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By LEE L. RICHARDS
Sports Columnist
There’s a lot of folks here in
the Back Mountain still simmer-
ing over the ouster of Dallas grid
Coach Ron Rybak.
© What puzzles
most = of us,
including Coach
Rybak, is the fact
that there was no
previous indica-
tion of any dissat-
isfaction with his
(Rybak’s) han-
dling of the a
program. While there was some
grumbling from frustrated par-
ents, that only goes with the
territory. :
In reviewing the reasons, it
reflects a rash decision, lack of
stability and knowledge of athlet-
ics and football in general by the
members of the Dallas School
Board.
What is sorry about the scena-
rio is the athletes and students
are the ones that got short-
changed.
‘““The Fauxpas Five’’ that
maneuvered Rybak out should sit
back and reconsider their unpo-
pular and highly unprofessional
decision. Their reasoning is
bilge-water!
It was amusing to read that
Rybak didn’t get his players any
scholarships. That statement
showed the ‘Fauxpas Five's”
ignorance regarding football. I
feel I'm in a much better position
to comment on that aspect since
I’m involved in writing various
recruiting stories and in contact
with various college teams for
Eastern Football Magazine.
Last week I exchanged names
and received comments concern-
ing future prospects with Syra-
cuse, Maryland and Boston
Collge.
At the present time I’m acting
like a clearing house, compiling
names of the top players that
will be seniors in the fall. When
the list is complete, I'll send it to
the teams which have had an
imput.
There’s a constant evaluation
process concerning all of the
‘suspects.’ Scholarships just
aren’t offered because of a coach
at some high school giving a
player a high recommendation.
That player has to have the
necessary size,
strength to perform on a Division
1 level.
I’ve been involved in football
just about my whole life, thanks
to my Dad, who put his share of
players in every type of pro-
gram. I have a pretty good idea
what it takes to play at a school
like Maryland, Pitt or Tennessee.
However, when I recommend a
player, that’s the extent of it.
The final decision rests with the
coach recruiting the youngster.
The coach will evaluate film and
he’ll present his findings to his
whole staff.. They, in turn, will
grade the prospect and put his
name on a board by the position
he could help that particular
program. They may have alloted
two or three scholarships for that
three, then and only then will, he
receive an offer. If he’s question-
able, then they’ll backoff and go
for someone else. :
One thing is certain, when
there’s a player with legitimate
ability to play at the level of one
of your major programs, every-
one knows about him. Most
recently it was Matt LaVigna of
Crestwood. Penn State, Nortre
Dame, Florida State and a host
home at Walden Park, Mt. Top.
Matt finally decided on Pitt.
Matt’s Coach Sam Elias never
oversold his player’s ability. He
didn’t have to. All you had to do
was turn on a projector and
watch his performance and you
knew he was a player.
Dallas hasn’t had that type of
athlete in recent years. To blame
Coach Rybak is absurd.
When the Mountaineers had
their great team back in 1972, I
personally took then Pitt Coach
John Majors to Dallas School to
meet Gary Arcuri and Bob
Spears. Majors had a bunch of
was no 30 limit like the present.
Arcuri and Spears accepted
Majors’ offer and were members
of Pitt’s 1976 national champion-
ship team. While they weren’t
stars, they lined up every day in
practice. Major always asks
about them when we visit.
My association with various
college coaches has given me
some insight into what it takes to
be a solid football coach. One of
the key aspects to any successful
athletic program is having the
athletes to work with. The wins
and losses take care of them-
selves. The good coaches are the
ones that can take an ordinary
group of players and make them
perform above the level of their
ability. He’s got to sell them on
the belief that they can win when
they lineup.
The good football coaches have
strong support from their admin-
istrations, something that hasn’t
been evident at Dallas. They had
a heckuva Coach in Jack Jones
and never appreciated his effort
and still haven’t.
I’ve seen Dalls practice and
I’ve seen them play. When I've
seen them, the Mountaineers
always played hard. Maybe they
were a bit short on ability, but
they still got after people and
didn’t quit. A prime example was
last year’s Meyers game. It
wasn’t pretty, but the Mountai-
neers played hard on every down
and prevailed.
All high school teams are lim-
ited in ability, which the average
fan can’t recognize. In a situa-
tion like this one the coach has to
recognize his teams’ strengths
and weaknesses and make the
necessary adjustments. There’s
going to be games where you can
have the best gameplan conceiv-
able, but if the other guy has
more athletes with better execu-
tion there’s no-way you're going
to win. It's called being out
personneled.
Another board member cited
Rybak’s record which is 25-27-2.
He’s had five years. During that
time he’s had make-shift staffs
and an off-season program that
was from hunger. This can be
attributed to a lack of commit-
ment from the Board, which has
never shown strong support
toward athletics.
the answer. The fault lies with
the “Fauxpas Five” for not pro-
viding the proper leadership.
Instead of disrupting the foot-
ball program, they should have
attempted to be more supportive
and do a lot of the little things to
make the program more attrac-
tive to the students.
When you put things in pros-
pective schoolboy athletics runs
in cycles. Look at Hanover’s
team last season. The Hawkeyes
won everything in sight. The
coach down there didn’t do any-
thing different than he did when
the Hawks were taking it on the
chin. He had some talented play-
ers.
) “
A
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Who will
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Statf Correspondent
The recent action of the Dallas
School Board not to rehire head
football coach Ronald Rybak for the
fall season came as a shock to most
high school athletes, parents and
fans.
With all but a few of the players
and their parents very satisfied with
Rybak’s performance over the past
five years, no one can understand
the action of the five board mem-
bers - Joseph O’Donnell, Al Pisanes-
chi, John George, Ernest Ashbridge
and newwly-appointed member,
Barbara Mead.
Analysis
While the majority of the juniors
and many of the sophomore are
doubtful about going out for the
team next year if Rybak is not head
coach, there is much speculation
among Dallas Fans about whether
or not Rybak will be reappointed by
the board or whether there is truth
in any of the rumors circulating
around town.
A report that J.P. Meck, former
head football coach at Coughlin
High School and recently-appointed
assistant football coach at Wilkes
College, had been approached by
two of the directors to coach next
year’s Mountaineers was denied by
Meck in a recent interview.,
“I was never approached about
the position prior to the board’s
action in March,” said Meck. “Nor
have they approached me since that
time. I enjoy coaching high school
football, but there is doubt in my
mind about getting involved in a
situation such as exists out there (at
Dallas).”
received a report that Frank Gal-
icki, assistant high school principal,
would be the head coach of next
year’s team. When contacted at the
Dallas High School, Galicki stated
there is no truth to that report,
either. The Dallas administrator
stated that, as of Friday, March 30,
the school was not open.
Galicki explained that by a 5-4
vote at the March meeting, the
Dallas Board had vetoed rehiring
Rybak, but that students and adults
in the audience had asked the board
to reconsider its action.
Dallas school directors were
scheduled to hold a work session
Monday night, April 2, at which
time Galicki stated it was very
likely the coaching subject would be
discussed. However, Galicki said he
did not believe any official decision
would be forthcoming until the regu-
lar meeting of the board which is
scheduled for Monday, April 9.
“Until such time as an official
action has been taken by the board
at an open meeting and the position
declared open for applicants, no one
will be named as head football
coach,’ said Galicki.
Legislation permitting Pennsyl-
vania to go fishing without a license
on two days each year has been
unanimously approved by the
House.
House Bill 1887 would permit the
Pennsylvania Fish Commission to
declare free fishing at selected
waterways in the Commonwealth,
according to Rep. George C. Hasay.
“This measure will provide an
opportunity for experienced fisher-
men to share their sport with a
family member or friends who
might not try it because of the
said.
“Allowing a person to get a taste
of what fishing is all about may lead
to the purchase of a fishing license
and the person may continue to
rest of his or her life.”
He said the designation of free
fishing days would encourage fami-
lies to go on fishings outings
day trip to enjoy Pennsylvania’s
beautiful outdoors.
“It’s unfortunate that today’s fast-
paced lifestyle deprives many indi-
viduals of the joys of catching a fish
or spending a special day with
doors environment.
See the Super
8 Foot Wrangler Jeans
Free Prize.
No Purchase Necessary
Drop by our Wrangler Giant
stitiches in these huge
jeans. Fill out a contest
blank and you can win the
following Free prizes:
25 pr. Wrangler Jeans
50 Wrangler Painter Caps
50 Wrangler Key Chains -
notified.
lasts.
VISA
D. Purvin hit the pins for 222-254
(612), C. Kazokas, rolled 555 and M.
Whiting posted 221 to lead G. H.
Harris to three points from Charlies
All ‘Stars in Bonomo’s Major
League. The Beach Combers took
three points from Back Mt. Sporting
Goods while the Hambos were divid-
ing evenly with Sweet Valley Outfit-
ters. R. Bonomo, Jr. rolled 221
(597), B. Mazer scattered pins for
216 (580) and Gary Mazer hit them
for 547. M. Rudick posted 564 and S.
Bonomo knoced down pins for 548
for the Hambos. D. Thomas wal-
loped pins for 254 (585) and R.
Bonomo scattered them for 229
(578) to pace Brown's Oil to a 2-2
split with ther Bermudas.
Lombardo’s Bakery continued to
lead the Imperialette League by
picking up three points from Ameri-
can Building. J. Clark registered 176
(500). The losing five were led by
W. Harrington’s 171. Scavone
Motors took three points from the
Jean Shop while Humphrey’s
Apparel and Mahaffey Oil divided
equally. C. Smith slammed pins for
217-186 (558) for the oil dealer and J.
Wertman rolled 207 (493) for the
apparel shop.
In the Bowlerette League N.
Moser’s 179 (494) showed the way
for Brent Long's three points from
Tom Reese. C. Badman rolled 171
for Tom Reese. Franklin’s picked
up three from the Hoagie Bar with
no one able to hit high scores.
Ken Spencer’s 564 and Nadine
Katyl’s 177 paced Kenny’s Maniacs
to three points from the Halfbreeds
in Bonomo’s Mixed League. Irene
Katyl’s hit 173 for the losing five.
The A Team shut out the Halfwits
led by Carol Exarhopoulis’ 210
(510). Dale Wright rolled 566 for the
Halfwits.
In the Back Mt. Church League
Orange B blanked Trucksville B
sparked by T. Sponseller’s 542.
Trucksville took all from Shaver-
town A aided by F. Hughes 531 and
B. Hospodar’s 525. Carverton A
Shavertown B picked up three from
Dallas A. The Lutherans split 2-2
with Maple Grove and Orange A did
the same with Carverton B.
Grotto Pizza shut out the Cas-
tlettes in the Ladies Country League
and Fashion Vending took four from
Daring’s Market. G. H. Harris
made it three over Gordon Insur-
ance. High scorers were Grotto’s A
Hospodar with 189-192 (524) and G.
H. Harris’ C. Smith with 177-186
(524). .
In the George Shupp League,
Katyl Tv blanked Dallas Nursery
led by Coury’s 233-216 (641) and
Maculis’ 535. Roberts Oil copped
three points from Fino’s Pharmacy
paced by Barkowski’s 534. R.
Bonomo roled 537, K. Younglbood
hit 527 and K. Orkwis posted 525 for
the druggist. A. Wendel’s 218 (568)
showed the way for Harris Asso-
ciates three points from Endless
Mountains. H. Bennett added 212
(517) and D. Purvin gave 516. Gino’s
Funeral Home aided by C. Kazokas’
564. L. Yankowski hit 539 for
Disque. ;
C. Searfoss knocked down pins for
523 to lead the Lucky Strikes to
three points from Half ’0 Nickels in
Our Gang League. V. Hudak’s 512
helped the Barn Owls shut out the
Mold ’N Oldies while the Buck-
wheats earned three from the Suds
Suckers. (0
Applications for the Third
Annual Keystone State Games
are now available to Pennsyl-
vania’s amateur athletes.
Application and entry forms
are available at all McDonald’s, 4
from high school athletic depart-
ments and community recreation
department offices aswell as the -
YMCA and YWCA.
De WD)
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Martin's Mobil Service Sutton & Slimak
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Merls Garage Sandy Bottom
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