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TheForeword!
by P.J. Carlesimo
Numbers never tell you enough about a coach, but the
incredible
success enjoyed by Professor Ernest Blood’s teams of
Passaic High School
will certainly catch your attention. My father, Pete
Carlesimo, happened
to attend
St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark,
New Jersey, back
in the mid 1930’s when Prof Blood was on the faculty.
As a result, even
though we grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a few
hours away from
Passaic, New Jersey, where the Wonder Teams put up
those incredible
numbers, my brothers and I were often entertained by
stories, most probably
true, of a truly amazing teacher. Ernest Blood was
much more than
a coach, much more than a teacher, much more than any
single word
could ever hope to capture. To live and work coaching
basketball in the
metropolitan New York-New Jersey area for almost
twenty-five years
from the late 60’s to early 90’s, whetted my appetite
even more for
information and insight into this Jersey legend.
Finally, so many years
later, Chic Hess provides us a fitting, comprehensive,
and long overdue
look at this unique individual.
A successful coach in his own right, Chic has brought
an uncommon
dedication to his task on this meticulously researched
work. He took the
time to detail many of the obstacles that Prof Blood
confronted, not only
on the basketball floor, but unfortunately, as can be
the case, also off the
floor as well.
There will be many parallels evident to anyone who has
ever coached,
no matter what the level, that reading about Prof
Blood’s adventures will
certainly call to mind. I’ve long believed that the purest form of teaching
basketball is done
at the high school level. The skills of the players
are developed enough to
be able to perform at a reasonably skilled level, yet
the players are not so
set in their habits to hinder them from learning the
correct fundamentals
and new skills. So many of us who have been privileged
to coach or play
our great game were profoundly influenced by a coach
or coaches from
our high school years. In addition, so many of the
great high school
coaches were content to remain at that level,
inspiring a tradition of young
players growing up, aspiring to play for these active
coaching legends. To
a degree, their influence has been reduced by the
emergence of the
non-school basketball programs.
Fortunately, for me, growing up in Scranton,
Pennsylvania, I had the
opportunity to play for a coach of that stature, Jack
Gallagher at Scranton
Preparatory. Hopefully, there are still many young
players who enjoy the
opportunity to play for a Prof Blood; a Jack
Gallagher; a Morgan Wooten
from Dematha High School in Hyattsville, Maryland; a
Jack Curran from
Archbishop Molloy High School in New York City; a Bob
Hurley of St.
Anthony’s High School in Jersey City, New Jersey;
teachers of such
excellence that they continue to set a standard for
other coaches to
aspire to.
Prof Blood was one of the first of this special breed.
One of the
many interesting revelations in Chic Hess’s book is
how often the success
of his Passaic teams foreshadowed some trends still
recurring in the
modern-day game. For instance, how many school
administrators, athletic
directors, owners or general managers have cried for a
coach whose
fast-paced offensive style could inspire rabid fan
support and put “people
in the seats”? How many of today’s players cry for a
fast breaking,
pressing style of play that allows them to put
constant pressure on their
opponents? It’s easy to understand how the Passaic
Wonder Teams
captured the imagination of the entire basketball
public. Even all these
years later, it is almost impossible to comprehend
such an unparalleled
level of excellence. As is often the case with the finest coaches, their
teaching was not
limited to the gym or basketball floor. You cannot
maintain this level of
success without an appreciation for hard work and
discipline, an understanding
of sportsmanship and competitive ethics, and the
ability to
transmit these traits to your players. I remember my
father, who was
both a student at St. Benedict’s Prep and,
subsequently, returned as a
football coach, telling of Prof Blood and his cool
demeanor, the respect he
commanded from his players and students, and that rare
knack to be able
to teach and motivate and organize and truly
communicate with these
students. A coach can experience a degree of success,
even over a
period of time, but when you can repeat this success
consistently with
different individuals playing for you and when you can
duplicate this success
at more than one institution, then you are separating
yourself from even
the most outstanding in your profession. This is
exactly what Prof Blood
was able to do.
There are always obstacles, or perceived obstacles,
that can make a
coach’s job more challenging. These obstacles existed
for Prof Blood
and they exist for anyone coaching today. Some of us
have enjoyed
fantastic support from our administrators, our school
boards, our fellow
faculty members, and some of us have not. Parents can
be our most
effective supporters or our most divisive opponents,
intentionally or not.
The politics of educational institutions on any level
are no less ugly than
those we read about every day in our local, state, and
national governments.
Dealing with these obstacles, unfortunately, is a
critical element
of successful coaching. Prof Blood charted an
interesting blueprint for us
to learn from and follow. Yet, somehow, this great teacher has not received
suitable recognition
for all that he accomplished. It would probably not be
a recognition that
he would seek, but it is surely one he deserves. Coaches both young and old at any level will enjoy
learning of the
exploits of one of our earliest legends. It is sad
that it has taken so long
for someone to undertake the research and to have the
perseverance that
Chic Hess has shown in bringing this work to print. So
much of the
information in Prof Blood’s biography was little known
until now. The
author has not only done Professor Ernest Blood a fine
service, he has
told a story that basketball people needed to know.
Prof Blood and the
Wonder Teams: The True Story of Basketball’s First
Great Coach
says it very well.
ReadTHEReviews
“True
basketball fans everywhere owe Dr. Chic Hess a great
debt for bringing to light the story on one of the
sport's forgotten heroes. Just be warned: Once you
start reading this, you won't be able to put it down
until you're finished."
–Harvey Zucker, The Jersey Journal
"Out of context, the bare facts surrounding the
coaching career of Professor Ernest Blood are enough
to fire up the imagination of any basketball fan.
But when put in perspective, Prof and his Wonder
Teams from Passaic High School offer a fascinating
peek into a time when the game was just learning to
crawl.
Prof Blood’s teams never crawled. For example,
there was the night Thousand Point Bobby Thompson
scored his 1,000th point. "A hush fell over the
armory as the ball made its slow journey to the
hoop," writes Hess. "As the ball filled the
cylinder, the crowd erupted. Hats and coats were
thrown in the air. As women danced in the aisles,
boys did handsprings along courtside." The Wonder
Teams frequently scored 100 points while average
teams scored in the 20s and 30s.
In Prof Blood and the Wonder Teams: The True
Story of Basketball’s First Great Coach, we get
a thorough account that brings to life the legendary
159-game winning streak and the obstacles Prof
encountered maintaining it."
–Bill Handleman, Asbury Park Press
"The Professor Blood bio is a
great reading. Chic Hess had done a excellent
job of bringing to us the remarkable life of this
great coach."
–Bob Hurley
Coach of the annual national power
St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ
"No history of basketball is
complete with out a major piece on Prof. Ernest Blood
and this book provides it."
–Sid Dorfman, The Star-Ledger,
Newark
"Everyone who is a hoops fan
certainly is aware of the Wizard of Westwood, John
Wooden, and his many achievements at UCLA. But
not many are familiar with a New Jersey Wizard and his
Wonder Teams in Passaic, NJ, namely Professor Ernest
Blood. This text by Chic Hess is fascinating as
it details Blood's brilliant accomplishments plus his
passion for the game. The research by Hess is
mind boggling as he takes you on a journey with the
Wonder Team and its taskmaster, Professor Ernest
Blood. A brilliant story documented by many
specific incidents which provides you a complete
understanding about how dominate this Passaic, NJ high
school team was."
–Dick Vitale, basketball analyst
for ESPN and ABC
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