Two Angels Waiting For Your Call
October 16, 2007
| By Ron Costello
| 
Discuss
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift...that's why they call it the present.
Going to a high school reunion is definitely going back in history. I attended mine Saturday night at the Bala Country Club: Harriton High School Class of 1967. Although I only stayed for the two hour cocktail session, it was fun and a walk back in history.
The high school principal and his wife were there. What great people they are. Robert M. Ruoff was principal at Harriton 40 years ago and is still involved with PIAA sports. When I shook his hand and asked if he remembered me--I was sure he had not--he looked at me and said, "Baseball, Belmont Hills." It blew me away.
Frank McGovern and I figured we were the only Irish "kids" there. It was good to see Dickie Lentz who still pontificates just as he did on the athletics' bus after school. And Dan Fruchter is still the handsome Jewish kid he was back then, with the Jewish "girls" still chasing after him. But where's that ex-Marine and West Chester linebacker Bobby Wilson?
My only regret about high school is that I hung entirely with the Belmont Hills crowd, and didn't broaden my horizons with the other fascinating kids. And, of course, that I never cracked a book. But, hey, I could throw runners out at second base. That is, if Russo got the ball near the plate. Otherwise I'm diving in the dirt.
For some reason, attending the reunion made me thankful for all the things I have in my life. The good father John Brynes at South Philadelphia's St. Nicholas Church on Sunday said there are two angels in heaven answering the phone. One is extremely busy, in fact she's asking God for help to answer so many calls. She's the "give me" angel. The other angel, she hardly gets a call at all and spends most of the day staring at her phone. She's the "thank you angel." Well, the thank you angel got a few calls from me.
If Penn State Coach Joe Paterno ever decides to retire and if he wants something to do to keep himself busy, I've got it. Here in South Philadelphia nobody ever comes to a complete stop at a stop sign. It's an art. Every intersection in South Philly has four stop signs. If you came to a complete stop at each intersection, you'd never get to where you are going.
You sort of glide through each stop sign. Since all the streets are one way, you look for oncoming traffic and if there is some, you stop. But if there isn't, you slide through the intersection at about two-three miles an hour.
What's this have to do with Paterno? There have been reports out of State College that Paterno raced down a woman who went through a stop sign, followed her until she stopped, then got out and gave her the business. Her husband came along--I suppose she was picking him up--and he got into a verbal battle with JoPa.
Hey Coach, you want to get people who go through stop signs? Bring your beach chair down and sit at the corner of 13th and Moore. You can give the business to people all you want. But this ain't Happy Valley, Coach. You do that here and you might wish you back were barking at referees.
How about them Golden Boys of North Broad Street? Two in a row, beating Akron 24-20. I'm telling you, that junior 
quarterback Adam DiMichele is a player. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Owls trailed, 20-3. With five minutes remaining, DiMichele drove the Owls 66 yards, including a 19 yard touchdown pass to Bruce Francis. And DiMichele, when asked about his performance? He said the defense kept them in game.
Now this snootie sports scribe wrote this about the Nits in Sunday's Inquirer: "And they (Penn State, by beating Wisconsin) at least guaranteed themselves six wins--with Temple still on the schedule--and a bowl bid."
