Varsity Aces

The Death of a Legend: Larry Ennis dies at age 77

On tonight’s front page of NorthJersey.com is the sad announcement of the death of legendary

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baseball and football coach Larry Ennis, Sr. at the age of 77.

I had the honor and good fortune of knowing Larry for more than 35 years as a coach, a friend, and a student although my personal recollections are not as poignant as those of Mike Miello, Chuck Johnson, Tony Karcich, Bob Carcich and Bill Parcells.

During the heyday of the gone but not forgotten Met League, I saw Coach Ennis (I think everyone but his wife Ida and sometimes his kids called him Coach Ennis) all the time, both as the man who helped my Merchants team play at Emerson High School, as the father of three of my players, Larry Jr., Mickey and Kevin, and as the consummate baseball coach.

I was the General Manager and Owner of the Merchants from 1982-1997 and for most of that tenure, my manager was Jon Vatcher, the winningest pitcher in Upsala College history, who held the state record for collegiate wins until a couple of years ago. To my mind, Jon, who won five titles and reached three other finals in 12 years in the highly competitive baseball league, is the finest manager in that league’s history. So listen to what he said of learning of Larry’s passing.

“Larry Ennis taught me the most baseball I ever learned in the least amount of time. When I was a freshman at Upsala, I had a rough year and I lost confidence in myself. I was still eligible for Connie Mack (17 and 18 year old summer ball) and Larry picked me up for the state tournament. It was such a treat to be around him and in the two weeks I played for him, I learned more than I did in years with other very good coaches.’’

“Then when I started managing in the Met League I realized there were so many little things I didn’t know about the game. I called Larry and he said come on up and let’s talk. So we went in the basement and spoke for hours about the game. I did that a few times and it was awesome. He was a great great guy.’’

Numbers didn’t define Ennis’ impact on baseball and football in

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and beyond. He won titles at Emerson coaching baseball and coached football from 1962-1972 at Emerson and then at St. Joseph Regional, but his family always came first and he stepped back into assistant roles, both official and unofficial for various teams and coaches. He broke down film and did some scouting for the Giants for the last 18 years of his life, and when he became seriously ill Wednesday, he was preparing to put together a package of material for the Giants – his assignment, ironically, breaking down film on a potential Giant Super Bowl opponent, the Miami Dolphins – a team that his good friend, Parcells has put together.

Miello said and I heartily agree that Larry had no personal agenda in his professional life. “He had a love and a passion for football and baseball and he was thrilled to pass on his legacy to other coaches.’’

Playing the games of baseball and football the right way were so important to him that the story is told that during his long tenure at Emerson, he gave up the baseball job one year and his successor used a pitcher three days in a row. The next day, Larry had a meeting or two with the appropriate people and the next year, Larry was back as the head coach.

He touched thousands of young men and women in and out of Emerson, touched thousands more adults who never forgot his passion and willingness to teach – he was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. And he’ll be greatly missed by all of them and all of us.

We lose wonderful people every day – that’s life. But it’s rare that we’re exposed to a legend – Larry Ennis Sr. was clearly that.

Rest in Peace.

Learning from the pros

WAYNE - The kids attending Wayne Hills' Back to Basics football camp were rewarded with a real treat Thursday.

For Chicago Bears tight end Greg Olsen, son of Wayne Hills coach Chris Olsen, to come back to his alma mater was one thing. When Olsen’s agent Drew Rosenhaus, Bears teammate Brian Urlacher and former Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead also showed up, that was a different story.

Stape's Scoop: Shooting for the Stars

Day one of the Major League Baseball draft has passed and former Ramapo standout Shooter Hunt gets selected by the Minnesota Twins with the 31st overall pick, the first compensatory pick sandwiched between the first and second rounds. Click here to read about Shooter's day in a great story by The Record's Tom Gulitti, and what a difference three years make. You can also click here for my column on the friendship between Don Bosco coach Greg Butler and Old Tappan coach Tim Byron, who lead their respective teams into State baseball championship games on Saturday.

Keep reading for more on Hunt -- much congratulations to the Hunt family, and make no mistake, this is a tremendous accomplishment for a kid from North Jersey who gave everything he had in high school, fought through some resistence in college by transferring from Virginia to Tulane before finally realizing his dream.

An interview with pro golfer Jim McGovern of Oradell

Jim McGovern is full-time on the PGA Tour for the first time in a decade and The Record interviewed the longtime golf pro from Oradell on Friday night at a dinner in his honor.

McGovern, 43, talked about his performance thus far, how he prepares physically, the difficulty of being a bottom-tier PGA Tour member and several other topics. (There will be a story on him in Sunday's Record.)

Click below for the interview with McGovern, who has made the cut in three of his first five events, but did not get into two other tournaments because he was stuck on the list of alternates:

 

What would we do?

The NHL did the appropriate thing Sunday by suspending Islanders forward Chris Simon for the rest of the season, playoffs included. He's out for a minimum of 25 games, which means if the Islanders don't play at least 10 playoff games, a distinct possibility, Simon will serve the balance of his suspension at the beginning of next season. If the Islanders go deep into the playoffs, Simon still won't be able to play.

A professional rant

I've never done this before, but I'm going to rant a bit about what I witnessed last night at the end of the Rangers game. If you're a hockey fan, you know what I'm talking about. Chris Simon of the Islanders taking a baseball swing at Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg's neck as if he was trying to hit a fastball out of the park. It was one of the most disgusting acts I've ever seen in a hockey game, and it has no place in this wonderful sport.

Cushing, Olsen make headlines

Hello all and welcome to 2007. What an honor it is to have the first blog of the year. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and is ready to roll in 2007.

Two of North Jersey's best football players in recent history, Brian Cushing and Greg Olsen, surely proved yesterday that they are primed and ready for a big year.

Simms is going to be fine

I spent most of my day yesterday trying to track down a follow story to the horrible news out of Tampa, Fla. that Chris Simms' spleen ruptured in the Bucs loss to Carolina on Sunday, and he needed an emergency surgery to remove the organ.

Of course, it's national news that our hometown boy from Franklin Lakes had successful surgery Sunday night and will be just fine, but don't believe what Jon Gruden is saying that Simms could return this season.

One medical expert I spoke with yesterday claimed that because Simms is going back to play full contact football, he'll likely need four to six months to return. You and I, the regular working Joes of the world, would take four to six weeks to recover before we could go back to work.

The Wright stuff

Back again with the post about the Mets' David Wright that I promised earlier.

As you know, the Mets signed Wright, their star third baseman, to a six-year, $55 million contract extension Sunday, virtually locking up the left side of their infield. Just 72 hours earlier, Jose Reyes signed a four-year, $23.25 million extension with the Amazins. Click here to read today's story from The Record on the Wright signing: Time is Wright

I have to say this about the 23-year-old Wright, he sure knows how to play the game. The best part of that -- I truly don't believe Wright is playing any games. He's as polished a pro as any out there, and he comes off as humble as they come. Check out this quote he gave me after Sunday's game:

I didn't want to go and try to squeeze every penny out of these guys. By me taking this deal, it's going to give me financial security. It's a great deal for both sides. Hopefully I can continue doing what I do and it saves these guys some money down the road.

When a make a list of athletes I've had the pleasure to interview -- from high schools to the pros -- Wright takes a backseat to no one. Tim Thomas. Marcus Camby. Reggie Bush. Reggie Jackson. Derek Jeter. A-Rod. Mike Piazza. Michael Strahan. Emmitt Smith. Arnold Palmer. Jack Nicklaus. Greg Olsen. Vin Mazzaro. Chris Simms. Wright comes across with as much humility of any of them.

I remember being at Shea for more spot duty three summers ago when Wright came up to the big leagues for the first time. It was like walking into the locker room at Bergen Catholic or Don Bosco to talk to the starting quarterback -- Wright treated everybody in the place like he was the neighbor down the street.

After Sunday's 8-1 win over the Phillies, when it was his time to bask in the spotlight of his mega deal, Wright stayed straight. Here's another one of my favorite quotes:

What I wanted was a lifetime contract and they didn't offer me that. As long as they wanted me here, I wanted to be here. I was willing to go as long as they wanted to go. To me, this is the first step in making sure that I keep this uniform on for a long time and hopefully the rest of my career.

Right now, if you told me I'd put on any other uniform, I'd say, 'You're crazy.' This is where I want to be, and as long as these guys want me here, I'm going to be here.

Enjoy Mets fans. You've got a great one. I'll be back later to post about high school football.

Monday Morning Quarterback

Checking in, sports fans. It's 11 a.m. Monday morning and my first post of what should be a post-a-plenty week.

Won't be heading to lunch with Don Bosco's Orry Michael today. He's headed back to practice with the Ironmen this afternoon and we exchanged voice mail messages Sunday, but I was out at Shea Stadium covering the Mets so we could not hook up. Probably later in the week, so stay tuned.

Here's my take on the situation regarding Michael's return to the gridiron and Brandon Boykin's decision to leave the football field for the baseball diamond. I've got to think Orry was torn from the very beginning about his decision. He fought back from a thumb injury to play last season, so you can bet the fear of getting hurt again weighed heavily on his mind, especially with a lacrosse scholarship to Johns Hopkins on his table.

Now that he's reconsidered, I have to think his friendship with QB Matt Simms played a role. Boykin, another top receiver, departs, leaving Simms without his top two returning targets. A little soul-searching for Orry -- plus the idea that he's got a shot at being the clear-cut No. 1 guy for Matt -- and he's back on the field for what could be one of the more pivotal football seasons for any team in North Jersey history (more on that in a later post).

As for Boykin, when I asked him if he'd reconsider, he offered a flat, "Probably not." It's a decision his parents and his baseball coach Leon Matthews have thought long and hard about. They believe Brandon's got a shot at securing a high-level baseball scholarship -- he showed flashes of brilliance this spring for Don Bosco's County championship squad, but probably would be considered third-best among prospects returning behind 3b Steve Proscia and 1b Jaren Matthews.

Will Boykin change his mind? Like he said, "Probably not." But never rule anything out. Hope that gives you some insight, Peter Mac -- who commented on a previous post. Thanks for reading.

I'll have more later on football realignment in the NNJIL, plus some Mets observations from my night out at Shea Stadium on Sunday, including some good stuff from David Wright on his new six-year, $55 million contract extension.