By Allison Goldsmith
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Photo by Jim Powers
Former Nantucket head cheerleader Roxana Viera holds up her cheerleading sweater at the NHA football gam.
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I&M Sports Editor
With the annual Island Cup football game looming large on Saturday, an all-star lineup of former Whalers, cheerleaders and present-day coaches gathered at the Whaling Museum last Thursday night to share stories and memories from their glory days.
Most paid homage to the tradition
of Whaler Pride and the impact it has had on their lives and the community. There were also tributes to head coach Vito Capizzo, memories of games against Martha’s Vineyard and the changing face of what it means to be a Whaler.
Hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association, island historian and attorney Bob Mooney and Capizzo moderated the discussion with 21 guest speakers who spanned seven decades of Nantucket football.
“These people put Nantucket football on the map before the rich and famous came around Brant Point,” Capizzo said.
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Photo by Jim Powers
Bill Ciarmataro speaks to the assembly at the Football Gam, hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association at the Whaling Museum, Thursday evening, Nov. 17. |
Among those on hand for the event included members of the 1980 Super Bowl Championship team and current coaches Beau Almodobar and Greg Moore; Bruce King, captain of Capizzo’s first Nantucket football team in 1964; Bill Medeiros, captain of the 1958 team; and Sam Thurber, a member of the undefeated 1940 Whalers team. Coaches Chris Bistany, Bill
Ciarmataro, Dennis Caron and Dick Herman and former cheerleaders Kim Ramos, Beth Morris, Missy Perry, Roxana Viera and Carol Walsh also spoke at the event.
NHA special events assistant Emily Pihl came up with the idea for the gam, as part of the organization’s interest in developing more programs at the museum for the year-round community.
“When I first proposed the idea I did not think there would be that many people speaking. I was thrilled at the attendance and I think the people who spoke were great. I liked the cross section of individuals Vito got together,” Pihl said.
“I think it’s a pretty tight family over the years of all the Whalers that have played, especially the guys I was sitting with (Thursday) night. I feel a connection to them through football. It’s a Whaler family, the Whaler Pride thing is definitely a brotherhood,” former Whaler and Tulane University player Brian Ryder said.
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Photo by Jim Powers
From left, Ozzie Small, Bill Medeiros and Sam Thurber at the Football Gam, hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association at the Whaling Museum, Thursday evening, Nov. 17. |
“Football was a big thing for us on Nantucket. We had something to do. Growing up with football was a big part of my life. If it wasn’t for football I probably would not have stayed in school,” said Medeiros, who scored five touchdowns as a fullback against Medfield in 1957. “Being an islander, no one traveled much. Parents working two jobs, it was harder than it is today. We had an opportunity to go off-island and meet other people and go other places.”
Those were the days where the football team and the cheerleaders would travel off-island on Friday night and spend the weekend with the families of opposing players. Those were the same days that Provincetown was the main rival.
Thurber recalled the first season of Whaler football in 1937. Nantucket lost all four games that year, twice to Provincetown and once to Falmouth and the Hyannis junior varsity. It was three seasons later, in 1940, that the Whalers went undefeated.
After a tough stretch in the 1950s, Capizzo arrived on-island in 1964 with a playbook, and the program would never be the same.
“It seemed like the practices were organized. It seemed like they had a real purpose. He did everything he could to change course, where we were going to games expecting to win, even though we didn’t,” King said.
In just three seasons, Capizzo turned around a program that rarely won a game into an undefeated team in 1966.
“It had an impact on everybody. For guys especially in those days, being on the football team was the thing. It became an important part of development, especially when Coach Capizzo came along because of his philosophy toward things and how hard he drove you. It was kind of like boot camp in away,” King said.
By the mid 1970s, the Whalers had developed into a full-blown football powerhouse, receiving the respect of the community and the admiration of other schools in the region. They had picked up Martha’s Vineyard as a new rival and a monster was born in the Island Cup.
Former coach Herman relayed some impressive stats to the crowd on Thursday. The Whalers won 23 straight games between 1979 and 1981 and between 1979 and 1984 the Whalers defense posted 31 shutouts and a 56-7 record in six seasons.
“Vito has made a great difference. He has given the island winning teams and showed the local boys how to become winners. He has given the island a sense of pride and spirit,” said Mooney who was a lineman on the first post-World War II team in 1946.
“I don’t know where I would be today without Nantucket football. It really made me who I am today,” said Almodobar, the second highest scorer in Massachusetts in the 1980 season. He scored four touchdowns in the Super Bowl that year, the first of a handful of Super Bowl wins for the Whalers over the next two decades.
Mooney recalled coming home from the 1980 Super Bowl on the night of Christmas Stroll on Nantucket.
“Right in the middle of everything, we sailed right up Main Street with a great deal of spirit,” he said.
The Whalers went to the Super Bowl in 1982 and 1983 and then again in 1990, 1993 and 1994, but wouldn’t win again until back-to-back titles in 1995 and 1996. From 1990 to 1996 the Whalers assembled a record of 68-9.
Despite all the memories of the Whaler Pride tradition, there was an acknowledgment of the struggles of the football program in recent years as the island and the number of sports programs offered at the school has expanded. The Whalers haven’t been to a Super Bowl since 1998.
“It has changed a lot. Back in our day, they didn’t have soccer, they didn’t have hockey. Everyone played football,” Ryder said, noting that of 56 senior students in 1986, including girls 24 boys were senior football players. “I don’t think as many kids go out for it anymore. I think the parents have changed a lot. Today the parents are a little more cautious. Some parents don’t want their kids to play football because they might get hurt. Back in my day, you just played football. Today they are struggling with numbers, competition with other sports and I think the way the attitude has changed.”
“It’s been a great thing for our kids, but it has diluted our programs a little bit,” former Nantucket Booster’s Club president Robin Harvey said.
“To be a Whaler is to have pride of Nantucket. It was to be a part of Nantucket and I have been happy and thrilled to have something like that,” Medeiros said.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com
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