Freeh Report on Sandusky and PSU BOMBSHELL: What They Missed
Blink is on location and will be filing this report later today. I am opening the thread to keep discussion on the Freeh Report here in advance of the piece. Set your RSS.
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Thanks, erose, for bringing over some of the commentary from that wap.rivals link I posted.
It was Victor J. Surma, Sr, the Lebanon dentist, who stayed in Sandusky’s basement. He and Abbey were teammates, along with a bunch of others we’ve discussed. A lot of this older group MIGHT know a lot we’re not seeing. I still can’t find a romantic interest, or female guest at a public event for Abbey. Still looking.
Oh, yes, Vic, Jr is gorgeous! Even in the computer lab at PSU (link won’t post; it’s in PSU’s published files). He had a drug habit, apparently broke up with the older male beau, moved to Florida Keys to work as a male model. Then to Calif. I hope his life hasn’t been what I fear it might’ve been.
@erose: I haven’t had a chance to visit your link on Poly Prep legal stuff. Didn’t we talk about this way back? If not, I looked at a lot of it then. My DH grew up in that locale and got his first job as a federal agent there. But he didn’t know anyone from back then; does have contacts still, though.
One good thing, and IDR exactly the legal basis for it. But there was some precedent set in that civil RICO suit against Poly Prep, and it might be helpful in the PSU situation. Maybe the number of years? IDR, but flagged the case law precedent in my mind.
I’m ready to take a closer look at the notpsu folks’ discussions. The Surmas are interesting. That kind of grudge can motivate a lot of viciousness. Vic, Jr played for Paterno 2002-2005. The mind does go to what Gricar was working on. Maybe Karen Arnold was lamenting the pedophile-ring being ignored by the grand jury (which is to say, under the influence of the prosecutors). Not the drug-distribution aspect.
1999 — http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017979/index.htm
in last paragraph, Jerry describes his own terrible working relationship with JP.
It sounds like he and Vic Surma saw Joe’s management style similarly.
Deadspin put up an article yesterday aftn reviewing some of the conflicting statements by TSM foks.
http://deadspin.com/penn-state-scandal/
I don’t trust many people to not turn on their friends/colleagues when the going gets tough, really tough. But today, looking at a lot of diff sources, one little thing I see is that Paterno was limping along in the late 2000s, with not one friend left on the PSU Board (per Guido d’Elia, per Posnanski’s book).
In those years, Don Abbey and Paterno were getting along. Paterno had been helping him in business since 1990s; he was making substantial contributions to PSU in 2000s. Were the Heims, Bruce and son Ben, some of the business folks Paterno hooked Abbey up with? Who else? Where was Paterno’s circle of allegiance. Certainly he’d lost Spanier, who wanted him gone. And power broker Bill Schreyer died in Jan, 2010, so he was finally gone, and sick long before that.
If you believe the final chapters of Posnanski’s book, there were a lot of folks who wanted Paterno out as coach, including fans.
This is like doing family therapy. You have to get all the points of view, and the interactions (as best we can). Then sort it out.
How common is it in college football for coaches to pretty much staff with former players like JP did?
Players like JS and McQ who seem to have been initially insecure or shy & dependent on JP.
Under the bluster and emotion, Vic S seems to simply say JP treated some players very unequally.
Some had great security with him and some were throwaway kids (his idea, not mine). I can’t think of any
former player in the present era who’d be so dumb as to mention any negative experience they had with JP.
In regards to Rose’ post on 9-25: Ken Trujillo was appointed to the Gaming board by Rendell after the company he was part owner in failed to get a gaming license. Maybe the Rendell and Corbett camps are trading favors.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/new-gaming-board-member-failed-in-casino-bid-in-2006-368938/
Yes, I thought your link was very interesting. I have to wonder if the vendetta went deeper than a football player dispute. The timeline could line up with information that was starting to come out, as you say with 2005/Gricar, or the GJ-ies, or just plain gossip.
Back when Vic Sr lived in the Sandusky basement, Sandusky might not have been so bold, and players seem to have been out of his age preference. That the Surma’s did not approve of Jr’s lifestyle choices, and their sudden animosity towards JP indicates to me that they blamed “lifestyle” choices on him. That he drank and did drugs, obviously, but what I think they really disapproved of was his sexuality. Why would they blame that on JP? JMO.
beejay says:
September 26, 2012 at 9:24 am
Thanks, erose, for bringing over some of the commentary from that wap.rivals link I posted.
@Rose, Well…I’m slower than you are, but I think you are right. That is quite a fortune Abbey amassed. Who is to say it’s legit.
Donald G Abbey and the Heinz Family co-chaired (with others) a 2011 event for The Navy Seal Foundation.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs033/1101468358776/archive/1108934684357.html
Donald Abbey’s Dads obit. Can see why the navy, and lobe for the outdoors. Two married sisters and a brother. Neither boys list spouses or children as of 2006.
Dr. Abbey leaves his wife, Mary; and four children, Lee A. Wyker and her husband, Dr. Gerald A. Wyker of Carmel, Calif., Carl E. Abbey Jr. of Springfield, Donald G. Abbey of Bradbury, Calif., and Robin A. Murphy and her husband, Michael J. of Hadley; three brothers, Dr. Robert Abbey of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Douglas Abbey of Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Donald Abbey of Auburn; and a
sister, Eleanor Swanson of Rochester, Minn. He was predeceased by a brother, Dr. John Abbey and a sister, Delora Abbey.
http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/EBY/2006-03/1142598825
http://www.dauphincounty.org/_files/3594.pdf
The perjury case against Shultz and Curley is continued.
Am I reading that incorrectly? I am just reading denial of all pre trial pending motions?
B
@beejay. I don’t think JP put any time or thought into his “circle of allegiance” or Pres or Board support.
I think he was alert & aware of his environment, & could get his feelings hurt. But his mindset seems rigid & inflexible with his plan to nail family-protective contracts, contract by contract over the years, & run out the clock to his best ability.
TY Steve. One article I read yesterday said the latest, Liquor, was quid pro quo to deliver
his Hispanic base in the election, but today I can’t find that comment & url.
In my states, Liquor Board was a promotion from Gaming Board.
Abbey’s Aunt Delora
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37654849
Abbey’s brother-in-law Dr Jerry Wyker
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montereyherald/obituary.aspx?pid=153857011#fbLoggedOut
beejay says:
September 23, 2012 at 12:53 pm
does anyone have enough legal/accounting knowledge to explain why someone sets up a slew of companies with only one employee, being oneself?
@beejay
These businesses may have been set up as LLC’s: Limited Liability Company. And people set them up for exactly that reason. To limit their liability. I live in Texas, and I could set up an LLC using downloadable forms from the net, and the cost would be about $400.00 to set up an LLC. If I owned an airplane and a rental duplex, I could set each of these up as an LLC. I would have two LLC’s. If for example someone fell and was injured at my rental duplex, it would be harder for them to get to my other asset, my airplane. Or to sue me personally, because the duplex belongs to the LLC. This is a very simplified explanation. Try an internet search “What is purpose for forming LLC?” Rules vary from state to state.
@erose: That he drank and did drugs, obviously, but what I think they really disapproved of was his sexuality. Why would they blame that on JP?
______________
That IS the question. Maybe the vendetta had nothing to do with Vic, Jr, but was due to something we know nothing about. Although, that Vic, Sr rant in 2007 sure did refer to JoePa not doing his job with his student-athletes, didn’t it?
Maybe it was something JoePa FAILED to do wrt Vic, Jr?? Like keep him away from another person, or student-athlete who was supplying drugs? Maybe the older-man-beau of Vic,Jr’s was connected with JoePa in some way? A friend of his? I can come up with several scenarios, but IDK. Maybe it was the personal thing with Vic,Jr; plus some old wounds from Vic,Sr and JoePa; plus something more–
TY for the names on Mr Abbey. I’m just all over the place. Hoping eventually something will click. Or turn up.
______________
@MuffyBee: Makes sense. I know how to set up an LLC, too. Just kept thinking there should be more members in some of his. Maybe that cordoning each one off for insurance liability purposes explains it best of all.
Amy Hegel @amyhegel
@gregbucceroni are you going to be on Dr. Phil?
10h Greg Bucceroni Greg Bucceroni @gregbucceroni
@amyhegel You will have to watch this Friday’s exclusive episode of Dr Phil. Shhhhhh
8h Linda Berkland Linda Berkland @LindaBerkland
@gregbucceroni @amyhegel Just saw the promo on his show. Congrats on getting someone to listen to you. #justiceforvictims
8h Greg Bucceroni Greg Bucceroni @gregbucceroni
@LindaBerkland It’s been a very uphill battle but great strides are happening
8h Melissa Fee Melissa Fee @MelissaFee69
@gregbucceroni @lindaberkland any strides you can fill us in on, by any chance?
8h Greg Bucceroni Greg Bucceroni @gregbucceroni
@MelissaFee69 Not until after Friday
7h PSU mom PSU mom @PSUmomortega
@gregbucceroni you are a breathe of fresh air Greg! Thank you for your courage to speak out and for your persistence until someone listened
Link:
https://es.twitter.com/gregbucceroni
Friday – September 28, 2012
A Dr. Phil Exclusive: Former Victim Links Sandusky to Pedophile Ring
As Jerry Sandusky awaits sentencing on 45 counts of sexual abuse against boys, a new report has surfaced that he was allegedly involved in a tri-state child porn ring. Forty-eight-year-old Greg Bucceroni has come forward, saying that as a young boy in 1979, Ed Savitz — now deceased, then-advocate for at-risk children — arranged for him to have sex with Sandusky, whom he says everyone called “The Coach.” In a Dr. Phil exclusive, Greg speaks out about the horrors he says he lived through as a child. Hear how he says he was manipulated into the dark and dangerous world of drugs and child prostitution. And learn why, after 34 years, he says he’s finally telling his secret. Greg insists he tried getting the police involved at the time of the alleged abuse, to no avail. Why does he believe no one listened? This show contains strong sexual content. Viewer discretion is advised.
Link:
http://www.drphil.com/shows/
No disrespect to Mr. Bucceroni intended but I had my fill of Dr. Phil 600,000 dollars ago
B
@rose: But why PS gifting?
_____________
Blackmail? Someone knew something. PSU in midst of a capital campaign, with a sluggish economy. Also, a major attempt to revive the greek orgs on campus was underway. He put a lot into the library funds–lots about that is on internet with his name on it.
IF–IF he’s into anything involving “lifestyle choices”, fed agencies will steer away from him. That’s the main reason I said I felt he wasn’t fronting for the govt. Makes him too risky, ya know?
Still trying to get more info on those kids whose college tuition he paid.
Some PSU alumni working for Abbey
http://angelinacarleton.com/psu/directory/
Agreed, but that concept is incongruent with people having seen him at the shop that day.
There would not be a witness, imo.
B
@erose: TY for the alumnus.
Got any Navy guys? Do we have any old Navy guys connected with TSM?
@Blink: I can’t bear to watch Dr. Phil. But I’ll take it for the exposure. God bless Greg.
I don’t think a one man LLC as a straw would insulate from insurance liability or in a tort or negligence suit.
You know Surma could just be referring go coaching tone over time & its impact on boys, nothing personal only.
I still froth at the mouth at a local school coach to this day I watched verbalky and emotionally abuse girls and the team in the guise of touch love coaching. I pulled my highly gifted (and impervious to evil) kid in 9th before rosters were up not wanting her exposed to the environment. The coach left after that year for a minor parochial school where she continued her MO to the extent her highest player family moved. That Mom said this coach was most vicious to great players (a Kollar?) because coach wanted to feel she “made” them what they were. So last year daughter asked a fellow youth ref if coach was still just as emo abusive to kids & team. The reply was “Yes, but we’re winning.” Enough wins and much is forgiven. Surma Sr & Jr’s characterizations could fit this type of coach who wins but at a cost. Not many parents go up against the MO, because the coach is an iron fist ruler, the coach wins, and many parents/most atheletes buy the songsheet. We’ve heard JP built character and was honest and won a lot and was generous in the community but not much else breaks ranks.
excuse me, touGh love coaching. I thot I proofed & it’s still a mess
@erose. quite a fortune? legit? Maybe legit like KBR & Halliburton were/are legit.
Silent gov’t contracts for can do business. Navy seals tie puts me back to my govt contract wild card thought.
Beejay, I don’t think sexual orientation or acting out precludes. Look at that high position guy just detained who’s been at it for years IN the Service
What I’m thinking is to draw conclusions about JP’s support or not at PS and its legitimacy, or Surmas’ statements’ credibility, it would be good to know the coaching environment as assessed by his asst coaches over the years and/or by what types he hired. I only recall McQ, who appeared to be a JP yes man who only jumped when told, and when told how high. And JS who began as a shy man but finished as a JS seemingly empowered to argue with Joe by growing into Mr Linebacker U, by his own account only retiring after great conflict even anguish with JP over time. What were the positive coach staff employee relationships?
Beejay, I can’t be sure this is the same Don Abbey, but the time frame fits.
http://www.vetfriends.com/veterandirectory/?member=528831
Abbey is a huge supporter of Wounded Warrior and specifically the Navy Seals, as you have most likely seen.
P J Byers, father Patrick Byers
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/byers_pj00.html
That’s all I’ve got right now.
Please don’t yell at me. I have fair warning that I’m losing my electronics tonite. So I’m giving notice that I’ll be off the air at BOC shortly. Ya’ll know I love it here. But I have plenty to work on otherwise, so productivity-wise it’s really not a bad thing. Except for missing out on the input; that’s a bummer.
Off for a nap now.
Meanwhile, he said he spent an hour discussing World War I with Paterno, whose father and grandfather served in that conflict. Paterno briefly considered the Naval Academy before joining Rip Engle’s Penn State coaching staff in 1950.
“I want to someday have dinner with Jesus Christ and Joe Paterno,” he said. “And they can sit at the same table.”
http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_738222.html#axzz27hFUmqGj
Don’t think this is him afterall.
erose says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 27, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Beejay, I can’t be sure this is the same Don Abbey, but the time frame fits.
http://www.vetfriends.com/veterandirectory/?member=528831
tell me you’re with us, Beejay.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19940915&id=ZGMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q6IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2191,8656008
hard as this article is to read, I like this guy Abbey.
Even if he is a building megalomaniac.
He was in the Navy. I can see those donations.
Donations are for taxes, or social class expectations, or for true beliefs.
I think his warrior/navy are true beliefs.
His story of coaching experiences & injuries at PS in this article rings true.
I would like to think JP’s later apology to him was real.
In Abbey’s story, JP does sound like our HS’s 9th grade year
coach at the time JP began his career.
D Abbey says JP grew and changed.
Idk why Abbey rebuilt the Frat, but he seems also to have tried to
provide leadership, counseling, and character development
along with bricks & mortar. Having seen frats at UM start their
ponging on the lawn at 9 am daily, I personally see no redeeming value to a frat
in an alcohol saturated campus.
I so identify with his playing events at PS from my child’s career.
He was Recruited by JP’s predecessor. those successive injuries ring true,
and in certain cases they are set up
by neophyte new coaches who put leadership players in wrong situations
because they are desperate to win.
He became a throw away player.
I think tying him in with a pedo ring is sniffing the wrong tree.
He just seems to have bad money judgment (more
out than in perhaps).
This article cites Cappelletti (Heisman Trophy winner) as a business partner of Abbey’s. Is he still? And, 911 conspiracy theories aside, is Cappelletti’s mother Anne, related to Barbara Bush.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19940915&id=ZGMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q6IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2191,8656008
Oh wow, this is not good.
“The story keeps evolving and changing,” said Sara Ganim, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Patriot-News reporter who broke the Sandusky story. Ganim said Bucceroni contacted her over the summer with new allegations, but couldn’t provide details. Bucceroni has since been harassing her by email and with vulgar tweets, Ganim said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120928_Believe_this_guy_.html?page=2&c=y
I appreciate your patience in me posting this erose, but I wanted to comment.
This is what pisses me off about this guy. You cannot be a victim advocate and allegedly victimize others and expect to be effective. I so wanted his experience and victimization to help progress an investigation, not impart lack of integrity.
Unless of course your target is Dr. FILL. Yes, misspelling intended for effect.
B
Want to post both sides:
Bucceroni says he is dealing with his anger issues through counseling at Woman Organized Against Rape. Jill Maier, WOAR’s director of counseling services, believes his stories and said it’s not surprising that he would recall old memories gradually, rather than all at once.
“I know a lot of people don’t find Greg very credible, but he’s a very passionate man who really is trying to give a voice to victims of sexual assault,” Maier said. “I think he’s really quite brave.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120928_Believe_this_guy_.html?page=2&c=y
But there are things, fringe details, that check out, and some of the doubts about Bucceroni may be unwarranted.
Despite the craziness of many parts of his story, I found very little evidence that Bucceroni has changed his tune. Yes, the web of evil he’s spinning seems to grow by the week, but all details are consistent throughout the numerous outlets he has spoken to. Crazy, but consistent.
Dates, times, places, and dollar amounts included in his recounting of events related to Savitz and Sandusky haven’t changed. He says he was offered $200 to have sex with Sandusky at two Second Mile events in 1979 and 1980, respectively. On both occasions, Savitz refused to leave Bucceroni overnight in Happy Valley and brought him home, once allowing Bucceroni to go back to Philly with “a fat slob,” who molested him.
Ganim, the Patriot-News reporter, wrote that Bucceroni, in the comments section of the Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student newspaper, first claimed to have been a victim of Sandusky, but then changed his tune to say he was merely introduced to him. That’s wrong. I couldn’t find any instance of Bucceroni saying that Sandusky abused him (trust me, I looked).
http://www.crossingbroad.com/2012/09/greg-bucceroni-is-on-dr-phil-and-the-cover-of-the-daily-news-today.html
Bucceroni’s on Dr. Phil today. Heartbreaking.
Also Victim TW says he was Abused over 100 times, also on Dr. Phil.
DVR’ed the Dr Fill show, and just got to watch it. The men seemed credible to me, but what do I know, I don’t have a Pulitzer. You had the word, WG, it was heartbreaking.
A couple of new things, like Bucceroni’s became aquainted with Savitz through the South Philly Boys Club. Rocco “Rocky” Fantazzi ran the place for almost 40 years. Reminds me of Art Sandusky.
snips>
Mr. Fantazzi was director of the South Philadelphia Boys Club for 38 years, until he retired in 1983. He once said that his biggest thrill was looking back at the successful boys who came out of the program, long based at 13th and Shunk. The most famous became entertainers: singers Bobby Rydell, Fabian and James Darren, along with teen idol Frankie Avalon.
Mr. Fantazzi was born in South Philadelphia, at Seventh and Fitzwater. Throughout his life, Mr. Fantazzi played ball – basketball, football and baseball. Third base was his specialty.
Angelo Monaco was impressed after watching Mr. Fantazzi work with the boys at the House of Industry, at Sixth and Catharine, said Mrs. Fantazzi. He recruited Rocky to the Boys Club and then made sure he became director after Monaco retired.
http://articles.philly.com/1995-09-05/news/25716340_1_pool-tables-wood-shop-game-room
Founded in 1846 by the Philadelphia Society for Employment & Instruction of the Poor, the House of Industry was a shelter where homeless and immigrants (mostly English-speaking from the British Isles) worked making shoes, clothing, rugs, baskets and brushes. The program was designed to facilitate entrance into the American industrial economy. When Italians moved into the area, its services shifted from providing shelter and work to offering English and citizenship classes.
http://www.philaplace.org/story/99/
Rocco Fantazzi – (Third Baseman)
Rocky was the younger brother of Anthony, who is also being honored tonight in the Hall of Fame. Such is the Rock of Gilbraltar, Rocco was a very Sturdy third basemen. He started his career at the age of fifteen in 1934 and also played on fourteen championship teams, which were the combination of five City championship teams, one City Playground title, five Seymour League titles, one Bi-State League championship and two Hi-Boys League titles. Also to his credit were three batting titles and three MVP awards. Upon retiring, he became Athletic Director of the South Philadelphia Boys Club.
http://www.norristownsoftball.com/asaphillyHOF.html
BTW Rocco Fantazzi Jr is a high school wrestling coach.
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2011/12/22/sports/high_school/doc4ef2b6163ed30106452569.txt
A student editor at Bryan College in Tennessee defied the school administration to report and publish a story on a professor’s alleged sex crimes.
The college told Alex Green, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Triangle, that Assistant Professor Dr. David Morgan resigned to “pursue other opportunities.” Green later learned Morgan was arrested on June 24 for attempting to meet with a “minor child” at a gas station in Georgia.
Green confirmed with the FBI that Morgan was facing charges related to “attempted aggravated child molestation and child sexual exploitation.” When Green attempted to publish his article on it, Bryan College president Dr. Stephen Livesay ordered the story killed, according to reports.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/alex-green-bryan-college-professor-arrest_n_1914505.html?utm_hp_ref=penn-state-scandal
To be considered the opinion of the poster. As much as we researched Art Sandusky, we never ran in to this story.
posted by akf506:
Jerry Sandusky is from my local area. There is a gym here that was run by his Father. The gym hosted most youth athletic programs, for boys only at that time, such as football, wrestling, basketball, boxing, etc. A “group” of men, some, but not all of whom were associated with the “gym” were arrested and found guilty of molesting boys. They did prison time. What went on in that gym?
It makes me sick to think of it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/jerry-sandusky-child-porn-ring_n_1900800.html?utm_hp_ref=jerry-sandusky
Have we shown this photo of Coach Phil yet? Maybe I should tiny the link?
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=coach+phil+foglietta&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=914&bih=452&tbm=isch&tbnid=k91hwr8tOTh1CM:&imgrefurl=http://blog.aacriminallaw.com/tag/foglietta/&docid=ZftgApxd4Lx4GM&imgurl=http://blog.aacriminallaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/phil-foglietta.jpg&w=635&h=535&ei=GdJnUOK2CaKWiQKIiIDIDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=245&vpy=4&dur=419&hovh=206&hovw=245&tx=123&ty=99&sig=110320920497525938391&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=139&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:76
Uh, this is weird. Fitzpatrick photo in 2002 trial, but who is producing this blog?
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432727
@erose and @rose @ beejay – You should keep digging on the Donald Abbey stuff and ring. You are sniffing up the right tree it seems. Lexis search would be interesting. Why donations to south Hadley youth boys sports? Google has in on the sidelines cheering on the boys. He has no children or family there on the team playing. He is just standing there by himself looking into a buffett of boys that he provided gear to . Sorry, but if I was a parent at that school I would want to know what his motivation for being there was? There is a common theme on the Internet with him and it is young boys must be involved for his donations it seems. Second mile, south Hadley, frats etc. where there is smoke there is fire! Please keep digging. I smell something huge here!
@for truth. Do you have a url for picture you refer to?
@FTruth
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/south_hadley_alum_don_abbey_of.html?mobRedir=false
Abbey’s an alum, supporting appropriately with what amounts to chump
change, and honoring a retiring coach. Do you know more?
History of Abbey’s hometown incl sports teams. I skimmed, and did not find any mention of Don Abbey. His friend, Dick Mongeau, quoted in the article For truth linked is in the picure on page 60.
http://www.southhadley.us/Pages53-68s.pdf
“Junior year, Sluggo played quarterback. He was a running, rollout kind with a rifle arm,” Mongeau said. “Our coach (Bob Dobias) didn’t really like his quarterbacks to run that much, so he moved Sluggo to halfback the next year, knowing what an extremely elusive runner he was.”
That happened in 1963, when the Tigers went 8-0-0 and outscored their opponents 238-12. Sluggo wound up leading Western Mass. in scoring with 88 points as he operated in a backfield that also including a punishing fullback, Don Abbey.
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/02/maurice_sluggo_moynahan_top_pi.html
September 11, 1967
The Big Ones Scouts Are Watching
Here are five sparkling sophomores, and the 90 college players that the pros rank as the best
“Abbey is more advanced and has more potential than any sophomore we have had in a long time,” says Paterno.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1080290/2/index.htm
Random info on Abbey’s football career
Growing Up on Raw Meat at Penn State
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19670914&id=2nYfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=308EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7103,4953764
from for truth link:
Abbey played football for a series of memorable coaches – Bob Dobias in high school, Jim Smith at Deerfield Academy and Joe Paterno at Penn State.
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/south_hadley_alum_don_abbey_of.html
Bob Dobias Obit
http://www.kostanskifuneralhome.com/index.php/locations/details/427
SOUTH HADLEY DAYS: From 1959 to 1968, Joe Dion served as backfield coach for South Hadley High School, working beside head coach Bob Dobias. Along with another assistant, Pat Fitzgibbons, they rebuilt the football program to the point of having, in 1963, the school’s first 8-0-0 team. Those Tigers outscored their foes 238-12.
When Dobias left to become head coach at East Longmeadow High School, Dion took over for a 12-year run as head coach. He also served as director of athletics in a South Hadley teaching career which spanned 32 years.
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/09/exrepublican_sportswriter_jerr.html
During his days at Deerfield, Smith would cross paths with another coaching legend, Joe Paterno, who would recruit some of his players. One of them was Don Abbey, a star football who was later drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.
“I’ve known Joe for a long time and he’s a very bright guy,” Smith said. “Years later, when I retired from Deerfield, Joe wrote me a beautiful letter.”
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/iconic_coach_keeps_marching_fo.html
Deerfield Homecoming ’03. Abbey – Slide #13, 17 & 18, if I’m reading the tag correctly.
http://www.classcreator.com/Deerfield-Massachusetts-Deerfield-Academy-1965/class_gallery.cfm?gallery_link_id=9883
Fullback Don Abbey, who was suspended during his senior year for sleeping through a practice, clashed frequently with Paterno over such matters as hair and socks. He was the one player who refused to wear them.
“Here was a guy who wore black pants and white socks,” Abbey said of Paterno. “To me, that was a bigger faux pas.”
Abbey caused Paterno a few headaches. But he went on to become a millionaire CEO with a deep and abiding respect for the influence of his former coach.
“I keep going back to the fact that we were nationally competitive, and we played against guys who didn’t go to class,” Abbey said. “Joe always took the high road, and that’s the greatness of Coach Paterno. You get to be 11-0, and your guys go to class.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/s_707778.html#ixzz281CWdQnO
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What got me about this post, was the last paragraph about Dave Joyner, ya’ know the acting AD for PSU.
snip>
Saturday night, while socializing at John Torres’ house in Castaic, California following my Southern California clinic, a parent of one of the players on Coach JT’s team mentioned that he’d been doing some construction work at the home of one “Mr. Abbey,” a prominent real estate developer/owner/investor who, the parent told me, had once “played some pro football.”
The name hit me right away – could it be Don Abbey, who’d played football at Penn State? (I am a long-time Nittany Lions’ fan.)
Bingo. One and the same.
Mr. Donald Abbey was CEO of The Abbey Company, headquartered in Long Beach. His football background was clearly not a part of his professional resume, so it took a bit of digging (nothing like Good Old Google), to determine that Mr. Abbey had, indeed, played football at Penn State, and although drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, had chosen instead to go to graduate school. Following service in the US Navy, he got into real estate in Southern California and in 1990 founded the hugely successful company that bears his name.
On my return home, I dug into my collection of college media guides, and the 1969 Penn State guide told me more about Donald Abbey the football player…
Don Abbey (fullback, 6-3, 240, South Hadley, Mass) was entering his senior year. He’d lettered on the 1967-68 teams (and would go on to do so in 1969 as well, as the starting fullback).
A little more research revealed that he played a key role in Penn State’s rise to football prominence.
To use a real estate analogy that Mr. Abbey might appreciate, in 1967 he was in on the ground floor of the great dynasty that Joe Paterno would go on to build at Penn State, part of an unusually talented group of sophomores that Coach Paterno shoved into duty in the second game of the season, after Penn State had lost its opener to Navy, 23-22.
In that second game, the Lions upset Miami, 17-8, and after losing a close one to UCLA (17-15) out on the coast the next week, they didn’t lose again in Abbey’s three years there, going 30 straight games without a loss (there was a 17-17 bowl game tie with Florida State). In all, Penn State was 30-2-1 in his three years of varsity ball (no freshman eligibility then).
Among his teammates who made various All-America teams and/or went on to pro careers were John Ebersole, Gary Gray, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Dave Joyner, Warren Koegel, Ted Kwalick, Lydell Mitchell, Dennis Onkotz, Bob Parsons, Charlie Pittman, Mike Reid, Steve Smear and Charley Zapiec. And Don Abbey, who was drafted 7th by the Cowboys in 1970, along with future Cowboys’ greats Duane Thomas, Charlie Waters and Pat Toomay.
I signed two of Don Abbey’s teammates – Gary Gray and Dave Joyner – to play in the World Football League.
In those days, Coach Paterno loved to refer to his Penn State football program as his “great experiment,” aimed at proving that it was possible to field a big-time football team without compromising a university’s principles. He would do it with the kind of people who would play first-rate football but get an education and go on to achieve and contribute well beyond the football field.
To a great extent, he was successful. Now, nearly 40 years later, he can certainly point to Don Abbey as proof.
(Of the two players I signed, Gary Gray became vice-president of an investment firm, and Dave Joyner an orthopedic surgeon in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.)
http://www.coachwyatt.com/apr08.html
Read the section titled, “Financial problems emerge” (and of course among his teammates, Don Abbey).
Joyner’s critics suggest that he is still obligated to Lubert, and that Lubert is really the one pulling the strings in Penn State athletics.
“That is absolutely untrue,” Joyner said. “Ira Lubert has never tried to influence me or inappropriately call upon the athletic department for any reason, and I’ve never seen Ira Lubert inject himself in a situation that was inappropriate.”
What the two have in common — beyond wrestling and a life-long friendship — is a sense of duty and obligation to Penn State.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/05/penn_state_acting_athetic_dire.html