Bill Paulik ceremony was as good as its gets in Lehigh Valley sports

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It was a special night at Salisbury tonight.

To me, it was as good as it gets in local sports as Salisbury pulled off a spectacular job in paying tribute to a special man.

If you have Service Electric or RCN and can see this ceremony off the "Video On Demand" service, do it.

It will educate you about local basketball history and touch you to see how a coach can shape people's lives and earn respect for his teams and school.

Clearly, few coaches in local sports history are more beloved than the 80-year-old Paulik and this ceremony captured the essence of an icon. It did more than that.

This ceremony transported everybody back in time to a special era at Salisbury and in Lehigh Valley basketball.

Kudos to all involved in making it happen, especially Gene Jani, who refused to take 'no' for an answer in getting this done for a person he treasures as much as anybody on this earth.

The love he has for Coach Paulik is genuine. Ditto for Tony Stellar.

In such a competitive and often hostile enviroment as high school sports can be, it was refreshing to see representatives from so many different schools there tonight.

It was a great idea to have Dennis Ramella, one of Paulik's former players, and Don Harakal speak on behalf of District 11.

It was terrific to have Catty's Tom Moll speak on behalf of the Colonial League. All of these guys never spoke better.

Eric Snyder, Bill Pensyl and Bob Frankenfield were among the many other "rival" coaches on hand. I also saw Terry German and John Donmoyer and many others.

The video showing all of those old pictures and highlights was spectacular.

Although he might have lost something off his fastball, Paulik showed he can still deliver a line, talking about what he got from his coaching career -- two heart bypasses, a corroded artery and a stroke.

And then Paulik bringing out his grandchildren at the close of the ceremony was a perfect ending, because while he was building families with his teams, Paulik spent countless hours away from his real family. They cherish him as much as his former players.

I spoke with his wife JoAnne and she thought it was just a wonderful night. She and Bill still get out to as many games as possible, especially Southern Lehigh events (ironically) to see their grandkids play.

We've lost so much tradition around here. We too easily forget the past and the people who paved the way for the current scene. Too often, the present day players and coaches think it's all about them.

They forget that if it weren't for special men like Bill Paulik, high school sports wouldn't be nearly as special as is it around the Lehigh Valley.

It was quite rare in this current era to see a gym packed. Paulik deserved that and the standing ovation he received. But the people who put it together deserve an ovation as well.

And as a way of further tribute, below are some terrific photos by The Morning Call's Michael Kubel that captured the essence of an outstanding evening:

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/