Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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Rut times have changed since then. Many of the old-timers couldn ' t compete today. The game is just too fast. There were good skaters in those days, but not as many as there are today. My most satisfying moment came in 1949 when in a little rink in Colorado Springs, B.C. celebrated its first NCAA hockey championship. It was won by a handful of kids who only practiced 3 hours a week. But it wasn ' t so much the victory; you see there was no immediate whooping or shouting. One of the boys took time out to say, ' I think we ought to say a prayer of thanks. ' You ' ll never know how great I felt to realize that their values were straight. Coach Kelley has a definite philosophy about col- lege hockey. I wish to develop American boys in the game of hockey, and see them get a fine education at the same time. I ' m not against Canadian boys, but I resent recruiting them for the sole purpose of win- ning. I dislike professionalism within the college ranks. B.C. is perhaps one of the most spirited hockey schools in the country and is unique in that several gen- erations will attend a game to watch Snooks Kelley and company. The spirit is just tremendous. Their philosophy is that we can do no wrong, and if we lose they always have an excuse, be it exam time, the flu or Canadians. It ' s really a family deal. 221

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]tWi t If f -.?» Coaching to me is only an avocation. My real field, after all is education. But for 33 years one man ' s avocation has led B.C. hockey teams to over 450 vic- tories, eight New England championships, seven Eastern Championships, nine invitations to the NCAA cham- pionships and one NCAA title. John Snooks Kelley, the man who can rightly be called the Dean of College hockey, was graduated from B.C. in 1928, at the age of 19. He was born in Cambridge under the shadow of Harvard University, and has participated in anything that involves human- ity, especially youth. At the present time he teaches Social Studies at Cambridge Latin where he has been since 1942. The thing many people don ' t realize is that B.C. had a hockey team before the depression, and it was tops long before I came. I only took the job to see if I could resurrect something that once was great before the Crash. I played in ' 28 and I hated to see it pass out of existence due to economic conditions. Hockey came back with a bang in the ' 40s when B.C. reigned supreme. ' We went to the NCAA from ' 48- ' 30, the first three years of the tournament. We won it the second year with a team composed entirely of American players. The odds of that being done today are a million to one. We reached the pinnacle then, and I was satisfied. But the boys pressured me to stay on and I did. Now each year brings new boys and new challenges.

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Trainers Managers An athlete spends a few hours during his season in the color and excitement of intercollegiate compe- tition. He is drilled, tested, coached, outfitted, and trained for one end: to win athletic contests. The athlete must, however, spend many more hours in the tedium and occasional pain of practice, without a screaming crowd or a scoreboard to attest to the results. Behind the scenes at Boston College, players have the assistance and guidance of Jim Cronin, Fritz Mass- man, and Jack Tighe to make practice more meaningful and competition more rewarding. These valuable, self- effacing men, perform a service to BC athletes which makes them an integral and vital part of the athletic program. Jim Cronin has a little bit of everything, in sizes to fit everyone, stashed away in small quarters at Rob- erts Center ' s varsity locker room. The supply may never be enough — especially with football, track, bas- ketball, wrestling, soccer, skiing, and tennis competing for equipment — but the service is always good. Advice is always in stock. Jim Cronin specializes in everything from encouragement to chastisement, pro- viding sermons as they are needed. Cronin ' s stocks have all sorts of pads, cleats, sneakers, jerseys, and every ball imaginable; but more than equipment, his empo- rium dispenses spirit. Jim Cronin, now in his late 60 ' s, retired from business six years ago and has been working at BC ever since. His boys have gone out of Roberts well- dressed and well-equipped, but most important, ready to play. The details of traveling to New Orleans, Annapolis, New York, and points west are his respon- sibility with the aid of a staff of student athletic man- agers. Jim Cronin 222