|
||||||||||||||||||
|
Two Hall of Famers were selected in each of the three HOF Wings: Jackie Robinson Professional, James O’Rourke Amateur and J. Walter Kennedy Community Service. In the professional category, the new inductees are CHRIS DRURY (Trumbull) and TIM TEUFEL (Greenwich). The amateur wing selections are GARY LIBERATORE (New Canaan) and LOU SACCONE (Bridgeport). Community service winners are RALPH KING (Norwalk) and TOM PENDERS (Stratford). Drury becomes the first hockey player to be inducted into the county Hall of Fame. His outstanding athletic achievements started as a youngster when he led Trumbull to the Little League World Series title in 1989. He then was named college hockey’s most outstanding player in winning the Hobey Baker Award after a stellar career at Boston University. He is heading into his 10th season in the NHL, currently with the New York Rangers. Drury won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Colorado Avalanche, and then won a Stanley Cup two years later with the Avs. The Fairfield Prep graduate also played for Team USA in the Olympics in 2002 & 2006. Drury has 218 career goals and his reputation as a clutch post-season performer is born out by his 46 playoff goals, including 16 game-winners. Teufel, a graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich, played 11 seasons in the major leagues. His defining pro career highlight was as a member of the 1986 World Champion New York Mets. Teufel, who played six years with the Mets, platooned with Wally Backman at second base and batted .444 with a home run in the memorable 7-game series against the Boston Red Sox. He began his major league career in 1983 with the Minnesota Twins, who selected him as the 38th overall pick in the 1980 amateur entry draft after an All-American collegiate career at Clemson. Teufel concluded his 11 years in the big leagues with a .254 lifetime average with the San Diego Padres in 1993.
Saccone is called by many area sports observers the “greatest overall athlete” to come out of Bridgeport. In the mid 1940’s he earned a school record 14 letters in four sports at Central High (football, basketball, baseball, track). At Central, there were some days when Saccone would run track in his baseball uniform as the two sports were scheduled on the same day. At the University of Bridgeport he was the school’s only 5-sport letter winner (also playing golf at UB). Saccone also coached baseball at UB, was the freshman basketball coach at Fairfield University (1957-65) and was head football coach at Notre Dame High for nine seasons, winning the state title in 1964. He was elected to the Notre Dame High Hall of Fame in 1985. King won over 700 games in coaching basketball and soccer at Brien McMahon in Norwalk. He started the soccer program at McMahon in 1961 and retired in 1994 with nine FCIAC titles and two state championships. He was the boys’ basketball coach at the Norwalk school from 1964-87 where he had 23 consecutive winning seasons and a total of 396 victories. McMahon captured 5 FCIAC crowns and a pair of state championships under King, who was also the athletic director at McMahon for 27 years. King is a member of the Connecticut High School Coaches Hall of Fame (1989), the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame (2006) and is an active administrator for the FCIAC. Penders is one of just 28 Division I coaches to reach the 600-victory plateau. In 34 years as a college coach, Penders, who is entering his fifth year as head coach at the University of Houston, has 608 wins. Penders has made a name for himself in reviving college programs including Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island and the University of Texas, where he won 208 games in 10 seasons and led the Longhorns to eight NCAA tourney appearances. The Stratford High alum started his basketball coaching career as a high school coach in Bridgeport for three years, and landed his first college job at Tufts in 1971. He was elected to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Penders also played minor league baseball for one season, was a 5-time national champion fast pitch softball player with the Raybestos Cardinals and is the only player to captain both the UConn baseball and basketball teams in the same season. The list of previously enshrined FCSHOF inductees follows: JACKIE ROBINSON PROFESSIONAL WING 2005-Julius Boros (Fairfield), Kristine Lilly (Wilton), Calvin Murphy (Norwalk), Steve Young (Greenwich) 2006-Bobby Valentine (Stamford), Mo Vaughn (Norwalk) 2007-Mike Gminski (Monroe), Charles Nagy (Fairfield) JAMES O’ROURKE AMATEUR WING 2005-Dorothy Hamill (Riverside), Bruce Jenner (Newtown), Bill Toomey (New Canaan) 2006-Joan Joyce (Stratford), Walter Luckett (Bridgeport) 2007-Jerry Courville, Sr. (Norwalk), Donna Lopiano (Stamford) J. WALTER KENNEDY COMMUNITY SERVICE 2005-Dave Bike (Bridgeport), Jerry McDougall (Trumbull) 2006- Ray Barry (Norwalk), Frank Vieira (Bridgeport) 2007-Nick Koules (Stamford), Bruce Webster (Bridgeport) The Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus in downtown Stamford. The Hall of Fame is open 6 days a week from 9 am-5 pm. The Fairfield County Sports Commission, Inc. is a 501c(3) non-profit organization that promotes fitness, an active healthy lifestyle and personal development through sports. The Commission, other than the executive director position, is an all-volunteer group dedicated to creating and supporting programs for fitness awareness education, primarily centered on the 110,000 school age children in the 15 communities it serves. For more information, go to www.fairfieldcountysports.com. © Copyright by NorwalkPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of NorwalkPlus.com, Norwalk Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. Related Articles: Connecticut’s own Ray Allen to bring Celtics trophy to Hartford - Sep 17, 2008 - 10:43 AM Tom Tom Club to headline Sounds of SoNo Concert - Sep 12, 2008 - 2:15 PM “Owl Prowl” is sure to be a hoot at Stamford Museum & Nature Center - Sep 10, 2008 - 7:30 AM Shedd Aquarium's dolphins and whales 'on vacation' in New England - Sep 8, 2008 - 10:56 PM Fairfield County Sports Commission names Sports Persons Of The Year in 15 communities - Sep 8, 2008 - 9:57 AM CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
