WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.— Frank Girardi, one of the nation's most successful college football coaches, has announced his retirement as Lycoming College's head football coach. During his 36 seasons as the Warriors' head coach, Girardi compiled a career record of 257-97-4, which ranks 15th on the NCAA's all-time winningest coaches list, regardless of division.

Girardi ranks fifth in wins among active NCAA coaches and second-place among active NCAA Division III coaches. He led Lycoming to 13 Middle Atlantic Conference championships and 11 appearances in the NCAA playoffs, including trips to the Stagg Bowl—the NCAA Division III national championship game—in 1990 and 1997. In all, the Warriors have tallied a winning record in 29 of Girardi's 36 seasons.

Perhaps Girardi's finest coaching moment came in the final game of the 2005 season when he became only the 17th coach in NCAA history to reach the milestone of 250 victories. The 17-10 overtime victory against longtime rival Susquehanna University capped an exciting campaign in which the Warriors rallied from a 1-4 start to finish with a five-game winning streak and a 6-4 record.

"Coach G, as most of his players call him, is a legendary figure," said Lycoming President Dr. James E. Douthat. "He has etched a nationally-respected, winning tradition in the town where he was raised. In the world of NCAA Division III football, the name Frank Girardi is synonymous with class and success, both on and off of the football field."

Girardi is a member of the West Branch Valley Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania State Sports Hall of Fame and West Chester University's
W. Glenn Killinger Football Hall of Fame. The Middle Atlantic Conference has honored Girardi as its Coach of the Year on 12 occasions. In 1999, he became the Robert W. Maxwell Football Club's first recipient of their Tri-State Coach of the Year Award, which is presented to an outstanding college or high school coach from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware.

Girardi began his football career in high school when he carried the ball as a running back for the Williamsport Millionaires. He continued
to play at the collegiate level at West Chester University.

Girardi entered the coaching ranks in 1961 when he became an assistant coach at Jersey Shore (Pa.) High School. He became head coach of the team in 1963 and remained in that position for six years.

In 1969, Girardi became an assistant at Lycoming under Budd Whitehill. Three years later, he took over the reigns as head coach of a Warrior program that had gone 14-34 since its last winning season in 1965. During Girardi's first three seasons, Lycoming went 2-6, 2-6 and 3-6. In his fourth season, the Warriors recorded a mark of 6-2 and went on to have 29 consecutive winning campaigns.

In 1984, Girardi accepted an expanded role as Lycoming's director of athletics, overseeing Lycoming's 17 intercollegiate athletic programs.

Girardi resides in Williamsport with his wife Lynne. Their four children – Cathy, Jerry, Frank, Jr. and Justine – have all graduated from Lycoming College.

Scott Kennell recently finished his seventh season as head coach of Lycoming's men's soccer team and his second year as Assistant Director of Athletics. Over the past four seasons, Kennell's Warriors boast a 49-24-4 record (.671 winning percentage) with three appearances in the Freedom Conference playoffs. Kennell has already taken Lycoming to more conference playoffs than any previous coach. In 2004, his squad played in the Freedom Conference championship, finishing the year 14-5-1. Scott has quickly brought Lycoming’s program to new heights. He became the Warriors' all-time winningest soccer coach in 2006 and was recently named head coach of the USAAI national team which will travel to Barbados in the summer of 2008.  

Before arriving at Lycoming, Kennell began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1998. After one year at Wesleyan, he moved to Gettysburg College to be the assistant coach under Dave Wright. In 1999, the Bullets won the Centennial Conference championship, earning the top seed in the NCAA tournament and completing the year ranked ninth in the country.

Kennell graduated from North Carolina Wesleyan in 1998 with a bachelor of science degree. As an undergraduate, he was a four-year starter at midfield. During his playing days, Kennell was a two-time Umbro Regional All-American and All-Dixie Conference player. He also holds Wesleyan's all-time record for career goals and single-season marks for goals and total points.

Upon graduating from Wesleyan, Kennell was selected as the eighth overall college player to be taken in the 1998 Eastern Indoor Soccer League draft. After one season in Savannah, Ga., the Eastern Shore Sharks (affiliate of Major League Soccer's DC United) acquired Kennell. While with the Sharks, Kennell led the team in goals scored and was the team's captain. In addition to his experience as a player, Kennell has extensive training in coaching; including the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Premier "A" License. He is one of only four men’s coaches in the MAC to hold the Premier "A" License.

In 2008, Kennell will represent the United States as head coach of the USAAI national team sponsored by USA Athletes International. USAAI is a non-profit organization that facilitates amateur international competition. Kennell’s squad will play Barbados’ national team in a three-game series in Barbados National Stadium, which holds 15,000 spectators. All three contests will be televised throughout Barbados. Earlier this year, the U.S. World Cup Team played the same Barbados squad and won 3-0.

Kennell currently resides in Montoursville with his wife, Anne, and their two children, Ryan and Allie.

Chet Schuman is in his eighth year as the Penn College Wildcats golf coach and that team has not lost a match in five year.  Currently the team has won 142 matches.  On Tuesday of this week, Penn College won there Conference Championship.  In their writeup, Chet give credit to his sold players.

The golf team finished its regular-season matches Tuesday with a victory at the Links at Spring Church in Apollo. The team shot a total of 314, which was 21 strokes better than the closest competitor: Penn State New Kensington. The score allowed the golf team to secure first place in the Western Division of the PSU Athletic Conference.

Five of Penn College’s golfers finished in the top seven of all the competitors. The team was led by senior Shaun McQuay, of Watsontown, who was medalist with a 2-over-par 74. He was followed by junior Ryan Nornhold, of Enola, at 78; and sophomore Matt Winder, of Montgomery, who fired an 81 along with freshman Dean Bell, of Schwenksville. Freshman Eric Schall, of Jersey Shore, shot an 82; and junior Doug Wagner, of Huntington Mills, shot a 91.

Coach Chet Schuman noted it was great to see some of the players shoot low rounds at the end of the season, adding that Nornhold, Bell and Schall shot very well for being on the course for the first time.

"The course was a tight course with some blind shots into greens and you needed to place the ball real well in order to score," Schuman said. "It was a very warm day in the 90s and not knowing the course made it a real challenge for these young golfers ... and they rose to the challenge. PSU is a very competitive team and to go to their home course and have us play well is a real testimony to our golfers."

The team will finish the season when it travels to Penn State University for a two-day tournament (Oct. 10-11) at which the Wildcats will play against the remaining Penn State teams from the eastern division.

We wish Chet and his team continued success in October.

Tom Speicher is probably best known for doing Little League World Series interviews each year for WRAK and co-hosting the award-winning "You're the Chef" http://chef.pct.edu/bios.html for the Pennsylvania College of Technology.  There is another side to Tom Speicher however.  He has had a "Love Affair" with the Minnesota Vikings football program.  Since he was very young, Tom has followed the Purple and White.  Presently, Tom has been writing about past Viking greats for the Viking Update Magazine and has done work for vikings.scout.com .  He covered the Vikings training camp this summer.  We talked to Tom about his Vikings experiences.

Local historian Lou Hunsinger, Jr. has a resume that spans from sports to local history.  Co-author of probably seven books and a correspondent for the Webb Weekly, Lou has so much knowledge and insite into sports.  We talked to him today about the 2007 Little League World Series and the Williamsport Crosscutters.

DISCUSSION WITH SPORTS ANNOUNCER HAROLD REYNOLDS
Podcast Date: August 24, 2005

Williamsport - Harold Reynolds (ESPN's Sports Analyst) was the guest on Williamsport OnLine's podcast show Wednesday, August 24, 2005.  We were very fortunate to catch him between meetings and scheduled broadcasts. 

Harold Reynolds comes with some impressive credentials in his 12 years of Major League baseball experience.  He played 10 years with the Seattle Mariners winning three golden glove awards, playing in the 87&88 All Star Game and had a career .341 slugging percentage.

In 1991 Harold was presented with the Roberto Clemente Award (Commissioners Award) given each year by Major League Baseball.  It recognizes a player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team.  And what company he is with:

Willie Mays
Willie Stargell
Lou Brock
Phil Niekro
Barry Maddox
Cal Ripken Jr.
Dave Winfield
Tony Gwynn
to name a few. 

On this podcast we talked about getting into baseball, playing other sports, being on the road, some awards and some things Harold feels blessed with.  Enjoy this podcast from Williamsport OnLine. 

Harold also talks about his baseball video "Harold Reynolds Presents Baseball" which can be found at his website http://haroldreynolds.com .  The video concentrates on the basics of the game of baseball with the best players in each of the skill areas.

Harold is also member of the Garth Brooks Foundation "Teammates 4 Kids" ( http://teammates4kids.com ) which exists to develop and implement innovative concepts that generate funds for the benefit of children's charities.

Finally, our thanks to Harold for spending time with us!

Please let us know what you think of our show whether good or bad. We want to make this podcast even better. If you have an event or subject you want us to discuss on our podcast, please send us your event at williamsport@gmail.com

Thanks for visiting us and please pass the word to everyone you know about this weekly podcast show.

Please tell a friend about "Best Podcasts From The Past."

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE WITH DAVE WINFIELD
Podcast Date: May 27, 2005

David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951, in St. Paul, Minnesota) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played for 22 seasons and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins, and the Cleveland Indians.

Youth and collegiate career:
Winfield grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he starred in basketball and baseball for the Golden Gophers. His college basketball coach was a young Bill Musselman, who went on to serve as a head coach in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association and would later refer to Winfield as the best rebounder he ever had. Winfield's 1972 Minnesota team won a Big 10 basketball championship, the school's first in 53 years. During the 1972 season, he also was involved in a brawl when Minnesota played Ohio State. [1]

After hitting and pitching the Gophers to the College World Series in 1973, where he was named MVP, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, the Minnesota Vikings as a tight end despite not playing college football, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, and the Utah Stars of the ABA. He is one of only two men ever drafted in three different pro sports (the other being Dave Logan) and the only man to be drafted by four leagues. In 1974, as a publicity stunt, the World Hockey Association assigned Winfield's rights to the Minnesota Fighting Saints, based out of St. Paul.

San Diego Padres:
Winfield chose baseball, and gained another distinction when the Padres promoted him directly to the majors. This is a rare move in modern baseball, making him one of a select few players since the origins of the amateur draft in 1965 to make the leap straight to Major League Baseball without playing in the minor leagues first. [2] He proved up to the task, batting .277 in 56 games.

For the next several years, he was an All-Star player in San Diego, gradually increasing his power and hits totals. He burst into stardom in 1979, when he batted .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI, then played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.

New York Yankees:
In 1981, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made headlines by signing Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million contract, making him the game's highest-paid player. Winfield was one of the best players in the game throughout the life of the contract, but soon had a falling out with Steinbrenner.

He helped the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant, but then had a poor World Series, and the Yankees lost in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A bitter Steinbrenner derided Winfield in 1985 by saying "I got rid of Mr. October (Reggie Jackson) and got Mr. May." The Mr. May sobriquet lived with him until the 1992 World Series.

He went on to hit 37 home runs in a spectacular 1982 season and in 1984, he batted .340, second in the league to teammate Don Mattingly. He drove in 744 runs between 1982 and 1988, won five Gold Glove Awards for his stellar outfield play and was named to the All-Star Game every season.

On August 4, 1983, Winfield, while warming up before the 5th inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow. Fans responded by hurling obscenties and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and was forced to post a $500 bond before being released. Quipped Yankees manager Billy Martin, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." The charges were dropped the following day.[1] For years afterward Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted with loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite. (A similar accident involving a bird happened to Randy Johnson during spring training in March 2001.)

In 1990, Steinbrenner was suspended from running the Yankees for two years because of his connections to Howie Spira, a known gambler with mafia connections [3], whom he'd paid $40,000 for embarrassing information. The year was no better than the year before for Winfield, who had sat out 1989 with a back injury. The next year, he was traded mid-season to the California Angels.

Later career and retirement

Toronto Blue Jays:
Winfield was still a productive hitter after his 40th birthday. On December 19, 1991, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as their designated hitter, and batted .290 with 26 homers and 108 RBI, during the 1992 season.

Winfield proved to be a lightning rod for the Blue Jays, providing leadership and experience as well as his potent bat. Winfield was a fan favourite, but also demanded fan participation. In August 1992 he made an impassioned plea to the fans during an interview for more crowd noise. The phrase "Winfield Wants Noise" became a popular slogan for the rest of the season, appearing on t-shirts, dolls, and signs.

The Blue Jays won the pennant, giving Winfield a shot at redemption for his previous late-season and post-season futility. In Game 6 of the World Series, he became "Mr. Jay" as he delivered the game-winning two-run double in the 11th inning off Atlanta's Charlie Leibrandt to win the World Championship for Toronto.

1993-95: Winfield for Dinner?
After the 1992 season, Winfield was granted free agency and signed with his hometown Minnesota Twins, where he continued to perform at a high level of play despite advancing age. At age 41, he amassed his 3,000th career hit while batting .271 with 21 home runs, appearing in 143 games for the 1993 Twins, mostly as their designated hitter.

During the 1994 baseball strike, which began on August 12, Winfield was traded to the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline on August 31 for a "player to be named later." The 1994 season was cancelled two weeks later, so Winfield did not play for the Indians that year and no player was ever named in exchange. To settle the trade, Cleveland and Minnesota executives went to dinner, with the Indians picking up the tab. This makes Winfield the only player in major league history to be traded for a dinner.[2]

Winfield was again granted free agency in October but re-signed with the Indians as spring training began in April 1995. As MLB's oldest player in 1995, Winfield played in 46 games and hit .191 for Cleveland's first pennant winner in 41 years, but did not participate in the Indians' postseason.

Hall of Fame:
Winfield retired in 1995 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility. He chose to become the first player to choose to go into Cooperstown as a Padre -- a move that reportedly irked Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner. Nonetheless, when he was inducted Winfield sounded a conciliatory note toward Steinbrenner:

“He’s said he regrets a lot of things that happened. We’re fine now. Things have changed.�

In 1999, Winfield ranked number 94 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

On July 4, 2006, Winfield was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.

He currently serves as a vice president of the Padres.

Quotes:

1. Now it's on to May, and you know about me and May. —after setting an American League record for RBI in April, 1988.
2. I am truly sorry that a fowl of Canada is no longer with us. —to the press after being released following the 1983 bird-killing incident.

Ref: Wikipedia

Please tell a friend about "Best Podcasts From The Past."

DAVID JAMES FROM LITTLE LEAGUE TALKS ABOUT THE "URBAN INITIATIVE."
Podcast Date: May 13, 2005

David James from Little League Baseball and Softball is the point man for the "Urban Initiative."  In it's 5th year in 2005, the initiative has over 100 teams involved.  David talks about how the program is going, how it is funded, it's connection with Major League Baseball and what to expect in the future.  The program can impact our urban athletes and that is a major focus for the Urban Initiative.

Please tell a friend about "Best Podcasts From The Past."

BONNIE DODGE RUNS BOSTON MARATHON
Podcast Date: May 5, 2005

Our guest is Bonnie Dodge who ran in the 2005 Boston Marathon.  She works at Divine Providence Hospital.  She is one of 18 people in this area who qualified to run in the marathon.  Bonnie had to qualify in 3 hours and 45 minutes, so she made that goal and was eligible for the annual run.

Please tell a friend about "Best Podcasts From The Past."

BILL AND JOHN FROM THE BUNKER
Podcast Date: April 15, 2005

It was April 2005 when Bill Byham was introduced to podcasting.  He did not know what it was but was interested.  So we started our first show in the Bunker of his home.  We hope you enjoy the classic podcasts from the past.

Please tell a friend about "Best Podcasts From The Past."