Author Archives: Gordon Mann

What a family does together

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Amadeus Hall, Delaware Valley lineman

My last mental picture of Delaware Valley defensive lineman Amadeus Hall is watching him celebrate the Aggies’ conference title clinching victory over archrival Widener last November. Del Val had just clinched the team’s fourth consecutive MAC title. Hall had his helmet off, his long dreadlocks spread over his back and a smile on his face. He was one of several seniors soaking in the moment, enjoying the victory with his biological family.

If you extended the picture a little more, you saw the Del Val football family – the coaches, players, coaches’ wives and kids, players’ parents, loyal alumni and everyone else who surrounds a team. Standing on the field after that victory was like standing in the middle of a family reunion or a summer barbecue. Celebrating is what a family does together.

Yesterday many of those people came together again at St. John’s Baptist Church in Camden, N.J., to say goodbye to Amadeus who passed away at the age of 24 last Friday.

Though I’ve been Delaware Valley’s radio guy for years, I didn’t know Hall as well as other Aggies. I primarily thought of him as the tall guy wearing number 85 with a lion-like mane. Someone with the potential to put pressure on the opposing quarterback and an exuberant personality.

It seems like Hall saw himself the same way. His Twitter account has an action shot from his playing days at Del Val. He was buried with a tiny replica Aggies helmet over his left shoulder. The aunt who raised Amadeus finished her eulogy by invoking his college football career. “Always the beast, No. 85 forever.”

His aunt and others said a lot of other things about Amadeus I never knew. He graduated in the Top 10 in his high school class. He was named after the famous composer and fortuitously loved music. He planned to play football with a small semi-pro team in Philadelphia while finishing his degree at Del Val this fall.

At age 24 Amadeus had already overcome a lot. After his mother died of cancer, his aunt raised him in Camden, New Jersey, one of the country’s most dangerous cities. Camden had the second highest crime rate in the country in 2010 according to one source. It held the “top” spot in 2004, 2005 and 2008.

If Hall would’ve finished his bachelor’s degree, he would’ve achieved something that few Camden residents do. Just 6.8 percent of the Camden population has a bachelor’s degree. More than one in three residents lived below the poverty line at some point in the last five years, three times the national average. Somehow, with all those statistical and environmental factors working against him, Hall was within a few months of graduation. All of that coated his funeral with an unmistakable sense of lost potential. Hall’s life shouldn’t have ended last Friday.

And so his family – both the biological and the football kind – did the only thing they could do on Monday. Mourning is what a family does together. They celebrated Hall’s memory, cried together and said goodbye to No. 85.

May the Lord give you peace, Amadeus. And may that peace and comfort extend to all the family you left behind.

Looking ahead to Saturday

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Have you ever heard the phrase, “If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas?” In that sense, this week’s schedule looks like a holiday finger food smorgasbord.

If ONU beats Capital we could be headed for a three-way tie in the OAC. St. Olaf is undefeated but they haven’t played SJU or C-M yet. If Albion beats Hope, they’ll be in first in the MIAA but they still have to play Alma.

Conditional statements (if … then) make my head hurt and cause flashbacks to sophomore high school geometry class. So maybe we can get more clarity and less ifs and buts after tomorrow.

That being said, here are my two-cents worth (plink, plink) for this weekend:

Wish you were here: I’ve never been to Collegeville so a hypothetical trip to SJU-St. Olaf would be fun. But I’d pass on that to go to Ada, Ohio where No. 11 ONU battles Capital, who sits just outside the Top 25 and on the fringes of the playoff race.

No disrespect to Wilmington and Marietta, but this is probably the Polar Bears’ last major hurdle to the playoffs that doesn’t involve off the field decisions at the NCAA or OAC level. Capital needs to win to keep their Pool C hopes alive. After last week, I’ve given up making predictions for the OAC. But it would be fun to see how this plays out.

Don’t sleep on this one: Two sub-.500 teams try to keep their playoff dreams going. Bluffton gets Mount St. Joseph. Bluffton (3-4) beat Hanover who beat MSJ. Then again, Mount Union beat JCU who beat ONU. Elsewhere Albion hosts Hope (3-4) who will try to keep their MIAA title dreams afloat. (Hope floats…get it? It was a movie with — eh, never mind.)

I also suspect a rejuvenated Brockport team will give Orihel-ess Rowan a fight in Glassboro. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from any observers on either QB since both figure in their team’s immediate (Rowan) or long-term (Brockport) plans.

Most Likely Top 25 Team to Lose: I’m yet to predict correctly a result in the next category. Think Houston Texans bad. Think Houston Astros with runners in scoring position bad. Think Houston sports fans’ collective opinion of Gordon Mann bad.

But I’ve been solid here, even quasi picking Brockport over Wesley last week. So this week’s pick is…no one. They all win. Del Val and ONU get the biggest scares.

The Super Ridiculous Pick of the Night: We dole out the first automatic qualifying bid into the playoffs. Witt beats OWU. Earlham beats Kenyon. Wabash beats Allegheny. Little Giants, with tie breaker over Witt, clinch the NCAC.

Saturday Night’s Alright: As the days get shorter and the air gets colder, it seems like our selection of good Saturday night games gets more sparse. JCU hosting Otterbein is intriguing, but it’s not being webcast to our knowledge and 6 PM isn’t really night time. PLU and Willamette could be entertaining if the Lutes play an inspired game. You can catch both broadcasts off the scoreboard.

And don’t forget to turn your clocks back tomorrow evening. We’re a full service organization at D3football.com.