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Podcast No. 135: Don McAuliffe
Don McAuliffe will join one of the most exclusive clubs in the Mining City Friday night.
As Butte High takes on Missoula Hellgate in a Western AA football game at Naranche Stadium, McAuliffe will become just the 19th Diamond B in Bulldog history.
That means it has been 75 years since McAuliffe earned his varsity letter playing football for Butte High.
Friday night is Silver B’s Night. Players who earned their first varsity letter 25 years ago will become Silver B’s, while players who lettered 50 years ago join the ranks of the Golden B’s.
McAuliffe is this year’s lone Diamond B. He lettered as a senior, which was the only season he played football for coach Swede Dahlberg at Butte High School. (Click here to see a story about McAuliffe by Bruce Sayler on ButteSports.com.)
In 1948, McAuliffe earned first-team All-State honors at receiver for Butte High. He also played basketball, taking home an All-State honorable mention.
It was on the track, though, where McAuliffe really shined. He was an amazing hurdler. He won both hurdles races at the 1948 state track meet, setting a state record in the 120-yard high hurdles. The next year, he broke his own 120-yard record, clocking in with a time of 14.8 seconds. That record stood for 14 years.
McAuliffe went on to compete at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he set the school record in the 120 hurdles with a time of 14.4 seconds.
He was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
After transferring to the University of Idaho and earning a degree, McAuliffe joined the Army Reserves. He went on to a long career with Coors Beer, which took him to Golden, Colorado, where he lives today.
Listen in to this episode of the ButteCast as McAuliffe talks about playing for Dahlberg and how he vividly remembers Butte High’s win over Class A champion Butte Central after 75 years.
Listen as he talks about growing up in Butte, his 62-year marriage to a Butte girl and his military days.
Listen in to see that he still cheers for his beloved Butte High Bulldogs.
Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.
This is speech was giving by Joseph Toscano when McAuliffe retired. McAuliffe mentions it in the podcast. -
Butte Sports Hall of Fame now accepting nominations
The nomination period for the Butte Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be open from now until the end of the year.
Athletes must be nominated to be considered for the Butte Sports Hall of Fame, and only those nominated before the deadline will be considered. No exceptions will be made.
Those nominated in the last several selection processes do not need to be re-nominated. Re-nominations, though, can be made for the purpose of providing more information on a nominee.
Candidates who are 15 years or more removed from high school and have finished competing at their highest level of their sport are eligible for selection into the Hall. Categories are also available for head coaches, old timers (50 plus years) and contributors.
A public forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8 at the McQueen Club. The forum will allow people to make a presentation on behalf of nominees in front of the selection committee. All presentations will be strictly limited to 3 minutes. Letters of recommendation and/or short videos of support can be submitted to the Hall of Fame selection committee.
The 2024 inductees will be named in February, and the Green Jacket and Induction ceremonies will be held July 19 and 20 at the Butte Civic Center.
To submit a nomination, email as much information as possible to Bill Foley at foles74@gmail.com.
For more information, call or text Foley at (406) 491-3022.
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Little Kids Hoops starts Oct. 14
The Knights of Columbus Little Kids Hoops league will begin play Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Felix Madrazo Gym.
Games for boys and girls from pre-kindergarten through second grade go from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Games for players in the third through sixth grade go from 10:30 until noon. Hoops will be lowered for the younger players.
The league is free to all boys and girls, and players can show up to play week to week. There is no registration.
Players will be put on teams each week by Dan and Tom Boyle, who will referee the games and make sure each player is part of the action. There are no coaches.
The KC Little Kids Hoops program has been running for more than 30 years, and many of the boys and girls in the league turned out to be high school and college players.
The league will run on Saturdays into January, and all players will receive a T-shirt on the last day.
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Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield always put his team above himself
For some reason, I was thinking about Tim Wakefield on the night of Saturday, May 27, 1995.
Earlier in the day, we played the first round of the Memorial Day Tournament at the Highland View Golf Course, and we headed to the Scoop Bar for a night of fun.
I must have heard something or saw something out of the corner of my eye to make me think of the knuckleball pitcher who wowed the baseball world during the 1992 playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie former first baseman had his knuckler dancing as he won two games against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series.
I had seen some knuckleball pitchers before, but Wakefield seemed different. The camera showed us clearly how that knuckler was dancing, and it seemed to defy gravity.
It seemed like it would be easier for those juiced up sluggers to catch a fly with chopsticks than it would be to hit Wakefield’s knuckleball.
Wakefield was so good in his Game 6 win that some baseball experts openly pushed for the Pirates to start him again in Game 7. They actually called for Wakefield to make back-to-back starts instead of throwing Doug Drabek, who won the National League Cy Young Award two years earlier.
Had manager Jim Leyland listened, perhaps the Pirates would have gone to the World Series that year.
The next year, Wakefield posted a 6-11 record, and he did not pitch in the Major Leagues in 1994. It was like he fell off the face of the Earth.
“What ever happened to Tim Wakefield?” I asked my group of friends.
This was before we all had cell phones, and the internet was something we only saw on occasion. Apparently, I missed the pitching lineups in that day’s paper, too.
“The Red Sox picked him up,” my Irish friend Liam Maroney said. “He was pitching in Pawtucket.”
That, I thought, sounded promising. I would love for my favorite team to have that knuckleball as a weapon if they ever did make the playoffs again.
A few minutes after that, the Red Sox highlights against the California Angeles came on SportsCenter.
My jaw hit the bar as I saw that brand-new Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield pitched seven solid innings as Boston beat the Angels 12-1. Wakefield had the knuckler dancing as he gave up one earned run in the win.
I couldn’t believe it. In a matter of about 5 minutes, I went from wondering where Wakefield was to finding out that he had regained his knuckleball and was using it for my favorite team.
It almost seemed like a dream.
Wakefield went 16-8 that season. He posted a 2.95 ERA and finished third in Cy Young voting and 13th in MVP voting. He also helped lead the Red Sox to the American League East title.
For the next 17 seasons, Wakefield was a fixture in the Boston Red Sox rotation. He posted a record of 186-168 in Boston. He was 200-180 overall, with a 4.41 ERA.
In 2004, Wakefield helped break the Curse of the Bambino and give the Red Sox their first World Series title since 1918. It is no stretch to say that the Red Sox would not have won the World Series without Wakefield.
They probably would have been swept by the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
Wakefield was slated to start Game 4 of the ALCS in Boston. That is an assignment every pitcher dreams about. It is one that no pitcher in his right mind would turn down.
Wakefield was no ordinary player, though. He was as selfless as they come.
With the Yankees teeing off on the Red Sox to the tune of a 19-8 win in Game 3, Wakefield volunteered to head to the bullpen. Wakefield was always wearing his spikes.
So, Wakefield sacrificed his start the next day and gave the Red Sox 3 and a third innings of relief. He gave up five earned runs after the game was already all but over.
That beating that Wakefield took saved the Boston bullpen, and the Red Sox came all the way back to beat the Yankees in seven games. Sure, we remember David Ortiz’s walk-off hits, Curt Schilling’s bloody sock, Kevin Millar’s bravado and Derek Lowe starting Game 7 on two-days’ rest.
When I think of that great comeback, though, I think of Tim Wakefield’s selflessness.
Then, Wakefield got the start in Game 1 of the World Series in Fenway Park. It was not possible for me to be happier for a player I never met.
In 2007, the Red Sox won the World Series again, and once again Wakefield’s selflessness played a role. The knuckleballer was hurting. He could have tried to pitch in the World Series, but he knew that the team would be better off if he didn’t.
So, Wakefield pulled himself off the roster.
As the team was celebrating the victory in Denver, Don Orsillo, then the Red Sox announcer for the New England Sports Network, interviewed Wakefield.
That’s when reliever Mike Timlin came up to interrupt.
“I just want to say one thing,” Timlin said. “This guy right here, this win is for this man right here. Because he was not on the roster, and he showed so much heart by saying ‘I can’t be on the roster’ and it was good for the team. This is what of person is standing right here. I love this guy. I’m proud of this guy. It’s the hardest thing to do to take yourself out of the game for someone else. But he did it, and I’m proud of him.”
Wakefield’s eyes filled with tears as Timlin spoke. So too did the eyes of every Red Sox fan and every decent fan in the world.
I was lucky enough to sit in the old rooftop seats on the third base side of Fenway Park in 1998 and watch Wakefield’s knuckleball dance. I was lucky enough to see him pitch a couple of more times in Seattle.
One time in Seattle, I stood a matter of feet from Wakefield as he warmed up for his start in the bullpen. I wanted to say so much, but I stood in silence as I marveled at that knuckleball floating to catcher Doug Mirabelli.
As much as I loved watching Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield is without question my favorite pitcher of all time. He is one of my favorite baseball players of all time. He is one of my favorite athletes ever.
Years ago, I remember thinking of the celebrities and sports figures I wanted to talk to. No autographs or fawning. I just want to talk to them.
That list used to include Walter Payton, Mike Royko and George Carlin. With the passing of those legends, the list was down to Jim McMahon and Tim Wakefield.
I would have loved to sit down with Wakefield and tell him how much I loved watching him pitch. I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated his selflessness that helped bring my team championships.
But Wakefield died Sunday of brain cancer. He was only 57.
His death came just a couple of days after Schilling, a Hall of Fame knucklehead, ignored Wakefield’s privacy requests and told the world the former pitcher was sick.
Wakefield will be missed, even by the fans who never met him.
In an era where bat flips, touchdown dances and Deion Sanders are celebrated, Wakefield did things the right way. He always put his team above himself, and he should long be remembered as the ultimate teammate.
And Jim Leyland should have started him again in Game 7.
— Bill Foley, who would like to punch Curt Schilling in his big mouth, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 before that billionaire weirdo ruins it. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Podcast No. 134: Alicia Kachmarik
More than 23 years later, and it is still kind of hard to believe that it happened.
You better believe that you would never see it happen today.
It was Saturday, May 27, 2000, and Alicia (Wheeler) Kachmarik pitched Butte Central to the Class A State softball title while her eye was in the process of swelling shut.
Wheeler and the Maroons beat Billings Central 2-1 in the first championship game in Billings as Butte Central extended its winning streak to 52 games with its second straight state championship.
In the fourth inning of the semifinal game, Billings Central’s Kitty Earl-Reiter hit a bullet of a line shot back to the pitcher. Wheeler got her mitt up enough to barley tick the ball before it hit her in the face.
She was rushed into ex-rays, but she was back in the dugout before the semifinal game was over.
Then, remarkably, Alicia pitched the championship game a couple of hours later, and the Maroons beat Billings Central again. Between pitches, Alicia pulled down on her cheek to try to slow down the inevitable. Her eye was swelling shut.
Today, she would have been placed in concussion protocol, and her high school career would have ended with that line drive. Sure, that is the way that we should take care of our athletes. If they did it in 2000, though, we wouldn’t have the great story of a pitcher pulling down on her cheek — so she could see — between pitches.
During BC’s back-to-back championship seasons, Wheeler posted a 33-0 record in the pitcher’s circle. She was also a weapon at the plate, smacking a pair of hits — with her dominant eye swelling shut — in the title game.
Oh, and then she gave a valedictorian speech with a shiner straight out of Rocky.
Listen in to this episode of the ButteCast as Alicia talks about that day and that incredible Butte Central team. Listen as she talks about being a part of Copper City Softball, which is rebuilding Butte’s softball culture in an effort to see another team like the one Alicia played on.
Listen as she talks about going to college in California and starting her career working in the Bay Area. Listen as she talks about returning to the Mining City and how she still loves the sport of softball.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Kade Schleeman and Maddie Luedtke
Butte High seniors Kade Schleeman and Maddie Luedtke are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Schleeman, a 6-foot, 230-pound right guard, takes home the boys’ honor after the Butte High football team celebrated Homecoming with a 47-35 win over Missoula Sentinel at Naranche Stadium.
Schleeman and the boys up front led the way as the Bulldogs racked up 515 yards of offense. That includes 322 yards on the ground.
With their fourth straight victory, the Bulldogs improved to 5-1 overall and took over first place of the Western AA at 4-0.
Luedtke receives the girls’ award after leading the Bulldog volleyball team to a five-set home win over Missoula Big Sky.
Butte High overcame a 2-1 deficit in the exciting home win. Luedke, a 5-foot-8 outside hitter, spiked 17 kills and served three aces to lead the way.
“She has been our rock offensively and with her serving,” Bulldog coach Shane Jorgensen said of Luedtke.
Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, teamed up with the ButteCast to honor the finest athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Schleeman and Luedtke courtesy Alycia Holland Photography.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of Oct. 2.
Monday
7 p.m.— Hoopin Heathens vs. ButteSports
8 p.m.— Hoopin Heathens vs. Turbo
9 p.m.— Lovshin vs. Washington GeneralsTuesday
7 p.m.— Lovshin vs. ButteSports
8 p.m.— Logan vs. Baer
9 p.m.— Logan vs. Hoopin HooligansWednesday
7 p.m.— Boyle vs. ButteSports
8 p.m.— Washington Generals vs. Usual SuspectsThursday
7 p.m.— Parish vs. Usual Suspects
8 p.m.— Parish vs. Hoopin Hoiligans
9 p.m.— Baer vs. Turbo -
Podcast No. 133: Steve Stosich
Steve Stosich is part of so many team plaques from the Butte Sports Hall of Fame that he lost count.
Stosich was an undersized, but hard-nosed center and linebacker as Butte Central won the 1964 Class A State championship in football. He started three years on the gridiron for the Maroons.
After playing freshman football and then wrestling at Montana State, Stosich went on to a coaching career that is still going strong today.
In 1971, Stosich won his first State title as an assistant for Butte Central’s football team. In 2011, he was the head coach as Butte High won the Class AA State softball crown.
Along the way, Stosich won multiple football titles as an assistant at BC and Butte High. He was also an assistant coach as Butte High’s wrestling teams won 13 straight State titles. He coached track and field, guiding many individual state champions.
Before his teaching and coaching career, Stosich was an all-around great athlete, competing in basketball, football, track and baseball during his high school years. He was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Stosich is now an assistant in the Butte High softball program, where he works under his son, Ryan.
Listen in to this podcast as Stosich talks about the role his family, particularly his wife Mary Jo, played in his success. Listen as he talks about some of his high school teammates and the time he reached base against the great pitcher Dave McNally, albeit on a wild pitch following a strikeout.
Listen in as Stosich talks about so many of the great players he coached and the many great coaches he worked for and worked with over the years.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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Podcast No. 132: Josh Vincent
In the fall of 1991, Josh Vincent played fullback as Butte High proved prognosticators wrong by tearing through the season and winning the Class AA State football championship.
Vincent went on to play fullback at Montana Tech, where he was part of the 1996 NAIA runners-up Orediggers.
Josh also wrestled for the Bulldogs, and he played outfield and pitched for the Butte Miners and Butte Muckers.
But giving out his athletic accomplishments only scratches the surface when telling the story of Vincent, a valedictorian of Butte High’s Class of 1992.
Recently, Vincent was named a Distinguished Alumni of Montana Tech. He was one of three founders of Water & Environmental Technologies (WET), a local engineering firm with a great business model that is meant to last and meant to keep its headquarters in the Mining City.
Josh is also one of the biggest supporters of Montana Tech Athletics. He was instrumental in raising money for several projects that improved Alumni Coliseum. That includes seating, the artificial turf, the JumboTron and the new JumboTron.
You can usually see Josh at the Montana Tech Touchdown Club trailer cooking for tailgate parties at football games. Then he heads to the sidelines to cheer on the Orediggers.
Listen in as Josh talks about growing up in the Vincent household, getting straight A’s at Butte High, winning a state title as a Bulldog and nearly winning a national title for the Orediggers.
Listen as he talks about his work that led him to be named a Distinguished Alumni of Montana Tech. Listen as he talks about starting WET in 2000 and watching it grow.
Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warrantee.
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Seinfeld was right about the clothes
Too many of my life lessons were learned by watching the television show “Seinfeld.”
I learned a lot about fashion, tipping and social interaction from the situation-comedy that is still on television every day of the week.
For instance, I never agree with someone who is talking too low to hear, and I can never not laugh when I hear someone tell me they are master of their domain. Also, whenever somebody mentions someone being gay, I immediately respond with “not that there’s anything wrong with that” out of reflex.
It should have always gone without saying that there is nothing wrong with that. But when Seinfeld so cleverly pointed that out on episode 17 of season No. 4, it was pure brilliance.
That episode just might have opened a few minds, too.
One of my favorite jokes Jerry Seinfeld told was about sports fans. I laugh at it, and I have often quoted it. But I have never really followed his advice. I wish I would have.
“Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city,” Seinfeld said on stage during one episode. “You’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it. You know what I mean?
“You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player, but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt; they hate him now. Boo! Different shirt! Boo!”
There is so much truth to that. Sports fans live and die with the results of a team that is full of men or women who have absolutely no clue that they are alive.
Of course, high school sports are a little different. A good percentage of the people who pack Naranche Stadium to watch Butte High play football on a Friday night actually know a person who plays on the team.
In many instances, the players also know those people who paid to watch them play.
It is pretty easy to get carried away and yell at a coach or official when you have a personal relationship with the player being called for a foul or relegated to the bench.
That number is far less when it comes to college sports, where so many people lose their mind so easily.
It is almost non-existent when it comes to professional sports.
For instance, my fall and early winter Sundays have been made or mostly broken by the Chicago Bears for about as long as I can remember.
I once punched a dent in my wall when the Green Bay Packers beat the Bears on a last-second play on the last game of the regular season. I have scared my dogs, my children and my neighbors while yelling at the television about the typically awful play of the Bears.
I had the chance to meet William “The Refrigerator” Perry and Revie Sorey long after they retired from playing for the Bears. But I have never known a member of the Bears when he was playing.
If I were to die tomorrow, it is safe to say that nobody in the organizations of the Chicago Bears, Boston Red Sox or Boston Celtics would know. If you told them that I died, it would be the first that they have heard that I was ever alive in the first place.
So, why do I give up so much time and worry about how those teams do? Why do I hate the players who play on the teams that beat them?
The answer is simple. There is no reason. It is just silly.
Right now, there are only three NFL teams that I should give a rip about — the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons. That’s it.
If I was to die tomorrow, I’m pretty sure that Dylan Cook and Colt Anderson would feel bad about it. Dillon native Troy Andersen might remember me, too.
Cook and Colt Anderson are both former Butte High Bulldogs. Cook is now a backup offensive lineman for the Steelers, while Colt Anderson is an assistant coach for the Bengals. I could text both of them today, and they will get back to me.
Troy Andersen is a budding star linebacker for the Falcons. I’ve met him a few times and I’ve taken several photos of him for Butte Sports.
I do not have any member of any of the other 29 NFL organizations in my contacts list.
The same goes for the Red Sox and Celtics, the two other teams that have ruined so many of my days.
I got to know former Celtic Charles Bradley a little bit during the short time he was the director of athletics at Montana Tech, and I once interviewed Erik Bedard in the Seattle Mariners locker room when I was writing a story on Butte native Rob Johnson.
Bedard later pitched — kind of — for the Red Sox.
There is no way Bedard has any recollection of meeting me, though a Seattle scribe told me I got more quotes from him in one interview than everyone on the Mariners beat did the entire season.
Bradley might remember me, but he’d have to think about it.
So, why do we do it? Why do we hate the players on teams we don’t like? Why do we get so worked up and cheer so hard for or against any college or professional team when we don’t personally know the players?
Part of it is that our teams keep us tied to our childhood. I picked the Bears and the Red Sox because they were my dad’s teams. I picked the Celtics because I loved the leprechaun at center court of the Boston Garden. And because I was a bit of a front runner.
As a 12-year-old, I cried when the Red Sox blew the 1986 World Series. That made the World Series win of 2004 — when was 30 — so special.
I am pretty sure I cried when the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino, which would not have been done without the great play of centerfielder Johnny Damon.
Two years later, I hated Damon because he signed to play for the Yankees. He was still the same great player who played the game the way it was meant to be played. But he wore different clothes.
As an 11-year-old, I laughed all season long as the 1985 Bears shuffled their way to the Super Bowl victory. Like a gambler who won on his first hand, I have been chasing that feeling for the last 38 years.
So many summers of anticipation of a good season have turned into depressing fall afternoons because of the Bears.
When the Bears lost the Super Bowl in February of 2007, it felt like someone in my family died. It literally hurt for months.
That is amazingly silly when I think about it. Amazingly silly.
The other reason we ruin our days for a sports team is because we are cheering for the clothes. Or the name of the team and the logo.
Some Packers fans cheer because they think they actually own stock in the team, even though the stock is worth less than the hat they are wearing.
Why do people let it ruin their day when the players wearing the clothes they like lose a game? Or, more importantly, why do some people feel superior to others because their clothes won?
At 49, I am finally starting to see the errors of my way. I am going to try to no longer let the Bears, Red Sox or Celtics ruin my day.
Remember, I said “try.”
If I do slip and end up punching another dent in my wall because of one of these teams, though, I just want you to remember the words of Jerry Seinfeld.
I am a sports nut, and it’s not like there’s anything wrong with that.
— Bill Foley, who could never be accused of being a front runner today, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 before that billionaire weirdo ruins it. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 