Dear Editor:
Recently, legendary North Bergen football Coach Vincent Ascolese passed away. His passing brought to my mind a dinner in 1995.
As a tribute, here’s the scene.
Hoboken High School has come off a banner year in sports — the Hudson county baseball championship; the girls softball team finishing with over 25 wins; Julio Ortiz, cross-county state champ; Derrick Alston, a former Red Wing, making the Philadelphia 76ers; John Wendelken and David Walsh’s inductions into the Hudson County Hall of Fame; and our high school football team, coached by Ed Stinson, winning the state championship.
With this as a backdrop for the Third Annual A.J. Demarest-HHS Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at Stevens, eight fine athletes and coaches find their places in the Hall of Fame.
David Walsh, NBA Hall of Famer, former referee and, as some would say, one of the founding fathers of NBA basketball, and who also had to high school championships in the ‘20s, is memorialized.
Vince Ascolese, who coached 12 years at HHS, is introduced by former player and coach Ed Stinson. Ascolese will undoubtedly become the second winningest football coach in New Jersey by the time he retires, getting most of his wins while at North Bergen .
Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons, who cheerfully pokes fun at his non-athletic skills, has the crowd at Jerry Molloy laughing pitch by saying, “Only Ascolese could get me to a jock night.”
The dinner takes a few interesting turns, namely by Anthony “Bubby” Giordano, who some have dubbed the best all-around athlete to come out of HHS; and Ron Dario, who lettered in three sports at Demarest in the ‘50s and was heavily recruited by major colleges during that period. They speak about how they had met their girlfriends while in high school.
This is echoed by an inspiring speech from former school superintendent, war veteran and sport historian Walter Fine.
Fine hailes Peter Vecchio as a war veteran, a fine educator, a professionally bound baseball player until the war took him elsewhere. Walter profiles Peter as real innovator in baseball who led his teams to the first County and State Championships in the late ‘50s.
Pat Gratale, “Voice of the Red Wings” and a soccer coach in the ‘70s who won four consecutive championships, is introduced by his daughter who simply says, “My dad loves his family, kids, sports and announcing, all in that order.”
Mel Davis, former NBA player, introduces James Fosters, who played against Julius Erving at the professional level. George Maguire, who played opposite the legendary John McMullen in the ‘50s, is introduced by his wife. “George is a quiet man, always has been a gentleman,” she says, “but don’t view that as being opposed to what a football player is supposed to be. It’s a unique combination. Maguire won a full scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, which went on to win the national championship.
The eight inductees are truly an extension of the following poem:
“You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money
You’ve got to love like you’ll never get hurt
You’ve got to dance like there’s nobody watching
You’ve got to come from your heart if you want it to work.”
Dennis Sevano