn’t use a shootout to win anything, let alone an Olympic gold medal.
“This month marks 30 years since we made it to the state basketball championship,” emailed Smith (now Smith-Keefe), who was the team’s point guard against Cohasset in 1988. Others were Althea Danielski, Juliane Danielski, Kristy Paciorek, Jamie Zagrodnik, Becky Plimpton, Wendi Raffa and Brenna Smith (no relation to Kathy).
Cohasset went into the game 24-1 overall behind Liz O’Leary’s 16 points a game. “Vi prepped us with our game,” recalled Smith. “Quick transition, how to handle the press. … We’d practice plays over and over and have to make 10 foul shots for every mistake. I spent a lot of time on that foul line.”
Alas, O’Leary scored a career-high 23 points and Cohasset beat Frontier, 51-41, denying what was Goodnow’s only bid to win a state title. “I wish we could have represented western Mass. better,” she said afterward. “I thought we had come to play. We didn’t quit, but we didn’t play well.”
Althea Danielski embraced Goodnow’s no excuses attitude when she was asked if the refs had laid off the whistle. “The fast break is what killed us,” she told The Recorder’s John Giniusz. “I didn’t get pushed around, but then I wasn’t under the basket like I should’ve been.”
Goodnow would’ve been 82 on March 26. She died in 2004 and is buried near her home in East Buckland. Her 1,224 wins are the second-most in the county behind Mohawk’s Joe Chadwick, and third most in the state.
“My oldest is a freshman at Danbury High School and the state tourney began this week,” wrote Smith. “Watching the games, I find myself thinking of Vi and realizing now more now than ever she really was the GOAT — the greatest of all time.”
There’s better rewards than riding shotgun on the Zamboni, but that didn’t deter Greenfield’s Anne Echeverria. “I get this off my bucket list,” she said after her name was announced on the PA system.
“She was gonna buy a chuck-a-puck, but last time she didn’t even reach the ice,” said her husband Tom, the videographer holding his smartphone.
After she hopped aboard she quipped to her Zamboni chauffeur, “I’m a terrible backseat driver.”
UMASS NOTES: Nearly 12,000 turned out for the three-game quarterfinal series between UMass and UVM at the Mullins Center. … The Catamounts stayed all three nights in Springfield. “A few went to the Thunderbirds game,” reported UMass radio color analyst Brock Hines. … Longtime season ticket holders Bill and Kate Wardwell, Dan Carmody and John Cycz, Tom and Sue Antonellis and Bonnie Weiss and Ian Gross sit within shouting distance of each other. … A few rows back were Anne and Phil Corrinet, whose son Chris played at Princeton. “They have a 28-goal scorer this year,” Phil said of Tigers’ junior Ryan Kuffner. … The UMass band ensemble’s go-to tune was Mambo No. 5, played under the retired jerseys of UMass basketball players. It’s time for hockey players to get their due, starting with Jonathan Quick, Thomas Pock and Justin Braun, et al.? … I noticed a coed wearing a UVM sweatshirt walking to her seat in Section G. She sat next to a UMass-clad friend, who looked at the jersey and sneered, “Ewww, disgusting!” … “Great draw! emailed Dan Carmody on the eve of the UMass basketball team’s opening round game against La Salle. “I wouldn’t be shocked to see us win three and get to the finals.” Whoa, Dan! Stick with hockey, it’ll get you to the promised land a lot faster than basketball. … Ted Ryan of the Burlington Free Press wrote that UMass hockey was “young, vigorous and rising … a remarkable turnaround under second year head coach Greg Carvel.”
John Henry’s claim that Tom Yawkey was a bad man hurts the Yawkey Foundation and helps the Red Sox Foundation. All’s fair in love, war and business in Henry’s view but others see it differently. “What a cruel, mean-spirited and terrible thing,” writes Yawkey trustee Bill Gutfarb. “All based on a mythical narrative.”
Here’s what I don’t get. Prior to the UMass-Mason game, NBCSN analyst David Kaplan reported, “Perhaps no team has had more adversity than UMass. Prior to Matt McCall being named coach after the firing of Derek Kellogg, seven players left the program. In addition, they lost another to academics and another to injury and (at one point) had only four scholarship players.”
Who’s fault is that? Is it McCall’s for not convincing the seven to stay? Is it athletic director Ryan Bamford’s for firing Kellogg? Is it the academic coordinator’s for letting Rashaan Holloway slip through the cracks and flunk out?
The much maligned Derek Kellogg has risen from the ashes in the Big Apple. “Derek Kellogg’s LIU Brooklyn team pulled off the Cinderella upset, beat Wagner to go to the NCAAs,” emailed Bob Diamond. “Not bad.”
Not bad indeed, as Bob Lobel would say: “Why can’t we get guys like that?”
SPRING LEADERS: Forget-me-nots to Xander Bogaerts, Blake Swihart, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers and Ivan DeJesus Jr. who are batting a combined .404 (46-for-114). … Spinach to Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. who are batting a combined .153 (9-for-59). … Career minor-leaguer Marcus Walden has appeared in four Red Sox games, walked four, fanned ten, and held batters to a .167 average. … DeJesus Jr. has three errors in 27 chances. … Angels hybrid Shohei Ohtani has been slow to accelerate, allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings and going 1-for-11 at the plate. … Yankees outfielder Billy McKinney has four home runs and 11 RBIs in 16 at-bats. A first-round pick of the Oakland A’s, McKinney was traded to the Cubs for pitcher Jeff Samardzija, and traded to the Yankees for reliever Aroldis Chapman. … Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Judge are both 1-for-10; Giancarlo Stanton is 6-for-16 with no home runs. … The Indians’ Jason Kipnis has six home runs in 20 at-bats, the Giants’ Kyle Jensen has five in 13 ABs, and the entire Washington Nationals roster has nine in 488 ABs.
Get well wishes to Paula Dobrydnio, the smarts behind her husband’s handicapping prowess. Kindly send a card and make her smile, she’s at 344 Colrain Rd., Greenfield, MA, 01301.
SQUIBBERS: Hunch players trashed ’em when Oscar Nominated finished fourth in the Mac Diarmida Stakes on Saturday, then cashed ’em the next race when Promises Fulfilled went gate-to-wire to win Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth at 18-1 under Irad Ortiz Jr. The odds-on choice Good Magic was third under Irad’s brother Jose. … The NMH hockey team was beaten 5-0 by Brunswick School in the Large Group Prep Tourney in Gill on Saturday. The star of the Brunswick team was Thomas Richter, son of former New York Ranger goalie Mike Richter. … That 19-8 loss by the UMass lacrosse team to Albany has more than a few people pining for the days of Garber’s Gorillas. … Retired sports staffer Mark Durant reports that New York jockey Rajiv Maragh, whose wins have included the Jim Dandy, Wood Memorial and Ballerina Handicap, frequents the poker tables at Rivers Casino in Schenectady. “He finished fourth at last year’s Capital Region Classic and won $11,366,” emailed Durant. … According to baseball-reference.com, 30-year-old Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo has earned $34.6 million, and that’s good pay for lousy hitting: .262 with seven home runs in 317 career at-bats. … Nobody asked, but my choice was Bulldogs to be the TFHS nickname, and Coyotes works for the same reason: easy to say, looks good on uniforms and works better in print than, say, Minutemen. … Village Pizza is King of the Pies; second choice: number54tenminutes. … Born on Christmas Day, 67-year-old Ed Hochuli has hung up the white hat. His last game was the NFC championship on Jan. 21. … Before you go to bed tonight, remember to move your clocks ahead one hour closer to Opening Day.