DECEMBER 26 UPDATE
THE MODERN AGE
A FRACTION OF THE BAGGAGE BACKED UP AT THE US AIRWAYS HUB IN PHILAELPHIA.
The airport security backup at Reagan National
Associated Press photos
REGGIE WHITE
Sacking Drew Bledsoe in Packers Super Bowl victory
There were many tributes today to Reggie White; the eulogy this very God-fearing man would have loved was Fox TV playing Reggie singing “Amazing Grace.”
The following report was filed by Paul Nowell, AP Sports:
Reggie White, a fearsome defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers and one of the NFL's greatest players, died Sunday, his wife said. He was 43.
The cause of death was not immediately known, however White had a respiratory ailment for several years that affected his sleep, according to Keith Johnson, a pastor serving as family spokesman. An autopsy was scheduled.
"Today our beloved husband, father and friend passed away," White's wife, Sara, said in a statement. "His family appreciates your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of Reggie White. We want to thank you in advance for honoring our privacy."
White died at Presbyterian Hospital, where he was taken after his wife called 911. A police officer was outside White's Tudor-style home in a gated community, and would not let a reporter approach the house.
A two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and ordained minister who was known as the "Minister of Defense," White played a total of 15 years with Philadelphia, Green Bay and Carolina. He retired after the 2000 season as the NFL's all-time leader in sacks with 198. The mark has since been passed by Bruce Smith.
"Reggie White was a gentle warrior who will be remembered as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history," NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "Equally as impressive as his achievements on the field was the positive impact he made off the field and the way he served as a positive influence on so many young people."
NFP COLLEGE DRAFT
Team owners and managers will conduct a draft of senior college players on January 31 – by conference call.
NFP President Bill Conroy said that any players who have not yet done so should have their college coaches submit their names and playing records to NFP by email:
The league is finalizing its 2005 schedule (second season) which will include 12 home and 12 away league games for each team. Additionally, each team will play 24 non-league games against opponents such as the Brakettes, and possibly the USA national team. These latter games will be played in four-game sets, not necessarily at the home parks of the league members, a plan which NPF says should boost their national exposure and audience.
MIKE CANDREA
This is from today's Daily Star in Tucson.
UA softball coach perseveres despite beloved wife's death
Greg Hansen: Heart of gold
CASA GRANDE -- The most challenging step of Mike Candrea's gold medal journey, 14,000 miles to Greece and back, a softball-across-America tour that stopped in 43 cities, did not confront him until he got home. Turning off Interstate 10 at McCartney Road in early September, driving the isolated stretch of desert north of Casa Grande, this man of great detail knew he had left one thing undone. As he stood outside his Pinal County home on rural Martin Road, Candrea faced the grief of entering an empty house.
"I paused in front of the door," he says. "I knew that Sue wouldn't be there. The whole Olympic thing was over and I was back home, alone. It was a big step for me."
Last week, five months after Sue Candrea had died of a brain aneurysm in a small-town Wisconsin hospital, her husband of 27 years stood in "her kitchen" as their son, Mikel, finished washing the breakfast dishes. Sue Candrea paid the bills, bought the groceries, cooked the food, cleaned the house. Now it's a team effort. One of the many plaques in the warm and comfortable home says: "WE INTERRUPT THIS MARRIAGE TO BRING YOU THE SOFTBALL SEASON."
At 49, Mike Candrea has blazed through life's stop signs and punched the accelerator. The softball season is on. His schedule is not full; it is overflowing. He does not have an open weekend until June. He has spent just one night alone since returning from his triumphant if lonely Olympic odyssey. Although it has yet to be announced, he will coach the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"I would not want to see someone given the burden of trying to live up to what we accomplished," he said.
He has no plans to leave college coaching. In fact, he was so eager to return to his spot as Arizona's coach that he moved the fall season up two weeks. Last weekend, his annual winter softball camp in Tucson attracted 215 young girls, up from the usual 125 or 150. This time there were campers from everywhere: Virginia, Canada, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, Washington. Ordinarily, it's a regional camp. "We didn't even advertise," Candrea said. "I used to take a few photos with the girls, but this year I must've taken hundreds."
Candrea was not awarded a gold medal in Athens; no coaches are included in the medal ceremony. Nor was he pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated that proclaimed his incomparable softball squad "The Real Dream Team." But, unmistakably, it was his team. He significantly changed the roster from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He spent four years in meticulous preparation, involving biomechanics, physiologists, nutritionists, psychologists and even the Navy Seals to get Team USA ready for two weeks in Greece.
Final score: America 51, World 1.
It was similar to the excellence Candrea produced while winning six NCAA championships at Arizona. The sad irony was that at the precise moment of Candrea's career victory - "On Top of the World," Sports Illustrated proclaimed - his personal life had come tumbling down.
Not that Candrea has been left to grieve alone. His mother lives in a house on his property. Mikel has moved home and usually accompanies his father on the daily commute to and from Tucson. His daughter, Michelle, lives nearby, in Phoenix. A sister lives down the street. In-laws surround him. The world's best softball player, USA pitcher Lisa Fernandez, calls frequently. He gets more e-mail from the softball community than he ever imagined. Lute Olson, whose wife, Bobbi, died in 2001, took him to lunch. Ex-Wildcat basketball standout Richard Jefferson sought out Candrea in the Olympic village and gave him a hug.
One phone call last week was from former UA football coach Dick Tomey. "Dick said he was thinking about me and wanted to talk," Candrea said. "He was sitting in his car in a parking lot somewhere. Amazing. "The web of friends created by softball has just floored me. There's so much more to life than winning a ballgame. I think people are scared to leave me alone. "
After Team USA rolled to the gold medal, dispatching Australia 5-1 (in the closest U.S. softball game of the Olympiad), inscrutable Japan coach Taeko Utsugi approached Candrea before the medal ceremony. Utsugi, an intense, drill-sergeant type of coach, handed Candrea $100 in American bills. An interpreter indicated the money was meant to purchase flowers for Sue. The Japanese coach hugged Candrea, stepped back and then, with both hands, popped him in the chest. And then she did it again. "It was her way of saying 'stay tough,' " said Candrea, his eyes filling with tears. "Staying tough; it's a universal language."
Candrea isn't sure how long he'll coach at Arizona. His UA salary, about $95,000, is far less than what he makes from speaking engagements, video instruction, summer and winter camps, endorsements for equipment manufacturers and as a USA Softball coach.
But he burns to win another NCAA title, the seventh, and he has no plans to relocate to Tucson. His passion for coaching has not ebbed. "My tranquility, my peace of mind, comes from the drive home each night," he said. "I guess someday I should move to Tucson. I mean, if I go play golf somewhere I drive to Tucson, but I've still got so much here. My family. My friends. Sometimes I feel as if Sue is still around. Besides, if I moved to Tucson I'd spend all my time in the office. This is better." When he was 41, Candrea said publicly that he could not picture himself coaching at 50. Now, committed to another Olympic push, revitalized by his daily relationships with the Wildcat team and his UA staff, his life unalterably changed, he puts no age, no date on his plans.
He's healthy, down 25 pounds to about 175, a reflection of his latter-day running program. He has a summer home in Pinetop that he'd like to visit more frequently. He'd like give some attention to his once-sharp golf game. His calendar is full. This weekend, Candrea planned to visit Sue at the Casa Grande cemetery, another difficult journey, a place he has not been since that awful July day. "I've grieved, and I continue to grieve," he said. "But I'm making strides in the right way. In the last year, I've gone through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In some ways, I'm just getting started."
SPY will publish this week plans for the Sue Candrea Memorial.
A POST CHRISTMAS CARD
For a neat word in behalf of those who send ecards, log onto: http://attictrinkets.com/xemail/xemail.html
COMMITMENTS
Jackie Currie, 3B Fillys Gold, to North Dakota State University.
Jessy Berkey- Livingston Lightning (NJ) to Cornell
TAMPA WILDCATS RED
Ashley Bullion - signed University of South FL
Brittany Garcia -- committed to Polk County CC
Katie Mailloux -- committed to North FL CC
CA Grapettes
Stephanie Marshall signed @ UC Riverside,
Katie Burk signed @ U San Diego &
Natalie Galletly signed with Humbolt.
More to come
I’ve answered a hundred or so emails, and have more update material but my hands are too swollen, Will try again tomorrow. RFH