2019 Hackettstown Hall of Fame
Gerald DiMaio – Class of 1955
Michael Rossi – Class of 1983
Elizabeth Tillou – Class of 2010
Darlene Pratschler – Class of 1998
John Hughes – 1970 - Present
Frank Rodgers – 1990 - Present
Mark Painter – Class of 1999
Bill Dovas – Class of 1999
Brittny Boyd – Class of 2002
Anthony Rossi – Class of 1976
The 1925 HHS Football Team
The 1951 HHS Football Team
How does one go about being elected to the Hackettstown hall of fame? LOL
My vote goes to Calico ;)
I just found out that Marcus Stroman played on my high school baseball team and apparently was a local superstar back then.
All of the above are well worthy of Hall of Fame status for Hackettstown … funny to see the name Anthony Rossi in print … I always wrote about him as Tony Rossi.
They were Hackettstown's first undefeated and untied football team, coached by Albert Chilson. Reliable sources have told me they were really special :-D
Regarding Brittny Boyd, she set scoring records for a single season and career for Hackettstown in girls soccer, was chosen the area's Player of the Year twice. She also was a state qualifier in several track events. She had outstanding grades and was voted Homecoming Queen, too :-D...
oh, what does it mean, to a daydream believer and a Homecoming Queen?
Oops, that's for another HL thread LOL
And where did they end up in life these masters of the gridiron, these Gods of puberty? Was High School the beginning.....or the end?
Might be interesting given the current desire by many to end any extracurricular activities. I mean, we all know that most marching band members get advanced degrees ending up in the Federal Government where they still march in lockstep to this very day.
I've kept up with former HS athletes on LinkedIn … a lot of them are doing really great things with their college education.
Just for starters, Rootin Tootin Max Newton, an option QB who ended a 12-year Warren Hills win "streak" over the Tigers (one of H-town's biggest wins in my memory) went to Yale.
The college graduation rate for athletes from this area is quite good, I'm happy to say.
There are many ways in which people marginalize others, make assumptions that they are "less than" … it isn't just racism … the notion that athletes on high school teams are "dummies" is one of them.
And Doug Blake, perhaps the finest Tiger of them all, found time to study while playing football, baseball, and wrestling … he went to Princeton.

My grandfather was on the 1925 football team. 1926 Captain. On his HS graduation picture are his stats. Pretty cool stuff.
Sometimes in High School it's a maturity thing. My son didn't do well in HS and then made the deans list in college. Now he's got an associates degree and transferred to a D1 school with scholarships that pay 2/3 of his school bill. It's also a lot more work to be a student-athlete. Not only do your studies have to get done, but you're practicing every day, in the weight room early in the morning, and then in the Spring you're playing a 50 game schedule and traveling. You don't make it in college if you're a dummy.
Yes, I'm glad to have gone through life as a scholar athlete. One thing you definitely learn is time management skills.
I’m a dummy; I made it :-/. And again...
I think college athletes actually fare about average in grades and graduations and yes, some work harder. But not sure that much harder than those working jobs to get through. I would have rather been exercising than in the kitchen cooking their dinners.
But not the dumb jock stereotype. There really isn’t one. One of my fav’s was my q-back seemingly red neck buddy with a big curly afro haircut. Killer on the field, nice guy to all off the field. Black studies major, so weird. Not your typical for sure and think he went listed pacifist to boot.
Thanks for the illumination.
Well, anyone who has studied sociology understands there are lots of variables regarding how people turn out in life. Heredity, environment … I know from my own experience that sports turned some people around, who were going down the road of being good-for-nothing punks... to quote Kamala Harris, one of those people was me.
“Don’t you let nobody turn you around, turn you round....”. Stevie “guitar” Miller
Truer words were never spoken Andy
All I can add is:
A rolling stone gathers no moss,
Pride cometh before the Fall and,
Don’t track mud across my clean kitchen floor.....
Truer words :-/
@DannyZuko - Some of those Class of Dates are incorrect -
Mark Painter and Bill Dovas were 2000 not 1999.
Steve Laird
Todd Hoyt
Mike Cullinane
All excellent and deserving. They were main contributors on 7-8 league champions (football, baseball and basketball). They were all conference multiple years and on the all state group II teams.
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