It seems to be that a day, maybe even a moment, doesn’t go by without a mention of the hideous and relentless disease known as cancer.
Cancer is always in the headlines, whether it’s a famous person battling the disease or another fundraiser is being held, endlessly trying to find a cure. People wear ribbons, rubber wrist bands, lapel buttons, all displaying awareness and a care.
And there’s a reason. More than eight million people died in the United States last year of cancer, a total that encompasses nearly 13 percent of all fatalities. It’s been a national concern for decades, but in recent years, there have been major medical strides to curtail the numbers.
Cancer seems to ravage people of all walks of life. It knows no race, no creed, no religion and no social status. It does not recognize age. It really is a foe of everyone.
It’s certainly evident in local Hudson County high school athletics.
Need proof?
Well, the county’s most successful football coach in history, someone with more than 340 career wins and seven NJSIAA state titles, is battling bone cancer.
The county’s most successful baseball coach, with an amazing 730 career wins and umpteen county, state and even one national title, is currently waging war with lymphoma.
The county’s most successful girls’ track and field coach, another with a ton of championship hardware to his credit, has apparently successfully defeated colon cancer.
The county’s most successful girls’ basketball coach, with more than 600 career wins and a host of county and state titles himself, has been locked in a heated duel with pancreatic cancer.
And a young and coming boys’ basketball coach, who has such a bright and promising future in the coaching field, has been taking on leukemia head on for over a year.
All of them coach in the same county, our county. All have been extremely successful, as the aforementioned ledger proves. And all vow to continue to fight and in most cases, continue to coach the sports that they love.
Vince Ascolese is the granddaddy of Hudson County football coaches. He’s been a fixture in Hudson County sports for the last 43 years, the last 37 as the head coach at North Bergen High School. He’s won acclaim, awards, county and state championships and respect as being one of the most knowledgeable football people in the country.
And for the last two years, Ascolese has been battling bone cancer. He has not allowed the disease to curtail his activities as a coach, as a father and as a grandfather.
“My thoughts have always been that whatever God has in store for you, that’s what you have to deal with,” Ascolese said. “I’ve never said, ‘Why me?’ I have been given this fate and I believe that God only gives you what you can handle.”
Ascolese has never bemoaned the fact that he has to receive regular treatments to fight off his cancer.
“You do say to yourself that you’re not a kid anymore,” Ascolese said. “I think it causes me to think of the others who are gone. I lost two brothers-in-law to cancer at a young age and I’m still here.”
Throughout the pain and the grueling treatment, Ascolese remains loyal, true and strong to his football team.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ascolese said. “I know it’s still there and I still have to go to treatment. But I’m not worried. I have to live my life the way I always did. I can’t live in fear. God has his reasons why he picks certain people to have cancer. It’s up to me to fight through it.”
Tony Ferrainolo is the long-time baseball coach at Memorial High School. He’s currently ranked second all-time in coaching victories in New Jersey and God willing, he will more than likely surpass the state record in the coming years.
Ferrainolo found a lump in his chest six months ago and it turned out to be a malignancy.
“I never said, ‘Why me?’” Ferrainolo said. “I was confronted with something serious and I had two choices, either to battle it or sit back and feel sorry for myself. I was going to do whatever possible to beat this. I always kept a positive outlook in all ways. I know that I had a lot of support from my family, my friends, other teachers.”
Ferrainolo said that he has only one more scheduled treatment.
“I plan to be around for a while,” Ferrainolo said. “My coaches told me that I should take some time and relax a little, but having my team there every day got me through this. I enjoy being with them. I want to stay active and want to keep coaching.”
Ferrainolo hopes that his players draw some inspiration from his struggles.
“I try to let the kids see what I’m going through,” Ferrainolo said. “It lets them see that they have to battle, have to keep fighting, no matter what. Sometimes, things don’t go right and your backs are against the wall. But each day is a battle.”
Ferrainolo just completed a 14-11 season, the highest loss total in his coaching career. Ironically, Ascolese lost a career-high seven games the year he was diagnosed with cancer.
“It was the toughest season ever, but I never thought of giving up,” Ferrainolo said. “Maybe there’s a reason for it. I have to believe it happened to me for a reason. Whether it’s with my kids or someone else, something good has to come from this.”
In September of 2008, St. Dominic Academy veteran track and field coach and athletic director John Nagel was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent a series of surgeries. Now after enduring nearly a year of chemotherapy treatments, Nagel is healthy and free of cancer.
“I figured that this was the situation I was handed and I had to deal with it,” said Nagel, who has guided his Blue Devils to more than 70 championships in his career. “Sloan [Memorial Kettering in New York] has done me well. I paid attention to what I had to do and so far, so good. But it’s always a phone call away and I’m cognizant of that now.”
Nagel also never gave walking away from coaching a thought.
“I get up, go to work and go to practice,” Nagel said. “That’s the routine. It’s now instinct. But I get a chance to embody the message to the team. They have to be constantly doing something, day after day. I’ve done it.”
Nagel said that he drew inspiration from the late Jersey Journal sportswriter Mike Rowan, who died five years ago after a long battle with bone cancer.
“The man wasn’t an athlete and never lifted a weight, but he lived his life,” Nagel said. “He had courage. He never gave in.”
Bill DeFazio was the girls’ basketball coach at St. Anthony High School and for the last 18 years of his coaching career, Marist High School.
DeFazio is undergoing a grueling regimen in his battle with pancreatic cancer. It has not been easy for the fiery coach.
Another local coach who has had a tough time is North Bergen boys’ coach Kevin Bianco, who was diagnosed with leukemia in March of 2009, was in complete remission for a while and recently found out that his leukemia has returned. He faces another tough road ahead, with month-long hospital stays and a bone marrow transplant in store this summer.
“I don’t know if I would call this a setback,” Bianco said. “It’s just an unfortunate thing. But I’m young enough and have the support I need to go through it. I never know what’s going to happen in the future, but I hope things fall into place so I can come back to coach. I can’t say, ‘Why me?’ because that won’t do anyone good.”
Five local coaches, all battling the hideous disease. And they’re all fighting better than Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali ever did. They have more than 2,000 victories between them, but they all crave just one collective victory, the one over cancer.
“I know that if I got this 10 years ago, I’d have already been gone by now,” Ascolese said. “They are making tremendous strides. But cancer is everywhere. You wonder why they can’t totally find a cure for it. I mean, they put guys on the moon and they can’t figure out a way to stop this.”
Added Ascolese, “I really believe our upbringing has something to do with the fight. We’re from Hudson County and there are no quitters here.”
Ferrainolo agrees.
“Growing up in West New York, as an athlete and a person, you feel like you can never lose,” Ferrainolo said. “I’ve always lived that way. I grew up that way, always fighting, always working at it.”
Nagel grew up in Greenville in Jersey City, the same neighborhood that produced DeFazio. Both are from St. Paul’s of Greenville, a place where both got their coaching starts.
“I think we’re typical Greenville guys,” Nagel said. “There is a little element of irony there. But I think the area made you a little tougher than the rest. It absolutely helped.”
It’s Memorial Day weekend and we’re supposed to stop and remember those who died waging war to give us our freedoms and rights. Let’s also pause to honor those local coaches who are waging war against another vicious enemy, namely cancer.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.