There were laughs, there were tears, there was joy. There were warm greetings from friends who hadn't had the chance to see each other in ages. People came from points all over the country and came home to Hudson County to recapture some of their youth and some of the glory from yesteryear.
There were little known facts that were revealed, like the tidbit that inductee Tom O'Connor of Union City, the current athletic director at George Mason and soon-to-be chairman of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament committee, once babysat the children of legendary North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese.
Or that fellow inductee Jimmy Foster of Hoboken, who was a great basketball player, first played football at Hoboken High and was helped to get a basketball scholarship at a junior college in Massachusetts by another local legend, Hall of Famer John Wendelken.
And Victor Perez, who was born in Cuba before becoming a standout two-sport athlete at Memorial in West New York, never saw the game of football before coming to the United States.
"When I first saw a football, I thought it was a brown watermelon," Perez said. "I didn't know what it really was."
There were stories from people like Howie Albert of Secaucus, who is 85 years old, and Howard Wolf of Weehawken, who is similarly an octogenarian, about their athletic careers that span nearly 60 years.
Or the fact that inductees Jack Muraca and the late Jimmy Lisa grew up right next door to each other on Bloomfield Avenue as kids in Hoboken.
These are just some of the stories and memories that came out of the Hudson County Hall of Fame dinner. It is always a great trip down memory lane and a fantastic history lesson for anyone who cares about Hudson County sports, the way yours truly does.
Once again, the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame opened its doors to some worthy legends, a litany of names and faces that deserved to be recognized and remembered. It was truly a night to remember...
Speaking of Hall of Fame, legendary St. Anthony basketball coach Bob Hurley will find out over the weekend in Atlanta if he earned induction into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
The announcement will be made Monday at the NCAA Final Four and we'll be there to have the news and the story if Hurley receives word that he's in.
We found out that Hurley himself will have already known if he earned induction by Wednesday, but he was sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone, not even his wife Chris or his daughter Melissa. If Hurley does get in with the likes of Phil Jackson and Dick Vitale, it will be quite a story for next week's editions, and we'll have it first hand...
As reported here first last week, Damel Ling has officially been named as the new head basketball coach at Hudson Catholic. The former St. Anthony assistant will certainly bring his experience working with Hurley to the Hawks...
Speaking of St. Anthony, please keep former long-time Friar athletic director Sister Mary Alan in your prayers. Sister Alan has been battling cancer for several years now and she's in for a tough fight now, so she could use a little bit of help and guidance from above. Sister Alan is one tough cookie and has been handling the rigors of being an AD for a long time. Here's to hoping she can handle this latest challenge given to her by that hideous and deadly disease...
It's a very nice gesture that the Jersey City Recreation Department has come up with a track meet to honor the memory of the late Charlie Mays, the great Olympian and former public servant who died a few years ago. Just like the Hall of Fame, of which Mays is a member, it is important to remember the achievements of one of Jersey City's all-time greats and the Recreation Department is doing so with the first-ever Charlie Mays Memorial Invitational Track Meet, coming soon...
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