Columns

Gustavson Column: Let there be goal posts in Greenport

SUFFOLK TIMES FILE PHOTO
SUFFOLK TIMES FILE PHOTO

I dreamed this column. Or at least the top of it. And this is what I dreamed:

TROY GUSTAVSON
TROY GUSTAVSON

In connection with the recent success of the Greenport-Southold-Mattituck high schools’ varsity football team, I wrote a column predicting that the team would finish its 2013 season undefeated — which was something of a bold prediction given that the Porters went winless in 2012. (And please remember that this dream took place before the Porters suffered their first loss of the season in their homecoming game last Friday night versus Center Moriches.) And then, in my dream column, I said I would eat the paper the column was printed on if they didn’t finish the season undefeated. And then, in my dream, they lost a game (I don’t remember who beat them; please remember, this was a dream) and I ended up eating the column, newsprint and all.

Outrageous and highly unlikely, right. Well, not really. Longtime readers of this column may recall a time some 20 years ago when I really did write a column predicting that the Porters would finish their season without another win, only to have them win their next game and then have the immense pleasure of watching me eat the column, newsprint and all, in front of hundreds of jeering students in the GHS gym. For real.

I can only assume this recent dream was prompted by the unexpected and highly acclaimed resurgence of the Porters. They were unbeaten until this past Friday night, and the community has rallied behind them much as in the halcyon days when coach Dorrie Jackson’s teams were a Long Island powerhouse.

This newfound enthusiasm for the team manifested itself in a very real way at a recent home game when local building contractor Colin Ratsey and two representatives of Peconic Landing, president and CEO Robert Syron and director of environmental services Darryl Volinski, came up with the idea of raising money to replace the ancient and decrepit goal posts at Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field. (A friend of mine and I conducted an on-site inspection of said goal posts a few days ago and they are, in fact, ancient and decrepit, appearing to have been fashioned by the students in a pre-Dorrie Jackson GHS metal shop class.) Suffice it to say they are not the sort of regulation goal posts you would expect to see in this day and age.

Long story made short, Ratsey Construction and Peconic Landing vowed to contribute $1,500 apiece to the fundraising effort, and other community-minded individuals already have kicked in another $2,000. The Suffolk Times even has vowed to contribute a portion of upcoming subscription renewals and new subscription purchases to the goal posts drive, along with the ongoing drive to replace GHS’s outdated running track.

The ultimate goal for the goal posts is somewhere near $6,000, including delivery, according to GHS athletic director Jim Caliendo, who enthusiastically endorses this campaign, as does his superintendent, Michael Comanda. Oh, did I forget to mention that Ratsey Construction has vowed to install the new posts free of charge?

I know what you’re thinking: What can you do, personally, to support this worthy effort? Well, for one thing you can search for your checkbook, grab a pen and write a check in any amount you’re comfortable with to Gridiron Parents/Porters Football and mail it to Ratsey Construction, P.O. Box 398, Greenport, NY 11944.

Compared to the large chunk of change this community raised a generation ago to install lights at the GHS football field, this latest drive amounts to but a drop in the bucket. So, Let There Be Goal Posts! Not to mention: Go, Porters!

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