When veteran basketball official Bob Lauterhahn heard of the plight of his friend and comrade referee Eddie Finn after the tragic death of Finn’s son, Dan, last summer, Lauterhahn figured that he had to do something to help.
You see, Dan Finn did not have any medical insurance at the time of his untimely and unfortunate accident, caused by a hit-and-run driver while the Finn family was vacationing in South Carolina.
So in order to try to save Dan’s life, Eddie Finn decided to take all responsibility for his son’s care. Needless to say, the bills ran into the thousands.
“When I heard that, I knew there had to be something we could do,” said Lauterhahn, who is also the long-time assistant baseball coach at William Paterson University. “I wanted to run a tournament to help raise money to help Eddie and his family, but there wasn’t a lot of time.”
In seeking help, Lauterhahn reached out to St. Anthony basketball coach Bob Hurley, who just happened to be speaking with fellow referee and Jersey City fire officer Dennis Nuber at the time.
“Bob Hurley suggested that the Jersey City cops could play the firemen,” Lauterhahn said. “Dennis Nuber got on the phone, called a few people and 20 minutes later, we had a game between the police and fire. They were great about it.”
Hurley then took it one step further.
“Bob told me that he could get a St. Anthony alumni team, filled with all of his great players and they could play a Hudson County All-Star team,” Lauterhahn said. “It was really shaping up into something great.”
Hudson Catholic coach Steve Ricciardi got involved and he was in charge of putting together the Hudson County All-Star team. Some of the players who have committed to playing in the game are former Union Hill great Wilmer Torres, former Emerson standout Tony Ragone and former North Bergen standout Rick Apodaca.
Jammal Lord, the former Bayonne High School standout and University of Nebraska football standout who is currently with the Houston Texans of the NFL, cannot play in the game because of NFL rules, but he will make an appearance. The cause means a lot to Lord, because he was once an AAU basketball teammate of Dan Finn, a team that was coached by Eddie Finn, when the two were youngsters.
The St. Anthony Alumni All-Star Team will feature former NBA players Bobby Hurley and Terry Dehere, as well as Danny Hurley and Jerry Walker.
It should be a fun day for everyone involved, from the players down to the spectators, all for a good cause.
All the proceeds from the game will go to the Finn family, so they can help pay the huge costs for Dan’s medical attention.
Lauterhahn, who has already raised a significant amount in donations from his referee brethren, has also secured PSE&G as a sponsor to the game and is looking for other sponsors and contributors.
T-shirts have been printed for the event and will be sold at the game. There will also be some raffles for some Major League Baseball and NFL memorabilia, courtesy of former local hoop standout Ed Peterson, who is in charge of security for the NFL and used to work for MLB Security.
The event will take place Saturday, Jan. 29, at the CERC Center on Ninth Street in Jersey City, the site of St. Anthony High School’s home games. The Jersey City Police and Fire Departments square off at 1 p.m., with the St. Anthony-Hudson County All-Star game taking place at 3 p.m. This reporter will be there and serve as the public address announcer for both games.
After the doubleheader, there will be a reception at P.J. Ryan’s in downtown Jersey City.
Tickets for the game are priced at $7.00 and can be purchased at the door.
It should be a fun event, one that will help a good family in their dire time of need. – Jim Hague