Remembering Jeep Bednarik and Daye-Shawn Bailey

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

FROM KEITH GROLLER

The Lehigh Valley sports world has lost a couple of significant figures in the past couple of days.
Former Dieruff and Allen football coach John "Jeep" Bednarik, the brother of Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik, died on Sunday at the age of 87.
Jeep was one of the colorful characters who made local sports interesting.
At Dieruff in six seasons from 1967-72, his teams went 32-27-1. He had winning records in five of the six seasons and coached several Husky legends such as Ross Moore and John Smurda. Even Service Electric TV2 sports director Mike Zambelli played for Jeep in one of the most successful eras of Husky football.
It was a disagreement with the Allentown School District that led to his departure and he coached at a variety of other stops, like Easton and Lehigh.
Jeep (pictured in his heyday on the right) made an ill-advised return to Allentown in 1989 when he was named the head coach at Allen. The Canaries were 0-4 when Bednarik resigned for health reasons.
Everybody in local football had a good story or two about Bednarik, who was never short of opinions.
He was considered an outstanding coach, however, someone who truly knew the game and how to get the best out of kids.
Also, we mourn the passing of former Wilson basketball standout Daye-Shawn Bailey, who died in his sleep last week at the age of 19.
Bailey (with the ball above left in the 2013 Colonial League semis against Salisbury) was a key figure on some outstanding Warriors teams.
As a junior in 2011-12, Wilson 15-11 and lost to Central Catholic in the District 11 3A finals.
In 2012-13, the Warriors were 22-3 and lost in the Colonial League title game and suffered a heart-breaking defeat to Salisbury in the district quarterfinals.
He averaged 12 points per game as a junior and slightly more than nine points per game as a senior.