It wasn’t
until 2008 and 2009 when I saw what real Bocce was all about. I went to
Youngstown, Ohio to participate in Cardinal Mooney High School’s Football Camp.
The day before the camp, they hosted an all-day Bocce Tournament. This was the
big leagues.
The owner of
The M.V.R. Carm Cassese ran an outstanding restaurant and it seemed like the
whole family worked there. Outside they had six Bocce courts with finely crushed
stone, almost like a dust. The courts were superb; even and consistent in the
roll of the ball.
At that event
every politician in town was there including U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan. The
games were intense and competitive and it didn’t take long for me to realize
that I was way out of my league. Playing in the grass at Sunset Park is one
thing, this was something completely different.
It was a
great day, but the highlight came that night.
After we were
all eliminated we played one fun match. The other team was made up of Ohio
State Head Coach Jim Tressel, Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops, Arziona Defensive
Coordinator Mark Stoops and ESPN Analyst Kirk Herbstreit. I was joined on our
team by Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini, ESPN Analyst Todd Blackledge and MVR
Owner Carm Cassese.
What started
out as a game for fun quickly got very, very competitive. Jim Tressel was not
going to lose if he could help it, but ultimately the owner Carm Cassese was
the difference and our team won. The biggest complaint was that we had all the
Italians stacked on one side.
It wasn’t
that we had all the Italians, it was that we had the RIGHT Italian. This was
after all his home court.
After the
game we all sat down and talked football for another two hours while the
Cassese family brought out plate after plate of pasta and sausage and every
kind of sauce you could imagine. Each new dish was even better than the last
one.
Sitting
around with all those guys, talking football and eating all that food ranks
among the best nights I ever had as a coach. Even though we competed against
each other in the fall, this was a time when we put all that aside and got to
know each other away from the stress of a big football game.
Sadly I
learned that just two weeks ago Carm Cassese died of cancer. He will be missed
by so many, many people. Every time I walked into the M.V.R. he’d come out and
talk, and say hello and talk about my father. Despite his allegiance to Ohio
State and Jim Tressel he always shared the respect he had for my father as a
fellow Italian and for the way we ran our program.
Well I hope I
said it to him enough and if not I certainly hope his family hears this; I had
nothing but respect for Carm Cassese and his family and for the way they ran
the M.V.R. I haven’t been in Youngstown in a while, but when I do get back out
there I will stop in, have a big plate of pasta and, even though I do not
drink, I will hoist and drink a glass of Italian Red Wine in his honor.
Respect.
