The Morning Call has a poll of the top sports story of the decade, and included in the list are two related to Nazareth, the closing of the Nazareth Speedway and Rob Rohn’s incredible come from behind victory to earn an NCAA Gold Medal in wrestling.
You can read the list and vote here.
If I were to rank order the list mine would look like this:
1.The closing of Nazareth Speedway.
2.The stunning victory by Rob Rohn (Nazareth/Lehigh) to win the 2002 NCAA wrestling title
3.Lehigh Valley native Marty Nothstein wins Olympic gold in cycling in 2000 in Australia
4.Saucon Valley Country Club hosts the 2002 Senior Open and 2009 Women's Open
5.The 100th meeting in the Phillipsburg-Easton football rivalry
6.The arrival of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs
7.Central Catholic wins all 10 District 11 titles and four straight state girls basketball titles
8.Emmaus wins all 10 District 11 field hockey titles and four state titles
9.The formation and dominance of the Lehigh Valley Conference
10.Donnie Roberts becomes the first black head football high school coach in the Lehigh Valley
11.The state high school football dominance of the Lehigh Valley fueled by Liberty, Wilson and Parkland
12.Austin Scott stars at Parkland and Penn State before falling from grace at Penn State
Okay, everyone knows I’m partial to Nazareth, but here is the thinking – the Nazareth Speedway event for IndyCar drew a world-wide audience on an annual basis. To lose that is significant.
Rohn and Nothstein is close, you’d give the nod to Olympic over NCAA gold, but Rohn’s pin was considered one of the top moments in NCAA finals history, so that plus my natural inclination toward Nazareth and wrestling gives him the nod.
The US Open for men, women, or seniors is very prestigious and brings the world’s eye to the course for a full week.
Regardless of the number, the Easton-Phillipsburg football rivalry is unique among high school sports and few can even rival it on the collegiate level. The fact that we have Lehigh-Lafayette as well is amazing. The schools ability to keep this game going, playing Thurs and Saturday of the same week to make it happen (and often three games in ten days) and the communities’ support of the game is unbelievable. This year’s replay game and the recognition it received should also be included.
The IronPigs were important similar to the Speedway, in that it brings attention to the area over time, but AA is not nearly as recognizable as MLB, or the top level of other sports, so it slots in here.
Regarding the rest, the championships are impressive, but after that the significance drops off substantially.
In addition to what you think about the rankings, I also wonder what event was over-looked that should be included.
What do you think?
On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
No comments:
Post a Comment