June 30, 2008 12:02 am Throwing out some news, notes and random thoughts from the world of North Shore sports and beyond ... Smart move by whomever decided to move the Peabody at Salem football game, originally scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31 in Salem, to Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. Can you imagine trying to get into the Witch City on Halloween night to see that game? It would've been insanity. Smart move waiting 24 hours to play this one. rrr Training camp for the Patriots is less than a month away, and I still haven't — and won't — watch a single replay from Super Bowl XLII. rrr That was a pretty good freshman year that Alex Minter just had for himself at Malden Catholic. The Peabody native skated a regular shift for the Lancers en route to their appearance in the Super 8 finals, and finished with the top average on the school's JV baseball team in the spring. He was awarded Malden Catholic's Top Freshman Athlete Award for his efforts. rrr Hmmm. Marian Hossa, wearing a Bruins' No. 18 sweater and skating on the right wing while taking passes from his former (and future?) linemate, Marc Savard. Yeah, I could get used to watching that pretty easily. rrr Three good summer reads I'm recommending: 1. "Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Finding the Champion Within," by Mike Lowell and Rob Bradford. Outstanding account of the Red Sox third baseman's road to the big leagues, how he overcame cancer and won the World Series MVP for the Sox last year. Bradford, the former Salem News correspondent and a Beverly resident, does a great job putting Lowell's thoughts and past recollections into outstanding baseball prose. 2. "The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport," by Carl Hiaasen. If you're familiar with Hiaasen's fiction work or his columns in the Miami Herald, you know what a terrific sense of humor he has. In this self-depricating piece on his return to the links after more than a 30-year absence, golfers of all abilities will be able to relate to his mishaps and frustrations. 3. "An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport," by Kenny Mayne. This isn't the sports equivalent of Shakespeare, to be certain — but it isn't meant to be, either. Rather, it's light, funny, and an easy read — and Mayne's anecdotes are pretty clever. rrr For the first time in school history this fall, Bishop Fenwick's football schedule will consist entirely of Friday night games, save for Thanksgiving morning at Austin Prep. rrr Speaking of pigskin, say what you want about St. John's Prep — and plenty of people do — but you can't knock their schedule. The Eagles have two killer stretches this fall: hosting Central Catholic before facing Everett, Brockton and Dracut in back-to-back-to-back road tests; then ending the year with another three-game road jaunt against Catholic Conference foes (and powerhouses) Malden Catholic, B.C. High and Xaverian. rrr If you didn't watch any of the Euro 2008 tournament, your bad. You missed out on some excellent soccer played at its highest level. rrr Do you know who the all-time winningest coach in any sport at Ipswich High school is? If you guessed legendary football coach Jack Welch ... you'd be wrong. Doug Woodworth (who coached football under Welch for years) won his 227th game with the IHS softball program this spring, passing Welch (224). Kiki Papagiotas (209 wins in girls basketball) is the only other Tiger coach to accumulate 200 wins. (Thanks to our good friend and IHS historian, John Thomas, for his exhaustive research). rrr If I'm compiling an all-time NBA team of 12 players based on how the team as a whole would perform, I'm putting Kevin McHale on the squad. One of my younger colleagues in the department scoffed at this, but if you saw McHale play you'd understand. (He'd join Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). rrr On the subject of basketball, I'm not trying to be a curmudgeon — but I guess I will be when I say there's no way, in this or any other lifetime, the 2007-08 Celtics come close to touching the 1985-86 edition in a best-of-7 series. They would get de-stroyed. rrr Cycling in Salem, which was huge during the glory years of the 1980s (think Eric Heiden), is back. The Witches Cup, to be held downtown on Wednesday, Aug. 13, should be on your sporting calendar this summer. rrr I know he hasn't been able to crack .200 for the first half of the season in Triple-A, but here's betting that St. John's Prep alum Matt Antonelli of Peabody rips the cover off the ball in the second half for the Portland (Ore.) Beavers. rrr Is it me, or are the truly unlikeable personalities in the ESPN family at an all-time high? Between dolts such as Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, Michael Wilbon and Merril Hoge, I find myself changing the channel more and more. (Thank God for the John Buccigrosses and Scott Van Pelts of the world). rrr Finally, an update on one of our all-time favorite sports interns here at The Salem News: Matt "The Cobra" Macomber recently completed his freshman year at Boston College. He's now training to run the Falmouth Road Race in August, with an eye on participating in his first Boston Marathon next April. Good luck from the sports guys, Cobra.
Phil Stacey is the sports editor of The Salem News. Contact him at pstacey@salemnews.com.
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