Elm City Legends

Local sports enthusiasts and fans will have reason to celebrate, and can help give every baby a healthy start on Monday, Nov. 9 when the March of Dimes presents the second annual Elm City Legends, an evening dedicated to recognizing the New Haven Region’s best in sports and community dedication. The 2009 Elm City Legends, an awards dinner that brings together coaches, administrators, media personalities, athletes and March of Dimes mission families, will return to the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.

This year’s Elm City Legends include Ed Aston (Head Coach, Cheshire High School Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming), Bob Dikranian (former Head Coach, Southern Connecticut State University Men’s Soccer; Assistant Coach, Yale University Women’s Soccer), Dick Gagliardi (former Head Coach, Hamden High School Boys’ Hockey and Yale University Men’s Hockey; former Athletic Director, Sacred Heart Academy of Hamden), Dan Gooley (Head Coach, Quinnipiac University Baseball; former Head Coach, University of Hartford Baseball), Jack Siedlecki (Assistant Athletic Director and former Head Coach, Yale University Football), Frank “Porky” Vieira (former Head Coach, University of New Haven Baseball), and Anne Worcester (Tournament Director, Pilot Pen Tennis; Chief Marketing Officer, Market New Haven). This year’s honorary Elm City Legends are Tommy John (former MLB pitcher; former manager, Bridgeport Bluefish) and Karl Ravech (ESPN SportsCenter Anchor/Baseball Tonight Host/Golf Commentator).

“Building off the success of last year’s sold-out Elm City Legends event, we are excited to announce another class of truly outstanding honorees,” said Chuck Menke, Elm City Legends Nominations Co-Chairman. “These individuals are pillars in the New Haven Region community and beyond, both for their accomplishments in the sports world as well as for their selfless contributions to improving the lives of others.”

Tickets for the 2009 Elm City Legends, which will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, are now on sale at marchofdimes.com/connecticut for $95 each or $180 per pair. Reserved tables of 10 are $850, and sponsorship packages are also available. For more information, please call 860-812-0080. All proceeds benefit the March of Dimes, working to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

2009 Elm City Legends:

Ed Aston
Head Coach, Cheshire High School Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming

One of the nation’s top head coaches in the history of high school swimming, Ed Aston has guided the Cheshire girls’ program to a national record for consecutive wins at 235 and counting. The team has not lost a dual meet since 1986. During his 34 years at the helm of the girls’ program, Cheshire has amassed a 382-19-1 overall record while collecting 28 league championships, 25 state championships and five state runner-up finishes. Featured several times by ESPN, the program has garnered seven National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) Dual Meet Championships. Aston also enjoyed an outstanding 33-year tenure as head coach of the Cheshire High boys’ swim team from 1974-2005 while posting a mark of 410-47-0. This run included 19 league championships, 18 state championships and eight state runner-up finishes.

More than 100 of his swimmers have become High School All-Americans, and over 90 have gone on to become captains of their college swim teams. Among the many honors he has received throughout his career, Aston was named the 2006 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year and was presented with the 2007 United States Sports Academy Distinguished Service Award. A former team captain at Southern Connecticut State University in 1969, Aston was inducted into the SCSU Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Connecticut High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2004.

Bob Dikranian
Former Head Coach, Southern Connecticut State University Men’s Soccer; Assistant Coach, Yale University Women’s Soccer
 

Bob Dikranian founded the Southern Connecticut State University men’s soccer program in 1966 and developed it into one of the nation’s finest. During his 21 seasons at SCSU, Dikranian produced a 227-94-31 overall record and an NCAA Division II National Championship in 1987. As head coach for 21 seasons before retiring in 1989, Dikranian's teams appeared in 14 NCAA Division II tournaments, including six straight trips to the semifinals from 1978-83. But it was his seventh trip to the semifinals – in 1987 – that will be remembered most as Southern won its first NCAA title, tipping Cal State Northridge in Tampa, Fla.
Dikranian will begin his fourth season as a member of the coaching staff for Yale women’s soccer. He previously served as a consultant to the SCSU men's and women's programs, and was an assistant coach for former SCSU player and coach George Kiefer at the University of South Florida. Dikranian has been a regional coach with the U.S. Soccer Federation; trained the Connecticut Senior All-Star Team; was head coach in the Senior Bowl Classic; and is a former member of the NCAA Soccer Committee. An All-America soccer player at the University of Bridgeport, Dikranian was among the inaugural class of inductees to the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in January of 1999 and was inducted into the SCSU Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

Dick Gagliardi
Former Head Coach, Hamden High School Boys’ Hockey and Yale University Men’s Hockey; former Athletic Director, Sacred Heart Academy of Hamden

Dick Gagliardi was introduced to the local athletics scene in 1946 as a participant in New Haven’s famed Lynn Patrick Youth Hockey Program, and his storied career has left an indelible mark on the area ever since. After becoming an instrumental head coach for Yale men’s ice hockey in 1965, Gagliardi furthered the illustrious Hamden High School boys’ hockey program after stepping behind the bench in 1987. He led the Green Dragons to a Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Division I State Hockey Championship during the 1988-89 season, as well as an undefeated and untied regular season in 1990-91. His final coaching record at Hamden High School was a remarkable 197-76-17, and he twice was named Connecticut High School Hockey Coach of the Year. In addition to 42 years as a high school math teacher, Gagliardi served 11 years as a visionary athletic director at the Sacred Heart Academy of Hamden.

A four-year letter winner in football, hockey and track at Hamden High School, he was later inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame as a member of its inaugural class. The future United States Marine entered Boston College on a full athletic scholarship in 1952. At BC he starred in football and hockey, while skating on the Eagles’ blue line in two NCAA Division I Hockey Championship games. In 1960 he joined the Yale University hockey staff as an assistant varsity coach and head coach of the freshman team, which he led to an undefeated and untied record in 1963.

Dan Gooley
Head Coach, Quinnipiac University Baseball; former Head Coach, University of Hartford Baseball
 

Dan Gooley is the architect of Quinnipiac University’s rise to becoming an NCAA Division I baseball powerhouse in the Northeast. Gooley, who served as head baseball coach from 1977-87 before returning in 2001, is the program’s all-time leader in coaching victories. In 24 combined years as a head coach at Quinnipiac and the University of Hartford, Gooley has accumulated an impressive 449-389-8 (.535) overall mark and coached numerous future professional players, including major leaguers such as All-Star first baseman Jeff Bagwell (Hartford) and reliever Turk Wendell (Quinnipiac).
In 2004 Gooley was named both the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year and the Connecticut Baseball College Coach of the Year. The following campaign, the Bobcats captured their initial NEC Regular-Season and Tournament Championships, before making their first-ever NCAA Division I Regional appearance at eventual national champion University of Texas. Enjoying a period of unprecedented success under Gooley’s leadership, the Bobcats later won the 2007 NEC Regular-Season Championship. A member of the Quinnipiac Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame and a former pitcher, Gooley is still the school's career strikeout leader (316), and ranks second with 20 victories and a 2.47 earned-run average. After graduating, Gooley also served six seasons as an assistant baseball coach at Quinnipiac.
 

Jack Siedlecki
Assistant Athletic Director and former Head Football Coach, Yale University
 

Jack Siedlecki’s contributions to Yale football as head coach are immeasurable after engineering one of the most amazing transformations in college football. Over the course of 12 seasons from 1997-2008 he led the Bulldogs to a pair of Ivy League Championships (1999 and 2006) and posted a 70-49 (47-37 Ivy) record. Siedlecki was named 2007 New England Sportswriters’ Coach of the Year for a second time after coming within one game of guiding Yale to its first perfect season since 1960. His 2007 squad went 9-1 and earned a top-20 ranking in the major FCS Polls after finishing 1-9 in his first season. The Bulldogs also owned a share of the 2006 Ivy crown after finishing 8-2 (6-1) with a 34-13 win at rival Harvard.
Siedlecki fashioned a .700 winning percentage as head coach and saw almost every Yale offensive record broken. Siedlecki's Bulldogs, who led the nation (both I-A and I-AA) in fewest turnovers twice, produced four All-America offensive players while helping to change the face of the game in the Ivy League. Siedlecki, who has 33 years of college coaching experience, compiled a 20-11-1 record at Division III Amherst College in four seasons and was the 1996 American Football Coaches Association District I Coach of the Year after winning the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championship. He had a 36-11-1 mark in five campaigns as head football coach at Division III Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute. Siedlecki is a 1974 graduate of Union College where he earned letters playing both running back and linebacker. Siedlecki retired from coaching in 2008 to accept a position as Yale assistant athletic director.
 

Frank “Porky” Vieira
Former Head Coach, University of New Haven Baseball
 

The University of New Haven boasts one of the most storied baseball programs in the history of NCAA Division II thanks to legendary former head coach Frank "Porky" Vieira. Vieira founded the program in 1963 and retired after the 2006 season with an all-time record of 1,127-324-6 in 44 seasons. That included a string of 42 straight winning seasons from 1963 to 2004. He is second among all-time Division II coaches in both career winning percentage (.776) and total victories. Vieira ranks sixth on the all-time, all-division coaching list for winning percentage and is one of only 29 coaches to ever win at least 1,100 games at any division of college baseball.
Over the program’s first 44 seasons, the University of New Haven earned 17 College World Series berths (15 NCAA, two NAIA) and was the 1989 NCAA Runner-Up to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which later had its participation vacated due to ineligible players. Under Vieira UNH produced over 75 professional players, including 10 who advanced to Major League Baseball. Most notable was 1987 Cy Young Award winner Steve Bedrosian of the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition to starring in baseball as a student-athlete, Vieira still holds numerous scoring records within the Quinnipiac University men’s basketball program following an outstanding career from 1953-57.
 

Anne Worcester
Tournament Director, Pilot Pen Tennis; Chief Marketing Officer, Market New Haven

Under Anne Worcester’s leadership for over 11 years as tournament director, Pilot Pen Tennis has brought significant economic impact to the City of New Haven while continually attracting top names in men’s and women’s tennis. Pilot Pen annually generates an average of 90,000 spectators and puts New Haven in the national and international spotlight with extensive television coverage on CBS and ESPN, as well as in 165 countries worldwide. In 2005 Pilot Pen Tennis became the first-ever combined tennis event for men and women leading up to the US Open and one of only five combined events in the United States. Previously, Worcester served four years as CEO of the WTA Tour, the governing body of women’s tennis and the world’s preeminent sporting circuit for women. Named to the CEO position at age 34, Worcester was both the youngest person and the first female to lead a professional sports organization.

Earlier, Worcester worked in sales and marketing at US tennis events for IMG from 1983-87, including the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, considered to be the fifth Grand Slam in the world. After a year in Spain managing tennis events, she was then named Director of Worldwide Operations for Virginia Slims Tennis from 1988-91 before being appointed Managing Director of the Women’s Tennis Council from 1991-94. In addition to her role at Pilot Pen Tennis, Worcester serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Market New Haven, working with New Haven partners to raise the profile of New Haven by positioning the city as a unique and attractive destination and exposing the City’s award-winning dining and world-class culture to new audiences.

Honorary Elm City Legends:

Tommy John
Former MLB pitcher; former manager of Bridgeport Bluefish
 

One of the finest pitchers of his generation, Tommy John’s 288 career victories rank as the seventh-highest total among lefthanders in Major League Baseball history and the most by any eligible (or formerly eligible) pitcher not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is also known for the revolutionary surgery, now named after him, which was performed on a damaged ligament in his pitching arm. Of his 26-year major league career, he is best remembered for his tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s. He was selected to the All-Star Game in 1968, 1978, 1979 and 1980, and played in all three New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers World Series of his era (1977, 1978 and 1981), winning twice. John finished with three 20-win seasons and a 3.34 ERA with 2,245 strikeouts in 760 games. He also finished second in the Cy Young Award balloting for both 1977 and 1979.
Beginning in 1963 with the Cleveland Indians, John made seven stops during his major league career, including two with the Yankees from 1979-82 and 1986-89. In the middle of the 1974 season, John had fashioned a 13-3 record as the Dodgers were en route to their first National League pennant in eight years, before he permanently damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm. Although it seemed unlikely he would ever pitch again, he spent the entire 1975 season in recovery and returned to the Dodgers in 1976. His 10-10 record that year was considered miraculous and John went on to pitch until 1989, winning 164 games after his surgery. John recently resigned as manager of the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League after two and a half years.
 

Karl Ravech
ESPN SportsCenter Anchor/Baseball Tonight Host/Golf Commentator
Karl Ravech joined ESPN in May 1993 and serves as primary host of the Emmy Award-winning Baseball Tonight (since 1995) and as a SportsCenter anchor (since 1993). He has hosted ESPN's coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series since 1995. Ravech has also hosted College Hoops 2Night, ESPN2’s weekly news and highlights show, and anchored ESPN’s college basketball studio wraps operation. In the fall of 2000, Ravech followed Tiger Woods’ quest for the Grand Slam while hosting ESPN’s golf coverage at Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Valhalla.
 

Prior to joining the network, Ravech served as weekend sports anchor/reporter at WHTM-TV in Harrisburg, Penn. (1990-93). His assignments included the 1992 Senior U.S. Open PGA Championship, Harrisburg Senators (Montreal Expos' Double-A affiliate), and Major League Baseball's spring training. He was nominated for a local Sports Emmy in 1990 and 1991. From 1987 to 1990, Ravech was employed by WBNG-TV, in Binghamton, N.Y., as a sports anchor/reporter with assignments including the 1988 U.S. Open PGA Championships. Ravech served as the sports director at NewsCenter 7 in Ithaca, N.Y., and as a freelance sports producer for WCVB-TV in Boston (1986-87), while attending college.
 

Elm City Legends attendees will enjoy an evening of Q & A with the honorees, a variety of dinner selections from local restaurants, live and silent auctions, sports trivia, and more. Jason Page, host of “The Back Page with Jason Page” on ESPN Radio 1300/1410, will serve as emcee.

Last year’s inaugural class of Elm City Legends included Larry Ciotti (Yale Football Assistant Coach), George “The Coach” DeMaio (News/Talk 960 WELI and ESPN Radio 1300 Broadcaster), Abie Grossfeld (U.S. Olympian and SCSU Gymnastics Head Coach), Gary Moore (Hillhouse High School Track Head Coach), Rand Pecknold (Quinnipiac University Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach), Joe Tonelli (former University of New Haven Assistant Baseball Coach and former Notre Dame of West Haven Athletics Director), and honorary Elm City Legend Mike Golic (Co-Host of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning and former NFL player).
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.