Remembering the legendary John Mackey and his remarkable wife, Sylvia

I was saddened to hear about the passing of John Mackey today at age 69. I had the opportunity to interview the former Syracuse University and Baltimore Colts legendary tight end on several occasions through the years, and always found him to be thoughtful and jovial. He had a great sense of humor and was especially helpful when I was writing features about Ernie Davis, his former SU teammate and friend who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961.

Sadly, I could not interview John for the last story I wrote about him for Central New York Sports Magazine this spring. By that time, the man who revolutionized the tight end position was deep in the throes of frontal temporal dimentia and could not speak. But his heroic wife, Sylvia, spoke for him and for other old-time football players who found themselves in dire straits as a result of the concussive effects of their football careers. She is a courageous woman, and my heart goes out to her and her children on this sad day.

The magazine piece about John and Sylvia is reprinted below. I hope it gives you some insight into John's impact on the game and Sylvia's remarkable devotion to him.

THE PRICE

The passes he catches in the spacious room at Baltimore’s Keswick Memory Care Center might not be the precise spirals John Mackey was accustomed to receiving from the legendary Johnny Unitas back in the day. But that doesn’t matter. And it also doesn’t matter that the man who began redefining the tight end position while playing for Syracuse University in the early 1960s needs a walker to get around and plays catch while seated in a chair.

The footballs flung by his wife, Sylvia, still elicit the same coast-to-coast smile and the same reflexive response they did when Mackey was running routes for the Orangemen and the Baltimore Colts. His eyes grow as big as silver dollars and his bear-paw hands pluck the ball out of the air with ease. And after making each reception, he instinctively wraps the long fingers of his right hand around the laces and passes the ball back to his college sweetheart and bride of 47 years.

“He still enjoys grabbing those footballs,’’ Sylvia says. “It’s one of the few things he hasn’t forgotten how to do.”

A simple game of catch is able to jog what’s left of his memory and connect him to a past largely erased by Frontal Temporal Dementia, a hideous and progressive mind-robbing disease. The 69-year-old Mackey no longer talks, no longer can feed himself, no longer remembers the name of the guy wearing the No. 88 Colts jersey in the huge photograph hanging in his room.

Like many of his contemporaries who helped build the National Football League into a multi-billion dollar enterprise and America’s most popular pastime, Mackey paid a huge price for his glory. Though the league doesn’t acknowledge a correlation between football’s concussive collisions and early onset dementia, it finally recognized four years ago the moral obligation to take care of these brain-damaged men and their families, many of whom were on the verge of bankruptcy. Thanks to the tireless efforts of courageous women such as Sylvia Mackey, the 88 Plan – in honor of John’s jersey number – was instituted, providing players with post-career dementia up to $88,000 per year for institutional care.

“I told John he has become the poster child for a solution to this problem,’’ Sylvia says. “His greatness on the football field is always going to be his biggest legacy. But this is No. 2.”
***
Sylvia Cole met John Mackey the first day she arrived on the SU campus during the summer of 1959. She was immediately smitten, but Mackey played hard-to-get. He only had time for football and classes for the better part of a semester.

“He didn’t ask me out on a date until after the season ended, and even then, it was more like I had to ask him out,’’ she recalls, chuckling. “He actually was going to stand me up on our first date, but Ernie Davis intervened. He told Ernie that he was thinking of not going out with me because he didn’t have anything to wear, didn’t have any money and didn’t have a car. Ernie told him, ‘You can’t do that.’ So Ernie gave him something to wear, a five-dollar bill and the keys to his car, and pushed him out the door.”

The couple saw a movie – Where the Boys Are, starring Connie Stevens – and went to a club afterward.

“We had a wonderful time,’’ she says. “John was so much fun, very outgoing. And, man, how he loved to sing and dance.”

Despite being a mountainous man at 6-foot-2 and a rock-hard 250 pounds, John was so light on his feet that Sylvia and her friends dubbed him “Twinkle Toes Mackey.”

There were dance parties where overflow crowds would pack the Mount Olympus dormitory dining hall to listen to the band, Felix and the Escorts, who would go on to become national recording artists under a new name – The Young Rascals.

“At the end of their gig, they would ask John to come up on stage and perform a solo,” Sylvia says. “My girlfriends and I would swoon because John had such a soulful voice.”

Mackey’s strength, speed and nimbleness would enable him to hit high notes of a different kind on autumn afternoons. In the early 1960s, tight ends were used more like third offensive tackles, their primary assignment calling for them to open holes for running backs. But on those rare occasions when SU coach Ben Schwartzwalder did send Mackey out for a pass, the big guy delivered like no receiver ever had in the run-oriented history of the program. In a 51-8 thumping of Colgate during his junior season in 1961, Mackey hauled in a halfback option pass from Davis, that year’s Heisman Trophy winner, and sprinted 74 yards for a touchdown. The following season against George Washington University, Mackey touched the football 10 times, going deep for 161 yards. Thanks in part to Mackey’s punishing blocks and occasional long-distance catches, the Orangemen went 20-10 and won the Liberty Bowl in his three varsity seasons.

Though his career stats – 27 receptions, 481 yards, six touchdowns – seem modest by today’s standards, NFL scouts envisioned a gifted athlete used in ways a tight end hadn’t been before. The Colts already had a dangerous wide receiver tandem in Raymond Berry and Jimmy Orr. But they believed Mackey would give Unitas a potent third target. So they chose the Orangeman in the second round of 1963 draft.

They would not regret their selection. Mackey averaged 20.7 yards per catch and scored seven touchdowns during his rookie season, earning an invitation to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. By his fourth season, he had revolutionized the position, catching 50 passes and scoring nine touchdowns – including six of 50 yards or longer. He would finish his 10-year NFL career with a 15.8-yards-per-catch average. That’s a full yard better than wide receiver Jerry Rice, widely regarded as the best receiver in football history.

Mackey also helped the Colts win Super Bowl V with a 75-yard touchdown reception. His achievements earned him induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992 and paved the way for athletic tight ends to follow in his footsteps.

Off the field, Mackey also helped revolutionize the game by negotiating free agency during his four-year term as president of the NFL Players’ Association – a position for which he was groomed by former Buffalo Bills quarterback and western New York Congressman, Jack Kemp.

After retiring following the 1972 season with the San Diego Chargers, the personable Mackey ran a number of successful businesses. Sylvia, meanwhile, pursued a modeling and acting career that saw her walk fashion show runways in Paris and Rome and film numerous television commercials. The couple wound up having three children – John Jr., Laura and Lisa.

"We truly were living a dream life,’’ Sylvia says.

But in the years following his induction into the hall, Mackey’s behavior began to grow increasingly bizarre. He started forgetting the names of close relatives, including his sister. He grew easily agitated. His paranoia made him suspicious of others and highly protective of his possessions.

“He had this man purse that he wouldn’t let anyone touch,’’ Sylvia recalls. “I remember we were at Bobby Mitchell’s golf tournament and they wanted to take a picture of all the guys and they asked John to put the purse down for the photograph and he refused. One of the wives said, ‘Here, John, I’ll hold it for you.’ And he gave her this look like ‘Don’t you dare touch this, or I’ll kill you.’ We were never invited back to that tournament.”

As his mind became more muddled, people began taking advantage of him and he lost his businesses and his life savings, prompting Sylvia to seek employment as a flight attendant at age 57.

“We needed the money and the health insurance and I figured if I went back to work that would shame him into seeking employment, too,’’ she says. “But he just continued to sit around and hang out with his friends at this bar where they sang karaoke. One night, he badgered me into going to the tavern and watch him perform. When he finished singing, he came back to our table and told me that he was going to take the act on the road. Now, my husband had a good voice, but his voice wasn’t that good. I didn’t know what was wrong with John. I just knew this wasn’t the man I had fallen in love with.”

Mackey’s reaction to the tragedy of 9/11 proved to be the final straw. “He just sat there all day, looking at the TV,’’ Sylvia recalls. “When he asked me ‘Did the terrorists do that on purpose?’ I knew I had to get him to a doctor.”

The dementia diagnosis by a neurologist at the UCLA Medical Center was both painful and a relief.

“We finally had an explanation for the odd behavior and I realized it was something John had no control over,’’ she says. “I now had something I could begin reading up on and carry the ball from there.”

Sylvia decided it would be in John’s best interest to move from San Diego back to the more familiar surroundings of Baltimore, a place where he was still revered and where people would be able to help her look out for him. For several years, John was still sharp enough to attend football games and card shows. The Ravens honored him and several other former Baltimore Colts at halftime of one of their games a few years ago, and when Mackey received his commemorative football, he sprinted from midfield to the goal line, eliciting a lusty roar from the crowd. During the 2007 season, he returned to the Carrier Dome to have his SU football jersey retired. After his No. 88 was raised to the rafters, he headed to the sidelines, where he exchanged high-fives with hundreds of fans leaning over the railing.

“Those were great, great moments for him,’’ Sylvia says. “I’m glad he got a chance to enjoy them when he did.”

Slowly, his dementia worsened. One time the couple was going to fly to St. Louis for a card show, but John refused to remove his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings upon reaching the metal detectors at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Thinking the security guards were trying to steal his prized baubles, Mackey bolted through the checkpoint. It took four guards to bring him down. “I’m just so thankful they didn’t shoot him because they had no idea about his mental condition,’’ she says. “They easily could have mistaken him for being a bomb-toting terrorist.”

A few years ago, Sylvia made the difficult decision to place John into Keswick, a 24/7 facility.

She continues to be an advocate for her husband and the more than 100 former NFL players and their wives who are participating in the 88 Plan program. The dramatic upgrade in their benefits is a direct result of an impassioned, three-page letter she wrote to then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue five years ago. In it, she told him that he had been a very good commissioner, but there was one more great act he needed to perform before leaving office – and that was to take care of the pioneers like John. Tagliabue and his successor, Roger Goodell, have followed through on Sylvia’s request.

In the past year alone, she has testified before Congress and has spoken at nine seminars sponsored by the NFL and the Atlanta-based Morehouse School of Medicine.

“I don’t know where she finds the time or the energy to do everything she does,’’ says Morehouse program director Sharon Rachel. “She truly is a remarkable woman and has done an incredible job looking out not only for John but for so many other football players and their families who are dealing with these tragic circumstances.”

Sylvia’s work with United Airlines keeps her on call for 19 days a month. Every day she is home, she spends much of her time at Keswick, helping feed John, taking him for walks, poring over scrapbooks and photo albums, and, of course, playing catch.

She may not deliver a Johnny U. spiral. But that doesn’t matter. Sylvia Mackey enjoys playing quarterback because her passes elicit smiles and connect her husband to a storied past that’s largely been erased from his mind. A simple game of catch makes a painful present and an uncertain future a little easier to handle.

Daddy's little girl, Mr. October and predictions for the Cuse and da Bills

Before I get to the sports stuff, I just want to wish my daughter, Amy, a Happy Birthday. I’m still having problems believing she’s 23-years-old. How the heck did that happen? Seems like only yesterday (she’s going to be mortified by this) that I was changing her diapers and putting her on the school bus for the first time and going to those soccer games where she and her fellow 8-year-olds swarmed to the ball like bees to honey. The older I get, the faster time zips by. But no matter how much sand passes through the hour glass of our lives, she will always be my little girl.

***

OK, I’ll stop being sappy and move on to the wacky world of sports. Had the opportunity Thursday to attend the Compeer Luncheon at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, where Reggie Jackson was the headliner. I’ve interviewed him on several occasions, and there have been times when his massive but fragile ego has made him tough to deal with. (Think T.O. in Yankee pinstripes.)

But the Reggie I encountered yesterday was gracious and accommodating, especially with the kids there, who like their parents, were playing hooky. At the end of his speech and question-and-answer session, Reggie stunned the folks at Compeer, by saying he was going to donate the use of a 20-seat suite to Yankee Stadium for a game next season. That’s no small gesture because some of those suites have been auctioned off for $75,000.

A special advisor to the Yankees, Jackson discussed a number of baseball topics. The man known as Mr. October because of his World Series exploits said his two favorite Yankees are Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera (my favorites, too). The toughest pitcher he ever faced was his former Oakland A’s teammate Rollie Fingers. And he admitted that the dimensions of the new Yankee Stadium are smaller than the old one, which helps explain the home run barrage in the South Bronx this season.

Although the Yankees have won the most games (102) and have the highest payroll, Reggie isn’t predicting a cake-walk to the Bronx Bombers 27th world championship. He anticipates a tough challenge in their upcoming best-of-five playoff series against the Detroit Tigers and their pitching ace Justin Verlander. And he’s quick to point out that money can’t buy you love or a World Series.

“I always thought if you had a pile of money, you’ll wind up being the best,’’ he said. “It doesn’t work that way. No world champions since 2000 (the year the Yanks last won it all) have had the highest pay roll. I know, because we’ve had the highest payroll every year.’’
As far as a National League opponent should the Yankees make it to the Series, Jackson gives the nod to the St. Louis Cardinals, though he admits he’s biased, having played for current Birds’ skipper Tony LaRussa in Oakland.

All in all, it was an entertaining performance by Mr. October on the first day of the month that made him a legend.

***

I’m heading to the Carrier Dome tomorrow for homecoming at my alma mater, and I’m looking forward to seeing Greg Paulus live for the first time this season. South Florida might just be the most talented team Syracuse plays this season (though Cincinnati’s also very good, and Penn State is no slouch either, despite last week’s loss to arch nemesis Iowa.) In George Selvie, SoFlo boasts the best defensive end in the country, and their red-shirt freshman quarterback, B.J. Daniels, is coming off a game in which he shredded Florida State for 126 yards rushing. USF also features six receivers averaging at least 15 yards per catch and they’ll be going against a porous Orange secondary that has been toasted for 11 TDs so far. In other words, not a great matchup for the Cuse.

I’m wondering, though, if we are overrating South Florida just a tad. After all, their three opponents before the Seminoles were two Division IAA schools (Wofford and Charleston Southern) and Western Kentucky, whom they combined to outscore, 135-20.

For SU to have any chance, Paulus is going to have play super, the inexperienced SU offensive line is going to have to keep him upright and open some holes for Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey, and the special teams is going to have make a big play or two.

That’s asking an awful lot. Pressed for a prediction, I’m going to have to be untrue to my school and call it: South Florida 38, ‘Cuse 20.

***

Since we’re doing predictions, I might as well get my Bills pick out of the way, too. I wouldn’t be shocked if they went down to Miami and won, but I believe they have too many things going against them. Buffalo’s secondary has been decimated by injuries, and I hate picking against desperate teams – and at 0-3 the Dolphins definitely qualify as desperate. So, I’m going to call it, Miami 23, Bills 20.

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If you love watching sports played by people who do it solely for the love of the game, may I suggest you check out the Mayor’s Cup 19th century base ball game at the Genesee Country Village and Museum Sunday at 1:30. My team, the Excelsiors, will be playing the Knickerbockers for the championship.

It should be a tightly contest match, and high-scoring if the past couple of games are any indication. We’ve piled up 29 and 22 runs the past two weekends, making us the New Orleans Saints of the Silver Park Base Ball league. We play according to 1864 rules, meaning we don’t use gloves. That helps explain the football like scores. But when we won the national Silver Ball Tournament six years ago, our victory was by a 1-0 margin, so defense, pitching, timely hitting and astute baserunning also comes into play.

Any way, it’s a lot of fun, and the musueum is going to be hopping with a ton of activities because this is the agricultural fair weekend, too. Love to see you there. Just make sure you root for the guys in the red socks and hats – the Excelsiors.

***

I'm happy to report that friend and former Times-Union colleague Gene Duffey is making a great recovery from cardiac arrest. If he continues to make progress, Gene will be getting out of the hospital very soon. He heard from hundreds of friends during his ordeal, and even received a visit from a member of the Houston Texans staff, who presented him with a game ball from head coach Gary Kubiak. It was a classy gesture for a classy reporter.

***

Congratulations to Pat Stark, the former Syracuse quarterback and assistant coach from Walworth, who will be among the members of the Orangemen's 1959 national championship team honored at halftime of tomorrow's SU-South Florida game. Pat's a wonderful gentleman whom I've gotten to know in my time as a newspaper reporter. Many also might remember him from his days as the head coach of the University of Rochester football team. Class act all the way.

***

I'm not surprised the Rio won the rights to host the 2016 Olympics. As I wrote the other day, South America has never hosted the Games, so it was long overdue. Chicago could give another push for the 2020 Olympics.

Syracuse football taking baby steps along road to respectability

Some thoughts on the 'Cuse, Tebow's injury and the Bills as I prepare to travel west down I-90 to the Ralph this afternoon:

The glass-is-half-full view of Syracuse's 41-24 victory against pesky Maine Saturday night is this: Unlike last year's half-hearted effort in a 14-point loss to Akron in the Dome, the 'Cuse woke up in the second half and played the way it should have from the start against a game, but inferior opponent.

The glass-half-empty view of the victory is this: SU's special teams were totally out-played and out-coached, and its defense is about as resistant as butter vs. the proverbial hot knife without NFL-bound tackle Arthur Jones in the lineup. Jones left early Saturday night with an upper leg injury. He was walking on it along the sidelines, which leads me to believe it wasn't serious and that Doug Marrone was being extra cautious because he knows if the Orange are to have any chance of beating South Florida in the Big East opener this Saturday, he's going to need a healthy Jones on the field.

***

I think the progress Greg Paulus has made in his rookie season of college football after not playing the game for four years is nothing short of remarkable. The former Duke point guard had another solid outing vs. Maine, completing 21-of-28 passes (he would have had 23 completions were it not for two drops) for 270 yards and two scores. He has great vision and great poise. It makes you wonder just how good he would be if he had chosen football over basketball.

***

Just when it appeared as if SU and the rest of the Big East might have caught a break when South Florida's senior quarterback Matt Grothe was lost for the season to injury, a freshman QB has shown that reports of the Bulls' demise were premature. B.J. Daniels looked marvelous in South Florida's 17-7 upset of No. 18 Florida State Saturday. The Bulls remain loaded with talent, and have surpassed both Florida State and Miami and now trail only Florida as the best college football team in the football-mad Sunshine State.

***

The hit that sent Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to the hospital with a concussion obviously could happen on any play during a football game. But the fact it occurred late in the third quarter with the Gators cruising by 24 points against overmatched Kentucky and the fact it happened while Tebow was battling some sort of stomach virus raises questions about why the heck he was still in the game. Methinks Florida coach Urban Meyer was getting a little greedy, trying to impress the voters with as lopsided a score as possible. Shame on him.

***

I feel badly for my friend, John DiTullio, and all my other buddies who root for Penn State. I don't know what the heck it is about Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have owned the Nittany Lions in recent years.

***

Looking forward to getting a look at the New Orleans Saints and their blazing hot quarterback Drew Brees today at the Ralph. The Bills will need another work-horse performance by the versatile Fred Jackson - the only NFL running back with more than 200 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving this season. Buffalo can't get involved in a shootout vs. the high-powered Saints. But they also can't become too conservative vs. a Saints defense that can be exploited. New offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has to find a way to get T.O. and Lee Evans more involved than they've been in the first two games for the Bills to have a chance. Call it Saints 31, Bills 23 in an entertaining game.

I'll be in Orchard Park to cover the game, so please check out my post-game column here this evening.

A healthy Paulus could mean 6 wins for Syracuse this fall

I’m not ready to go out and buy one of those “The Devil Wears Orange’’ T-shirts in honor of Duke Blue Devil-point-guard-turned-Syracuse-Orange-quarterback Greg Paulus, but I am looking forward to an SU football season for the first time in ages.

And I’m not alone.

A crowd of about 45,000 – nearly 13,000 above last year’s paltry average – is anticipated for Saturday’s season-opener against the Minnesota Gophers in the Carrier Dome.

And the national media will be there, too – as they have been all summer - to chronicle this fascinating story of the prodigal son returning home after a four-year hiatus to Tobacco Road.

Perhaps, I’m a little caught up in the “Pauluspalooza,’’ but based on what I’ve seen from the young man recently and what I saw from him five years ago on the football fields at Syracuse’s Christian Brothers Academy, I think this experiment is going to be successful.

While throwing for 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns as a four-year starter at CBA, Paulus was recruited by every major football program in America. College recruiting guru Tom Lemming went so far as to compare him to Joe Montana.

Yes, that was long ago, and the college game is a quantum leap from high school. But I can’t believe Paulus has somehow forgotten the football instincts and lost the physical skills that made him Gatorade’s National High School Football Player of the Year five years ago.

Sure, there’s going to be rust. But Paulus is a very bright athlete with great field vision. He already has developed a firm grasp of the spread offense SU will employ and has demonstrated during preseason practices that he has the arm to make all the throws.

My biggest concerns: how he will handle the physical pounding and whether his questionable supporting cast be able to do their fair share.

I know Paulus is used to handling pressure from his experiences as Mike Krzyzewski’s coach-on-the-floor during his four seasons playing basketball at Duke. But even those bloody basketbrawl games against North Carolina in Chapel Hill can’t compare to having your body pancaked against the turf by a 300-pound defensive lineman.

Quarterbacks at most levels of football aren’t allowed to be hit during practice, and that was the case during this Syracuse preseason, so it will be interesting to see how Paulus responds after that first hit.

Maybe I’m snowed. Maybe I’m so starved to see something resembling a Division I football program return to the Dome that I’m not viewing the situation clearly.

But I saw this kid play football several times in high school and I was wowed.

I’m not delirious enough to think he’s going to ride into his hometown and make the Orange big winners over night. But I believe he will make the ‘Cuse much more competitive and entertaining than they’ve been in a long, long time. If he stays healthy, I can see the Orange winning six games against a schedule that isn’t all that daunting.

***

It still baffles me why Dick Jauron didn’t play Trent Edwards and his first-team offense for at least a quarter against the Detroit Lions. How does one field goal in 15 series earn you a day off in the exhibition finale? Trent doesn’t play, yet established quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning and Kurt Warner do. No wonder citizens of Bills Nation are so down on Jauron.

***

I was saddened to hear that Hall-of-Fame baseball broadcaster and Hall-of-Fame person Ernie Harwell has incurable cancer. I had the pleasure of interviewing him for my “Memories of Yankee Stadium’’ book two years ago, and he was just like he was on the air – a gracious, kind-hearted gentleman.

***

I don't think this was what the American Football Coaches Association had in mind when they launched their new sportsmanship initiative.

It start out OK with the players from Boise State and Oregon exchanging handshakes before kickoff Thursday night. But then a player from Oregon sucker-punched a player from Boise just before the game ended, and had to be dragged off the field by his teammates, coaches and security.

Syracuse will pin hopes on Paulus

No one can be surprised that Syracuse football coach Doug Marrone named former Duke point guard Greg Paulus his starting quarterback after just one week of practice. This was a foregone conclusion the minute Paulus announced he had chosen SU over a dozen other schools, including Nebraska and Michigan, this spring.

As I've written a few times in this cyberspace, this is a risk worth taking. So what if Paulus, a former national scholastic football player of the year, hasn't played the sport in four years? His leadership skills can't be questioned, and during these recent practices he's shown Marrone he has the arm to make all the required throws.

The two-time academic All-America is bright enough to assimilate the SU offense on the fly, and he learned all about dealing with pressure during those games in Chapel Hill - where Duke point guards are about as popular as Bernie Madoff.

I know this is a long-shot, but Paulus is a special talent. I really believe that, barring injury, he is going to be the difference in two or three more wins for SU, which would be a healthy improvement over last year's 3-9 Sour Orange. And even if he bombs, it'll still have been worth it because he'll have sold a bunch of tickets and created interest in a program that's been a bottom feeder for several years.

***

I pray that sprinter Usain Bolt is clean because he's such a joy to watch run. Sadly, this is where we are in the world of sports in 21st century - wondering if athletes are breaking records naturally or artificially. I find myself reluctant to gush over such achievements, because I've been burned by so many fraudulent sluggers and sprinters over the past decade.

***

I've researched and written quite a bit about Rochester Red Wings history through the years, but I'm hardpressed to come up with many finishes as bizarre as yesterday's. The Wings head into the ninth up by a run, then proceed to give up 12 runs in a 16-5 loss. That's the stuff of the Bad News Bears.

***

It seems like it was a decade ago, but it was just last year that I was covering Michael Phelps winning his record 8th Olympic gold medal in Beijing. About an hour before Phelps raced, I was in a bathroom in the Ice Cube swimming arena throwing up. That prompted friends and relatives to wonder if I deserved a gold medal in "hurling.''

***

There are reports out of Oakland that Raiders head coach Tom Cable punched defensive assistant Randy Hanson in the jaw. That, of course, reminds me of the "Bickering Bills'' days in 1989 when Buffalo assistants Nick Nicolau and Tom Bresnahan got into a fight. Despite giving away about five inches and 80 pounds, Nicolau got the better of Bresnahan, who wound up wearing a turban-like bandage around his head to meetings after having his head driven through a plaster wall. In the book I calloborated on with Steve Tasker, the Bills special team's star told me that Nicolau and Bresnahan had gone back to being friends before the plaster had dried on that repaired wall in the coaches' meeting room.

Pontificating on A-Rod, Manny and my 'new' Big East

I'm not a big fan of the guy, but you have to give Alex Rodriguez his due. Since joining the Yankees after his hip surgery, the Bronx Bombers have gone 18-6. Clearly, no one has benefitted more from his return than Mark Teixeira, who's been looking like Babe Ruth reincarnate in recent weeks.

Of course, all of this will be forgotten if A-Rod proves to be A-Fraud again in October.

****

I envy the fact that my wife, Beth, wasn't born with the "sweet-tooth'' gene that I was. Man, if I could just lay off those cakes, cookies and Abbott's frozen custard I might have a chance.

****

Good friend Jim Quinn had an interesting take on my proposal for a new Big East Conference. Jim suggests adding the University at Buffalo, along with Army and Navy. I like the idea. And I would propose having two divisions, with the Big East championship football game being played every year at the new Yankee Stadium.

So, here's how I would align the new Big East:

Ol' Ben Division (named after legendary Syracuse coach Ben Schwatzwalder)

Syracuse
Notre Dame
Boston College
UB
Army
Rutgers

Joe Pa Division (named after legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno)

Penn State
Pitt
West Virginia
Maryland
Navy
Louisville

We would make sure that certain interdivisional rivalry games were maintained every year: Army-Navy, SU-Penn State, ND-Pitt.

Yeah, I know I'm dreaming, but you have to admit it makes more sense than the current setup in the Too-Big East and Big Eleven, oops, Big Ten.

****

Here's another reason Major League Baseball makes me want to rip my hair out. According to the collective bargaining agreement "a player shall be deemed to have been eligible to play in the All-Star Game if he was elected or selected to play; the commissioner's office shall not exclude a player from eligibility for election or selection because he is suspended under the program."

So, you know where I'm going with this. Despite being suspended 50 games for being caught using steroids, Manny Ramirez is eligible to play in the All-Star Game next month if the fans vote him in.

How Bud Selig and the owners could have allowed this clause to be included in the CBA is assinine.

Sadly, the fans also are to blame. Instead of doing the morally correct thing, they've voted Manny the Scam Artist into fifth place among National League outfielders. He's just 106,000 votes from qualifying for one of the three starting spots.

The disheartening message here is that at least 635,000 fans who voted for Man-Ram don't care if athletes cheat or not.

If Manny truly cared about the game, he would request that his name be removed from the ballots and he would ask the fans to vote for other, more deserving players.

My idea for a new Big East

Just wanted to thank all of the new subscribers to the website. I was thrilled that so many of you hopped aboard after I did an e-mail blast yesterday. Hope you keep coming back and bring others with you. And please feel free to post your comments about my opinions and suggest future column ideas. I'm always receptive to feedback. Just click on that blue "comment'' at the bottom of each entry.

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So JoePa would like to see either Syracuse or Rutgers join the Big 10 so the league would have a stronger presence in the metropolitan New York area.

I have a better suggestion.

Get Penn State, Syracuse, Rutgers, Connecticut, Boston College, Pitt, West Virginia, Villanova, Louisville, Maryland and Notre Dame to reprise the old East Indies. (Yes, I realize ND is in the Midwest, but since when have sports conferences or divisions ever worried about geographic or mathematical distinctions for that matter. After all, doesn't the Big 10 have 11 schools? And aren't the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East?)

The Big East is a great basketball conference, but it's become way too big with 16 teams. And it's football conference is up-and-down. Mostly down last season.

Interestingly, Penn State originally was going to be a part of the Big East, but that idea fell apart, in part, because of the stubbornness of Joe Paterno and SU athletic director Jake Crouthamel.

JoePa wanted SU and Pitt to play two football games at Happy Valley for every one the Nittany Lions played in the Carrier Dome and the Iron City. SU repsonded by demanding a similar arrangement in basketball, with Penn State coming to those places twice for every one visit to Central Pa. The talks broke off, and the schools went their separate ways.

I think that new Big East - with the addition of Notre Dame - would be a powerhouse in both football and basketball, and a much stronger overall conference than the current Way-Too-Big-East.

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My longtime friend and newspaper colleague, Bob Matthews, and I have long disagreed about the dimensions at Frontier Field. He loves home runs and wants to see the Rochester Red Wings move in the fences. I love home runs, too, but baseball has made too many parks into phone booths, hence cheapening the value of the homer. So, I've resisted shortening Frontier.

But, in the spirit of compromise, I'm willing to meet Bob halfway. Why not experiment with some stands in the Bermuda Triangle area near the leftfield bullpen? Put some special, premium seats out there for a season, and see if the number of dingers to left-center increases. I just don't want to see Frontier turn into Coors Field or the new Yankee Stadium, where banjo-hitters can check their swings and still wind up putting the ball into the right-field seats.

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I'm rooting for Stan Van Gundy, the rotund, every-guy coach, to beat the slick, Armani-suited Phil Jackson in the NBA finals. Yes, I'm being provincial, because I got to know the Van Gundy family during their Brockport days.

But I also believe Stan is a basketball-lifer who deserves this, especially after Pat Riley jettisoned him when he realized Van Gundy had the Miami Heat situated to win the NBA championship a few years ago. Riley took over and got another ring - a ring that Van Gundy deserved to win.

I'm sure, somewhere up above, the great Red Auerbach also is pulling for Stan because four Los Angeles Lakers' victories in these finals against the Orlando Magic would give Jackson a record 10th NBA title, breaking Red's record.

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IndyCar racer Danica Patrick is the latest athlete to stick her foot in her mouth. She insisted she was joking when she told Sports Illustrated's Dan Patrick (no relation) that using performance-enhancing drugs would only be cheating if she got caught.

Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency didn't find her comments funny, and neither did I.

"In one interview, she undercut what millions of parents try their best to teach their kids everyday in this country, that winners never cheat and cheaters never win,'' Tygart told The Associated Press.

In an interview published last week, Danica Patrick was asked, if she could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would she do it if it allowed her to win the Indianapolis 500.

"Well, then it's not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out?'' she said.

Dan Patrick responded: "So you would do it?''

Danica's answer: "Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area. In motorsports, we work in the gray areas a lot. You're trying to find where the holes are in the rule book.''

Danica later said her answers were a joke and she apologized if they came across differently.
"It was a bad joke,'' she said in an interview published on the USA Today Web site.

There's speculation that Danica will make the conversion to NASCAR next year. Interestingly, that racing organization is taking a much more active approach against drugs in the garage. Six crew members and driver Jeremy Mayfield have been suspended since NASCAR began random testing this year.

Tygart said he was glad Patrick apologized for her comments.

"Although joking about the use of dangerous and unhealthy drugs that cheaters use to rob clean athletes of their dreams is no laughing matter,'' he said.

I totally agree.

Tom Golisano leaves home; Greg Paulus returns

Who can blame Buffalo Sabres owner and philanthropist Tom Golisano for finally fleeing his home state because of its dysnfunctional government and ridiculous tax burden?

Unlike the bozos in Albany who have helped turn the Empire State into the nation's laughing stock, Golisano made a concerted effort through his gubernatorial runs and lobbying to bring about reform. But the cronies in the state capital are so entrenched that even a powerful, self-made billionaire like Golisano couldn't bring about change.

My wife, Beth, and I are native Upstate New Yorkers, and we love so much about our community and our state. But we often wonder how much longer we're going to be able to afford to stay in a place that soon will be taxing the air we breath.

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The New York State motto is "excelsior,'' which means "ever-higher.'' Perhaps they should change the translation to "ever-higher taxes.''

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OK, enough with the politics.

On a positive sports note, Greg Paulus decided he will spend his graduate year of athletic eligibility playing football at Syracuse. As I mentioned in this space before, I think it's a low-risk, high-reward move for both student-athlete and school. (In this case, the term student-athlete is relevant. Paulus truly is one.)

If the Duke point guard quickly recaptures the magic we saw four years ago in high school when he threw for 11,763 yards and 152 touchdowns while leading Syracuse Christian Brothers Academy to a three-year 42-3 record and a state championship, the the moribund Orange program will receive an unexpected shot in the arm and possibly earn a bowl bid.

If he bombs . . . well, at least he will have coaxed several thousand extra fannies into the Carrier Dome and made a 3-8 transition season a lot more interesting than it would have been.

I think Paulus is going to do just fine, despite the difficult odds of making a comeback after a four-year hiatus. He is a bright kid with great leadership skills. And the toughness that comes with having been the Blue Devils floor general under Coach K for three years is sure to help.

Paulus had a very good workout with the Green Bay Packers a few weeks ago. And it should be noted that more than a dozen major Division I programs - including Nebraska and Michigan - also were willing to take a risk that Paulus could be a one-year wonder for them.

Again, it isn't like Paulus is keeping the next Donovn McNabb or Donnie McPherson on the bench. This is a program that hasn't had a winning season in seven years and has lost 57 of its last 83 games, often by huge margins.

Look at it this way. It's similar to the Bills signing of Terrell Owens, only without the VH-1 reality series.

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Interestingly, once Paulus' football season ends, he plans to serve as a basketball graduate assistant under Jim Boeheim. Too bad Greg didn't have one more year of eligibility in hoops, too. Jimmy B could have used him now that Jonny Flynn has bolted for the riches of the NBA.

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The NFL reportedly is against the state of Delaware legalizing gambling. What a bunch of hypocrites. The league owes a huge amount of its popularity to the millions who bet on games.

SU football coach Doug Marrone is being true to his school

Whether it’s a Rotary luncheon in Elmira or a minor-league baseball game in Rochester, the lament from Syracuse University football fans has been the same.

“I used to have season tickets,’’ is the painful, six-word refrain new Orange coach Doug Marrone hears each time the SU football caravan pulls into a new town.

A 10-37 record over four seasons will create that type of apathy.

But if Marrone is daunted by the demoralizing comments, he isn’t letting on.

See, the former SU offensive lineman has experienced fans jumping off the bandwagon in droves before.

And he has seen them scramble to climb back on.

It happened in Marrone’s most recent job as offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Following Hurricane Katrina many long-time season-ticket holders gave up on the team, only to come flocking back once the Saints came marching back into the NFL playoffs.

The former ‘Cuse captain envisions a similar football renaissance in the Carrier Dome.

His response to Orange fans who gave up their season ducats:

“You better buy them now.’’

Or find yourself on the outside looking in.

Bold words, indeed, but they speak to the confidence and the passion Marrone brings to his dream job.

He remembers how people doubted him and his teammates in the early 1980s, and how, under the leadership of Hall-of-Fame coach Dick MacPherson, they eventually resuscitated the program and returned Syracuse football to national prominence.

“I know what that place can be like when it’s filled up,’’ said Marrone, who was on the 1984 team that upset top-ranked Nebraska in the Carrier Dome.

“I know how important it is to our community for our football program to do well. And when I say community, I’m also talking about Rochester, Buffalo and Binghamton and Albany. It’s important to them that we play good football.’’

Of course, the only way to recruit disenfranchised ticketholders is to win a lot of football games. And the only way to do that is to recruit blue-chip talent.

Easier said than done.

Marrone is an eternal optimist. But he’s also a pragmatist. He’s not going to sugar-coat his task.

This program didn’t become mediocre overnight. It won’t become relevant again overnight either.

“I think this is a very tough job – a very, very tough job, and I think anyone that’s on the inside realizes that,’’ he said. “But coaching is about challenges, and I’m looking forward to this one.’’

The Bronx native has been preparing for this moment since leaving SU for a brief NFL playing career in the late 1980s. He certainly has paid his dues – with coaching stints at Cortland State, the Coast Guard Academy, Georgia and Tennessee, before earning a promotion to the New York Jets and the Saints.

The past three years he served as the coordinator of one of the NFL’s most potent offenses. Among his success stories was quarterback Drew Brees, who had been jettisoned by the San Diego Chargers but who wound up reviving his career with the Saints.

At 44, Marrone had become one of the hottest assistants in pro football. It was only a matter of time before he became an NFL head coach.

But the man whose life had been dramatically shaped by his SU experience had his eyes on a different goal.

He wanted to return to his alma mater. He wanted to shape young men the way Coach Mac had shaped him.

Which is why, he started compiling a game plan for reviving Orange football – a game plan that included detailed lists of the top recruits in the tri-state area.

And he did all this in his limited spare time as an NFL assistant.

When athletic director Daryl Gross began making inquiries with people throughout the football world about who should replace Greg Robinson, Marrone’s name kept popping up.

Former Buffalo Bills and current Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian gave Marrone a ringing endorsement, telling Gross: “You better hire this guy before some NFL team does.’’

That emotion was emphatically seconded by SU football legends Floyd Little and Tim Green, who were part of Gross’s search committee.

And so, five months ago, Douglas Charles Marrone’s dream came true. And, now, he’s out to prove that you can go home again.

At 6-feet, 4-inches tall, he is a commanding presence. Unlike the confusing Robinson or the stoic Paul Pasqualoni, Marrone is articulate and extroverted. He loves interacting with people. He exudes confidence. You can definitely see him closing the deal with recruits and fans alike.

“I was recruited by everybody in the country, but I chose Syracuse, and I’ve never regretted it,’’ he said. “I just go around and tell people what a tremendous opportunity you’ll be able to have at Syracuse University. I know it made me a better person.’’

Marrone has assembled an excellent staff – an experienced group of assistants who understand the importance of establishing relationships with high school coaches throughout the Northeast and beyond.

Unfortunately, they got a late start on recruiting for this season, so Marrone will have to begin the rebuilding process mostly with the cards he’s been dealt.

He seeks to establish the discipline and organization that was sorely lacking under Robinson.

In all likelihood, it’s going to take at least a few years to right this ship.

But from what I’ve seen and heard so far, I believe Marrone is the right man at the right time.

His enthusiasm is contagious. His football resume is solid. His love of SU is genuine.

Skeptics will tell you that Marrone is a gamble because he has no head-coaching experience. That’s a legitimate concern, but I would argue that he is ready and able.

The same worries were articulated when a certain, bespectacled assistant took over the SU basketball program in the late 1970s. Now, I’m not foolish enough to believe that Marrone is headed for a run similar to the extraordinary chapter authored by Jim Boeheim. But I sense something good brewing. It may not happen this year. Or even next. But it will.

And when it does, those seats will be filled again. And those former season-ticket holders might wind up ruing the fact they didn’t heed Marrone’s advice.

MARRONE BLEEDS PINSTRIPES, TOO

Doug Marrone was born and raised in the Bronx and his grandfather worked as an usher at Yankee Stadium, so it’s no surprise which baseball team he follows religiously.

But Marrone also is a huge fan of minor-league baseball, and has enjoyed making the rounds to different ballparks in New York state this spring.

“I always loved coming to the ballpark,’’ the new SU football coach said. “It gives me a chance to be a fan again.’’

Marrone is so into it that he arrived early before a recent Binghamton Mets game to take a little batting practice. According to Sue Edson, SU’s Director of Athletic Communications, he didn’t hit any out, but he did park one on the warning track.

Marrone threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Rochester Red Wings game at Frontier Field Monday night. He wore his glove – a black Wilson A1000 – and went into a full windup from the rubber. For the record, his pitch to Wing Tommy Watkins sailed wide of the right-handed batter’s box, prompting one fan to bellow: “Coach Marrone, you better work on your pitching.’’