Lombardi Leftover Served Up on a Bed of Bytes
Not everything I write for the Journal makes the Journal. From the day I began writing sports I’ve tended to write long stories, and long stories, often my necessity, tend to get cut. That’s more the case in this day of dwindling space than ever before. I’m trying to write shorter and tighter, but I’m not always successful in that endeavor.
Thankfully when it falls off the plate—or should we say the saucer—then at least this blog gives me a recourse. I can scoop it off the floor and serve it up here as leftovers.
Tonight’s entree is a quote from Coach Joe Lombardi that had to be cut from my piece on Thursday’s exhibition game with IUP. The Crimson Hawks, you may have picked up, gave Georgia Tech a serious scare last night before losing in overtime. And they were in the game against Maryland for a long time last week.. It was a different story at Wake, where the Deacons jumped ahead early and rolled to an 88-57 victory that would be really impressive if preseason exhibitions against Division II schools meant anything.
Lombardi, as it turns out, is a good friend of Dino Gaudio of the Deacons, and he knew Skip Prosser well enough to know what kind of special person he was. Lombardi told a warm story of a kindness Skip had extended to his son, Dom, who is on the IUP team and got in the game against Wake in the late going. When Dom was beginning his high school career, his father asked if Skip would give him what is known as a Recruiting Card to take back to his son. Skip said sure, and offered to fill it out. Lombardi declined, knowing Skip was late for a plane, and said the Card itself would be more than enough.
A couple of years later, Dom was playing in a tournament in Orlando featuring enough Division I prospects to have Prosser and a bunch of major college coaches on hand. And Dom has a really good day against really good competition. Skip sought him out, congratulated him on his performance and said it was time to fill out his card. Lombardi said there’s not a bigger Wake Forest fan in the world than his son. So it was a huge deal for him to get to play against the Deacons.
Lombardi was plenty complimentary of the Deacons after the game, and had an interesting thing to say on the subject of synergy—something that he apparently felt was in short supply last season at Wake Forest.
“I have a sense they have a really good team attitude and their whole may be greater than their parts,’’ Lombardi said. “Watching tape from last year, I’m not sure that was always the case.’’