CURBSTONE COACHES Borghetti stresses importance of academics

By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- The last Curbstone Coaches weekly meeting for 2003 featured the best of the past, present and the future.
From the past was the meeting's main speaker, Dr. Ernie Borghetti, and for the present, with a lot of future potential, were the 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series Champions, who were special guests Monday at Lockwood House.
Borghetti, a former football standout at Ursuline and the University of Pittsburgh, addressed the theme of "Academics with Athletics."
Borghetti was an All-East and All-American selection at Pitt before being drafted by both the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas Chiefs, then in the American Football League. He signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs, but a knee injury in training camp ended Borghetti's career and he enrolled in dental school.
Emphasized academics
Borghetti was a member of the 1963 team at Pitt that finished with a 9-1 record, but it was the academic performance of that team that he emphasized to the young baseball players in the audience.
"Of the 71 varsity members of that Pitt team, 68 graduated and today more than half of that group are professional men. We were a team of another era that proved academics and athletics were a good mix," he said.
"If you persevere, opportunities will come your way, and secondly, regardless of how good an athlete you are, never fully depend on an athletic career."
Borghetti said only two players from the Pitt teams he played on made careers out of football -- Fred Hoagland and Marty Schottenheimer.
Players honored
Certificates were presented by the Curbstone Coaches to the coaches and players of the Babe Ruth team, who also received World Series rings by their manager, Al Franceschelli.
Franceschelli, a 20-year veteran of local Babe Ruth baseball, was assisted by his coaches, Bob Hoelzel and Donny Brunetti.
Members of the team in attendance Monday were Corey Collins, the World Series MVP; Tony Brunetti, the top hitter in the series, Matt Katich, Armani Johnson, who earned the Series Sportsmanship Award; Frank Rosile, Mike Hoelzel, Joe Morales, Chuck Olesky, Matt Dado, Nicholas Turco, James Moses and D.J.Ronci.
The Curbstone Coaches will resume Jan. 5 with Chuck Tanner as the scheduled guest.