Nothing trivial about Valley sports giants helping a cause

I have been accused of living in the past far more often than I care to remember.

After participating in the inaugural Mahoning Valley Sports Trivia Championship Thursday at the Lake Club in Poland, I’m thinking that I need to dig deeper into that past if I expect to be more help to my team next year, the Miller Masterminds.

The sports trivia championship served as a fundraiser for the area’s Potential Development Program and was presented in honor and memory of Esther and Morris Simon by their son, Michael J.

The group, which serves autistic students from two-and-a-half years old to 12th grade, was hoping to raise enough funds in order to complete an elevator project at their site as they still needed to raise $58,000 toward its original $245,000 goal.

With 31 teams competing and over 225 people in attendance, the program took a huge leap toward achieving that goal.

“While in college at Washington University in St. Louis, I worked at Twist, a public relations firm that promoted a similar event and that is where I got the idea,” Deloran Muransky, chair of the event said. “The event went over well then and with Youngstown as big a sports town as any out there, it was just a natural fit.”

Team Kernan Insurance was the overall winner, walking off with the $10,000 top prize while Jet Creative and Capitol Punishment tied for second, splitting the $5,000 runner-up honoraria.

On hand were eight sports celebrities, two of whom joined co-emcees Ed Muransky and Bob Hannon each of the four rounds in reading trivia questions about themselves as part of questioning process.

Questions ranged from naming the college that Major League Baseball’s first African-American player Moses Fleetwood Walker (he is credited with playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings of Major League’s sanctioned American Association in 1884) attended to what was the name of the umpiring union that Poland’s John Hirschbeck became president of (World Umpires Association) in 2000.

Sports notables included Ohio State Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and former Buckeyes players Anthony Schlegel and Maurice Clarett, YSU and NFL placekicker Paul McFadden, offensive lineman and current radio color analyst Chris Sammarone, current Penguin offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery, two-time Super Bowl champion Robin Cole and Mill Creek golf pro Andy Santor.

Smith took the time to thank his former coach and current YSU president, Jim Tressel as well as former area basketball official and OSU academic counselor Bob Mansfield for their help along the way.

“If it wasn’t for the direction and guidance from both coach Tressel and Bob Mansfield, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said. “Coach Tressel often told me that being the quarterback at Ohio State is like being the governor of the state of Ohio. I knew that carried a lot of responsibility.”’

Cole said playing for Chuck Noll was a great experience.

“It was just so exciting to be part of a team that played at such a high level each and every week,” Cole said.

Prior to his arrival at YSU, Montgomery coached Ben Roethlisberger at Miami University.

“I knew from day one that Ben just had it and felt deep down that he would be a very special player when it was all said and done,” Montgomery said.

Members of the winning Team Kernan Insurance squad included Mike Kernan, captain, J.P. Daliman, Harry Wollet, Gregg Strollo, Brian Canacci, Bill Durkin, Dant DeLisio and Matt Polkovitch.

As for my team with captain Dennis Miller at the control, we had 146 points and finished 14th.

We’ll just have to put our thinking caps on and try harder next year.

Write Vindicator correspondent Greg Gulas at sports@vindy.com.