March Madness Memory… 45 years ago this past weekend - March 26th, 1977!

March Madness Memory… 45 years ago this past weekend - March 26th, 1977!

This memory does not involve college hoops, but rather college rowing… The US Naval Academy Freshman Crew versus The Father Judge High School Crew.

If you were a member of the Crew Team and graduated in the class of 1977, '78, '79 or '80 from the Naval Academy or Father Judge then you remember exactly where you were on March 26th, 1977!

On a beautiful?spring day on Annapolis’ Severn River, the two crews launched from historic "Hubbard Hall" to compete in a series of heats. “The Boys in the Boat” from Father Judge ended up having an excellent day on the water. While a few of the races were “close”…?in each instance, the Crusaders of Father Judge were victorious over the Midshipmen.

Nota Bene: Due to Father Judge's proximity to the Naval Academy and Head Coach Phil Roche's reputation in US Rowing circles on the east coast, a good number of Judge Oarsmen ended up receiving appointments to the Academy. Teammates who did attend included Jim Grunewald, Ken D'Aurizio, Joe Nangle, and Tom Beck. All four men have made their respective schools proud as they have achieved success both in their military and civilian careers.

Once the shells were cleaned and stored, the “Judge Guys” were able to spend Saturday evening relaxing. This particular evening, the team had two entertainment choices in and around the Academy environs.

The first choice was to see a newly released film about a down and out Philly boxer who had been “gifted” a?“one in a million shot” at the heavyweight title.

The second choice was to see a British-American Band that had just released their 11th album. The first 10 had not made much of an impact, but the 11th (released a month and a half before, on February 4th, 1977) had signs of promise.

Who could have predicted on that Saturday evening that both “ROCKY” and “FLEETWOOD MAC’S RUMOURS” would become the cultural icons that they are today?

Here’s a little back story on both...

ROCKY’S Sylvester Stallone was a then unknown actor from Philadelphia, when shooting started in January of 1976. In what would be his first starring role, in a movie whose budget matched his lowly status, Stallone shared?“I walked out of the trailer the first time in those cold streets of Philadelphia and they said, ‘Sylvester, are you ready?’ And I said, ‘No, but Rocky is.'”

For Stallone, the shoot was as tough as Rocky’s 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. “We didn’t have the money to shoot a normal union film at that time in Philadelphia, so we would travel in a van,” he says, and the film crew would jump out whenever director John Avildsen saw a colorful location. They were working with a new tool – Garrett Brown’s experimental Steadicam, enabling them to shoot moving objects in an exciting new way.

“John has me going up and down steps, through these curved corridors along the river,” Stallone said. “One thing about John is that he would use the environment. We’d see a ship along the river and he’d tell me to ‘jump out and run as fast as you can.'”

The training sequence, pulled together from sites all over the city, looks funny to Philadelphians, who recognize that it takes Rocky over a course of some 20 miles in a few minutes. To general audiences, though, the scene is a visual marvel – the Steadicam tracking shots were brand new, and Rocky’s journey is a sprint through an urban landscape that is uniquely Philadelphia – gritty, quaint, industrial, modern, colonial, and finally,?atop the Art Museum steps, even beautiful. All backed by one of the great movie scores –Bill Conti’s classy brass sound, gladiatorial and stirring. The sequence is also enlivened by hundreds of ordinary Philadelphians, contributing spontaneous cameos. “He would have me. . .running down the street and people are throwing things at me. I had the orange thrown at me and people had no idea who I was. I was just some strange alien invader in a well-worn, tattered, baggy, incredibly ugly sweat suit running through their neighborhood, and they’re throwing things at me,” he said.

The theme song and the scenes Sly Stallone described above hold special significance as they became the motivation for the Father Judge Crew Team as we regularly recreated “Rocky’s Run” up the Art Museum steps carrying our teammates on our back! When we weren’t rowing on the river or lifting in the weight room, we were running along the river as depicted in the movie and up those now famous steps. NB: Philly "Favorite Son" Sly Stallone attended Father Judge's public school rival Abraham Lincoln High (located less than a mile away from Judge in Northeast Philly!)

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours?

Rumours?was the eleventh studio album by British-American rock?band Fleetwood Mac. released on 4 February 1977. Recorded in 1976, the band wanted to expand on the commercial success of their self-titled 1975 album.

Following the album's release, Fleetwood Mac undertook worldwide promotional tours.?Rumours?became the band's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart and also topped the US Billboard 200. The songs "Go Your Own Way”, “Dreams”, “Don’t Stop”, and “You Make Loving Fun” were released as singles, all of which reached the US top 10, with "Dreams" reaching number one.

Rumours?was an instant commercial success, selling over 10?million copies worldwide within just a month of its release. It won Album of the Year at the 1977 Grammy Awards. It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Domestically, it has received?Diamond?certifications in several countries, including the UK, Canada, and Australia, and has been certified 20X platinum?in the US.

Often considered Fleetwood Mac's magnum opus,?Rumours?has frequently been cited as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.?In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.?In 2020,?Rumours?was rated the seventh-greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone’s list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

The Boys in the Boat from Father Judge have been getting together more often as they reminisce about their time together in the “70’s". In August, 2021 in recognition of the 85th Anniversary of original “Boys in the Boat” from the 1936 Olympics, the "Great Eight of '78" got together. It was the first time all nine members were together since June of 1978.

(L to R) Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio (partially obscured) Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/ Kevin Cauley, 3/Tom Neczypor, 2/Tom Kowalik and Bow man John Hopkins.??Philadelphia, May, 1978

While they have been physically away from the water for many years, in their shared memories they're still "on the water and pulling ahead of the competition" as they head into the final stretch just before the Grandstand.

About the author - Paul McBride is a former Marine, and RVP at ZeOmega Population Health Management Software a leader in Care Management and Medicare Advantage software. He is also the Founder and President of American Military Society Press. You can contact him at [email protected]

The author examines a handcrafted oar as made by Tom Neczypor (three seat in the Great Eight) and boatman extraordinaire.

NB: An earlier version of this article originally appeared on the AMSP1775 website in March, 2017 on the 40th Anniversary!

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