Peter's Winter Sports

Best wishes to young Alex Hetherman as he continues to battle forward at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Alex is going through a heart procedure and had two big time visitors last week while in the hospital.

New England Patriot’s player tight end Rob Gronkowski made a special visit to Alex and made quite an impression on the youngster. The “Gronk” gave him an autographed game shirt and other signature items during his visit. Angela and Shawn Hetherman, Alex’s parents, were in disbelief when Gronk came into the room to greet their son. According to Shawn, Gronk is the biggest human being he has ever seen, and the Patriot tight end is a great person as well. Alex fed off the popular Gronkowski’s enthusiasm and positive attitude.

Imagine Gronkowski making his way through Children’s Hospital less than a week after the Super Bowl. The 22 year old underwent surgery of his own last Friday—on his ankle.  It was quite a gesture for him to reach out to the kids at Children’s Hopital (file under Class Act). Alex had another surprise visitor in Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn who gave Alex an autographed basketball. Tommy has been lifting kids spirits for more than a half a century.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Alex. Good luck!

Moving on to Overlook in Charlton: Former Nichols legendary football coach Mike Vendetti is rehabbing after surgery. Coach, who turned 80 last May, is looking forward to getting back home. Keeping his former players out of the Charlton facility has been impossible. Vendetti’s loyal assistant coaches, Ed Kunkel and Rene Langevin, have been keeping Nichols Nation up to date on the status of Vendetti. Coach Mike just lost his wife, Joan, in early January. It hasn’t been easy for the Vendetti family, but—as always—they continue to teach all of us how to deal with life. See you soon, Coach.

The 73rd Clark Tournament will begin on Sunday in Worcester. You can tune into WGFP-AM 940 and join Matt Morway and Pete Geanis for all the local games. The veteran radio duo has more years covering the Clark Tournament than anybody, and their experience and knowledge regarding the history of the “Clark” goes back to the seventies when Geanis was a freshman coach at Shepherd Hill before, eventually becoming the head coach. Morway was the Oxford ball boy back in those days which was also when the “old” Clark Gym was used. The Oxford Insurance Agency has once again stepped up to be a key sponsor for this special event.

The Oxford Pirates will play Littleton on Sunday in the small school quaterfinals at 2:45 pm while the Bartlett Indians will play North Brookfield at 7:45, also a small school matchup. I like both local teams to advance to the semi finals. Oxford is the best defensive team in the small school division and Bartlett is made for the spacious Clark gym which allows the Indians to run at the pace they want. Bartlett has the deepest history in the Clark among the local teams, and at the same time, Oxford has had its share of good experiences. Shepherd Hill will represent the locals in the large schools division. The Rams will play Clinton on Monday, Presidents’ Day at 6 pm. With Shepherd Hill’s enrollment being the largest in the Clark Tournament, one would have to say that they are the favorites to win it all this year, especially after upsetting Quabbin this past Sunday.

Good luck to all the local teams at the Clark Tournament.