November 26, 2003
Offering thanks for some worthy Hall of Famers
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
This is the week most of us set aside each year to be thankful. One way to show your gratitude to
individuals associated with high school sports is to add them to your Hall of Fame.
Ocean City did it earlier in the fall to Romeo Adelizzi and Mike Linahan, and to Mike Fadden for his
memorable basketball performance in 1958. Former Mainland coach Rich Dorsey got the nod from Bishop
Eustace, his alma mater.
Let’s take a moment here to reflect on three others, in particular, that had Hall of Famer tacked on to their
names.
Over the weekend, Jim Schafer was added to the Mainland Hall of Fame. He was inducted along with
Steve Jones, Ray Smith Jr., Fran Raph, Rob Higbee and Julia Mason, all very worthy selections that
show the versatility of the school’s sports program.
But Schafer’s contributions to Mainland are immeasurable. He joined the school just a year or two after it
opened in 1961 and was still a major force in the 90s. He coached a football team to the South Jersey
title, the school’s first. That team – called The Strang Gang after quarterback Doug Strang – is considered
one of the Cape-Atlantic League’s finest ever.
Schafer also coached the school’s girls softball team to many championships, enjoying an exciting rivalry
with Ocean City’s Roland Watson during one stretch, and had success with boys basketball, going 47-24
in three seasons. Though it doesn’t have anything to do with Mainland, it demonstrated his versatility that
he also coached a couple championship basketball teams at Atlantic Community College.
In addition to the wins and losses on the fields and courts, Schafer’s enthusiasm and encouragement for
the athletes and coaches of other sports produced just the right atmosphere of accomplishment. Not to
mention the nearly three decades he has spent boosting the CAL through a broadcasting career on radio
and cable television.
All of the Hall of Famers that have been honored by Mainland should feel an additional sense of pride to be
joined by Jim Schafer.
--------------------------------------------------------
A few weeks ago, Mike Lombardi, who played football and baseball at Ocean City his first three years of
high school, became part of the Valley Forge Military Academy Hall of Fame for his success in his senior
year of high school.
Lombardi, now Personnel Executive of the Oakland Raiders, hit .400 during the 1977 baseball season at
VFMA and was a two-way player who helped the football team to a 7-2 season, turning around a losing
tradition at the school. He was coached in football by John Cervino, a neighbor from Ocean City, who
preceded him in the switch.
Since graduating from Valley Forge, Lombardi got his degree from Hofstra and went to work in football. He
was an assistant coach at UNLV (helping to recruit a punter-quarterback named Randall Cunningham) and
has been a key personnel man for both the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a TV
analyst for a year with CBS-TV’s “NFL Today”.
Lombardi likes to tell about a situation in his junior year at OCHS that set his course for life. “It was late in
a baseball game with St. Joseph,” he said. “The score was tied, the bases were loaded with two outs and I
was at bat with a full count. I looked at Bud Rinck and he gave me the take sign.
“That’s when I decided my future probably was in football.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Last month Holy Spirit inducted eight new members into its Hall of Fame, which is not determined solely
by contributions in high school sports. The new members included Dody Cicero, Tom Lamaine, Mark
Brown, Caroline Casteen, Florence Heintzelman, Robert D. Reynolds, Sister Regina Wilson and Bob
O’Hara.
All are worthy of the recognition but lets focus on O’Hara.
For decades, he has devoted himself to the athletes of Holy Spirit. He might even have rankled an
occassional official with an emotional reaction to a call against the Spartans. You frequently see him on
the sidelines wearing his game jersey – number 00.
O’Hara took photographs much of his time on the sidelines. He took photographs of the Spartans and also
of the great Seagull Classic basketball tournament. He would sell those photos to the kids and their
parents, then take that money plus some of his own and buy sodas, fruit and subs for the teams.
Frequently he would load up the visiting team’s bus at a game with food for its players, as well.
Every school needs a Bob O’Hara, a guy who does whatever he can to make the four years of high school
sports as special as it can be for the teenage athletes. And besides, who else could make frozen donuts
taste so good.
Join us on this Thanksgiving week as we express our thanks to these three new Hall of Famers,
representative of all the special people that make high school sports such an extraordinary experience.
Read more of
Tom Williams' columns