ASTON -- Chuck Buechler tried to wait until he and Academy
Park coach Sal Oropollo got to Crozer Chester
Medical Center to give fellow assistant coach Tony Gagliardi all the
details of the Knights' 22-10 Del Val League victory over Sun Valley
Friday night.
He really did -- but he just couldn't wait that long.
Buechler
had to call his fellow assistant coach, who underwent a successful
angioplasty earlier in the day to clear blocked arteries. So, being the
90s kind of guy that he is, Buechler pulled out his cellular phone and
gave Gagliardi a call.
It didn't take long for that ""brief''
phone call to turn into a gabfest. Player after player grabbed the phone
to wish their defensive coordinator a speedy recovery.
The
Knights (2-3, 4-5) had dedicated the game to Gagliardi, who suffered a
mild heart attack prior to the Knights' 26-7 loss to Penn Wood last
week. Then they went out and brought home the man they call ""G'' a win.
Afterward,
Buechler and Oropollo said they were going to sneak into Gagliardi's
room so they could present him with the game ball.
Fittingly, Gagliardi's defense led the way.
""We
just wanted to win this one for Coach G,'' said defensive end Pat
Hicks, who blocked a punt and spent most of the night in the face of Sun
Valley quarterback Brad Messick. ""He's always been there for us and we
just wanted to show him that we're behind him now.''
Hicks, and
fellow defensive end Kwasi Asare, had a field day teeing off on Messick.
Both ends spent so much time in the Sun Valley backfield Friday night
that they could qualify for a varsity letter at the Vanguards' banquet
at the end of the season. AP sacked Messick six times for minus-39 yards
and never let the Sun Valley offense maintain any consistency after
Messick's 18-yard TD pass to tight end Dave Lock gave the Vanguards
(3-5) a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
""We just didn't let up,'' Asare said. ""Our game plan was to keep the pressure on the quarterback and that's what we did.''
It
didn't take long for the Knights to recover from that early deficit.
Asare and Hicks teamed up to sack Messick for a safety as the first
quarter game to a close. In the next four minutes, Jeremy Klein would go
58 yards for a touchdown and kick two extra points, and quarterback Tim
Flynn would throw an 11-yard scoring toss to Chris Ferrari to put the
Knights up for good, 16-7.
Even a 22-yard Jerry Guidotti with 35
seconds to play in the first half could not swing the tide in Sun
Valley's favor. The Knight defense simply would not allow it.
Flynn,
Ferrari and Kevin Hornug intercepted Messick on three consecutive plays
from scrimmage and James Carmichael (22 carries, 107 yards) sprinted 32
yards for the final TD to make sure the game ball Gagliardi received
had a ""W'' attached to it.
""This game was for Coach G and we weren't going to let them take it away from us,'' Asare said. FOOTBALL
Academy
Park 23, Sun Valley 10
Academy
Park 2 14 0 7 -- 23> Sun Valley 7 3 0 0 -- 10>
SV -- D. Lock 18 pass from Messick (Guidotti kick)
AP -- Safety
AP -- Klein 58 run (Klein kick)
AP -- Ferrari 11 pass from Flynn (Klein kick)
SV -- FG Guidotti 22
AP -- Carmichael 32 run (Klein kick)
TEAM STATISTICS APSV
First Downs67
Rushes-Yards41-14023-(-1)
Passing Yards58102
Passes4-8-110-24-3
Punts-Average6-22.85-22.4
Fumbles-Lost0-02-1
Penalties-Yards9-905-56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Academy
Park: Carmichael 22-107, Smart 9-0, Howatt 1-(-8), Klein 5-58, Flynn 3-(-17). Sun Valley: G. Lock 16-39, Messick 6-(-39), Horn 1-0.
PASSING -- Academy
Park: Flynn 4-8-1, 58. Sun Valley: Messick 10-24-3, 102. Kelly 0-0-0, 0.
RECEIVING -- Academy
Park: Carmichael 1-5, Klein 1-33, Ferrari 1-11, Hornug 1-9. Sun Valley: Horn 7-66, D. Lock 1-18, G. Lock 1-11. Starkey 1-7.
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Academy Park wins one for the "G' - October 30, 1994
Friday, December 10, 2021
Before I knew it, you were gone...
This picture, always been one of my favorites in life. There is no filter. There are no effects. I may have taken this picture with a phone that was pre-Apple. I know where I was. I know who I was with. I know how these lines came to be. I have never edited this photo. I have never touched it. I have never added or removed. I never took more than one of it. It is alone. It is special. The colors coming and going, time changing, people coming in from the day. The picture never gets old to me. It's that point in your heart, not your whole heart, not your new heart, not your old heart, just that point. That mile marker that never changes in the road...no matter how many times we travel it, we can come back...to that moment. Much of capturing of photos of nature began with this photo. I don't even know why it started with this one, but it did. It showed me that something, something with no tangible value, gave to me, so much intangible value that someone cannot change. The picture is the picture. I took it. I was the one who stood there...I was not alone...I was with someone....the picture was taken so fast, we hardly even spoke about it. We just kept on walking along the ocean and down the road. Heading back in from the chill settling in to New England on that night. I cannot say what day this was taken. It has no date. It will always be that moment...it does not need a date. The picture stays close to me as one of my favorites. Maybe for the purity. Maybe for the quiet and serenity it brings me because it's just so peaceful. Sails are down. Boats docked. Lights slowly dimming. I see the shades of the sun that day, setting, night setting on it to create a beautiful blur in the center. It will never bore me. Before I knew it....the sun was gone. I was home. A picture keeps that moment forever.
Edit..I stand corrected after locating the original. The date the picture was taken was 9/2/2011. Labor Day weekend. Kinda insane and cool.
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always our self we find in the sea.” – E. E. Cummings
“The heart of man (and woman) is very much like the sea, it has its storms,
it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too.” – Vincent
van Gogh
the bad things
When bad things happen and they're natural, I can only question Mother Nature so much. It's life..as I go through this cycle, I am spit out often to loved ones, good people, real people, sunlight, rain, the ocean and the hills. When bad things happen and I know bad people are responsible, I know to not be like those people, be better! get away from them. they're only hold you back.
Old Satch knew to keep moving, keep tossing, keep going.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
UsefulHappy-ness
Rain falling down. Wetting the soil. Overflowing waterways. Helping things grow. Quieting down the seas. I had this belief I would always be useful. I had this belief I might have a chance at eternal happiness. I now believe that both are kind of intermittent. They occur and then they don't. You have a lull, you become dull. You aren't useless, you're just not being used. You're not always going to be happy, but sometimes it's the chance you might be happy. I wonder a lot. I wonder what truly will make me happy and whether or not I am supposed to be "happiest" or if this threshold is enough. It's been a long time since I thought about the happiest time in my life. I did have that moment today. Shopping for the cards to hold the gift cards. She was looking at cards, she laughed and then spoke, "these cards...they're so stupid....(giggles).." It had been a long time since I talked to a pretty stranger. In a few seconds, I "woke" up out of my weekly work of boredom daze to look at her. Her hair, her face, her cut jeans....and our quest for cards to make someone happy....to make us feel useful. She walked out, I stared. Usually I would get back to my car and regret not asking her more. This time I just smiled and enjoyed a moment between two strangers and maybe, an awakening of sorts.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I stumbled on a great article on Happiness and Usefulness...by Darius Foroux... I subscribe to his work. Most times I am playing catch up on his articles, but the ones from yesterday are relevant today and tomorrow. Check it out.
The Purpose Of Life Is Not Happiness: It’s Usefulness
https://dariusforoux.com/happiness-usefulness/
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
to the surface
I wasn't ready. Who would ever be ready? I can't go deep into this abyss right now. I have been at the bottom looking up forever since Mom passed away. Part of me thinks you're swimming together in the bright, hot sun. Part of me is in the dark, deep, bottom of the ocean; it can be cold and lonely here. I continue to look up, hoping you will swim down and pull me out of it. Alas, I am still here....surrounded by darkness. I can't go deeper into the abyss...I am at the bottom of it already. I search for you, I search for the light that is so far away. I search for you, for her, for life. I will miss you dear aunt. You saved me from the abyss that was left when she passed. Now who will save me? I have come to the conclusion no one ever will and I am on this journey alone. I will look for you when I swim for the light.
“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will” – Chuck Palahniuk
Thursday, September 23, 2021
walk with me
I pray for you to make it through the storm. As the violent rain and breaking lightning pound the wall of my building, I enjoy it. I enjoy being in the middle of it because I know it will not last forever and when it is over, I will still be here...as you will be. I don't know what you're going through, but I know what I am and we are in this storm together, fighting, clawing, swimming, treading, and surviving...together. Grab my hand strong, as strength together is more than just the strength of on. And the joy of dual survival is greater than just the joy of surviving alone. Walk with me.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
broken arrow
I need to keep saying this to myself...as I wander through these difficult times....I wrote...so shit, I should say it.
Very good point. The older I get, the more I look at "failures" as "learning experiences". Yes, we sometimes fall into bad circumstances or are in a bad environment, but we can work our way out of it. Granted, if you see things you can change or can't change right way, all the better. Some are harder than others. We can change our outlook and hopefully change our lives.
I know you're reading out there. I think of you. I know you. You are cared for. You'll get through it...and be a better, stronger, more caring person for it. Don't let them keep you down. Don't let them make you believe their way is the right way. Don't let their actions be your actions. Don't let their dark hearts dim your light heart. Sway into the light and let it guide your path.
“An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great.” – Unknown