Farewell to Dom

Anyone who is a Youngstown sports fan has to be saddened by the passing of longtime YSU baseball and basketball coach Dom Rosselli, who died Tuesday morning at the age of 93.

The Penguins basketball program hasn't been the same since he left. I know they made the leap from D-II to D-1, but there still seems to be something missing.

I can remember D-II playoff teams led by the likes of Jeff Covington, and old timers can recall the NAIA days when such standouts as Herb Lake Jr. laced them up for Rosselli.

Rosselli also coached the YSU baseball team and sent Dave Dravecky to the major leagues. He amassed over 1,000 wins combined in both sports, including almost 600 wins as the head of the hoops team. He also coached football as an assistant for 21 years under legendary head man Dwight ``Dike' Beede.

I never saw his baseball teams play, but his basketball teams were made up of guys who would run through a wall and never quit. Just like their coach.

I went to ``Dom Rosselli Day' a few years back and he still looked spry even at the age of 89. He still went to the games and looked alert.

His passing is almost like the passing of an era. Just thinking about it makes me think of those hardnosed teams and the man on the sideline who was leading the charge. We need more people like him, and not just in sports.