Michael Tiscia was seven when Lione died. Tiscia hadn't even gotten a real taste of the local sports scene yet and the man whose name has long been synonymous with Stamford-area athletics was gone. But while Tiscia never knew Lione personally, he feels as if he did.

"A lot of people in my family knew him and told me all about him," Tiscia said. "My uncle knew him well, and my dad, too. They told me how great a guy he was. And Coach Mo (Stamford High boys basketball coach Jimmy Moriarty) told me there was no one better."

So, for Tiscia, when the folks at the Mickey Lione Jr. Fund came calling, he was overwhelmed."He was a great man so I know it's a great accomplishment," Tiscia said. "I knew most of the kids who were up for the award at Stamford High and I thought the others had just as good as chance as I did. There was a lot of competition, so it's an honor for me to be able to win this award."

Tiscia certainly fits the description of the Lione Fund's credo: "Commitment to Personal Excellence and Leadership." He played varsity baseball and basketball this past year as a sophomore and has a great chance to be a two-sport varsity starter - at shortstop in baseball and at point guard in basketball - as a junior. He was the starting second baseman for the Stamford Babe Ruth 16 All-Stars.

In addition, he is active in the community (church group, counselor, coaching youngsters) and is also an honors student. But guess who he gives the most credit for his academic achievements? His coaches.

"Our teachers let us stay after school for extra help, but we have practice right after school," Tiscia said. "Coach Mo and Augie (varsity baseball coach Bobby Augustyn) always say grades come before sports. So, if I need to stay after, I do it and it's OK with the coaches if I come late to practice. That, more than anything, has really helped me keep my grades up." Lione would be happy to hear that Tiscia's favorite sport - shhh, don't tell Moriarty - is baseball. "Baseball just came natural for me," he said. Tiscia also played soccer as a freshman but said that was only to get in shape for basketball season.

Tiscia hopes to keep playing baseball and perhaps basketball beyond high school. But even if that doesn't work out, he plans on staying involved, even if it's out of uniform, with the games he loves."My best subjects are English and history, but what I really want to do when I get out of college is to get into broadcasting or journalism," he said."Maybe I can be a sports announcer or sportswriter. That way I can stay connected to sports."

No doubt this kid, like Graves and Keane, would be a Lione favorite.