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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Seventy years after his premature death, there's still never been anyone in these parts quite like Harry Agganis
I was one of the many young lads growing up in the '50s who was enraptured by the fictional exploits of Clair Bee's Chip Hilton, a brilliant three-sports star who also never said or did anything wrong. But young people growing up in our area from 1945-55 actually had such a real-life model in Agganis, who received equal praise in his lifetime for his athletic accomplishments and the way he carried himself on a daily basis. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He began compiling his résumé in his early teens, when he attracted attention for his summertime baseball exploits. Before he was out of high school, he would play in baseball All-Star Games in Wrigley Field, Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, and, of course, Fenway Park. His Lynn Classical baseball team would win a state championship. He would have a high school football career without equal. Then came Boston University, a brief stint in the Marine Corps, and a move to the Boston Red Sox, who beat out the NFL for his services. Advertisement One more thing: Agganis's basketball exploits also were worthy of a college scholarship. A teammate happened to be Kentucky great — and future Celtic — Lou Tsioropoulos, who played with Agganis at Classical before graduating from Lynn English. Related : Advertisement Agganis's influence on his collegiate alma mater is on display 365 days a year with the presence on Commonwealth Avenue of the dazzling Agganis Arena. Naming it in his honor was an easy call. Along the way, he twice landed on the cover of Sport magazine, which was a must-read for any serious fan at that time. The first time it was a solo, and the second time it was shared with Allie Reynolds, Doak Walker, and Jackie Robinson, which was pretty good company. Agganis made such an impression as a Marine in his one year in uniform that a field has been named for him at Camp Lejeune. And, are you ready for this? On June 6, 1954, he hit a winning home run at Fenway against the Tigers, and when the game was over he hustled down Comm. Ave. to Braves Field, where he received his BU degree. Even Chip Hilton never did that. Nor Mickey Mantle. It was the only time a local athlete was cheered in two major league ballparks on the same day. Have I mentioned he had a fan club while in high school? Or that he also had the lead in his high school's production of 'Stage Door'? His Lynn Classical days will never be repeated. With southpaw quarterback Harry Agganis at the controls, Classical became a power. 'Manning Bowl was the place to be,' says Johnson. No kidding. Classical played to an estimated 160,000 people during the 1947 season. That was the follow-up to the fabulously successful 1946 campaign, when Classical topped it off by defeating Granby High of Norfolk, Va., in the North-South Shrine Game, which was played in the Orange Bowl. Advertisement Classical made news the following year by spurning an invitation to defend its crown for a most exemplary reason. Led by Agganis, Classical refused to leave behind Black teammates Paul Pittman and Tom Smith. This was in sharp contrast to the shameful Boston College decision six years earlier to play in the Sugar Bowl without Black running back Lou Montgomery. It is impossible to exaggerate Agganis's football skill. He passed. He ran. He punted. His nephew Mike Agganis loves to point out that one year he also intercepted a pass for every TD toss. Statistics and touchdowns are only the beginning of the Harry Agganis story. His elders had never encountered anyone like him. 'I have never once heard him say an unkind word about anybody nor utter an oath or curse,' said his high school football coach, Bill Joyce. 'In all my 28 years of coaching boys at Classical, he is the only boy from whom I have actually learned and from who I have actually sought advice.' Harry Agganis was not a mere local phenomenon. In 1947, he was chosen captain of the All-America high school football team by the 'Wigwam Wisemen of Oklahoma.' The word was out. He was recruited by more than 60 schools, which was a lot in those days. Among his most ardent pursuers was Notre Dame immortal Frank Leahy. It turned out those outsiders never had a chance. To the delight of Terriers coach Buff Donelli, Agganis chose BU because he didn't want to go far away from his widowed mother. A few years later, he would use the same reasoning to choose the Red Sox. Advertisement Before that choice, however, there was a stellar career at BU. It did not take long for people to take notice. In November 1949, Agganis's sophomore year, legendary Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote the following: 'With each succeeding Saturday, what was Agganis's purely localized fame in New England has been burgeoning all over the football landscape.' The big issue eventually confronting Agganis was deciding between a professional career in football or baseball. Cleveland Browns pooh-bah Paul Brown lusted for him, but in the end Agganis chose to stay with the hometown team in what was still America's favorite sport. As was the custom everywhere he went, Agganis became the toast of Louisville en route to Fenway. He was named 'Colonel of the Year' by the Triple A affiliate, citing his 'brilliant performances on the field and his gentlemanly disposition.' After going through an up-and-down rookie season in 1954, he was figuring things out and was batting a robust .313 with some power when he was stricken with a blood clot issue in early June. He entered the hospital on June 5, 1955. He died of a pulmonary embolism emanating from the blood clot on June 27. The front page of the June 27, 1955, Boston Evening Globe shared the news of the death of Harry Agganis. Globe archives The news was stunning. Harry Agganis was Boston's young prince. He was only 26. How could this be? Austen Lake of the Boston Record-American spoke for countless thousands when he wrote, 'Now Harry is dead! My ears hear it, but my mind rejects the idea.' Mike Gillooly of the Record-American added this: 'He appeared immune to pain, plague, pox, virus, and that's why the death of Harry Agganis yesterday pierced the heart of the city; plunged the entire sports world into deep grief.' Advertisement The story was only going to get better. A deal was being worked out with the Red Sox allowing Agganis to report to training camp with the Baltimore Colts in 1955. Nope. You couldn't make this up. With Harry Agganis, you never had to fabricate anything. He just was. Bob Ryan can be reached at
Boston Globe
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
To some students, the Declaration of Independence feels a lot like a breakup letter
Across Massachusetts, teachers are trying to breathe new life into the teaching of the Lessons on the events leading up to the birth of the nation have been evolving over the generations as classroom instruction has expanded from emphasizing the teaching of battles, heroes, and the principles of democracy to including more discussion about the role of public activism and the experiences of Teachers also are lecturing less. Instead, they are turning their students into sleuthing historians with assignments that have them digging through historic documents, biographies, and a host of other texts. Advertisement Getting students engaged can be a challenge. 'They kind of roll their eyes when we say we are going to talk about the American Revolution,' said Gorman Lee, social studies director for Braintree Public Schools and education committee chair of Related : Advertisement At Lynn Classical, the class ultimately decided to write two different versions of the Declaration of Independence. One was about a couple breaking up and the other was about an individual choosing independence from another. 'What happened then and how the Founding Fathers came to be is very inspiring,' Ny said. 'It's important to learn and know the history behind where we are now.' Concerns about whether schools are National data indicate the teaching of US history and the principles of democracy are in deep trouble: US history exam. Those scores, which were not broken down by state, represented a decline from the 2018 exam. F. Anderson Morse, executive director the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, said the state of teaching of the American Revolution is a mixed bag. 'The bad news is they spend a lot less time talking about the Revolution in most schools today … than any of us growing up,' he said. 'There are some textbooks where you will see no more pages devoted to the American Revolution than to the story of Marilyn Monroe.' He added, 'The good news is at least today people are starting to understand more — those who study it — that the American Revolution wasn't just an elitist war. … It's really a citizen's war.' Advertisement Kaylin Gangi, a third grade teacher at Drewicz Elementary School in Lynn, peppered her students with questions about Phillis Wheatley, an African American poet who wrote about the American Revolution. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Robert Allison, a history professor at Suffolk University in Boston, said he has seen Boston Public Schools pull back on the American Revolution and other history. In the years following the bicentennial celebration in the 1970s, Allison said, BPS and the city's historical organizations started a partnership that enabled students to see famous landmarks from the American Revolution and other historic sites, but the program faded due to busing costs. 'It became this scramble every year and it essentially killed the program,' said Allison, who is chair of Sujata Wycoff, a BPS spokesperson, said the district provides robust instruction on the American Revolution in Grades 5 and 8 and in high school, with an emphasis on having students learn about historical figures from marginalized communities. BPS also is expanding partnerships with historic sites and museums to create more field trips, especially ones focused on the 250th anniversary. 'The BPS History/Social Studies department has worked greatly since the COVID pandemic to bring back place-based learning opportunities ... ones focused on the American Revolution and various other topics in history,' she said in a statement. Related : Massachusetts standards for social studies instruction call for the teaching of the American Revolution in the third, fifth, and eighth grades and in high school. In third grade, lessons on the American Revolution often dovetail with broader units on local communities, which in Massachusetts often have deep roots in the American Revolution, and also emphasize the teaching about people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, including enslaved and formerly enslaved people, and Native Americans. Advertisement Eighth grade is where the American Revolution is taught more deeply, when students study key ideas about equality, representative government, limited government, rule of law, and natural rights. The pressure on students to grasp those concepts is even more critical now with the arrival of a long anticipated MCAS civics exam for that grade level. Students then receive another dose of the Revolution in high school in US History 1, although teachers say this often is a review since students take the course so soon after the eighth grade. Third-graders Daniel Alvarado Amaya, Carolina De Faria Almeida Ferreira, and Jimena Perez Esteban at Drewicz Elementary School in Lynn worked on a poster about the American Revolution. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Beth Greenwood, a third grade teacher at Brookline's Lincoln School, said early lessons on the American Revolution and the plight of Colonists often resonate with young students. 'Third-graders are so aware of issues of fairness that is where they connect emotionally,' such as when laws were imposed on the Colonists, Greenwood said. 'They just get so engaged in the American Revolution as a story and the suspense of what will happen next.' At Drewicz Elementary School in Lynn one recent morning, teacher Kaylin Gangi circulated around her third grade classroom as her students created posters about historic figures. Leaning over the shoulders of one group of students sitting at a cluster of desks as they tried to figure out what to write, she attempted to prod them along: 'Tell me a little bit about Phillis Wheatley.' 'She wrote poems,' one student replied. When Gangi eventually asked them about what her poems were about and why she was famous, they struggled with their responses. So she suggested they do a little more research. Eventually, they learned that Wheatley wrote about the American Revolution (siding with the Colonists) and the plight of enslaved people, and was the first African American author to have a book of poetry published. Advertisement 'She's brave,' Olivia Sanh Tarantini, 8, said later on in an interview. 'It would be very scary for me.' The assignment was part of a new 'inquiry-based' curriculum, 'They always groan when I say we are studying social studies and then they get into it,' she said. James Vaznis can be reached at
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Seven high school sports takeaways: A new Hall of Fame class, a new football coach at Arlington Catholic, and more
The 2025 MHSFCA Hall of Fame class includes Auburn's Jeff Cormier , Milton's Steve Dembowski , Burlington's Shawn Maguire , Leominster's Dave Palazzi , Chelmsford's Bruce Rich , and Bishop Fenwick's Dave Woods . Assistant coaches Don Miller (West Bridgewater), Ryan Dailey (Westborough), Fernand Lavoie (Lynnfield), Melvin Sasser (Chicopee), Matt Wassel (King Philip), and Marc Grady (Auburn) will also be inducted. Related : Advertisement Uxbridge's Shane Gilmore , Lynnfield's Madux Iovinelli , and Barnstable's Manual Rivera will be honored as Courageous Players, while Hector Longo of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune will receive the Media award. Sandy Ruggles will receive the Cella Lifetime Achievement award, and Steve Ash and Matt Ross will receive Distinguished Service awards. Recognition will be given to Mansfield's Mike Redding for his 300th win and Northbridge's Ken LaChapelle for his 400th win. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up For ticket information please contact Justin McKay ( Tom Lopez ( 2. Coaching carousel After eight seasons as the football coach at Lynn Classical, Brian Vaughan will be moving over to Arlington Catholic. Vaughan went 43-38 at Lynn Classical, where he coached his son, Brian Vaughan Jr. , now a freshman quarterback at Western Connecticut State. The elder Vaughan was a standout running back at Lynn English and graduated as the all-time leading rusher at Northeastern. He has served as an assistant at Lynn English, Winthrop, and Everett and was head coach at South Boston, Boston English and Pope John in Everett. He takes over an Arlington Catholic program that went 1-10 each of the last two seasons and, other than a 2-2 finish in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, hasn't had a winning record since 2014. Vaughan takes over for Brian Wilcox, who coached the Cougars for five seasons. 3. Fabulous Pham For the fifth time in the award's 40-year history, the Gatorade Massachusetts Girls' Basketball Player of the Year went to a player from Noble & Greenough School. Advertisement Senior Christina Pham is this year's recipient after leading the Bulldogs to a 29-2 record and the NEPSAC Class AAA title game. The 5-foot-6-inch guard averaged 18.6 points, 5.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 steals while shooting 45 percent on 3-pointers. A four-time All-New England selection, she was named Independent School League MVP. 'Pham hit three big dagger 3-pointers against us,' said Worcester Academy coach Dan Sullivan . 'She never lets up, she competes all game long. She's the straw the stirs the drink for Nobles.' Carrying an A-minus average in the class and ranked No. 3 in New England in the Class of 2025, Pham has committed to play basketball at Fairfield. She also volunteers coaching youth basketball players and went on a service mission to Rwanda. Congrats to Future Stag, Christina Pham, on winning Massachusetts 2024-25 Gatorade Player of the Year! We are so proud of you! 🦌🤘 — Fairfield Women's Basketball (@StagsWBball) 4. Best in Western Mass The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is presenting its 14th annual Western Massachusetts Players of the Year awards to Ryan Vedovelli (Pope Francis) and Olivia Chrzan (Monson). Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Announces 2025 Western Massachusetts High School Players of the Year. 🏀🏆 — Hoophall Classic (@HoophallClassic) Vedovelli, a senior, was a four-year varsity starter and two-year captain who averaged 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. A 1,000-point scorer, he led Pope Francis to more than 70 wins in his four seasons, becoming the program's all-time leading scorer and earning Player of the Game honors at the Hoophall Classic. Vedovelli also played baseball and was named Western Mass. Player of the Year in soccer as well. He is committed to play basketball at WPI. The family tradition continues. Ryan Vedovelli is your Game 5 Player of the Game. 🏆 — Hoophall Classic (@HoophallClassic) Chrzan, a captain, averaged 28 points and 12 rebounds per game as a senior, posting three triple-doubles, and finishing as the school's all-time leading scorer (boys and girls) with 2,287 career points. She has been named First Team All Western Mass. every year since seventh grade and is second in her class with a GPA of 100.5. Advertisement 5. Commitment central A two-time state champion football player and Trevor Jones announced his commitment to Salve Regina to play football. The 6-0, 190-pound dual-threat quarterback/cornerback threw for 1,003 yards and ran for 700, accounting for 20 touchdowns last fall in leading Duxbury to Salve Regina University '29 I am super excited to announce my commitment to Salve Regina University. Special thanks to my family, coaches and teammates who have helped me throughout this process. Lastly, thanks to the Salve coaching staff for giving me this opportunity… — Trevor Jones (@Trevj48) Woburn senior guard Mckenna Morrison , who Old Rochester's 6-1, 225-pound senior linebacker Sawyer Johnson announced he'll spend a post-graduate year at New Hampton. I'm very excited to announce that I will be doing a post graduate year at the New Hampton school. Thank you to all my family and friends who have supported me throughout this process. Go huskies!! — sawyer (@sawyerj220) 6. MIAA honors The MIAA will honor longtime Scituate cross-country and track coach Kathleen McCarthy as its Massachusetts Women in Athletics Distinguished Service award winner. The award recognizes women who have 'devoted their time and energy to guiding and nurturing female athletes.' The award will be given at the Massachusetts Celebration of Girls and Women in Sports Day on May 20 at Cross Insurance Club Atrium at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. On Monday, the Bruins honored boys' and girls' hockey players from every conference with the 2025 Boston Bruins/MIAA Sportsmanship Awards. The boys' winners were: Bay State: Framingham's Jason Fitch Berry: Frontier's William Petrin Cape Ann: North Reading's Max Forristall Catholic Central: Bishop Feehan's Logan Petrucci Catholic Conference: BC High's Sonny Christian Commonwealth: Northeast's Will Baker Fay Wright: Agawam's Frankie DiSanti Greater Boston: Medford's Vincent Castro MVC/DCL 1: Billerica's Stephen MacIntosh MVC/DCL 2: Waltham's Garo Gebeyan MVC/DCL 3: Haverhill's Jake Costa Middlesex: Reading's Nathan Mulvey Northeastern: Winthrop's Mike Donahue Patriot: Marshfield's Jack Doherty Roy: Wachusett's Caden Lane South Shore: Cohasset's Taighe Dwyer The girls' winners were: Cape & Islands: Falmouth's Raelynn Spellman Catholic Central: Arlington Catholic's Markie Lawhorne Independent: Ursuline's Victoria Higgins MVC/DCL Large: Andover's Bella DiFiore MVC/DCL Small: Shawsheen's Corrine Foley Middlesex: Burlington's Caitlyn Tremblay Northeastern: North Reading's Gianna Griffith Patriot: Duxbury's Parker Metzler 7. Odds and ends On Saturday, former Victoria Bossong was second and Stanford's Roisin Willis took third. Advertisement Women's 800m Champion 🥇 Makayla Paige ( 📊 2:00.39 — NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) Congratulations to Tewksbury's Makayla Paige! NCAA Women's 800M National Champion!!! 💪🏆 — Tewksbury Police (@TewksburyPD) ▪ Rosters were announced for the annual MSHCA/HNIB Senior All-Star games, which will be held Sunday at Worcester Ice Center, with the girls at 1:50 p.m. and the boys at 4 p.m. Announcing the student-athletes selected to play in this Sunday 3/23's MSHCA/HNIB Senior All-Star Games at the Worcester Ice Center! Players were nominated by their coaches & from those pools, selected & participation confirmed before finalizing rosters. — Mass State High School Hockey Coaches Association (@MSHCA1) ▪ Nauset Regional will hold its 8th Annual Evening for Champions from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday at the Ocean Edge Resort. This fund-raising event features dinner, cash bar, and live and silent auctions. There will also be a special tribute to the Warriors' state champion boys' hockey team. Tickets are $65 at AUCTION: The annual Evening For Champions fundraising event is this Saturday, March 22nd @ 6:00PM at Ocean Edge Resort. Details are below, purchase your tickets today! — Nauset Athletics (@Nausetsports) ▪ The NEPSAC girls' basketball tournament awards were announced, with six MVPs, six Defensive Player of the Year selections and six coaches of the year. Players of the year were Tilton senior Hannah Lynch , Worcester Academy senior Elyse MacDonough , Loomis Chaffee senior Alicia Mitchell , Rivers senior Grace O'Sullivan , Hamden Hall senior Emma Olausson , and Brimmer & May freshman Jaliah Duplessy . Related : The defensive players of the year were New Hampton's Serenity Lancaster , Austin Prep's Fope Ayo , Sacred Heart Greenwich's Eva Wilkerson , Berkshire School's Pearl Dickson , Lexington Christian's Nicole Burns and Brimmer and May's Elliana Barros . Coaches of the Year were Alex Gallagher (Nobles), Dan Sullivan (Worcester Academy), Ayo Hart (Sacred Heart Greenwich), Kenny Small (Rivers), Angelica Pascual (Kimball Union), and Courtney Sims (Brimmer and May). Brendan Kurie can be reached at
