Long Island Sports Figures of the Decade

With the first decade of the 21st century in the books, Long Island Pulse magazine decided to look back at the most significant figures on the Long Island sports scene. There were high profile athletes such as Kings Park and Houston Astros baseball star Craig Biggio and Hofstra and New York Jets wideout Wayne Chrebet. Prime-time events such as golf’s US Open at Bethpage (2002 and ‘09) and Shinnecock Hills (2004) put the region in the spotlight. Great teams abounded, from Speedy Claxton-led Hofstra in men’s basketball (2000) to the Bratton brothers-fuelled Huntington boys lacrosse run (2005-07). 

But the people who made the greatest contributions to Long Island sports in the last decade were often coaches and administrators, people on the bench or away from the public view. Others championed causes, opened the way for new sports to flourish or built the foundation for great teams. Here is our Top 10:

10. Louis Acompora: The Northport High School freshman died on March 25, 2000 after being struck in the chest by a ball during a freshman lacrosse game. Acompora, 14, suffered commotio cordis, a rare form of cardiac arrest. He could have been revived had there been an automated external defibrillator. His parents made it their mission to raise awareness and their son lived on through the Louis Acompora Foundation. The Long Island sports community reacted almost immediately, putting defibrillators at high school sports events. On June 27, 2002, with father and driving force John Acompora on hand, Gov. George Pataki signed into law a bill requiring one portable defibrillator in each high school. Louis’ Law was the nation’s first.

9. Sarah Hughes: The figure skating prodigy from Great Neck burst onto the world consciousness with a remarkable gold-medal performance at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Then 17, Hughes jumped from fourth to first with a flawless long program and joined the ranks of local Olympic immortals Derrick Adkins and Al Oerter. Hughes has served as a spokesperson for breast cancer awareness and supported the outreach program Figure Skating Harlem. Younger sister Emily Hughes also developed into a figure skating star in her own right. Emily Hughes competed at the 2006 Olympics.  Sarah Hughes graduated from Yale in 2009.

8. Russ Cellan: The Freeport High School football coach turned a downtrodden program into one of Long Island’s best, developing talent and innovating along the way. The result was a feared program that played in six Nassau Conference I championship games this decade and won four. He popularized the spread offense on Long Island, coached NFL standouts D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Morlon Greenwood and led one of the great teams in state history, the 2003 Red Devils. Cellan closed the decade in November the way he began it in 2000, winning a Long Island Class I championship.    

7. Tim Cluess: The C.W. Post men’s basketball coach is a fierce competitor, a master tactician and a great teacher. He was a legendary high school coach, dominating the Catholic league at St. Mary’s. He went 262-87 in 14 seasons with the Gaels, winning a pair of state Class B Federation championships before tensions between he and the administration led him to leave in 2005. He coached current NBA player Danny Green. Cluess jumped to Suffolk CC-Brentwood and led it to the NJCAA Division III quarterfinals in 2006. Division II C.W. Post hired him weeks later.  Last year, Cluess guided a Long Island-heavy roster to a 30-1 season and the elite eight of the NCAA Division II tournament. He is very likely Long Island’s next big D-I prospect, a la Billy Donovan at Florida.

6. Jim McGowan: The longtime Bay Shore High School softball coach has dominated the game like no coach in any other sport. He is the winningest softball coach in state history and a pitching guru who has developed dominant windmillers throughout Long Island. This decade alone, Bay Shore won state Class A titles in 2000 and 2005 and five Suffolk titles from 2000-07. And the Marauders are in the hunt each season. They lost in the county championship series last spring. Beyond his work as a coach and an instructor, he’s been instrumental in building up the coaches association and championing the game. With former players now becoming coaches themselves, his influence will live on.  

5. Boomer Esiason: You know him today as a TV commentator and radio host. But the former East Islip standout and NFL quarterback is an iconic Long Island sports figure. Sure, he played in a Super Bowl and starred for the New York Jets. But he’s emerged as an even more influential force off the field. The Manhasset resident started the Boomer Esiason Foundation after his son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1993. BEF generated $6.4 million in 2008. Meanwhile, Esiason turned his twin passions – football and fundraising to fight CF – to promote Long Island football. There’s no event quite like the Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge, an all-star football game played each June at Hofstra before big crowds and regional TV. The Empire Challenge only strengthened the sport, giving Long Island coaches an opportunity to grow while helping the development of youth and high school programs in need. For example, austerity-plagued Roosevelt High School received game helmets and uniforms. By the way, graduating seniors got a first-class showcase event.

4. Don Buckley: The longtime athletic director at St. Anthony’s High School helped build the Catholic power into one of the nation’s premier sports programs. Sports Illustrated recognized the school as the best in the state from 2005-09. The football program won eight CHSFL titles in the decade and boys basketball captured a state Federation crown. Girls soccer has been a powerhouse and boys soccer finished ranked second in the nation in 2008. But the former track coach’s true love is running and the Friars have a boys and girls program with several hundred participants. Yet Buckley’s influence goes well beyond Huntington Station. Buckley has served as president of the CHSAA and the state Federation, forging a reputation as a key figure in New York high school sports.

3. Cathy Gallagher: The long-time executive director of Section XI was a pioneer in women’s sports and a strong voice in New York state high school athletics. She retired from Section XI, Suffolk County’s governing body for high school sports, in 2003 after 21 years at the helm. Gallagher first taught at Smithtown and Cold Spring Harbor. She officiated girls basketball, volleyball, softball and field hockey. Her career path became clear in 1972, thanks to the landmark legislation known as Title IX, which leveled the playing field for women and promoted a nationwide explosion in sports participation. At Section XI, she implemented scheduling of games, brought content online, oversaw the addition of numerous sports from girls lacrosse to girls golf, helped streamline procedure and educated schools on safety issues. Gallagher helped usher in the Long Island football championships and transform high school sports in the process. Ed Cinelli succeeded Gallagher and deserves mention. So does Todd Heimer in Nassau. But Gallagher was a ground-breaking administrator for three decades.

2. Jim Fiore: He’s presided over the rapid rise of Stony Brook University athletics. The Long Beach native took over as Stony Brook’s athletic director in August 2003. In the years since, Fiore has overhauled staff, upgraded facilities and set the Seawolves on a path toward Division I competitiveness. Football was non-scholarship when he arrived. Now it’s the only Division I program on Long Island. Under his watch, men’s and women’s lacrosse, baseball, softball and men’s soccer each qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Fiore also inked the first TV contact in school history, with MSG, in 2005. He helped secure $30 million in state funds for school facilities and opened the Goldstein Student-Athlete Development Center in 2006. With lacrosse primed for another NCAA run this spring, the Seawolves roar into the new decade as a force on the Long Island sports scene.

1. Charles Wang: From merely big-named Long Island businessman as co-founder of Computer Associates to iconic figure in the community, Charles Wang is Long Island Pulse magazine’s sports figure of the decade. As owner of the New York Islanders, Wang is unquestionably the biggest backer of Long Island sports. He became part-owner of the struggling NHL franchise in 2000 and added immediate stability, ending speculation of a move and opening his check book to bring in fresh talent. Wang assumed full ownership 2004. The Islanders reached the playoffs four times in the decade, beginning in 2002 after a seven-year drought. In 2001, Wang relocated an Arena Football League franchise to the Nassau Coliseum. The New York Dragons won three division titles and made the playoffs six times before the league folded in 2009. He’s been in contentious negotiations with Nassau County to build a new arena and redevelop the area around the Coliseum. If the Lighthouse project ever does move forward, Wang might go down as Long Island’s most influential power broker since Robert Moses.

Blog originally posted at LI Pulse.com

Contemplating Long Island Without Hofstra Football

In a week of stunning announcements – from Tom Suozzi’s concession to ‘Junior’ Gotti’s mistrial – nothing compared with the sudden death of Hofstra University football.

School president Stuart Rabinowitz made the announcement to immediately terminate the football program at a hastily-called press conference Thursday morning, and the news struck the Long Island sports community like a punch to the gut.

There’s no arguing the merits of the decision. Running a major college football program can be prohibitively expensive. And in these tough economic times, the small private school in Hempstead – investing $4.5 million annually on the sport – made a prudent call with the best interest of the institution at heart.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be lasting repercussions. Football stirs a sense of pride – even among students who have never attended a game – that no other function or event can replicate.

The football program also served as a calling card to all of Long Island for 72 years. There was no better ambassador. The connections ran deep.

To name two: Wandy Williams began his career at Hofstra before moving on to the NFL in 1969 and then settling into decades as a successful high school basketball coach in Long Beach. Freeport football coach Russ Cellan, who just guided the Red Devils to the Long Island Class I championship, routinely called on the staff at Hofstra for coaching insight.

Hofstra regularly gave tickets to high school and youth league groups. The entire coaching staff, from Dave Cohen on down, served as a resource for coaches across Long Island. The skills camps the Pride ran helped aspiring teenagers grow.

Even the facilities were wide open to any number of events, including the Long Island football championships. The Road to Hofstra meant something to every budding high school athlete in Nassau County, hoping to make the playoffs and land a scholarship to play at the next level.

Now Hofstra’s 63 scholarship players, many of them from Long Island, must attempt to find new homes or give up the game. An entire football community must look elsewhere for inspiration too.

Sure, Stony Brook’s growing football program (this was their first year as a fully-funded scholarship Division I-AA team) will reap the rewards. Greater exposure. A monopoly of talent. It will even land a few of Hofstra’s best players in an instant talent infusion. But it cannot ever completely fill the void.

It’s a sad state for Long Island sports fans. The New York Nets of the ABA once played at the Nassau Coliseum. So did the Arena Football League’s Dragons. And the Saints of indoor lacrosse. The women’s pro soccer league Power played down the street at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Let’s not forget that the New York Jets relocated their home office from Hofstra to new digs in New Jersey after the 2007 season.

Those are just a few of the pro teams that once called the region home. Now the Islanders are threatening to bolt if the Lighthouse project doesn’t get green lit. With a new Nassau County executive set to step into the fray, that’s a big if.

So Hofstra’s capitulation is more heartbreak on top of decades of heartbreak. Say it ain’t so.

Four former Hofstra stars are still carrying the banner by playing in the NFL, from New England Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington, Dallas Cowboys defensive end Stephen Bowen, Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Willie Colon to New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston. Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris spent his formative years at Hofstra.

They will continue to represent Hofstra Pride for years to come. In fact, Colston converted a big third down in overtime on Sunday, setting the stage for Garrett Hartley’s 18-yard game-winning field goal as the Saints moved to 12-0 with a 33-30 win over host Washington.

Colston finished with two catches for 46 yards, highlighted by a second-quarter 40-yard touchdown grab. Colston is on pace for another 1,000-yard season. And his Saints may well reach the Super Bowl. His play offers some consolation.

Hofstra may have pulled the plug on football, but Hofstra football isn’t dead yet.

Blog originally posted at LI Pulse.com

LI Pulse: Stony Brook Football

Title: Run Hard, Sell Hard: Stony Brook football hopes to win games and fans behind a pair of dynamic runners
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: September 2009
Start Page: 51
Word Count: 1038

Conte Cuttino and Ed Gowins cut intimidating figures without ever strapping on a pair of shoulder pads. The running backs possess a stat sheet that should be the talk of the nation. Their presence in the same backfield is something to behold.

There is nothing subtle about Gowins, from the tattoos landscaping his massive arms to the oversized diamond earring, emitting a sparkle as blinding as any sunset. Just imagine how the former Bellport High School star plays. It’s in-your-face power running for four quarters.

“They feel [me],’’ said Gowins, who was named National Freshman of the Year by College Sporting News. “That’s one of the things I like to do. When I see someone in front of me, I run them over. The second time they’ll think twice about trying to tackle me.”

So why is this dynamic duo getting so little attention? The truth is the foundation of Stony Brook University football might as well have been built on swampland. Sales jobs don’t get much harder.

College football may reign supreme in Los Angeles and Omaha—and every burg south of the Mason Dixon. But in the tri-state area, and Long Island in particular, the sport garners about as much respect as soap box racing.

And that’s understandable. Stony Brook finished 2008 with a losing record. The Seawolves have never won a postseason game in 25 years of existence. They have never even beaten big brother Hofstra, another small fish in the sea that is New York sports.

It’s all part of a muddied past, one whose narrative arc has been on a steady ascent.

The expectations are starting to simmer. For the first time, Stony Brook is a fully-funded, 63-scholarship program—on par with the rest of the Football Championship Subdivision (the oversized and overly confusing name of what was formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA football).

Stony Brook enters its second year in the competitive Big South Conference. And with the most dangerous running back tandem in college football, the program has created some insider buzz. With Cuttino and Gowins plowing through opposing defenses this fall, Stony Brook could be on the verge of a breakthrough season.

“I just let them play,’’ third-year coach Chuck Priore said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Just go play. If you both do your role as football players, then good things will happen to you.’ They are both talented enough.”

The team started 2008 off 1-5 and scored all of 10 points over three consecutive games, the last a 33-0 domination by nationally-ranked Liberty. Then Priore unleashed Cuttino and Gowins in the second half of last season with record-breaking results.

It turned on October 19, a 20-19 home win over Charleston Southern. Cuttino racked up his biggest performance to date with 107 rushing yards and redshirt freshman quarterback Dayne Hoffman tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 left. Gowins broke big runs on the winning drive.

“It probably took a little time to get things going,’’ said Cuttino, a senior from Uniondale. “Eddie and I were able to get things done at the end in a big way.”

Stony Brook won four of its final five games to finish in a second-place tie in the Big South Conference. And the Seawolves transformed from a sputtering offense to an unstoppable ground attack.

“Once we were able to settle in on a plan and mature as an offense, Conte and Eddie’s performances helped catapult us to success,’’ Priore said. “We were able to put things together, and those two kids the second half of the year were very impressive.’’

On November 9, the Seawolves cranked out 635 yards on the ground in a steady downpour to pound host Iona, 68-9. Gowins ran for 278 yards and three touchdowns while Cuttino had 205 yards and three scores. The Football Championship Subdivision team record for rushing yards in a game is 681 by Missouri State in 1988.

It was a banner day for Stony Brook. Coincidental or not, Iona announced 12 days later it was dropping its 42-year-old football program altogether.

The Seawolves closed the season one week later with another rout, a 40-26 win over Virginia Military Institute. Stony Brook totalled 622 yards of offense, paced by Gowins (250 yards and three touchdowns) and Cuttino (234 yards).

Gowins amassed 713 yards and eight touchdowns over the final three games, an avalanche of offense. His 1,310 yards set the school’s single-season rushing record and earned Gowins national recognition. Cuttino, who became Stony Brook’s all-time rushing leader with 2,807 career yards, finished fourth in the conference in rushing (1,243 yards) and was named an All-Big South second-teamer.

“We complement each other in a big way,’’ the shifty Cuttino said. “Eddie has bulk but is deceiving because he has speed. As far as teams trying to game plan against us—it’s hard. We can do many of the same things. He has a bigger body, a bigger frame. But it doesn’t matter who is in the backfield. Coach doesn’t have a problem with Eddie going outside or with me running inside.”

Gowins spent a year in prep school before returning home to play at Stony Brook. His first collegiate carry went for a 22-yard touchdown. Paired with the equally electric Cuttino, who knows what the two can accomplish with another year of experience.

Priore must replace both receivers and two linemen. And Hoffman suffered through growing pains at quarterback a year ago. The Seawolves (5-6 overall, 3-2 Big South) are picked to finish second behind two-time champ Liberty in the Big South.

But the schedule is unforgiving, with September games against defending Patriot League champ Colgate and Ivy League winner Brown. The Seawolves open the season September 5 at Hofstra. Even though Stony Brook is 0-12 lifetime against its cross-Island rival, at least the game is local. Seven of the team’s first ten games are on the road.

“Execute our game plan and we have the potential to win the conference,’’ Cuttino said. “We need to stay focused and do our job.”

Stony Brook football is a tough sell. But Cuttino and Gowins offer a persuasive argument. Getting the players to believe is an important first step on the road to better days.

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