Mea culpa...

What in God's name was I thinking -- starting a blog and not featuring a single picture of Rich Brennan?

A momentary lapse of reason.

Rich, aka '81Hawk, with Fr. George Bur, SJ, president of St. Joseph's Preparatory School (and 44's former spirtual director -- a tough job;-), standing next to the statue of St. Ignatius Loyola, SJ.

Controversy avoided ;-)

So long Sheldon... good riddance!

Friday was a good day because it was the day that 44's buddy Tom Brennan ended his radiation treatments at Jefferson Hospital. Once done with his last appointment it was off to visit St. Katherine Drexel's Shrine in Bensalem, PA, then to raise a toast with Coreeeene, 44 and 6th Man at the New Deck Tavern at 34th and Sansom Streets in West Philadelphia.

Here's to Sheldon never coming back ;-)

The Brennans with world famous bartender Aidan.

Congrats Alex & Shannon ;-)

Congratulations go out to Alex and Shannon... two of my favorite Hawks!

Some would argue environment vs hereditary.... doesn't matter with these two. They bleed crimson and grey and will be difficult to replace when they graduate this spring from Hawk Hill.

At their favorite venue: Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, soon to be Hagan Arena.

Palestra bathroom: About to fool nova fans at the Holy War into unfurling a rollout, in blue, that says "THE HAWK WILL NEVER DIE!" Then coordinating with MarylandHawk to unfurl

"SJU INVADES nOVA NATION". In a tie with Barney charming a girl and stealing the Wildcat mascot uniform. Where is that tail, anyway?

Getting their just desserts: This year's winners of the Fr. Emery Ross, SJ Spirit Award.

You will be missed - 44.

St. Joe's Nivins wins Geasey Award and MVP!

Ahmad Nivins Receives the Geasey Award as the Big 5 Player of the Year

Tasheed Carr earns All-Big 5 Second Team honors.

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - Saint Joseph's senior Ahmad Nivins received the Robert Geasey Award as the Most Outstanding Player in the Philadelphia Big 5, at the annual Herb Good Basketball Club Dinner on Monday, April 13, at The Savoy.

It marks the second year in a row that Saint Joseph's had the Geasey winner as Pat Calathes was the co-recipient in 2007-08. It marks the 13th time in history that a Saint Joseph's has earned the award, joining the likes of former SJU greats Pat Carroll (2005), Jameer Nelson (2004, 2003), Marvin O'Connor (2001) and Rashid Bey (1997, 1996). Rounding out the list of Hawks to win the Geasey Award were Jeffery Clark (1982), Cliff Anderson (1967), Steve Courtin (1964), Jim Lynam (1963) and Joe Spratt (1959).

Nivins had previously won the Player of the Year Award in the Atlantic 10 after putting together one of the top statistical seasons for a Hawk player.

Nivins topped the team with 19.2 points and 11.7 rebounds, to become the first Hawk since Dwayne Jones in 2005-06 to average a double-double. He shot 61.7 percent from the field, the best number in the Atlantic 10, and became just the second player in history to lead the league in that category for three consecutive years.

The 6-9 senior shot 78.7 percent from the foul line while making more free throws (200) than any player in the A-10 attempted. Saint Joseph's senior Tasheed Carr is an All-Big 5 Second Team selection. The 6-4 guard was second on the team in scoring with a 14.8 average, while shooting a team-best 40.8 percent from 3-point range. Joining Nivins on the first team were Dionte Christmas (Temple), Dante Cunningham (Villanova), Rodney Green (La Salle)and Scottie Reynolds (Villanova). The second team consisted of Carr, Lavoy Allen (Temple), Dwayne Anderson (Villanova), Ryan Brooks (Temple), Corey Fisher (Villanova) and Reggie Redding

Ahmad Nivins Named Hawks' MVP at Awards Banquet

Hilliard and Brown are co-recipients of Most Improved Award April 17, 2009

SPRINGFIELD, PA. - Senior Ahmad Nivins was presented with the John P. Hilferty Memorial Award, given to the Most Valuable Player of the Saint Joseph's basketball team at the 54th annual SJU Men's Basketball Awards Banquet held at Drexelbrook Catering. It marks the second time that he's won the award, with 2007 being the previous honor. Nivins capped off an outstanding career by leading the team with 19.2 points and 11.7 rebounds, while earning Player of the Year honors from both the Atlantic 10 Conference and the Philadelphia Big 5. He was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America selection and finished his career ranked third all-time in scoring (1,789) and sixth in rebounding (955). Nivins set the school record for career field goal percentage with 62.7 percent. Junior C.J. Brown and sophomore Idris Hillard were co-recipients of the Robert F. O'Neill Award as the team's Most Improved while junior Garrett Williamson received the George Senesky Memorial Academic Award for outstanding academic achievement. Senior Tasheed Carr and manager Lance Barron each received the Daniel J. Cummins, Jr. Award for spirit. Senior Edwin Lashley was the recipient of the William F. Maher Memorial Award for loyalty.

The Patrick D. O'Pake Memorial Award for the team's Unsung Hero was awarded to managers Dan DeCarlo and Ben Wisniewski. The William J. Bennett Memorial Award, recognizing dedication and service to SJU basketball, was given to manager Michael Kehoe, Hawk mascot Tim Klarich, as well as Peggy Kowalski and the Penn Athletics Staff. The Michael J. Conway Memorial Award for a person who has given back to the University was presented to former player John Smith '81.


Photo of Ahmad Nivins by Sideline Photos, LLC

Walnut Expansion?

Maybe I'll get a bigger box office someday ;-)

Walnut Street Theatre Continues Its 200th Birthday Party

by KYW's Karin Phillips

A grand gala this Saturday night highlights the ongoing celebration this year for the bicentennial birthday of the Walnut Street Theatre.

Communications manager Tom Miller says the correct way to describe the 200-year-old theatre, at 9th and Walnut Streets in center city, is as the "oldest continually operating theatre in the English-speaking world." It's like walking through a museum.
According to Miller, the Walnut Street Theatre has the largest subscription audience in the nation -- not bad for a place that started out as a horse circus. Just about every American actor worth his salt has played The Walnut, as you can see in the dozens of playbills, posters, and headshots that decorate the lobbies.

Bernard Havard (top photo) is the theatre's president and producing artistic director:
"Edwin Forrest, who is basically our patron saint around here, was very much about America and celebrating what was great about America. And I thought that the 200th year would be a good excuse to do that. So everything's American -- American made, American authors, American actors."A life-size statue of Forrest and a portrait (right) grace one of the theatre's elegant stairwells.

Coming up soon: a production of Mel Brooks' "The Producers."

And Havard says it's the next decades that has him even more excited: "We do have grand plans to build a large continuing care retirement community and also include in it 36,000 square feet that would be developed to expanding The Walnut. We would have a 400-seat theatre in there; we would have additional classroom space for our school."

KYW Newsradio 1060 - Walnut Street Theatre

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAWA!

A special shout to my favorite store -- WAWA! If they sold clothes I wouldn't have to go anywhere else. I was on vacation once and hanging with a guy from Texas. Halfway through the trip I told him I missed getting my Philadelphia Daily News, pack of Camel Lights, and a hoagie, daily, at Wawa. He said "what's a Wawa?" It didn't dawn on me how strange that would sound for someone outside the Delaware Valley. So be it.. Wawa rocks. Happy Birthday. Please build a SuperWawa near my house please ;-)

Philadelphia Inquirer: How Wawa became a success

Requiescat in Pace Sister Mary Alan Barszczewski, CSSF

Requiescat in Pace Sr. Alan

When St. Anthony encountered financial trouble in the 1990s, Barszczewski took action. With Sister Felicia Brodowski by her side, the two would travel into Manhattan to knock on the doors of Fortune 500 companies and ask for donations. Together, and with the help of Hurley, they have raised more than $1 million annually for the school.
"She believed that all kids, even poor kids, deserved quality," said Kathleen Staudt, director of development at St. Anthony. "That's why she fought to keep the school good."

St. Anthony High's Sister Mary Alan Barszczewski, 62, dies

Sister Mary Alan Barszczewski, CSSF, 62, who helped guide the St. Anthony High School boys basketball team from a Hudson County power to a national champion, died this morning.
Barszczewski, who was known simply as "Sister Alan," was the Jersey City school's athletic director throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when the Friars gained national acclaim as "the little school that could." Barszczewski was the acting president of the school when she died.
In 1989, St. Anthony, with an enrollment of fewer than 200 students and without a true gym to call its own, was named the No. 1 team in the nation by the USA Today after capturing the inaugural state Tournament of Champions.

Sister Alan is also credited with keeping the school afloat financially with her tireless work raising money for the school.

There will be a service for Sister Alan at the Immaculate Conception Chapel at the Felician Sisters of Lodi (260 South Main St.) on Monday, April 13 at 6 p.m. A viewing will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and the funeral Mass is Tuesday, April 14 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Sr. Mary Alan Memorial Scholarship Fund at St. Anthony High School.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/04/sister_alan.html


First N.J. Female Athletic Director, a Catholic Nun, Dies During Holy Week

If you're a basketball fan, chances are you've heard about St. Anthony High School, a small school in Jersey City, N.J. It's the place where Bob Hurley Sr. won 20-plus New Jersey state basketball championships. It's the place where many former basketball players have gone on to play Division I college basketball, where several former players have gone on to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

St. Anthony High School also had Sister Mary Alan Barszczewski, New Jersey's first woman high-school athletic director.

Sister Alan died the morning of April 7 at age 62 after a long battle with cancer. Knowing Sister Alan and her love for the church, it's somewhat fitting after all she had gone through over the last decade that she would wind up leaving this world during Holy Week--just a few days before Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.

Sister Alan was never defined by her cancer. No--it was so much more that defined her.

She came to St. Anthony's in 1978 and quickly became the first female athletic director ever in the state. Her daily work, though, was to serve the teens who called St. Anthony High School their home away from home.

More than 90 percent of the students who attend St. Anthony's are Black. Most came from some of the roughest neighborhoods of Jersey City and Newark, N.J. Many of the kids come from single-parent households.

These kids went through more in their teen years than anyone should have to go through in a lifetime. And yet, there she was, day after day, this petite figure, looking up to some very tall, very tough kids. And regardless of that amazing difference in stature, she had the most incredible command of each one of these kids.

Why? Because unlike many others who these kids came into contact with, she loved them all--and she believed in them. She never, ever gave up on a kid, no matter how poorly he or she might have acted on a given day or how bad life at home was. She never failed to remember that inside the rough exterior of many of the kids was something very special--a teenager who just wanted to be loved, to be understood, to be respected and to be believed in. They didn't always get that from their families.

It never mattered to Sister Alan that the kids weren't usually Catholic. It didn't matter to her that the kids had a different skin color than she did. It didn't matter to her that some of the kids came from other countries and their parents didn't speak English.

Sister Alan taught those kids a lot of lessons, and she taught me many as well. Though it was innate in me, she taught me, so vividly, how wonderful it is to celebrate the differences in each human being on this earth.

She may be gone now, but her legacy will live on forever--in my mind, in the minds of all who knew her and now, hopefully to some degree, in the minds of all of who read this story. What an amazing example of seeing the value of diversity Sister Alan was.

Rest in peace, Sister Alan.

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/5717.cfm

So sad, particularly for the St. Anthony community in Jersey City, but she is now enjoying her eternal reward. Those of you who read "The Miracle of St. Anthony" knew what a formidable and religious woman this sister was, raised in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. If you haven't read the book yet -- go get it. One of my favorites. If you think that one man, or one woman, can't make a difference -- think again.

Wojnarowski: The Miracle of St. Anthony

THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

As if there was any doubt. Please choose life. (Jack, before and after ;-)

Prep coach Cockenberg To Be Honored at Penn Relays

Curt Cockenberg SJP '71, longtime St. Joseph's Prep track and cross country coach, has been selected to be the "Honorary High School Boys' Referee" at this year's Penn Relays, to be held at Franklin Field April 23-25. Only one boys coach and one girls coach are honored every year.

All Prep track and cross country alumni are invited to come to the Relay Carnival on Saturday, April 25 to help Curt celebrate this tremendous honor. The ceremony is tentatively scheduled to begin at 2:50pm.

Well deserved Curt - Congrats, truly a MFO in the Jesuit tradition!

(http://www.sjprep.org/news/index.html)

Easter greetings from Fr. John Deeney, SJ in India!

A little late, but this from our favorite Jesuit in Lupungutu, India -- John Deeney, SJ. Hope you had a great Easter as well ;-)

Greetings from Father John of India – after a long time. God continues to give me life and allows me again the consolation of contacting you, thereby somehow radiating to you and receiving from you God’s love and blessings. I like to share with you sections of a talk which Pope Benedict XVI gave to 40,000 people this Palm Sunday (2009). These were mostly young people who had come for the diocesan level celebration of World Youth Day. I feel that in simple but powerful terms the Pope explains to the youth and to all of us essential points of Christ’s teaching. May we truly absorb and make our own these truths and thereby experience the full great life of which the Pope speaks. He said in part: -
To the "We want to see Jesus" (John 12:21) -- Jesus responds with his words about the "grain of wheat that dies" (John 12:24), which is "the fundamental law of human existence. 'Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life' (John 12:25). He who wants to have his life for himself, to live only for himself, to clutch everything to himself and exploit all of its possibilities - this is the very person who loses his life. It becomes tedious and empty. Only in the abandonment of oneself, only in the disinterested gift of the 'I' in favor of the 'you', only in the 'yes' to a greater life, proper to God, does our own life become full and great."

The Pope explained that "Love means leaving oneself, giving oneself, not wanting to possess oneself, but becoming free from one's self: not turning back upon oneself - what will become of me - but looking forward, toward the other - toward God and toward the people He sends into my life. And this principle of love, which defines the journey of man, is once again identified with the mystery of the cross, with the mystery of the death and resurrection that we encounter in Christ."

Referring to the symbol of the cross that passes from country to country, accompanied by the young people, he stresses: "When we touch the Cross, moreover when we carry it, we touch the mystery of God, the mystery of Jesus Christ. The mystery that God so loved the world - us - as to give his only begotten Son for us (cf. John 3:16). We touch the marvelous mystery of the love of God, the only truly redeeming reality. But we also touch the fundamental law, the essential norm of our life, meaning the fact that without the 'yes' to the Cross, without walking in communion with Christ day after day, life cannot be a success. The more we are able to make certain renunciations out of love for the great truth and love of God, the more our lives become great and rich. He who wishes to keep his life for himself, loses it. He who gives his life - every day, in the small gestures that are part of a great decision - he is the one who finds it. This is the demanding but also profoundly beautiful and liberating truth into which we wish to enter step by step during the Cross's journey across the continents. May the Lord bless this journey. Amen." –
About myself, I have been a bit weak recently due to low hemoglobin, but current efforts to pull it up should succeed. Otherwise I am fine and in great spirits. May Easter be for each one who reads this a time of God’s special graces of love, joy and peace.

With much appreciation and affection,

John,sj

A "real Philadelphian"

One has to love a writer (and Hawk alumnus) who gets 'it'. The following from the Philadelphia Inquirer...

Queenan has written about growing up in working-class Irish American Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s, primarily in the Schuylkill Falls housing project, about eight blocks from this corner, in Closing Time: A Memoir (Viking, $26.95). http://www.amazon.com/Closing-Time-Memoir-Joe-Queenan/dp/067002063X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239929764&sr=8-2

Queenan, lanky and gray-haired, wears his Phillies hat all around the town where he lives, up the Hudson from New York City. He took his son and daughter, who are in their 20s, to the Phillies' last World Series game. "Nothing like it. It was the best night we ever had. Then we went to Broad and Walnut. New Yorkers wouldn't get it."

On the other hand, he had a tough time rooting for Villanova in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Queenan went to Cardinal Dougherty High School and St. Joseph's University. Villanova, he says, is just too preppy for a real Philadelphian. "It says something good about real Philadelphians that they would rather root for Penn, the Ivy League school in the city, than for Villanova, which is just someplace else."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20090414_A_personal_project.html