In an era of great success for Euclid High baseball, Tom Murphy was one of its brightest stars, pitching the Panthers to the 1963 Class A Ohio state high school championship. He then moved on to Ohio University where over his sophomore and junior seasons he built a 16-1 record, helping the Bobcats to a […]
It was supposed to be a one-year fling when Merle Levin walked into the converted barbershop which was the office for the Fenn College Athletic Department in 1955, found a typewriter, and assumed the part-time duties of the school’s first sports publicist. Somehow the Glenville High grad, an ex-sports editor of the University of Michigan […]
One of a mere handful of Northeastern Ohio native sons to ever star in the National Hockey League, Parma-born Brian Holzinger launched his career in this area’s increasingly productive high school program, leading Padua Franciscan High to a pair of Ohio state high school championships in 1988 and 1989. After piling up 72 goals and […]
It was apparent soon after Elvis Grbac arrived at St. Joseph High School that the storied athletic power on the shores of Lake Erie had landed another special talent. The sturdy 6-5 youngster made his first impact in basketball, then added football to his resume in his junior year in 1987. Although playing in a […]
In the middle of the 20th century, the thriving metropolis of Cleveland, with three daily newspapers bearing its name on their mastheads, was blessed with a coterie of sportswriter/columnists who could coax the keys of their typewriters to produce the news, the insights, the drama, the joys and the sorrows of their special world with […]
As a 6-6 250 pound defensive lineman, NFL scouts would probably toss him back into the deep end of the talent pool today. But when Al Baker came out of Colorado State University as a two-time all-conference choice in both football and basketball, the Detroit Lions were only too happy to reel him in as […]
One of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time, with a record of 523-126, John McLendon, Jr. is enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame. His milestone 500th victory came at Cleveland State where he coached from 1966-69. Earlier he coached the Cleveland Sweeny Pipers (1959-61) to NIBL and national AAU championships. […]
For more than 40 years, Clinton Martin has trained amateur boxers on the local, national and international levels, tutoring some of Cleveland’s finest pugilistic products. Among them were Jeff Stoudemire, 1978 Golden Gloves champion and 1979 national AAU champion and Golden Gloves titlists Henry Hughes (1981), Sanderline Williams (1982) and Todd Hickman (1982 and 1983). […]
Norbert “Nobby” Lewandowski’s athletic career began at St. John Nepomucene Elementary School in Slavic Village and never ceased to be an influence on his life’s activities. As a player, he not only starred at Benedictine High and Kent State University, he worked his way up the Cleveland Baseball Federation ladder from Class F to AAA, […]
Daniel Ferrazza’s 31-year career with the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) left thousands of youngsters with enriched athletic experiences and Cleveland with a nationally prominent track event. While executive Director of the CYO eastern region from 1972 to 1988, he assumed a vital role in the operation of the annual Knights of Columbus Track Meet for […]