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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s sporty shout out goes to another loyal reader Cheyenne Robertson of Putnam. She’s one of the friendly wait staff who graces the customers at Someplace Special Restaurant with her infectious smile and friendly personality.
Milestones in life and more specifically in sports are generally greeted with fanfare of some sort. Unfortunately Putnam Science Academy head basketball coach Tom Espinosa saw a milestone pass without any recognition at all.
Entering the 2012-2013 basketball seasons, Espinosa the only coach in PSA’s brief varsity history had a record of 95-37. He was only five games shy of reaching the century mark. The season began rather dismally for the Mustangs but a recent four-game winning streak has helped propel Espinosa over the 100 career victory mark.
The Scientists play the majority of their games on the road for two reasons. The schedule that Espinosa arranges for his team forces the team to travel to other schools if they wish to upgrade the competition. And since they don’t belong to a formal conference yet, they’ve become a “travelling team.” The other reason is that the PSA gym is rather tiny for the Mustangs fast paced style of play and the spectator accommodations on Maple St. are rather Spartan. So Espinosa reached his milestone on the road.
Espinosa had to be satisfied with picking up win #100 in New York at the Legendz Invitational Tournament when the Scientists handed him his milestone with a win over Satellite Academy. A recent win over Lee Academy gave Espo 104 career wins, but who’s counting?
Espinosa, a graduate of Worcester State University, where he served as captain of the Lancers for two seasons, has a solid coaching background. Prior to assuming the varsity role at PSA he served stints as an assistant at Putnam under coach Tony Falzarano and at Marianapolis under coach Dave Vitale. His apprenticeships under these two experienced veterans paved the way for his success. It’s now on to #200 for Coach Tom Espinosa.
Putnam Grad Working at MIT…
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is generally considered the top engineering school in the U.S. A little known fact outside of Boston and Cambridge is that the Engineers also boasted a solid football teams in the NCAA Division III last season.
Working as an assistant coach at MIT for his first season was former Putnam High School quarterback Nick Perron. His main duty with the Engineers under head coach Chad Martinovich was coaching the wide receivers. The team, which competes in the New England Football Conference, posted a winning record of 5-4. This was a significant achievement for a team that had won a total of four games over the previous three seasons.
Perron’s coaching bio includes his time as a standout player a Nichols College where he lettered for three seasons. He was a wide receiver for two seasons and was the Bison quarterback his senior year. That season he set a school record with three touchdown passes in one game. Perron also had a stint as assistant coach at Killingly High School, where he served as offensive coordinator. He’s currently employed at MIT, working with Recreation as Membership Services Associate.
Empowering Young Women…
A trio of young women was the guest speakers at the Putnam Rotary Club on Jan. 17. The group, from Woodstock Academy, presented a program entitled “Empowering Young Women,” which is a confidence building experience for female students at Woodstock.
Leading the program was Guidance Department faculty member Amanda Rice and her team partner, guidance counselor Val Carr. Sarah Owen, a student, spoke of her experiences in the program and what it meant to her and the many other young ladies who participate.
Rice and Carr are avid runners, who spend some off time together on long runs prepping for local races. A coincidental occurrence was noted when Rotarian Paul Dery, a former teacher and cross country coach at Tourtellotte, informed the gathering that he coached Carr when she was a student/athlete for the Tigers. Carr, a lifetime runner, served as captain of Dery’s team in her senior year.
Letters, We Get Letters…
This week’s snail mail correspondence came in the form of an anonymous very compassionate American Greetings card of condolence. Simply stated, the card read, “Thinking of you, with deepest sympathy.” It was signed in majestic hand writing “Roll Tide Bama #15.”
Assuming that the card came in reference to the University of Alabama’s championship game victory over Notre Dame on January 7, we are most grateful for the words of sympathy. Never boastful in victory, we remain humble in defeat.
Passing of a Legend…
I don’t know for certain whether I ever met Laurent “Larry” Bouley Sr. personally. If I did it was probably thanks to my late friends from Moosup, George Dropo or Gerry “Hooker” Carroll.
I read Bouley’s obituary this week and the cobwebs started clearing up but they’re still somewhat fuzzy as I put these words on paper. Bouley came from a renowned Jewett City athletic family and his history as an athlete and an American is quite impressive.
Bouley attended Norwich Free Academy and LaSalle Military Academy on Long Island. I suspect he went to school on Long Island to prepare for admission to Boston College. He went to BC, following in the footsteps of his brother Gil Bouley, who was a standout tackle on a team that featured Mike Holovak at fullback. Holovak later went on to coach the Boston Patriots. In January 1943 the Eagles, with Holovak and the two Bouleys, played in the Orange Bowl and lost to Alabama.
Like many athletes of his day, Bouley enlisted in the Army after the Orange Bowl game and served in the infantry in WWII. At the end of the war Bouley enrolled at the University of Georgia where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. While playing for the Dawgs, Bouley participated in the Oil Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl. In four years of collegiate athletics he played in four Bowl games, quite a feat in any era.
In later life he was inducted into a number of athletic and education Halls of Fame. Bouley remained loyal to his home town of Jewett City, where he was spiritually involved with St Mary’s Roman Catholic Parish.
He died quietly on Jan. 15, two months short of his 90th birthday. He’s now in a place where he is likely meeting many of his friends and former teammates.
RPC’s Closing thought For The Day: If you look like your passport photo, you need the trip.