FROM KEITH GROLLER
Everybody's doing year-in-review lists and stories this week.
Why not Groller's Corner?
It has been an eventful year here on Groller's Corner with lots of special moments and events taking place.
I know lots of folks are still complaining about the new charges for viewing online content. I feel bad about that, but nothing I can do except thank the people who continue to read mcall.com, especially Groller's Corner. We appreciate your support and strive to keep this blog as entertaining and informative as possible.
It was a fun year on a number of levels. And sometimes you don't fully realize all you've done and where you've been until you stop, and take time to look back.
Today, Saturday and Sunday we'll look back at some of things I will never forget about this year, starting with our favorite stories from No.11 to No. 8.
No. 11 -- Johnny Lahutsky's big day with the Yankees in New York City (see photo above).
Johnny is a Freedom High graduate who was born prematurely in Russia at six months and whose cerebal palsy led to him being abandoned and left to suffer in a brutal Russian orphanage. His story is well-documented in his book called "The Boy From the Baby House." Dateline NBC told his story of survival and coming to this country thanks to the kindness of a wonderful Bethlehem woman named Paula Lahutsky. LV Yankee Fan Club president Chuck Frantz met John, learned he was a Yankees fan and submitted the story to the New York Yankees who agreed it was a heart-warmng story of inspriation and made it one of their Hope Week stories.
On July 29, the Yankees arranged a surprise reunion for Johnny with his best friend, Andrei from the orphanage and treated the two like kings with an appearance on the Today show, a carriage ride with manager Joe Girardi from Rockefeller Center to the Central Park Zoo and then all kinds of festivities and interaction with Yankee players and coaches such as Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner, plus ceremonies at Yankee Stadium before a game against the Orioles. The Yankees proved to be a class organization with all of the kindness and consideration they showed to John and Andrei that day. No one deserved it more than Johnny, who is a special, special person.
No. 10 -- Allen HIgh basketball team sings "Happy Birthday" to me after winning district title.
My 50th birthday on March 5 bothered me more than I thought it would. Rather than embrace it as a special milestone, I didn't even want to think about it. I told everyone I wanted no surprise parties, no cake, nothing. I still got one from family. On the actual birthday, I wanted to stay busy and not sit around and think about where all of the years have gone.
So, I did what I would normally do and that's cover District 11 basketball at Parkland. The 4A championship game was that night and in a thriller, Allen beat Liberty. We had three Division I players on the court on the same time -- Liberty's Darrun Hllliard and Allen's Daquan Holiday and Jalen Cannon. It was a hard-fought battle.
When it was over, Doug Snyder knew it was my birthday and before his players left the court that night, he made sure the players -- gold medals draped around their necks -- all serenaded me with "Happy Birthday." It was a very nice gesture for the Allen kids to take time from what was one of the happiest moments of their lives to do that.
As happy as I was for the Allen kids that night, I was just as sad for them about 11 days later when the Canaries surrendered a big lead and had an unbelievably horrible, offensive "intentional" foul call go against them in a PIAA second-round playoff loss to La Salle College.
No. 9 -- From Pocono to Philly, July 27 was a whirlwind day.
Some days stand out more than others and July 27 was a day I'll never forget because it extended from Pocono to Philly.
It began with four very fast laps around the track at Pocono Raceway with NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer. I remember the feeling of claustrophobia as I squeezed into the car and got strapped in tight with a very little wiggle room.
But all thoughts of claustrophobia left as Bowyer began taking me around the "Tricky Triangle" at speeds of 130 and 140 miles an hour. I think he was supposed to give me just three laps, but much to my chagrin, I got a bonus fourth lap. It was scary and exciting at the same time, and frankly, I was happy when it was over.
From there it was an equally fast and dangerous ride down the turnpike and Schuylkill Expressway to Citizens Bank Park where I got to see the Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup team on the field being honored by Brian Schneider and the Phillies. The kids really enjoyed that experience of being on the field as the Phillies took batting practice. Classy move by former Carpenter Cup player Schneier to make it all happen.
No. 8 -- Getting to hear and meet one of my all-time favorite basketball players, Bill Walton.
I don't necessarily like to meet people in person that I've always admired. There's a great fear that they will somehow disappoint you and all of those years of admiration will get tossed out the window in a moment of rudeness. So I was a little leery of meeting Bill Walton and covering his appearance in Fogelsville at a special Thanksgiving Eve banquet sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and LifePath.
Walton was one of my favorite players when he was at UCLA in the early to mid-1970s and leading the Bruins to national titles, so I was worried about him being a complete jerk (my meeting with Mike Schmidt comes to mind) and disappointing me.
He didn't. He delivered an entertaining, informative and often compelling 55-minute speech and was just as kind and considerate in interacting with people, including me, after it was over
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