Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Class of 2014 Inducted into Fordham Athletic Hall ...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Class of 2014 Inducted into Fordham Athletic Hall ...: (Photos by Ken Carozza) By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 15- Successful athletic teams and athletic heroes are im...

Class of 2014 Inducted into Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame

(Photos by Ken Carozza)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 15- Successful athletic teams and athletic heroes are important to every college and university. They serve as a unifying factor among the student body; are an encouragement for increased donations from alumni; are sources of pride to current students and alumni and can be inducements for prospective students to enroll.

Many colleges and universities have created athletic halls of fame to recognize past student-athletes who have excelled in their sports and added respect and interest to the institutions they have attended. 

The Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame has been in existence for more than 40 years. The first induction took place during the 1970-71 academic year and included honorees such as Frankie “Fordham Flash” Frisch and Vince Lombardi. 

This year’s induction was held at the McGinley Center Ballroom on Fordham’s Bronx campus on January 11, in the late afternoon between the men’s and women’s basketball contests of Fordham and Richmond. Eleven former Rams were honored. One track star, Jack Faith (’68), was previously inducted 34 years ago. 

The other 10 former Rams added to the HOF represent a total of six sports programs. Jim Groark (67), Brian Hernon (67) and Don May (68) were teammates of Faith on the remarkable 1967 Two-Mile Relay Team. The foursome broke both the Fordham and Penn Relay marks for their specialty. It was later pointed out that May made the furthest journey, from Alaska, to receive his award.

The baseball and basketball teams each had two representatives on the Class of 2014. Both Tom Davis (08) and Cory Riordan (12) were pitchers. Davis was selected as Pitcher of the Year by the Atlantic-10 in his senior year. He graduated with the Fordham record for starts (50) and innings (339). 

Riordan was voted as the Rookie of the Year by the Atlantic-10 in his freshman year when he compiled a 10-4 mark. He completed his career at Fordham with a 21-11 record and 200 strikeouts in 246 innings. 

The award for Bryant Dunstan (08), currently playing basketball professionally in Greece, was accepted by his dad. Dunstan compiled stats among the best in the school’s basketball history. He is second in points with 1,832, 54 less than the legendary Ed Conlin, fourth in rebounds with 993 and first in blocks, 246.  

Mobolaji Akiode (04) received Fordham’s most prestigious honor for female athletes, the 2003 Claire Hobbs Award as female athlete of the year. She represented her native land, Nigeria, in the Olympic Games. Of even greater importance is her founding Hope 4 Girls, a charity that is dedicated to raising opportunities for African female youths in education and sports.

Ben Dato (08) was the kicker on the football team in his years at Fordham. In his senior year he received the Vincent T. Lombardi Award as male athlete of the year. He amassed the most yards punting at Fordham.

Allison Twarowski (08) was an outstanding batter in her four seasons on a successful softball team. She graduated holding several school batting marks, hits (251), runs (181), doubles (44) and runs batted in (45).

Robert Valdes-Rodriguez (86) three times set school marks for the 100 butterfly and qualified for the NCAA tournament several times. He is currently chairman of the NYAC swim team.

Valdes-Rodriguez articulately gave the response of the Class of 2014. He gave thanks to “the Jesuit university, the coaches and the professors who helped us balance our faith, academics and athletics.” 

Athletic Director David Roach began the event by saying to the honorees, “Your achievements and your total lives are a shining example to the current student-athletes.”

The television voice of the New York Yankees, Michael Kay (82), ably served, as he does every year, as the emcee of the ceremony. Kay, on the day of the announcement of the suspension of Alex Rodriguez, joked about Rodriguez having enough time on his hand to enroll at Fordham and perhaps be considered for this HOF next year.

Father Joseph McShane, the Fordham president, officially closed the ceremony with a tribute to the new members of the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame, “Wise men and women of Fordham, we honor you for your wisdom, and your generosity to Fordham. We hold you up as models for our students, role models and sources of inspiration.” 

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Women Defeat Richmond, 70-59

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Women Defeat Richmond, 70-59: By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 15-  Saturday was a day in which the Fordham Rams and the Richmond Spiders played twice. T...

Fordham Women Defeat Richmond, 70-59

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 15-  Saturday was a day in which the Fordham Rams and the Richmond Spiders played twice. The women competed in an afternoon contest while the men played in the evening. 

After losing their most recent game, 65-61, to Duquesne, for their first home loss of the season on January 8, the Fordham Rams (14-3, 3-1) responded with their 13^th win in the last 14,  a 70-59 victory over the Richmond Spiders (7-10, 1-3) on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Hill Gym.

The game was a see-saw battle during the first 10 minutes. The score was knotted twice and the lead changed hands four times during those early minutes. A basket from beyond the perimeter from Abigail Corning, Fordham’s newest 1,000 point career scorer, began a run of 14 unanswered points by the Rams, who took a 29-16 advantage at 7:11.

Fordham’s excellent shooting from the floor, 58.6 percent in the half, kept the lead at double figures as the half concluded with Fordham ahead by a score of 38-25. The #2 scorer in the Atlantic-10, Erin Rooney, paced the Rams with 11 points and 7 assists.

A seven-point run by the Spiders cut their deficit to single digits, 43-34, at 16:54 of the second half. The Rams followed with nine unanswered points to take the largest lead of the contest, 52-36, with 11:50 remaining in the game. 

Fordham’s double digit lead remained in effect until 90 seconds were left on the clock as a basket by Genevieve Okoro cut the lead to eight, 65-57. The Rams netted five of the final seven points of the contest to ensure their victory, 70-59.

The home basket was very attractive to the Rams during the contest as they achieved a season-high shooting percentage of 61.2 percent (30 of 49). Their usual superior defense kept the Spiders to 38.7 percent (24 of 62). The Rams also moved the ball well as 24 of their 30 baskets followed assists.

Rooney led the scoring with 14. The total was below her usual 20+ because she concentrated on dishing the basketball, reaching 11 assists, for her sixth double-double of the season. 

Three other Rams also reached double figures in scoring, Corning with 12, Samantha Clark with 11 and freshman Danielle Burns who achieved a season and career high of 11 points in only 19 minutes on the court. 

The Rams now hit the road for two games before returning home to the Rose Hill Gym on the afternoon of Saturday, January 25 to host UMass. 

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): King For a Day

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): King For a Day: 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 13- The headline refers to last Sunday's Inaugural celebration of ...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): King For a Day

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): King For a Day: 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 13- The headline refers to last Sunday's Inaugural celebration of ...

King For a Day

100 PERCENT

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 13- The headline refers to last Sunday's Inaugural celebration of Councilman Andy King. The event had to be rescheduled from the Friday of the big snowstorm that closed almost everything. This time everything was a go, with the many elected officials, union leaders, and friends of Councilman King on hand. The Evander Childs High School auditorium was filled with those who wanted to help Andy celebrate this moment. Speeches by the elected officials were mixed in with different performances that ended with the swearing in of Councilman Andy King by Judge Armando Montano. Andy's family was on stage to share in his enjoyment, and Andy had two surprises after the judge was finished.

The first surprise by Councilman King was that he displayed the new flag of the 12th Council District. The second surprise was that the day was also his fathers 77th birthday, and that Andy Jr. was proud to have his father Andy Sr. and his mother Beatrice be able to share in the celebration. You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com for more on the Andy King inauguration, and the many photos of the event.

And the new City Council Speaker is Bronx/Manhattan Councilwoman Melissa Merk-Viverito.

Then again I told you that weeks ago, but it took up to the last hour before the council vote for those who supported Councilman Dan Garodnick for speaker to realize they were not able to get the needed number of votes. Both Speaker Mark-Viverito and Councilman Garodnick attended Councilman Andy Kings Inauguration Sunday.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. had his Inauguration last Thursday night, and combined it with the Bronx Centennial celebration. The Bronx County building rotunda was standing room only, and Mayor Bill de Blasio was on hand to help celebrate.

It could be that the Democrats in the State Senate may pick up at least one of the two soon-to-become vacant Republican seats on Long Island. There may also be a couple more upstate Republicans who may decide to retire. That could give Democrats full control of the State Senate again, but look at what happened last time in 2010 when Democrats were in control of the state senate.

Then there is word again that Donald “The Hair” Trump wants to run for Governor of New York against Andrew Cuomo. Trump met with state Republican leaders, and wants to run if he is not challenged with a primary. “Hold On” said New York Republican Chair Ed Cox. If Donald Trump wants to run for governor on the Republican line he will have to go through the election process, Cox said.

I suspect that Trump was auditioning for the role of candidate just like he did when he said he wanted to run for president. Trump needs some more advise on what a candidate needs to do, perhaps he should sit down with what seems to be another former presidential candidate. That being possibly soon to be former New Jersey Governor Chris “I Know Nothing” Criste.

I would not be myself if I did not comment on the Alex Rodriguez saga using some words that are said during the first night of Passover. Why is it that Alex Rodriguez is any different from any other baseball player? Why is it that Alex Rodriguez is given a 162-game suspension, when all other baseball players are given 50 days for a first offense? Why is it that Alex Rodriguez will not get into baseball's Hall of Fame, like other baseball players who drank illegal substances during Prohibition? And finally if Frank Thomas can make it to Cooperstown, why can't better players like Alex Rodriguez make it in?

Don't forget to check my blog at www.100percentbronxnews.blogspot.com for more on what you may find in this column, updates, items that may come in after my deadline, and the many photos of the events. If you have any comments about this column or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.