BHS 28 [W] - New Castle 21BHS 26 [W] - Norwin 20
BHS - Penn Hills [cancelled]
BHS 18 [W] - Canon-McMillan 0
BHS 20 [L] - Shaler 37
BHS 14 [L] - Pine Richland 21
BHS 3 [L] - North Hills 21
BHS 7 [L] - North Allegheny 24
BHS 14 [L] - Seneca Valley 18
BHS 3 [L] - North Hills 21
BHS 7 [L] - North Allegheny 24
BHS 14 [L] - Seneca Valley 18
25 comments:
Does anyone remember the Butler Golden Tornado powerhouse teams of the late sixties and early 70's, with Art Bernardi as coach and Ed Hepe athletic director.
The Saul twins; Bill "Tank" Rettig and his younger brother, Terry...
wonder what happened?
Absolutely! Tremendous talent for many years during that time at almost every position.
Yet, not one, repeat not one, state or even WPIAL title. That was not the fault of the players. That was poor coaching.
Glad to see this year's edition did a little better. But it's still disgusting.
There was no state titles during the period of the 60's. We lost a WPIAL title game in 1964and were the acknowledged power in the best (Midwestern) Conference in the western half of the state. BHS developed many fine players and fine men who went on to earn college degress, play college and even pro football and go on to successful lives and careers.
To label this record as poor coaching is inaccurate and unfair. This program was a model of the right way to do it, and its output academically and athletically was tremendous.
Although I did not play on those football teams, I was a member of the athletic program and knew the coaches and the players personally. They were dedicated people who deserve nothing but praise for their service to the school, community, and the program that enriched and a tradition of excellence on and off the field.
Mel Miller, BHS, 1963
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
What a bunch of crap. One of those dedicated homophobic coaches bashed "sissy" kids while "teaching" phys ed. One of those kids in later years spotted that dedicated homophobe at a gay nightclub in Pittsburgh. Coach didn't recognize the kid, who was now a young man, and coach "hit" on him. Took all the strength in that young man not to deck the hypocrit or even tell him what a hypocrit he was. That coaching staff turned away many a kid with talent simply because they had erred once, say, caught smoking a single joint. From that point forward, those kids were denied the one activity that could've kept them on the straight and narrow. Instead, so many of them drifted further afield. Those upstanding coaches you talk about had opportunities to help kids, but they were too interested in helping themselves, even as their actions left many good kids in the ditch. No doubt others who abided strictly by the rules and did well under that system disagree, and rightly, but my point is that those coaches weren't the saints you make them out to be.
I left Butler in 1968 and am not aware of the incidents that you write about. This was before the drug era clouded the horizon. Things were, for better or worse, a lot simpler.
I did not make anybody out to be a saint or perfect. But I do know them to be good coaches and well intentioned. And I know some guys with less than steller backgrounds who were embraced and helped by the program.
Sounds like you are aware of one coach who had a "dark secret". That shouldn't color the whole program.
Mel Miller, BHS 1963
The praise is probably due for some, but please, its mainly drivel. Sitting in class and regularly listening to one of them call anybody who didn't look or act like his "boys" Looney-Tunes didn't show quite the sense of community minded-ness and value building you allude to. Unless of course you could play ball!
But enough of this. There is no excuse for the current, long-standing lack of performance.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Education should be about the welfare of children, period. When a football program becomes bigger than the educational process, it has lost sight of its intention. But here I must agree with anonymous above, enough of this. There is no excuse for the current lack of performance, either in the Butler High classroom or on its football field. Incompetence is incompetence, and a school system that has lost sight of its purpose is simply lost. Don't know what it would take to right THAT ship. Doubt that we'll settle it here.
Times change. There are more options for kids today. nontheless other schools in the area are still fielding good football teams. I was on the 1963 team that played at Forbes Field and that is still one of my fondest moments. Those guys are still some of my best friends. We were bonded when we left the Midget League and vowed to go to the WPIAL finals as Freshmen. Those coaches were neither heros or heels but they were role models. Each person has to take and use the good and discard the bad. One coach rediculed his players in public the other felt that criticism belonged behind closed doors. That lesson has served me well over a pretty good career. But, that doesn't make Butler a better Football Team. Art Bernardi got the whole community behind the team. He introduced letterman jackets. We paid for them by putting on the "Football Follies". If it isn't important to the community it won't ever work. His success was our success and it instilled pride in our community. There were plenty of talented success from that era and I think the talent still exists in Butler. The Community just needs a leader to move it forward from this low ebb.
I watched that game at Forbes Field. The Golden Tornado got their behinds kicked, mainly because they'd never seen such....diversity... on the field (was Aliquippa the opponent)?
The way I remember the football team back then, Bernardi, et.al. was that they were the typical elites, the stereotypes you see in movies of the period; the campus big shots who were actually no where near deserving the acclaim they felt they were due.
Or maybe I say that because I wasn't a part of them...who knows.
But that was 40+ years ago; I hold no grudges and really, I don't think Butler High was any different in that regard, i.e. the Jock Mentality. Bo Voelker and the rest though, they fostered that way of thinking and behaving; I just wonder why football, which was so good up on the hill then and now so completely sucks.
I doubt that diversity had anything to do with the game Beaver Falls, Aliquipa,New Castle and others were as diverse and the game ended up 13-6. It was decided on a tipped ball in the last quarter. I don't think that qualifies as "butts kicked". The key was the pride the city had in that team. That weekend Susan Hawthorne was named Jr. Miss Penna.
All 18 seniors on that team went on to college. I think that is a pretty good result
The game in '63? Wasn't that with West Mifflin North?
My dad took me to that game. Yes the score was close, but I don't think the talent was. Butler fielded as fine a group of athletes as has ever been put on a field that year.
Three players go on to the NFL, and, as stated earlier many more get college scholarships. As I recall, one of the critical factors that cost the game was a lack of diversity on offense.
That is partially correct. West Mifflin North gained a lot of ground on punt returns. Dan D'Aniello kicked the ball as well as he could but he probably out kicked the coverage. The other factor was the fact that Mike Guinta was injured and couldn't play, eliminating our 2nd best threat. We didn't have much of a passing game so they just packed in against Bill Rettig. They did little against our defense but field position finally did us in.
ok, every year for the last 3 Charles posts the BHS football record. In a blog devoted to the life and times of our "remarkable little town", the obvious response is that the program is not doing very well and invariably someone has said "what happened?" For several years, my new friend Anonymous says its been pitiful for 40 years and there was bad coaching. Now I took exception to that based on what I know was the fact that we had in the 60's a football program that was the pride of the school, the students and the town of Butler. That was dismissed by Anon (get a pseudonym) as drivel seemingly because he was not one of the boys or part of the program.
Now, was football overly emphasizied? Stereotypes are valid because they are at least based on truth. And this was Western Pennsylvania in the 60's. Do you think that football was important to the school and the community? And whether they won or lost a given game or even title is irrelevant.
Butler in post WWII was a prosperous and vital place. The people built a high school that was as good a facility as money could buy at the time; the great thing about it was that all the students in the school district could attend this great facility and be part of whatever activities they wanted or were able. This included all kinds of activities, a good music, band, and theatre program, and of course a wide athletic program. Educationally, many kids prospered and earned scholarships and went on to successful careers. A large majority of them had to leave Butler to pursue opportunities that were not available in Butler.
It was not perfect, but it was a great place with opportunity for everyone that worked to find their place. It was one of the best places that I could imagine to grow up, and I know that is a feeling shared by thousands of graduates and alumni.
I am not some Pollyanna imagining the good old days. But I cannot abide some casual comment that belittles good people and a good place because he personally had some problems. The community was justifiably proud of the school and the students and athletes that represented their town in a number of pursuits.
I can't comment on the current status, but it was as good as it gets. I lived it from 1950 to 1965. Good folks, good place, our home. Long ago, far away.
Mel Miller, BHS, 1963
It would be nice to hear from a current student or young adult recently graduated. It's been years since I spent any time in Butler. My aging mother, who just passed away in her late 70s, was fearful that the youth of Butler had lost their way, that a heroin epidemic had taken hold and showed no sign of letting go. That's not much different from what I recall in the 1970s, except the drugs of preference then were qualudes, LSD and pot. Reading the above posts, sounds like there are still two views of the school, albeit in a discussion about football: one voice ignores the problems and remembers the good times, and one rages against the problems but whose voice falls on deaf ears. I too remember a number of gifted young athletes who were denied access to the football program in the early 1970s because they had brushed up against the entrenching drug culture. If memory serves, a couple of those guys and their families begged forgiveness but were never again allowed to "infect" the rest of the team, many of whom continued to smoke pot without getting caught. We all felt sorry for those who had been tagged by the football hierarchy as evil because of their youthful indiscretions. One wonders what doors might have opened for those kids had they been allowed to continue in football, and what might have happened to the drug culture in Butler had an honest dialogue opened up within the community that would have addressed the problem back then.
In answer to the comment above [11.Nov.]
I think your statement is significant: "One wonders what doors might have opened for those kids had they been allowed to continue in football, and what might have happened to the drug culture in Butler had an honest dialogue opened up within the community that would have addressed the problem back then." Yes, this lack of honesty, this inability to face up to problems truthfully is a weakness that our town has failed to overcome. We are unable and unwilling to get to the roots of our problems; we dally on the surface hoping the problems will go away.
Both of the previous posts have valid points with the community's inability to face up to problems, and the mentality the football program had in the 70's and by the way, the 80's too. Lets not forget that those left out during the era are the fathers of those of age to play now. Guess it all comes full circle, doesn't it?
The biggest problem with Butler Sports is favoritism. I have witnessed with my own steaming naked eyes, cash exchange hands between "boosters" and coaches to promote the playing career of particular players. If you have money or are connected, your kid will play in Butler. There are countless examples of more talented players riding the pines because they come from the "wrong" area of the school district or are not part of the established "good ol' folks" network. It was worse in the previous baseball regime than any of the other sports, but exists in the others too. How can you explain the largest school in the WPIAL winning 3 section games in the past 10 years in football? Baseball program seems to be shedding this past practice.
Why does everyone remain Anonymous?
Brad Mauro - '94
High school football in states like Pa., Ohio, Texas and anywhere in the South (Fla., Ga., Ala.) is more like a religion than a sport. Butler drew huge crowds when I attended and was a power. Same thing when I moved to Fla. but we were a wimp in football. I lived in Plano, Texas and at the time it was a 2A program but they had a bigger field than many small colleges with Astroturf yet. The whole town attended. So the problems perceived with overemphasis on high school football is pretty common around the nation.
How the mighty have fallen in Butler. Coaches like Bernardi, Mick Haley, Zarowtuck did more to harm sports than help. Yes, they may have won a bit but it was always the "good old boys network" and quite frankly, with Butler raduating 1,000 students every year, Butler High should have won a lot more than it did. There's a long list of names of students who graduated in the late 80's who were average athelets at best..Heider, Tynan, Johnson, Codispot, Walsh, Tonini(s), etc...
There's also a list of names that is 5 times in length of kids who were much better athletes but simply were discouraged by all of the politics that were involved in playing varsity at Butler. Right now, i'm ashamed to say that I went to BHS. Last time I checked, which has been a few years..Butler's offensive coordinator is a former Midget Football League Coach who coached Center Twp in the 80's. We could have had one of the most decorated coaches in Pa High School history coaching our basketball team, Mark Jula..but we hired a former red Sox pitcher instead? Now we have a former beer guzzling frat boy as the AD? Disgusting...
Once again another nameless post!
-Brad Mauro
i agree brad. sounds like sour grapes.
Butler sucks!
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