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BearSportsNews Sunday Edition12.24.2017

Writer: goldenstateservicesj
goldenstateservicesj
Dec 23, 2017
6 min read

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Inside the Rocks

    • WINTER— serious Holiday competition

      • Hoops off to Elmira for a tournament

      • Ice Hockey off to Philly for a Tournament

      • Wrestling off to Baltimore for Tournament

    • Bear Tracks

      • SPECIAL TRIBUTE JON SCHILLER BY KNIGHT KIPLINGER

      • Bears making trax in basketball, hockey and swimming

      • Bears making trax in professional hoops, AHL and USHL (not pro)

        • Sam Anas sets Wild record


INSIDE THE WHITE ROCKS

John Geppert and Mac Hollensteiner will be playing in inaugural the Capital Bowl 12/30 @ EVERGREEN SportsPlex Leesburg, VA

  • Winter Sports


BEAR TRACKS

Knight Kiplinger remarks on Jonathan Schiller’s Kupka Award

The Sunday Edition sets a new standard with Knight Kiplinger ’65 as a contributor. My classmate’s accomplishments are exceptional, but his credentials as a award-winning journalist and editor raise the bar on BSN writers.

Knight introduced this year’s winner of the “Anthony Edward Kupka ’64 Distinguished Alumnus Award” [please click on this link to learn more about Buddy Kupka, a real definition of a hero]. Jonathan Schiller ’65 was the worthy recipient for he exemplifies the qualities of citizenship, integrity and diligence Landon has always sought to instill in its students. Jon exceeds the standards as an alumnus who has demonstrated the ideals for which Landon stands through service to Landon, his community, his profession, or his country.

Knight’s paean encompassed many of our classmate’s admirable attributes. Relevant to the BearSportsNews, part of his Schiller chronicle focused on Jon’s athletic career and below is that segment of the presentation. Knight’s historian instincts caused him to put Jon’s career in the context of basketball at Landon and in the Ivies during the ‘60s. Knight’s sports story:

“Jon came to Landon for just two years, Fifth and Sixth Form, but he made an immediate impact on his class (today called, immodestly, The Great Class of ’65) and on his new school. He arrived in 1963, during the Golden Age of Landon basketball, following in the footsteps of such great Bear early ‘60s Bear hoopsters as Buzzy Bastable, Fred Hetzel, George Manger, Bo Berger, and Ernie Burton. Along with Will Hetzel, Jon kept the tradition going in the mid-‘60s

[The 1961 Bear team which played DeMatha at UMD for the City Title.]

How good was Jon on the court? Well, in one game our senior year, he pulled down 30 rebounds, breaking the then Landon record of 26 held by the legendary Fred Hetzel ’61, who was later a three-time All-American at Davidson and played six years in the NBA, for the San Francisco Warriors and four other teams.

Fred at Davidson and with the Warriors ;

his “little” brother Will at Maryland.

And Jon could score too; his 41 points in one game set a record for the St. Stephens holiday tournament our senior year. (Teammates Henry Dudley ’66 and Jeb Brown ’65 joke today that their primary role was feeding the ball to Hetzel and Schiller.)

Jon was a city kid from DC (and previously Wilson High School), and rather than follow in the footsteps of Landon athletes who chose Princeton or Yale, Virginia or Maryland in that era, he headed off to New York City and Columbia University.   There he was a back-court mainstay of a truly great Columbia squad that was ranked as high as fifth in the nation in his junior year, 1967-’68, and which made the second round of the NCAA tournament before being edged by Davidson by two points.

The Lions were led by great All-Americans Jim McMillian, Dave Newmark and Hayward Dotson.  McMillian and Newmark played in the NBA, with McMillian leading the Lakers to the NBA title in his rookie year. Dotson passed up the NBA to go to Oxford as a Rhode Scholar.

McMillan                                                                                                                       Dotson               

In his senior year, Jon shared the court with future Redskins Hall of Fame “Hog” George Starke, who played both football and basketball at Columbia.

That was also the Golden Age of Ivy League basketball, and Columbia had to battle strong teams from Princeton (led by Geoff Petrie and the Hummer brothers) and Cornell (Hank South, Walt Esdaile and Greg Morris) just to win the Ivy title and get to the NCAA tournament.

After Jon graduated in ’69, he taught school for a year then went to law school.  He went on to a distinguished career in law, but I’ll leave that to his resume.”

Petrie                                                       and                                                           Morris

PLEASE READ THE FOOTNOTES AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

Winter Sports

Darion Atkins (L 11) SIG Strasbourg, France (9-5) lost to Medi Bayreuth 77- 82); DA:, 18 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds. 3 A, 1 steal; lost to Bourg-en-Bresse85-87, 18 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds. 1 A, 2 steal

College Basketball

Aaron Byrd (L’15) Augusta University Jaguars (6-3)beat Young Harris 78-69, AB: started, 30 minutes, 2 points, 3 reb, 3 As, 1 block; AB:beat North Georgia 86-72, started, 24 minutes, 7 points,

Tone Cockrell (L’17) Marywood Pacers (5-3) lost to #9 Lycoming 69-82 TC:  18 minutes, 9 points, 3 reb, 3 As

Coach Christian Webster, (L09) Va Tech (10-2) Assistant Coach; lost to No. 8 Kentucky, 93-86

Coach Joe McDonald (L12), GWU (5-6) Director of Player Development

Ice Hockey

College (4)

  • Connor Meike (L’12) Williams Eph Men (5-2) D, next game 12/29

  • Jack Barton (L’14), Skidmore Thoroughbreds (1-9-1) F, no games

  • Chris Javens (L’13), Skidmore Thoroughbreds (1-9-1) D, no games

  • Christian Meike, (L’14) Michigan Wolverines (7-7-2) D, no games

College Club (1)

  • Jacob Ruttenberg (’15), Tufts Club, no news

AHL

Sam Anas (L11) Iowa Wild (14-9-6) Sam has 11 goals and 12 assists in 26 games. Set a Wild record with 9 points in consecutive games. Here’s the record score https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/944380419734228992.Now the team’s leading scorer. Pre game drill for #7 https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/944367216220360704 another goal https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/943640742408458241

USHL Hockey

Patrick Giles (L*18) US National U18 (9-6 in USHL) has 8Gs and 11assists.

Swimming (2)

Jack Chlopak, (L17) Connecticut College Camels, injured Jason Tang, (L17) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers,4-1, next meet in January.

a 3 time All Met. As a sophomore, he averaged 20.5 ppg and 20.4 ppg as a junior. He averaged 24.1 ppg in his senior season and finished with 1,210 points during his Bears career. On March 2, 1961, Undefeated Landon and DeMatha Catholic High School (ranked 1-2 in the city) faced off in Cole Field House before a crowd of 6400. Fred Hetzel led Landon that night with 18 points but it was the tandem of John Austin and Gary Ward that led the Stags to victory 57-52.

Columbia fans packed St. John’s 6000-seat Alumni Hall for the Ivy League championship and the right to play in the NCAA tournament. In one of the greatest victories in Columbia history, the Lions defeated the Tigers 92-74 for the championship.

[Jon and teammates celebrating; a disconsolate Sandy Murdock ’65 can be found DEEP in the Tiger stands at St. John’s.]

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