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Lione's spirit still alive and well
Courtesy of The Stamford Advocate, Jan. 25, 2004
©2004 Southern CT. Newspapers, Inc.
Mickey Lione lives. Or, more accurately, his spirit endures. That was evident last Monday night, at the Stamford Marriott, site of the second annual Bobby Valentine Celebrity Wine and Food Experience.
In the fairness of full disclosure, I am a board member of the Mickey Lione Jr. Fund, which was founded four years ago to see that all the qualities Lione represented remain in perpetuity.
Monday's event is the biggest fundraiser for a foundation that awards scholarships to high school student-athletes who share Lione's ideals. It also bestows money to a number of youth sports programs.
It was not easy to forget during Monday's gala, where patrons got to sample some of the finest wine and food from local eateries, mingle with a long list of celebrities and bid on assorted sports memorabilia, what the night was all about.
A video board kept flashing pictures of Lione, one of the best coaches this city ever produced. He was a teacher who molded young minds, only Lione's classroom was the football field, the baseball diamond, the hockey rink. Before his untimely death in 1999, at the age of 59, Lione's Trinity Catholic teams won 731 games and six state titles.
But it is difficult to measure Lione's impact in mere numbers, and that's where Monday night comes in. There was somewhere between 700-800 people in attendance. Many of them played with Lione, coached with him, of were coached by him. His reach extended way beyond the Marriott's grand ballroom.
Perhaps the grand irony is Lione would have hated the event, dreaded being fussed over. As many noted, he probably would have hid somewhere in a corner and found someone to talk sports with.
In a sense, Lione was a simple man. In so being, he had tremendous influence.
Lione was old-school. His teams were disciplined and fundamentally sound. So were his players.
Lione's teams seldom beat themselves. They rarely played down to the level of inferior opponents and often overachieved against better ones.
One of the questions most often asked is how Lione would fare in today's society. Would he be able to get through to the contemporary, me-first athlete?
The guess here is absolutely. While Lione's methods differed from most coaches', he knew how to push all the right buttons. The bottom line is most players want to reach their potential, and Lione was a means to that end.
No player would ever think of contradicting Lione. It just never happened. His ways fit better in a bygone era. He was a cardigan sweater in an Italian-suit society. But the respect his players held for him never wavered, because they knew he could help them put trophies in the showcase.
When Valentine was the Mets' manager, Lione was a frequent visitor to Shea Stadium. The fact he had Valentine's ear is a measure of his stature. Other than shaping young players, that may have been the happiest time of his life.
In a sense, Lione still stands on the Trinity sidelines. He was particularly close to Tracy Nichols, the school's athletic director and Lione's long-time assistant who succeeded him as the Crusaders' baseball coach, and Mike Walsh, who has helped build a basketball dynasty.
Can you imagine the joy, if he were alive today, Lione would have felt earlier this month when one of his former players, Bryan Fox, was named the Crusaders' new football coach. Fox is a Lione prototype: equal doses of skill and hard work who reached greater heights with Lione's help.
You can bet future Trinity football players will hear Lione's words coming from Fox's mouth.
Before joining this paper and having the privilege of covering Lione on a regular basis, my first meeting with him came nearly two decades ago, on the baseball field that now bears his name.
Following a game with Fairfield, a fight nearly broke out as the teams shook hands afterward. Lione nearly got cold-cocked trying to break up the skirmish.
I would run into Lione at Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery, where Lione was then the manager. He would smile when he saw me and always bring up the fight. Then he would start talking sports, and it was quickly apparent if I listened instead of spoke, I could learn a lot.
It was impossible not to have a good time in Lione's presence. If he wasn't packing words of wisdom in his holster, he was always armed with a good story.
Now Lione is gone, but his sister, Roseann, cousin Jerry, Valentine and a lot of close friends are making sure he is not forgotten.
So while the fine food, wine and conversation were flowing Monday, it was not difficult to forget what the night was all about. For Mickey was watching over us, making sure we had a good time.
Dave Ruden can be reached at dave.ruden@scni.com
Media Relations
If you want to obtain information for articles or television/radio programming contact:
Tom Chiappetta
The Mickey Lione, Jr. Fund
84 West Park Place 3rd Floor
Stamford, CT 06901
Phone: 203 984-4806
Fax: 203 966-2973Press packets are available. Permission must be secured for all photograph and video use.