Book evokes memories of Somma, MSJ
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A new book titled Thanksgiving 1959 tells the story of former Mount St. Joseph Academy coach Sal Somma. |
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By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: October 13, 2009
Oct. 6, 1973 was a memorable day in high school football in Rutland. In a football town where there are a slew of great days in people's memory banks, this one likely makes the shortlist of top days for some fans.
It was a doubleheader, for one thing. Rutland was hosting Bellows Falls at Flaitz Field and got a big lift toward a 13-0 victory when Billy Cioffredi dashed 66 yards to a touchdown one play into the game.
That game began at 1 p.m. so fans at Flaitz still had a chance to go across town to catch part of the game everyone was talking about. Mount St. Joseph Academy was hosting the New Dorp Centrals from Staten Island with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. The buzz was about the return of Sal Somma, who coached MSJ to a state title.
Somma ran the Single Wing, the formation where the ball was snapped directly to any one of the players in the backfield.
It was back in the late 1940s when Somma coached at MSJ, but he was still remembered fondly there. And why not? He not only took the Mounties to that state crown, but coached MSJ to its first victory over Rutland High in 13 attempts.
Funzie Cioffi ran for two touchdowns for Somma's Mounties that Armistice Day in front of 3,000 fans as MSJ took down the Raiders.
Now, on this gorgeous October day in 1973, Cioffi was MSJ's head coach and his Mounties were welcoming back Somma.
It caused plenty of excitement in Rutland. Dr. William O'Rourke and Bill Levins were co-chairmen of an event at the Elks Club that day. It was a post-game steak dinner for Somma and his Centrals. Players from Somma's 1946 and 1947 MSJ teams were well represented at the affair.
The Centrals defeated the Mounties that day, 25-6. MSJ quarterback Mike Mee could not play due to an injury and Al Flory performed well in his place. Pete Letrourneau returned a fumble 40 yards for MSJ's only score.
New Dorp was a powerhouse, coming off a 56-8 pasting of Xavier back home the previous week, and the Mounties played hard, making their old coach proud.
Somma's two years at the Mount were memorable, but he left for a long and storied career in New Dorp, becoming a legend.
Artie Oken was a teacher and a basketball coach at New Dorp during Somma's tenure. He knew Somma well and, in one for the small-world department, Oken now finds himself living in Rutland in retirement. Somma's longtime assistant coach at New Dorp Paul Milza is also living in the area with a home in Plymouth.
There was a book released this year titled Thanksgiving 1959 written by Jay Price, an award-winning columnist for the Staten Island Advance. The central figure in the book is Somma and it revolves around the Thanksgiving Day game between Somma's New Dorp team and Staten Island rival Curtis High School.
"Ninety-five percent of what is in the book came back to me," Oken said.
The pages portray Somma as a devoted coach who never yelled or cursed and was beloved by his players.
Oken said that depiction is dead on.
There is a chapter in the book called "Kings of Vermont," eight pages pretty much devoted to Somma's MSJ experience.
"When he brought his New Dorp team back there, his players stayed in homes of MSJ parents. Sal wanted them to experience something other than city life," Oken said.
Mentioned in the Vermont chapter are Rutland personalities Cioffi and Roy Rotella, both former players at MSJ.
Tony Zingali, who coached with Cioffi at MSJ, said Somma was exactly the way he was described in the book: a man devoted to football and his players who never screamed or used profanity.
"He was something," Zingali said while attending the recent football game between Castleton State College and Gallaudet University.
Evidently, his players thought so, too.
There is a two-room museum of New Dorp football today in the school that includes a bust of Sal Somma and chronicles all of his success.
When Somma died in 1993 his former New Dorp players flocked to his funeral and they still get together every two years.
"It's very unusual. I never heard of anything like that at any other school," Oken said of the museum.
The foreword for the book is written by Bobby Thomson, another Staten Island guy, who hit what is arguably the most famous home run in baseball history, the 1951 Shot Heard Round the World to give the New York Giants the playoff victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Rutland's Angelo DiPlama recalls that he and some friends got to meet Thomson up at Sal Somma's apartment in the Lindholm building.
Thomson's final paragraph at the beginning of the book: This book reminds me of the way I always felt about the guy and the way everybody felt about him, and the stories take me back to the place where I grew up."
Undoubtedly, there are people still remaining in the MSJ community who feel much the same way about Sal Somma.
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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