Danny O's

Without further adieu...it's time to roll back to the hey-dey of my family's version of Michael Jordan...The young sports phenom known around the hood as O's...my brother Dan...

Danny could do it all, in basically every phase of every sport, with a flair, a quickness, and a determination, that just left people in awe...I'd go watch him play shortstop for the Indians in Little League up at the park...and was amazed how effortless he made every ball look that came bashing his way...

He could stab it, he could scoot it...And when he got up to the plate...He could crack that ball to any field, then scamper for extra bases...I was kinda shocked he was my brother, because he never displayed his full abilities when horsing around the house...with us...

Of course, he had excellent, excellent, first class speed that served him well, playing basketball, which would be a life-long passion....There he would go, blistering by the opposition...quickly down the court. And he had such a natural stroke, from outside...

Just money...a sweet swish...many a time...It was his element, his time, his moment to shine...almost taking over the court, with his swarming defense...and his instincts for the ball...always coming to the forefront...

If you had O's on your team...you pretty much knew he was going to unleash an intensity, that was going to make a difference...Time and time, again, he just knew what to do, without any coaching...Just a formidable talent, who took it to the limit...

And then there was football...where he would go down as a legend, in Tommy More lore...In one single game, Danny scored 5 touchdowns...count em...5...!!!...On that day, as well as others, Dan just had it all, cooking on all burners...

He was an all-star running back, who could dash and dart, fake and roll, even bowl you over...if it was down on the goal line...The day after the game, on Monday, they declared it DANNY O'LEARY DAY...at Saint Thomas More...to honor this great achievement...

Danny never cared about the medals or awards, the trophies or accolades bestowed upon him...He just loved to, flat-out, compete...Plain and simple...And as he left the halls of St. Thomas More to go on to Brother Rice...he had gained a confidence and a discipline that always served him well...throughout his life...always...even up to this very day...

See, his fiery, never-say-die, determination will never leave him...It's always been apparent that he would be successful in everything he'd do...that he set his mind to...And even though he never mentions anything about his past...You can just tell, the little kid in him...would just like to regain that strength, that speed and that agility...one more time.....

He's always going to have that competitive edge...that cannot be denied...and one of his greatest moments, that I witnessed, was up at the old Carrol Park fieldhouse, for the Field Hockey championship...when he was 16 years old...

See, in our neighborhood, field hockey, was your true measure, of being incredibly tough...When you got out onto that gymnasium floor, it was a mayhem of grim brutality...Just a vicious, all-out war, that caused alot of blood to spill and alot of heart...to be put to the test...

On this one fearless Saturday Afternoon, Danny's team, the Rico Stiffs, took on the older and much tougher guys, a year older than them...The Rico Stiffs were big underdogs that day...but all of those guys, were having nothing, with anything short of victory...

That crazy bunch of kids playing for the Rico Stiffs...included Danny Moody, Chico, Luke Bailey, John Bar, Brady, Viv, Pat Collins, Terry Moore, Bob Howser, Tommy Walsh and Paulie Collins in the nets...Just a collection of cocky, knock-em, drag-em-out, rag-a-muffins, who could all smell victory in the air...after spending years & years in torment from their older foes...

You couldn't tell these Rico Stiff guys, nothing...They just oozed confidence, despite the other team, just loaded with much bigger & much stronger guys...It was shaping up to be a killer showdown, that the whole neighborhood was excited about...Man, talk about a battle royale...

The honorable Rich, our Park Instructor and referee...knew he had alot to handle for this match-up, but hell, he always liked to see things, just play out...fast & hard...and let the fellas tear it up...

And, of course...on that day...They stuck my brother Dan, on the most fearsome, dirty player, in the league. The most hated bully in the neighborhood...A monstrous dude named Thad, who wore a red bandana and had a huge, handle-bar mustache...

This thug, Thad, really was a splitting image of a more menacing Hulk Hogan.

This Norweigian strongman's whole deal was to plant himself, in front of the opponents net, and just dominate every aspect of anything happening in that vicinity...And Thad, incidentally, was a key, to his teams success...who usually just ferociously crushed opponents, into submission, left and right.

There they were, Dan & Thad, planted firmly in front of the net...an all-out war of position, as Thad just hacked away at every square inch of Danny's body, with his stick...over and over, again...

And each time, Thad would hack away, Danny just would grimace and fight back even stronger, just pummeling Thad, out of the way...even though Thad was twice as big as anyone, in the league.

Danny just got meaner and meaner, even though the welts and bruises were mounting and mounting...as a throng of hundreds screamed at all of the wild action, from just yards away. Bodies were flying, everywhere, as the intensity of this game, just grew and grew and grew...

Just a thunderous roar, of screaming and excitement, ripped thru the air, as Bob Howser of the Stiffs, went top-shelf, with a fleeting, wicked wrister, into the nets, giving them the lead, 1-0, on a penalty shot...after Thad had broken his stick across Dan's back, sending him flying...

That penalty shot score pissed off Thad, twice as much, with only 10 minutes left in the game, now frantically, bashing and bashing Danny, constantly, desperately trying to gain some advantage...but there would be no advantage that day...for Thad...

There, amidst the hazy, dark amber hue, of the fading gym lights above, on this cloudy Winter day, everybody inside was going crazy, absolutely bananas, banging against the metal doors and pounding on the wooden floors that surrounded the gym area...

Just a huge, almost deafening, commotion, not only because they could sense an upset...in the air...but because everyone hated Thad's guts...and loved every minute of him...meeting his match...that day...

As the clock slowly ran down...into the very last few seconds, Thad gave Danny one more brutal cheap shot that sent him sprawling to the ground...

Danny just struggled back up, and stared Thad down...It was a stare... of vindication...it was the stare of kicking his ass, despite the onslaught, he took upon himself, that day,...to withstand...

And as the buzzer sounded, the fans and the players of Rico Stiff's went wild, jubilantly jumping up and down...except for Dan...who just gingerly made his way off the gym floor, taking off his shirt, ever slowly, in quite a bit of pain, to reveal, just an ungodly amount of punishment, covered in red, red welts and dark blue bruises...he had to endure that day...

Anyone there that day witnessed one of the most intensively gruesome Field Hockey games ever held, anywhere, especially there at Carrol Park...

And anyone who got to wear that Carolina Blue, Rico Stiff's, Ashburn Park Field Hockey Champs jacket, got to wear it with a great deal of pride and complete satisfaction, that they would go down as truly one of the best teams to ever, ever play...the game...

Way to go...O's...!!!...You always got the job done...!!!

(as a foot-note...Paulie Collins would like to add that he played Defense mostly, but played Goalie in the Championship Game...and my brother Danny O's would like to add that he remembers shockingly that Paulie never wore his Carolina Blue--Rico Stiffs Champions Jacket...instead, putting it into a protective covering...preserving it, in its pristine condition...You figure, these days, that Jacket would provide quite a nostalgic link back at that heady era...when those, rock em', sock em' dudes, the Rico Stiffs, ruled the neighborhood, and commanded the respect, of all those who would follow...so rapidly unfolding, yonder back....in those unforgettable mid-1970's...)