The local angle

If we look hard enough into the world of sports we can very often come up an angle that has Berkshire County ties. Some recent story lines met that criteria.
 
*Dave Archer was named head coach of the Cornell University football team.
Archer, the former captain at Cornell who graduated in 2005, is the 27th coach in the long history of the Ivy League team. He becomes the youngest D-1 NCAA coach in the nation.

Local Angle: Beth Mooney, the daughter-in-law of Pittsfield native Joe Mooney, is the sister of Dave Archer. If you need tickets to any Cornell games contact Joe. The best place to look for him is on a golf course in Florida.
 
*A referee messed up a big first down call in the 2013 Outback Bowl. The “white hat,” whose job it is to supervise measurements, either had a brain cramp or the last three links of the chain were the same color as the grass on the field during a crucial drive by Michigan.

I don’t think that official will be getting a Christmas card from SC Coach Steve Spurrier next year.
 
Local Angle: Kevin Codey of Pittsfield was the side judge in that game. Kevin continues to get high profile games and is highly respected around the country as an official. After that call by his colleague, he probably wished he had missed his flight. Kevin is the son of Pat Codey and the late John Codey.
 
*Brown outscored Providence 9-1 in the last 47 seconds to win at at the buzzer.
 
Local Angle: What a win for Mike Martin of Agawam, son of former MCLA standout Mike Martin, the young head coach of the Bears. Ivy League action starts soon.
 
*Al Sokaitis, head basketball coach of Post University in Waterbury, Conn., was named to coach the Tanzania National Team.

Sokaitis has over 20 years experience coaching at the collegiate level. He has conducted clinics in China, Lebanon, Greece and Japan but has never been to East Africa. His Division II teams have beaten D-1 teams eight times during his career, which included stops in Maine, Washington state and Alaska.
 
Local Angle: Sokaitis had a record of 64-16 while coaching at NASC (now MCLA) from ’87-’90.
 
*Tim Tebow may end up in the Canadian Football League.
 
Local Angle: The Beacon had to get an expert opinion from a CFL lifer and North Adams native, Coach John Salvantis. He said, “Tebow would be a natural for the CFL but he would still have to improve his passing game.”

*Former Patriot Ron Brace signed with the Washington Redskins. Brace played at Boston College and was the 40 overall pick for the Pats in 2009.
 
Local Angle: Brace is a Springfield native who moved to Worcester while in middle school; his family relocated to Springfield after his high school years.

Posted by Dick Syriac on February 21, 2013. Filed under Berkshire Sports Guy,Columns,Opinion,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry