Thanksgiving IS Tradition

– Steve Freker
Special to InsideMedford.com

Of all the holidays out there, and all the trappings of tradition that accompany them, Thanksgiving and tradition are the one and the same, especially if you are involved in sports and particularly if football is one of those sports.

Thanksgiving IS tradition if you live in Massachusetts and you follow high school football. There is nothing else that dominates the conversation, that triggers the anticipation and builds up to such a crescendo of emotion, mixed with anxiety, elation and sometimes, ending in sadness. It’s tough to say, but even if the team you back on Thanksgiving morning (or in some cases Thanksgiving Eve) comes out on the wrong end of the score, you still got something to talk about and something to look forward to for next year.

I can proudly say that my Thanksgiving high school football “pedigree” hits the 40-year mark this Thanksgiving morning, when Malden High travels to Hormel Stadium to play Medford in Game #124 of the ancient series. I was there for Game #84 at Hormel when my older brother, Jack, was a sophomore at Malden High playing under the legendary Bill Tighe, a historic year, since this was the final season Tighe would coach at Malden before heading off to Lexington, where he coached 39 seasons before retiring after Thanksgiving 2010, as the oldest active high school coach in America. It’s amazing how things come around again. Just last week, I was talking with Malden High principal Dana Brown, who was a classmate of mine at Malden High in the late 1970s, at the Everett-Malden game, and he told me that Coach Tighe was the guest speaker at the recent Malden-Everett luncheon hosted by Malden and Everett Kiwanis. “Sharp as ever, right on the money,” Principal Brown recalled, “It was an inspiring talk.”

I’m lucky that I’ve been to nearly every game since 1972 as either a fan, a player or a coach, and now, a fan again. I was privileged to wear the Blue and Gold for Game #86, #87 and #88 (I actually played one play in 1974, the highlight of my life to that point; saw a lot of action in 1975; and played most of the game in 1976). Over 30 years later, I can still remember most plays, if not all of them. Just this past weekend I was able to give the induction speech to one of the players I idolized that played on that 1974 Malden GBL champion team, John “Pops” Ruelle.

I remember well the Medford players of that era. The toughest of them all was none other than Harry Marchetti. He’s the former Medford High coach and now coach at Somerville High and the hardest-hitting and most relentless defensive player wearing that Mustang uniform I can remember to this day. What an animal he was out there. The legendary Armand Caraviello was the coach and guys like Richie Tenaglia and John DiMare were some standouts that I recall. Franz Eberth and Dickie Adie were some other former Mustangs I recall from those days.

We lost my senior year, 12-6. Medford came in winless at 0-9 but they didn’t leave that way. Not a tasty Turkey Day dinner that day, folks.

I was fortunate to be able to spend the better part of the next two-and-a-half decades as a Malden High coach, from the early 1980s to 1998 and those were great years, being able to coach alongside of my own high school head coach Paul Finn for 17 seasons, what a great experience. We always capped the year with the Thanksgiving Game and while we didn’t win them all, it was a memorable time of the year. Coaching in the 100th game in 1988 was a highlight I will never forget, nationally-televised with Bob Costas in studio interviewing former Malden great Carmine Cappuccio on national TV. You never forget that stuff. The next year my youngest brother Michael captained Malden to another Thanksgiving win, this one a cliffhanger, in 1988.

I made some great friends with lots of folks from Medford through the years and my association with the game, Bud Kelley, Mark Smith, Bill Buldini, all great guys. I even remember when another good friend, present head baseball coach Mike Nestor, scored a TD against us when I coached in Malden in 1994. He was a baseball player, but he still threw on the Blue and White during football season.

I started coaching football at Malden Catholic for the 1999 season and went right through to the 2007 season, but still made it to the Malden-Medford game most years. Even to this day, I keep ties with “The Game” as two of my close friends, Bob Maloney and Freddie Pizzi are strongly connected to the game with Bob as the Medford High athletic director and Fred’s son, Mike Pizzi, is a senior for the Mustangs and will be playing in his final game on Thursday.

Oh, almost forgot. Since 1984 I’ve written a story or two about “The Game” working for the Medford Daily Mercury and Malden Evening News.

It’s true what they say, too. Malden’s a favorite and Medford’s looking for the upset, but you really can say “throw out the record,” as it’s a true, new season in itself on Thanksgiving morning. I hope all the kids who play, the coaches who guide them and everyone associated with the game, parents, school administrators and fans, have as good and as memorable an experience as I’ve had these many decades. Happy Thanksgiving!

Steve Freker is a former player and longtime assistant coach for Malden High football. He is also the editor of the Medford Daily Mercury and Malden Evening News