30
Sep
2011
After finishes the original articles, I happened to think of one
incident that happened that might be interesting to some? It certainly was an
experience for me.
I wrote in the article that in 1991, I was honored to be
selected by USAS to serve as the Chef-de-Mission for the US Aquatic Teams at
the World Championship in Perth, Australia. An incident happened toward the end
of the Championship that was really challenging. The plans made for the various
teams had the bulk of the athletes and coaches leaving Perth at 11:30 PM on the
night of January 14th for Sydney, and then out of Sydney to Los
Angeles on January 15th.
This seemed like no problem, but as it
turned out, Iraq had invaded Kuwait and the World was in great unrest.
The US
athletes strongly favored the problems of Kuwait, and there were many badges
worn by all that said “Free Kuwait”. The problem that arose was with the
scheduling for the start of the operation titled “Desert Storm”; it was
scheduled to begin on January 15th. Moving approximately 200 US
athletes on this date presented a major target for any terrorists. When we
found out that this coincided with our travel home, I contacted United Airlines
and the US State Department to discuss the problem with them. They brought in
the Australian government and due to the time differences between the US and
Australia, I spent most of the next three days on the phone discussing how we
could do this with the minimum exposure of the athletes. I would guess that I
probably averaged about 3-4 hours of sleep for the last three days, as trying
to coordinate between the different entities, and keeping all of our teams up
to date was very time consuming.
What was finally worked out was that all of our delegation
was notified that no one was to wear any clothing with USA designation on it
and that all bags were to have any USA insignia taped over. It was arranged
with the Australian Military that they would come in the afternoon to pick up
all luggage and bring it to a secured hanger in the cargo area of the airport.
At 7:30 PM, they came and picked up all those flying that night and took us to
the hanger at the cargo area. Once there, all luggage was checked again to make
sure that any USA insignia was taped over, and each person had to identify
their luggage before it was marked for loading. At about 11:00 PM, buses showed
up at the Cargo area to take us out across the tarmac to the plane that was to
take us to Sydney. You can imagine the surprise of the few other passengers
that had boarded the plane through the terminal when the doors opened up and
our group came aboard the plane. Once it was loaded and checked, the doors were
closed again and we took off for Sydney.
We landed at the domestic terminal in Sydney about 6:00 am
and had to transfer over to the International Terminal; again we were met by
airline personnel and moved separately from any normal transfers. United
Airlines had brought in their personnel to check us in for our flight, which
was about 3:30 in the afternoon. They also provided us with a check in area for
any carry-on luggage, so we could come back after and pick it up and head
directly for the plane as we were already checked in for the flight. I had
arranged for five buses to take the group to various tourist attractions in
Sydney, so that the group was dispersed throughout Sydney, rather than in one
large group. The buses brought everyone back about 2:30 PM, and we were able to
go directly onto the plane. United had bumped me up to First Class (which was
really a pleasure after handling all of these arrangements) and when the
stewardess came by and asked me what I wanted, I just said, "Give me big glass
of Tanqueray Gin with a lot of ice, and wake me up when dinner is served". She
did that, I drank it and went to sleep. She came by as each course of dinner
was served to wake me as I would eat it and then go back to sleep.
It really was an adventure to have the pressure of the
responsibility for such a large group of American Athletes which could have
been a prime target for terrorists. The cooperation of the US State Department,
the Australian Government and military, United Airlines and our US Aquatic
Teams was just great. It was an adventure that I will never forget.
For the Brotherhood of Sport,
Andy Burke
Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines: Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well,
not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he w
orked for
37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour
San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the
Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super
husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children,
all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and
Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as
possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his
teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and
stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed
more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.
22
Sep
2011
READING, Pa. -- The 2011 Beast of the East Tournament featuring some of the best
high school boys' and girls' teams from the Northeast will be held
on Friday-Saturday, September 23-24 at Wilson High School (Friday
First Round and Saturday Flight One Championship), Governor Mifflin
High School (Friday First Round and Saturday Flight Two
Championship), Muhlenberg High School (Friday First Round and
Saturday JV Tournament), Reading High School (Friday First Round
and Saturday Flight Three Championship), Pottsville High School
(Friday First Round), Perkiomen Valley High School (Friday First
Round), Cumberland Valley High School (Friday First Round), Upper
Merion High School (Friday First Round) and Central York High
School (Saturday Flight Four Championship).
The event will feature over sixty varsity and junior varsity teams
from five different states including: Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
Maryland, Ohio and New Jersey. This is a great recruiting
opportunity for collegiate coaches to see a large number of the top
male and female players from the Northeast in one weekend. College
coaches attending the event will be admitted free.
The tournament schedule for both varsity dates and the junior
varsity tournament are available at the following links:
15
Sep
2011
Dave Perry pictured with his son Kyle in 2000
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Fenwick High School (Ill.) water polo coach Dave
Perry, who brought the Oak Park school's program to
statewide prominence, died Sunday, September 11, at Rush University
Medical Center in Chicago.
Perry, who began coaching swimming
and water polo at Fenwick in 1987, was diagnosed with prostate
cancer in 2008.
"Dave was a remarkable coach and a
better person," said Mike Curtin, currently Fenwick's associate
athletic director. "It's the end of a coaching era; it truly is. He
was one of the key guys to work with the IHSA to get them to
sanction water polo. Everyone knew him. He was one of a kind."
Curtin, Fenwick's former athletic
director of 21 years, said students came to Fenwick to play water
polo because of Perry's reputation, and called him "the guy in Illinois water polo."
Under Perry, the Fenwick boys water
polo team won a total of 17 state titles, including eight-straight
IHSA sanctioned state tournaments. The team won 51 straight games
between the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The Friars also won 35 games in
both 2004 and 2006. They went 36-0 and took home their
eighth-straight state title last season with Dave's son, Kyle
Perry, as interim head coach. Perry helped coach the team from a
wheelchair during last year's 16-9 win over St. Ignatius in the
title game at Stevenson High School.
He finished his career with a
win-loss record of 711-70-1 in 24 seasons at Fenwick. In May, the
team won its eighth consecutive state title and ninth in the
10-year history of the IHSA-sanctioned tournament.
"I can only say there is another
angel in heaven," said Fenwick football coach Joe DiCanio of his
colleague. "He was a terrific guy, and he put up a valiant fight.
We can all learn about courage and discipline from him. He was a
terrific leader and it's quite a loss for Fenwick."
With his success at the high school
level and his popular Windy City Water Polo Club, Perry seemed to
draw skilled athletes to his program.
"He was so successful and so many
quality players just came to play for him," said Curtin. "It wasn't
really fair, we got used to them winning every year.
"One thing about coaches: it's one
thing to have talent, it's a whole other thing to know what to do
with that talent. Perry was a master of how to use the talent he
had."
Current Fenwick boys swim coach
Luke McGuire said Perry was known for his patience.
"At Mass this morning one response
to Dave's passing was 'slow to anger and rich in compassion,' and
that really sums him up, as well as his coaching methods," said
McGuire, who swam and coached under Perry. "He was a very mellow
guy and a listener, which made him a great leader."
Jack Wagner, the Fenwick girls
water polo coach who worked with Perry for 17 years, said his best
friend was more than just a coach. "I have never met a man who was
so calm and cool in pressure situations. He was a diplomat, a
statesman, so much more than just a coach."
"I know it sounds trite and you
hear it all the time, but he left an impact on, literally,
thousands of kids," Curtin said. "That's quite a legacy."
Mr. Perry is survived by his wife,
Marianne, a son, Kyle, and a daughter, Liz.
Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m.
Friday at Fenwick High School's Lawless Gym, 505 W. Washington
Blvd., Oak Park. The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at St.
Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 1530 Jackson Ave., River
Forest.
06
Sep
2011
2007 brought us back to the FINA
World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, where the men, now coached by
Ricardo Azevedo, finished in 9th place, while the Gold Medal was won by Croatia
(with Ratko Rudic as coach), Hungary in 2nd and Spain in third place.
Meanwhile, the women returned to the top rung, winning the Gold Medal followed
by Australia and Russia. The attention next turned to the Pan American Games
held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where the men won the Gold Medal, followed by
Brazil and Canada, and the women also won Gold, followed by Canada and Cuba.
Thus, both teams were qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, China, was silver laden for the US, with both the men and the women
just narrowly missing the opportunity to make it a God Medal harvest. The men,
now coached by the four-time Olympic veteran Terry Schroeder, fell to Hungary
in a hard fought match, with Serbia taking the Bronze Medal. The women, again
coached by Guy Baker, lost a heart breaker to the Netherlands with Australia
taking the Bronze Medal.
I guess this brings us far enough
along that what has happened following the 2008 Olympic Games is no longer
history, but a current event. When Chuck Hines first asked me to write
this/these article(s), he said to tell what I had seen in water polo over the years
since 1945. It seems I digressed and made this more a history of the US
National and Olympic Teams. I would like to wind this up with a little bit of
my personal opinion. I still love the sport of water polo, but I am not really
happy with the game as it is being played today. It has become too physical and
too stagnated with all of the players in the front court. This leave almost no
room for individual play and has the teams playing not to score so much as
playing to get a player “kicked out” and giving them a man advantage attack.
The “hole-man” who used to be the
center of the attacks on the goal, has been reduced to a person that struggles
and wrestles with the player guarding them. In the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s if the
hole-man and hole-guard stayed in the offensive end of the pool, they did not
guard each other, merely rested in the water next to each other. If the ball
was passed to the hole, the guard did not dare contest the pass unless they had
a clear advantage to the ball. They waited for the hole-man to get the ball and
then they played each other until a shot was taken or a foul called. In today’s
game the hole-man and hole-guard are constantly wrestling, whether the ball is
there, or not. There is not enough time, if the ball is passed to them, to
attack before the other players arrive and set up to pass around the perimeter.
The center is usually fouled, so that he has to pass the ball back out,
nullifying any offensive move. In the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s the center
forward position was the dominating factor for the team. I can remember players
such as Mirko Sandic from Yugoslavia, Svivos and Capo from the great Hungarian
teams of the 1970’s and Mishveradze from the Russian teams of the 1980’s and
Terry Schroeder from the US.
The greatest all-around player I
have ever seen was Tamas Farago from Hungary. He was a physical specimen who
could play any position in the game. I once saw him take a shot in a game when
he was on the right side of the field of play, about 6 meters into his
defensive end of the course. Time was about to expire in the quarter, and
Farago seemed to be the only who realized this. I was sitting on the deck, just
behind where he was positioned. He rose up and shot the ball, which hit the
upper bar in the far left corner of the goal at which he was shooting. From my position
I saw the ball and it never deviated, either up or down, or sideways, between
he and the goal. It was unbelievable. As far as goalies are concerned, the best
I have seen were Muscatiovic from Yugoslavia, Molnar from Hungary, Sharanov
from Russia, Rollan from Spain and Wilson from the US.
Another position that seems to
have disappeared is the sensational attacker. The Russian, Hungarian and
Yugoslavian teams all seemed to have them. These were payers that came in from
the wing, received the ball on the move and came in at the goal with quickness
and were able to shoot the ball from any and all angles. Names that come to
mind are Johnny De Magestries from Italy, Horkai from Hungary, Estiarte from
Spain and Gary Figueroa from the US. All of these great parts of the game have
been removed by the strategy of sending everyone into the offensive end of the
course. I have never been able to figure out why, but the European players seem
to have better “legs” than our players and their transference from vertical to
horizontal is done with a much stronger move. Strange to say, since we grow up
with balls and a hand-eye movement, rather the foot-eye movement of the
Europeans through soccer, but they seem to be better shooters than the US
athletes. When playing a zone defense against a European team, the defensive
team will set their forward line about 2+ meters from the back line. This still
allows a pass in to the post positions from outside, or a shot. With the US,
they set up with 1+ meter between the front and back line, leaving nothing open
but to shoot from the outside. This shows their lack of respect for our
shooting ability.
Another problem is with the
refereeing and the consistent interpretation of the rules. The foul of “to
hold, sink or pull back an opponent who is not holding the ball” at one point
in the 1960’s and 1970’s was explained in the rules as “a corner stone of the
game, as clear and explicit and can only be interpreted in one way.” The words “corner stone” have been removed,
but the rule certainly is not interpreted in only one way. I have always felt
that at major competitions, the management committee should instruct the
referees and the teams that the game shall be called in a specific way and that
if a referee does not officiate in that manner, they will be removed from the
tournament. I have heard this said, but not enforced.
At one time, a rule had been
proposed to reduce the team size to 5 field players and a goalie and the course
size to 25 meters by 17 meters. This was used experimentally by some nations
and the FINA Junior World Championships in Dunkirk was played completely under
these rules. We played an exhibition game at UC, Berkeley, with Russia, using
these rules and the result was very exciting game with lots of scoring and
outstanding individual play. There was room for the hole-man to operate, there
were driving lanes and shooting lanes opened up. However, the proposal was
defeated at the next FINA Congress, supposedly because the coaches were not in
favorite of having to change strategies.
It seems that the coaches always
want to “stretch” the rules, by seeing how far a player can be aggressive
before a foul is called. I believe that the rules are still sufficient to make
the game enjoyable if they are enforced consistently and the coaches, players
and officials are all on the same page. We have shown that we have the ability
to play on a level with the Europeans and the fact that many of our National
Team players are playing professionally in Europe helps overcome the major
advantage that the Europeans have held over the years, that of playing many
more top level games consistently than our players have the opportunity to do.
It is also easier to be a “star” player in Europe and earn a living from it.
This is not always feasible for the US players and the players that devote
themselves to the National Team are to be commended for their dedication and
sacrifice. Another area that has grown over time is the “Masters” programs, both
here and in Europe. This has allowed many players to keep playing for many
years. The FINA World Masters Championships has many of the stars of the 70’s
and 80’s competing. With the World’s this year being in Riccione, Italy, their
concern for the number of teams entering and having enough courses available
(they will have 5 courses and a warm-up pool), they have limited entries to 90
teams total. Our Masters Nationals in the US is second in numbers of teams to
the National Junior Olympics.
I still believe that water polo
has a place in the pantheon of great sports, but it will take all of us working
with the same purpose to make sure that it does not disappear from the sports
scene. I hope you have enjoyed these articles? It has really been a fun thing to
reminisce with myself about the many experiences I have been fortunate enough
to be part of. As I keep going through this, I seem to remember more and more
instances that I would like to write about, but I was asked to just write a
couple of articles, not the complete history of the sport. I always remember a
salutation used by several of the Latin Americans that I have worked with over
the years and would like to close with it.
For the Brotherhood of Sport,
Andy Burke
Editor’s Note by Chuck Hines: Andy Burke built San Francisco. Well,
not quite. But in his profession, his real job, at which he w
orked for
37 years, he provided the City with concrete. It is impossible to tour
San Francisco without seeing some of Andy’s handiwork, including the
Transbay Tube (BART), all 212,000 yards of it. He also has been a super
husband to his wife Carolyn, and together they’ve raised four children,
all boys and all successful. Now 81, Andy, a San Francisco native, and
Carolyn reside in San Carlos, Calif., where they spend as much time as
possible with their 14 grandchildren. Through it all, dating back to his
teenaged years, Andy has been one of water polo’s most avid and
stalwart supporters. In fact, I do not know ANYONE who has contributed
more to the sport over the past 50-60 years than him.