Killingly football rankings, high school soccer and the return of Pat Patriot
Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while I listen to B. Bumble and The Stingers “Nut Rocker,” a variation of which became the Boston Bruins iconic theme song on TV Channel 38 during the 1970s. I can’t wait for the National Hockey League season to begin this week.
*The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame 29th Annual Ceremony and Celebration takes place on Oct. 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the Connecticut Convention Center. This year’s inductees include Suzy Whaley, Jennifer Rizzotti, Lhakpa Sherpa and Cora Lee Bentley Radcliffe. The organization’s 2022 Founding President’s Award is being presented to Special Olympics Connecticut.
“We have an exceptional program this year,” said Sarah Smith Lubarsky, Executive Director, CWHF. “We are thrilled to honor these amazing women, who have not only achieved great personal success in their sport but have also carved easier paths for women and girls to follow. In this 50th Anniversary year of Title IX, it is appropriate that we recognize the progress that has been made and highlight the achievements of these extraordinary women.”
Whaley, a professional golfer from Connecticut, became the first female President of the PGA of America in 2018. She became the first woman in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour when she qualified for the 2003 Greater Hartford Open. She was also the first woman to win a PGA individual professional tournament.
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Rizzotti is a Connecticut native who first gained national recognition as the starting point guard for the UConn women’s basketball team when they earned their first national championship in 1995. She is currently President of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.
Sherpa, a Connecticut resident since 2002, is not only the first Nepali woman to successfully summit Mt. Everest, but the first woman to successfully summit the world’s highest mountain 10 times, beating her own world record again this year for most Everest summits a woman has ever made.
Bentley Radcliffe (posthumous) was a pioneer of women’s sports in Connecticut. She used her athletic abilities, collaboration skills and passion to start the first Black female basketball and softball team in Connecticut, the Tigerettes, and inspired hundreds of girls and women, especially Black girls, and women, to realize their athletic potential.
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“This year’s inductees represent extraordinary achievements that inspire not only those of us here in Connecticut but all of us on a global scale,” said CWHF Chair Desiree Wolfe. “We are grateful for the work of the women we honor this year. Their success is an inspiration.”
Thrilling action in Eastern Connecticut girls high school soccer games
*You needed the NFL Red Zone package and all those fabulous split screens for the thrilling finishes in Eastern Connecticut Conference girls soccer action last Monday.
Norwich Free Academy junior Alex Tabilas scored the game-winning goal with 9:45 remaining in regulation to lift the Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over Waterford; Killingly junior Spencer Chviek scored on a rocket under the crossbar with 16 minutes left to give Killingly a 1-0 victory over Woodstock Academy; and Griswold junior Madilyn Wooten netted the game-winning goal with just 1:28 to play for a thrilling 1-0 victory over Wheeler.
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A Ted Williams-like dinger from Oakland A's catch Stephen Vogt
*The biggest and best home run in Major League Baseball this past week wasn’t Aaron Judge’s 62nd blast for the New York Yankees. Millions of fans saw Judge make history but how many saw Oakland A’s catcher Stephen Vogt go yard during his final major league at-bat?
Vogt’s first career hit in 2013 was also a home run. His Ted Williams-like dinger on Wednesday landed in almost the same spot at Oakland’s County Coliseum.
"Stephen's day, just write the book," Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. "A homer on the first pitch and exits his career like you want to as a player -- like you couldn't draw it up any better."
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Earlier in the game, won by the A’s 3-2 over the Angels, Vogt’s three young kids introduced him over the PA system while he came to bat.
"I'm so thankful that my kids are going to remember daddy playing," Vogt told reporters through tears. "They're going to remember dad doing some pretty cool stuff. To have them see this and hopefully remember it, it means everything."
Killingly football, Patriots logo makes a comeback and a memorable NFL game from 1977
*Killingly, winners of 16 straight, moved up to No. 4 in this week’s GameTimeCT Top 10 football poll.
*After the Patriots lost to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, the Patriots and Red Sox were in last place together in their respective divisions for the first time since 1992. Yup, the engines on those Boston championship parade duck boats are starting to get cobwebs.
*“Pat Patriot" makes his debut on Sunday when the Patriots host the Detroit Lions. The iconic logo of a Patriot hiking the football wearing a red tricorne hat and a Continental Army uniform should have never been replaced by the “Flying Elvis” in 1993.
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The “Pat Patriot” logo was created by Worcester Telegram-Evening Gazette cartoonist Phil Bissell in 1960 for the Boston Patriots inaugural season in the old American Football League.
“Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’ I sat down, I drew that cartoon original of Pat in about 45 minutes,” Bissell said. “I thought about it for about two minutes and went to work. I had to get the day’s work out.”
I put Pat Patriot right up there alongside Paul Revere and Sam Adams as symbols of Boston’s civic pride and role in U.S. History.
The Patriots will wear their throwback uniforms again on Dec. 1 against the Bills.
*STUCK IN THE 70s: On Oct. 9, 1977 the New England Patriots - yup, wearing the iconic Pat Patriot helmets - defeated the second-year Seattle Seahawks, 31-0, at Schaefer Stadium. Steve Grogan threw touchdown passes to Don Hasselback, Russ Francis, and Daryl Stingley; Sam “Bam” Cunningham rushed for 101 yards; and Mike Haynes and Bob Howard each had two interceptions.
Jimmy Zanor can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Patriots set to debut throwback uniforms; NHL season begins this week
