Equipment Manager

Every game in the NHL, players have the equipment they need. For the Flyers, head equipment manager Derek Settlemyre makes this possible. Settlemyre also will make that happen for Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Opening ceremonies are Friday and the Americans' first game is Tuesday, Feb. 16, against Switzerland. "I do all the budgeting and ordering for all the equipment," Settlemyre said. "Everything you can think of I'm in charge of, maintaining all the equipment, packing it and taking it on the road, making sure everything is always with us. " In 1993, after graduating from Coker College in South Carolina, Settlemyre took a job with the Florida Panthers, where his father, Dave, was the head equipment manager.

Michael "Kid" Conway, 81, of Ambler, a retired Fairmount Park mounted patrolman who enjoyed a second career as equipment manager at St. Joseph's University, died of lung cancer and pneumonia Friday at Abington Memorial Hospital. He lived in Wyndmoor until moving to Ambler four years ago. Mr. Conway was inducted into the soccer and basketball halls of fame at St. Joseph's University, where he was equipment manager from 1965 until 1985. He was honored because of his attitude toward the players on Hawk Hill, said his son, Jim Conway.

Take one for the team. That's what right winger Rick Tocchet did for the Flyers last night. After seeing his ice time dwindle from 10 minutes to to six over the last several games, Tocchet asked coach Bill Barber to take him out of the lineup against Toronto last night at the First Union Center so that seldom-used defenseman Chris McAllister could get some ice time. "I just felt the role of the fourth line - it really doesn't play a lot, so I wanted to get Chris McAllister in the lineup," Tocchet explained.

John A. DiGregorio Sr. lettered in baseball and basketball for the Class of 1948 at what is now Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School. Though marriage and family responsibilities cut short his dreams of a life in sports, he worked part time in the region for one amateur and minor-league team after another. It took until he was 40, his son John Jr. said, to fulfill his dream of a full-time career in sports. Last Thursday, Mr. DiGregorio, 79, equipment manager for the men's athletic teams at Temple University from 1970 to 1994, died of stomach cancer at his home in Ridley Park.

John Pillar from Woodloch Springs Country Club in Pike County shot a 3-under par 68 and captured the Philadelphia PGA's Glenmaura Classic yesterday at Glenmaura National Golf Club in Moosic, Pa. Pillar's 3-stroke victory over Aronimink's Corey Phillips and Growcraft Golf's Jim Booros on the 6,910-yard course in Lackawanna County led a field of 74 area professionals in the section's sixth points event of the season. Bellewood's Tony Perla captured the senior competition with a 76. GAP JUNIOR BOYS North Hill's Doug Anders is top seeded in the 16-player field for the Golf Association of Philadelphia's junior boys' match-play championship, which begins this morning at Downingtown Country Club.

Cornelius P. McKenna, 63, the head equipment manager of Drexel University's athletic department, died Wednesday after a heart attack while he was on the job in the school's equipment room. Mr. McKenna, a resident of the city's Feltonville section for the last 35 years, died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was taken after Drexel trainers failed to revive him. John Semanik, the school's athletic director, yesterday called Mr. McKenna's death "a great loss" to the 12,000-student university, which offers 12 men's intercollegiate sports.

He could have been a Hornet. . . If only he had gotten past the first three days of a summer tryout camp with the first-year expansion Charlotte Hornets in 1988. He was 6-6, played at Duke, had a reputation as a defender. He was Billy King. "Ed Badger, who was an assistant coach to Dick Harter, let me know I wasn't going to make it," recalled King, now the 76ers' general manager. "They cut me on a Friday, asked me if I'd come back the next Wednesday to try out for a radio job. " And. . . "We did an hourlong talk show before one of the rookie games," recalled Hornets TV voice Steve Martin, then the radio play-by-play man. "He was gangbusters on the talk show, but once the game started, all he did was rip the referees.

It's the wrong ball. That's what Larry Jacobs says, and he was there. That's what Jeff Millman says, and he was there, too. Both believe the basketball, being auctioned until a 3 a.m. deadline today by Leland's of New York as the one the late Wilt Chamberlain used to score 100 points March 2, 1962, isn't what it's cracked up to be. That's the opinion of Jacobs, who was the equipment manager for the Philadelphia Warriors when Chamberlain...

  SORRY I MISSED you guys last week. With a late away game on Monday, I was overwhelmed with only a day to sleep, train, attend meetings and support an event for Eagles Fly for Leukemia, which helps children with cancer. It feels good to be on top of the NFC East. But it really does not mean anything to us at this point. There is still much of the season to be played and we cannot get ahead of ourselves. We haven't played the Cowboys yet, who seem to be on the up-and-up.

Orlando Woolridge says that's not really a number he'll be wearing on his 76ers jersey. It's "O," as in Orlando. It's also "O," as in offense. Never mind that the Sixers' second-half offense turned as quiet as a library in last night's 88-84 loss to the Houston Rockets. Still, offense is why the Sixers signed the 33-year-old Woolridge yesterday, hoping the 6-9 forward could inject some points, help create some flow. He managed six points on 2-for-6 shooting from the floor and 2-for-6 shooting from the foul line in his 14-minute debut.

  SORRY I MISSED you guys last week. With a late away game on Monday, I was overwhelmed with only a day to sleep, train, attend meetings and support an event for Eagles Fly for Leukemia, which helps children with cancer. It feels good to be on top of the NFC East. But it really does not mean anything to us at this point. There is still much of the season to be played and we cannot get ahead of ourselves. We haven't played the Cowboys yet, who seem to be on the up-and-up.

Every game in the NHL, players have the equipment they need. For the Flyers, head equipment manager Derek Settlemyre makes this possible. Settlemyre also will make that happen for Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Opening ceremonies are Friday and the Americans' first game is Tuesday, Feb. 16, against Switzerland. "I do all the budgeting and ordering for all the equipment," Settlemyre said. "Everything you can think of I'm in charge of, maintaining all the equipment, packing it and taking it on the road, making sure everything is always with us. " In 1993, after graduating from Coker College in South Carolina, Settlemyre took a job with the Florida Panthers, where his father, Dave, was the head equipment manager.

John A. DiGregorio Sr. lettered in baseball and basketball for the Class of 1948 at what is now Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School. Though marriage and family responsibilities cut short his dreams of a life in sports, he worked part time in the region for one amateur and minor-league team after another. It took until he was 40, his son John Jr. said, to fulfill his dream of a full-time career in sports. Last Thursday, Mr. DiGregorio, 79, equipment manager for the men's athletic teams at Temple University from 1970 to 1994, died of stomach cancer at his home in Ridley Park.

So this football coach at Delaware Valley College comes into your home, recruiting you, and he tells the story about having eggs and sausage for breakfast, and how the chicken was involved in this breakfast, but the pig was committed. He was looking for committed ballplayers. You might have wondered how far exactly the commitment goes the other way. But you can't anymore, not if you play football at Delaware Valley. Coach G.A. Mangus, in his third year, showed his players a couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon at King's College.

Take one for the team. That's what right winger Rick Tocchet did for the Flyers last night. After seeing his ice time dwindle from 10 minutes to to six over the last several games, Tocchet asked coach Bill Barber to take him out of the lineup against Toronto last night at the First Union Center so that seldom-used defenseman Chris McAllister could get some ice time. "I just felt the role of the fourth line - it really doesn't play a lot, so I wanted to get Chris McAllister in the lineup," Tocchet explained.

It's the wrong ball. That's what Larry Jacobs says, and he was there. That's what Jeff Millman says, and he was there, too. Both believe the basketball, being auctioned until a 3 a.m. deadline today by Leland's of New York as the one the late Wilt Chamberlain used to score 100 points March 2, 1962, isn't what it's cracked up to be. That's the opinion of Jacobs, who was the equipment manager for the Philadelphia Warriors when Chamberlain...

He could have been a Hornet. . . If only he had gotten past the first three days of a summer tryout camp with the first-year expansion Charlotte Hornets in 1988. He was 6-6, played at Duke, had a reputation as a defender. He was Billy King. "Ed Badger, who was an assistant coach to Dick Harter, let me know I wasn't going to make it," recalled King, now the 76ers' general manager. "They cut me on a Friday, asked me if I'd come back the next Wednesday to try out for a radio job. " And. . . "We did an hourlong talk show before one of the rookie games," recalled Hornets TV voice Steve Martin, then the radio play-by-play man. "He was gangbusters on the talk show, but once the game started, all he did was rip the referees.

John Pillar from Woodloch Springs Country Club in Pike County shot a 3-under par 68 and captured the Philadelphia PGA's Glenmaura Classic yesterday at Glenmaura National Golf Club in Moosic, Pa. Pillar's 3-stroke victory over Aronimink's Corey Phillips and Growcraft Golf's Jim Booros on the 6,910-yard course in Lackawanna County led a field of 74 area professionals in the section's sixth points event of the season. Bellewood's Tony Perla captured the senior competition with a 76. GAP JUNIOR BOYS North Hill's Doug Anders is top seeded in the 16-player field for the Golf Association of Philadelphia's junior boys' match-play championship, which begins this morning at Downingtown Country Club.

Despite an impressive high school baseball career on Long Island, N.Y., Dennis Helkowski wasn't sure how successful he would be at Drexel. Helkowski quickly made a good impression on coach Don Maines, batting .355 as a freshman. While the youthful Dragons (9-13 in the America East, 17-30 overall) haven't had a successful season, Helkowski, now a senior, is leaving his name in the university's record books. Among the career .360 hitter's marks are runs scored (213) and doubles (55)

Michael "Kid" Conway, 81, of Ambler, a retired Fairmount Park mounted patrolman who enjoyed a second career as equipment manager at St. Joseph's University, died of lung cancer and pneumonia Friday at Abington Memorial Hospital. He lived in Wyndmoor until moving to Ambler four years ago. Mr. Conway was inducted into the soccer and basketball halls of fame at St. Joseph's University, where he was equipment manager from 1965 until 1985. He was honored because of his attitude toward the players on Hawk Hill, said his son, Jim Conway.