| Story
by JIM ELLIOTT, Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register
Wheeling firefighter Toby Bachman recalls the day he was
sitting around the firehouse talking to Assistant Chief Ralph Kosar
about a football game pitting the Wheeling Fire Department against the
Wheeling police.
It was likely one of those ideas that sounds great at the moment, but
loses steam and is quickly dismissed when you realize just how much work
would go into getting something like that off the ground. After all,
Bachman wasn’t talking about flag football in the backyard, he was
talking about a full contact game with players in real pads and
uniforms. And he was talking about playing it on the turf at Wheeling
Island Stadium. And, most importantly, he was talking about handing all
of the proceeds from the event over to charity.
‘‘There was a lot of work,’’ Bachman said. ‘‘There’s a lot
of paperwork, we had to get insurance, things like that, but I had a lot
of help, and it wound up being a pretty good deal.’’
Well, organizers haven’t reached the end just yet.
That’ll happen Saturday at 2 p.m., when Bachman’s vision will become
a reality, as the firefighters and the police officers will play in what
they hope is an annual football game at Wheeling Island Stadium.
The cost for the event is $5 with all the proceeds going to the Muscular
Dystrophy Association, one of the charities the fire department
sponsors. If they do it again next year, the proceeds will go to Easter
Seals, which is one of the charities the police department sponsors.
The guys have been practicing roughly once a week for months, with the
police stepping it up lately with two-a-days on Saturdays recently.
‘‘Everyone’s very excited,’’ said Patrolman Dan Holmes, who
has been doing much of the leg work on the side of the police. A friend
of Bachman’s, Holmes was on the other end of the line when Bachman
called and asked if there was any interest from the police.
‘‘Everyone was excited,’’ Holmes recalls, ‘‘but we didn’t
think it would become a reality. We’ve done a lot of work to get where
we are.’’
Kosar and Tom Wilson, both assistant fire chiefs, will coach the
firefighters along with Mike Lake, while Sgt. Cecil ‘‘Chip’’
Chiplinski and Sgt. John Wroten will coach the police.
Neither Kosar, a 1976 graduate of Triadelphia, nor Wilson, a 1976
graduate of Wheeling High School, have played any organized football
since high school, but Bachman figures the firefighters will respect
their authority.
‘‘They’re both chiefs,’’ Bachman said, ‘‘and I figured no
one’s going to give the chiefs any hassle.’’
Said Kosar, ‘‘We’re just trying to have some fun. It’ll give
some guys a chance to go back and relive their glory days — and
we’re not trying to get anybody hurt.’’
So who are some of these players?
Regular readers of the other sections in this newspaper might recognize
a lot of names, but there are a few former athletes who’ve played at a
high level who now make their livings fighting fires and keeping the
community safe.
For the police, that starts with Dan Griffin, a former West Liberty
State College standout who played a handful of games with the Ohio
Valley Greyhounds. The police defense also features Alex Espejo, a
defensive back who played collegiately at Tiffin University. The
team’s quarterback is Jim Kendle.
For the firefighters, Doug Sprague, a former college baseball player and
the son of retiring Linsly baseball coach Gary Sprague, is the
quarterback. Curt Jerrome, a Wheeling Park state wrestling champion who
went on to West Virginia University to wrestle, is the running back.
Lineman Larry Koontz played college football at Kent State, while Tom
Smith, a two-time all-state nose tackle at Bishop Donahue, played at
West Liberty. Tim Stoffer also played football at West Liberty, and Buck
Davidson is a former Hilltopper baseball player who was once on the
other side. His career began with the police department before he was
hired on the fire department.
Two others, Buddy McKinley and young Joe Leffe, are still union
firefighters and very much involved in union functions, though they’ve
moved on to Cleveland and Columbus, respectively. An agreement for them
to play was made when the police added deputies to their roster.
McKinley is a former Linsly and Bethany football standout, and Leffe
played baseball at Wheeling Park and was a power lifter in college.
‘‘It’s pretty thick with talent,’’ Bachman said.
The challenge, after all the paperwork was finished, was finding
positions for the guys.
And who was going to start?
‘‘We’ve got a starting team, but we’ll be moving guys in and
out,’’ Bachman said. ‘‘Starting just means you’re there for
the first snap.’’
It’s the same on the side of the police.
Holmes estimates some of the players won’t even make it through an
entire series, despite the fact that on average, the police officers are
somewhere in the area of five years younger than the firefighters.
They’ll need to use that advantage because a strong rumor persists
that the firefighters are unbeaten against the police in other ventures
like softball and basketball.
‘‘That’s a fact,’’ Kosar said, not wanting to put any pressure
on the young guys.
Because of generous donations and sponsorships, both teams will be in
full uniform, complete with pads. The game will feature four 15-minute
quarters with a continual clock running, stopping only for injuries —
they’re hoping that doesn’t happen often — and change of
possession. They were even able to get Wheeling Recreation Department
Director Tom Bechtel to send out an officiating crew.
‘‘We’ve got the whole nine yards,’’ Bachman said.
‘‘Everybody’s excited to play the game. I think it’s going to be
a good show.’’ |
