Fordhamanhattan
December 20th, 2016, 01:17 PM
Having grown up two blocks away and played for the same Pop Warner Intermediate football team, the Greenpoint Crusaders, I was thrilled by the selection of my friend, Vinny Viola as Secretary of the Army. Our coach Jimmy Cavalero who was a Marine Vietnam veteran told Vinny that he had what it took for West Point. Vinny played JV football for West Point and went to Airborne after commissioning. He left the military when his Italian immigrant father who was a truck driver died so that he could properly support his mother. He sponsored the pre game party for the Fordham-Black Knights of the Hudson at Fordham Lincoln Center before the snowbound 55-0 Maroon loss back a few years ago. Having made a fortune on Wall Street, he is on the Board at Fordham which his sons attended and where he has funded a Theological Chair in Honor of the late Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles and a generous benefactor to his Alma Mater where he founded a Terrorism Research Center. Having Vinny in this position will bring added juice to the fray especially as Fordham alumnus General Jack Keane is an avid supporter of Ram football. Who knows but maybe President Elect Donald Trump who attended Rose Hill for his Freshman and Sophomore years might show up! The last time Fordham played the Black Knights of the Hudson, Fordham recorded its first victory ever in a series that dates back to West Point's first victory in 1890. The next day I went to Saratoga cashed a ticket on Greenpoint Crusader, a horse Vinny named for his old Pop Warner team. West Point is also the only other team that Fordham player Vince Lombardi coached. So the game will have some juice.
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