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Monday, June 15, 2009 2:38 PM EDT
Some notes on 'Lefty' and Lombardi
By Adam Bennett
Olean Times Herald
A few notes while trying to comprehend how the NBA allows anyone over the age of 60 to continue officiating:
It’s nice to see that Phil Mickelson has returned to the PGA Tour in time for the U.S. Open at New York’s Bethpage Black. Mickelson, whose wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, had one of the most intriguing 18-hole battles in recent memory with Tiger Woods at Bethpage in 2002. Win or lose, the opportunity for Mickelson to play allows him to take his mind off the whirlwind issues that he and his family have been forced to confront in the last few weeks.
Mickelson understands that Bethpage is probably his best opportunity for a major victory this year. The course, which is long and allows room to miss off the tee - something Mickelson has a tendency to do every once and a while - is a perfect fit for “Lefty,” whose last major win came at the 2006 Masters.
Mickelson holds a special place in his heart for Bethpage, and the fans in Westchester County have an equal amount of affection for him. It may be the only place in America where someone had a larger following than Woods. In fact, when Mickelson and Woods were dueling on Sunday in the 2002 Open, it was tough to ignore that the gallery was largely pulling for Mickelson. Bethpage would not be the same without “Lefty,” and, given the circumstances, expect him to receive even more support this time around ... and it will be well-deserved.
If you happened to catch the St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame presentation for Jim Baron, you know that a number of former players and coaches returned to Olean for the ceremony.
One of those coaches was Joe Lombardi, who started working with Baron at St. Francis (Pa.) and was his associate head coach at Bona.
Lombardi, after working as an assistant at LaSalle and Pitt, is now entering his fourth season as head coach at Div. II Indiana (Pa.).
When he arrived at IUP, Lombardi inherited a once-proud program suffering from numerous NCAA sanctions after former coach Gary Edwards attempted to stretch scholarship money by using false Pennsylvania addresses so 14 former players could receive lower in-state tuition rates. Working with a reduced number of scholarships, Lombardi had the Crimson Hawks back in the NCAA Tournament in just his third season, advancing to the second round before falling to Kutztown.
Given the circumstances, it’s a remarkable turnaround.
IUP enters the fall with four of its starters back, including PSAC West Freshman of the Year Julian Sanders, and first-team league selections Gerald Brooks and Darryl Webb.
Finally, sign-ups are currently underway for the 73rd renewal of the Southwestern New York-Northwestern Pennsylvania Men’s Amateur Golf Tournament, which takes place Aug. 5-9 at Bartlett Country Club. For more information on the event, won last year by Pine Acres’ Andy Frank, check out www.swny-nwpa.com
(Adam Bennett, a Times Herald sports writer, can be reached at sports@oleantimesherald.com).
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