February 18, 2013 I didn’t write Friday’s post on the CENTAUR SEASONS blog about last week's David Brooks column in the New York Times intending that the post would be the first of a two-parter. Well, now it is. That David Brooks CENTAUR SEASONS post ended with George Kelly, a member of “the first first Centaur basketball team” that played the 1968-69 season in Allentown city industrial league, talking about how impossible it was back then to imagine what the four-building college might … [Read more...]

... AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written 40 years ago. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 89, Rutgers, South Jersey, 68, last night NEXT GAME: Lehigh CCC, in three days CENTAUR SEASON: 3-9 BUT WAIT, WE ARE REALLY NOW 1-AND-0! At practice the day after the Wilmington game, that awful 88-52 drubbing, Coach Sabota was unusually forgiving. He told us that at Wilmington maybe he … [Read more...]

... AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written 40 years ago. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 52, Wilmington College 88, two nights ago NEXT GAME: Rutgers, South Jersey, home, in five days CENTAUR SEASON: 2-9 I ASKED CHRISTOPHER CASHMAN, SENIOR CO-CAPTAIN,  TO WRITE IN MY DIARY. HERE'S WHAT HE WROTE: Well, post-Wilmington (88-54?) [88-52, actually], my last away game ever at … [Read more...]

... AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written on February 7, 1973. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 52, Wilmington College 88, last night NEXT GAME: Rutgers, South Jersey, home, in seven days CENTAUR SEASON: 2-9 We played Wilmington College last night. We got beat by 36. This was the last of our four away games. I remember saying we needed to split these four. So much for … [Read more...]

POSTED FEBRUARY 6, 2013 I didn’t think this forty years ago, but I am now. Why didn’t Chris Cashman just go ahead and quit the team? But that he didn’t speaks volumes. About Chris, for sure, and maybe also about how being on a team, even at such a place as our cornfield college, could mean so much to all of us. On THE VERY FIRST DAY OF PRESEASON for his senior-year season – this 1972-73 memory-blog year -- Cash turned his ankle during one of the very first drills. [[All LINKS IN CAPITAL … [Read more...]

.. AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written on February 4, 1973. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 47, Messiah College 76, yesterday NEXT GAME: at Wilmington College, in two days CENTAUR SEASON: 2-8 The results of our team meeting late last week were immediately evident in the locker room that same night. We all felt as though we could've taken on the world after that meeting. We … [Read more...]

.. AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written in February 1973, 40 years ago. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 64, Spring Garden College 69, three days ago NEXT GAME: at Messiah College, tomorrow night CENTAUR SEASON: 2-7 Spring Garden: nip and tuck all the way. We were down by about 10 midway through the first half, when we slowly began to come back. I put in a tap that put us … [Read more...]

Posted January 31, 2013 Sometimes, timing is everything. Wednesday’s CENTAUR SEASON post, a “memory blog” diary entry from “the Allentown College’s 1972-1973 B-ball season …” talked of Coach John Compardo, the first athletic director at our Cornfield College in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Coach is still with us, now in his nineties. But on Tuesday, just the day before, word came on the Centaur grapevine that Mary Jane, his wife of nearly 70 years, had passed away on Sunday. I hope … [Read more...]

 ... AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written January 30, 1973 -- 40 years ago today. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 56, Philadelphia Pharmacy 71, six days ago NEXT GAME: at Spring Garden College, tonight CENTAUR SEASON: 2-6 Pregame, on the bus to Spring Garden College in Philadelphia. We just received our traditional going-away pep talk from Coach Compardo. John Compardo. … [Read more...]

... AS CHRONICLED BY, AND WITH THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS + OCCASSIONAL PHILOSOPHIZING OF THE AUTHOR, ONE STEPHEN J. McKEE" This CENTAUR SEASONS post was written 40 years ago today. PREVIOUS GAME: Centaurs 56, Philadelphia Pharmacy 71, six days ago NEXT GAME: at Spring Garden College, tomorrow CENTAUR SEASON: 2-6 I’m battling some kind of bug. Came on me last night at practice. Feel terrible now. It’s 2 a.m. Exhausted, but can’t sleep. Well, as promised last time, a little bit about … [Read more...]