Unsung Heroes

Sunday was a great day for a football game. The sky was blue, the wind nippy, and the bleachers at Cabrini College's athletic field were packed with eager fans ready to cheer on their teams. But the heroes of the gridiron were not football players. They were the boys and girls of the high school marching band, the unsung heroes of high school football, who got their chance to shine at the Tenth Annual Marching Band Festival at the college in Radnor Township. Strutting to the boom of the drums and the blare of the horns, the members of the Garnett Valley Jaguar Marching Band, the Upper Merion Marching Vikings, and the Radnor, Penncrest and Upper Darby high school marching bands performed their routines under the scrutiny of four judges from the Mid- Atlantic Judging Association.

This is the story of neighbor helping neighbor, of Samaritans reaching out to strangers. It is the story of selfless volunteers who offer their time, their skills, their caring and their efforts to help their fellow man. They know that one person can't rescue all of mankind, but that one sincere person can make a difference. They do not do it for the pay, because there is none. They do not do it for the recognition, because there's little of that. They do not volunteer because they are bored and have nothing else to do. Most have job and family responsibilities, yet still find time to extend a helping hand.

Asked before the Penguins and Flyers resumed postseason hostilities about what might decide a series between seemingly evenly-matched teams, former Stanley Cup champion Chris Kunitz dodged the obvious. "It's usually unsung heroes," said Kunitz, a Penguins newcomer who went all the way with the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks. "It's somebody that comes through in the clutch that maybe isn't expecting to or brings the elevation of their game up. " Kunitz' observation might have been a cue to fellow Penguins winger Tyler Kennedy last night.

Sam Plaza spends many of his nights and weekends patrolling the streets of Camden with his network of CB comrades. They search for missing children, clean up overgrown lots, reach out to sick children in need of care. Plaza does it all on his own. Unpaid. Former Lt. Gilbert "Whip" Wilson, now retired after 26 years with the Camden Police Department, helped rewrite the definition of police work in the city. He was instrumental in developing the Community Oriented Police Unit, which works with residents on a grass-roots level.

In this Christmas season, I want to pay tribute to two unsung heroes who stood up to repressive regimes - and paid with their lives. One was Iranian, one Russian, and I doubt you've heard of either. Yet they represent many other lonely heroes around the globe who have held on to their values in the face of government repression, even though they knew it might cost them their freedom - or their very existence. Just as every country honors its unknown fallen soldiers, we should honor those who died in solitude and pain for upholding universal principles of human rights.

They were remembered yesterday in the steady thump of marching feet on a macadam lane. In the clopping hooves of a riderless horse. In the haunting bagpipe strains of "Amazing Grace. " And in the crack of musket volleys and a mournful bugle rendition of "Taps. " John H.R. Storey, Robert T. Kelley and Pinkerton R. Vaughn may be unknown to most people - the unsung heroes of another time, whose only monuments are simple headstones in a forest of obelisks and statues at Laurel Hill Cemetery, along Kelly Drive.

It's been a special season for Monsignor Bonner's football team. The Friars will play for the Catholic League championship for the first time in 26 years when they meet Archbishop Carroll in the league final at Plymouth-Whitemarsh at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Because of Bonner's regular-season success, the Friars dominated the all- Catholic League Southern Division team, placing 10 players on the first team. Two Friars who were not on the list were Brian Oakes and Mike Sweeney, seniors who weren't expected to contribute much for Bonner.

To stretch its unbeaten streak, Penn has had its share of game-breakers, go-to guys and defensive stoppers. None are named Rob Ginsberg, Michael Juliano or Warren Rosborough. But even though Ivy League accolades will pass them over once the season is complete, Ginsberg, Juliano and Rosborough - all seniors - are special to coach Al Bagnoli. They are the role players, the unsung heroes, the guys who must contribute for the Quakers to succeed. Ginsberg has been near perfect snapping for punts and field goal and extra- point attempts.

Twenty six scholar-athletes and 26 unsung heroes were honored at a luncheon yesterday in Glassboro hosted by the South Jersey Baseball Coaches Association. Keynote speaker Joe Galliera, Kingsway's athletic director, praised the heroes. "A team does not win without unsung heroes," said Galliera. "They're the guys that are at practice early, leave late, and are the leaders that make a team a team. " The unsung heroes: Dante Oriente, Bishop Eustace; Gabe Rosario, Collingswood; Ron Raynore and Fran Little, Overbrook; Brett Henning, West Deptford; Mike Ney, Buena; Jimmy Brining, Cherry Hill West; Russ Stupienski, Northern Burlington; Tyler Price, Winslow Township; Justin Ondrejka, Washington Township; Andrew Spinelli, Haddonfield; Mike Shutts, Sterling; Jake Gallagher and John Maldonado, Williamstown.

Eastern Camden County Regional inaugurated its Parent Recognition Program last week at the Board of Education meeting, and Noreen Wilson and Patricia Keating were recognized for their work with the school band. Wilson and Keating have volunteered to sew band members' uniforms and to raise large amounts of money for band programs. They have also served as chaperones and officers for several band functions. "Parents are often the unsung heroes," said Suzanne Gongol, principal and assistant superintendent.

Humble and unassuming, Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn does not like to talk about himself. Ask him about his confidence, the minutes he chews up nightly in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the tough assignments he draws, and Coburn is likely to deflect praise to his teammates. Ask Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, though, about Coburn and he will tell you about one of his team's unsung heroes through the Flyers' first five playoff wins this spring. "Since I got here, Braydon Coburn has been a rock," Laviolette said.

For Prep Charter coach Paul Rieser, there is no secret formula to the way he constructed the team that beat Central, 70-34, to win Saturday's Public League title game for the second consecutive year. There is no easy explanation for how a team rises so high above its competition that it beats league opponents by an average of 44 points, even though it doesn't have a junior-varsity or freshman squad. Part of his program's success, Rieser said, can be attributed to "the luck of the draw.

Here is a look at some of the best and worst in Sunday's Eagles-Jets game that deserve special mention and our award: the Inky. Inky for unsung defensive player of the game: He needs to work on his celebration, but defensive end Phillip Hunt recorded a sack for the second straight week and led the Eagles with six total tackles. Jason Babin's three sacks will get the attention - as they should - but Hunt's play over the last two weeks has softened the unrest over Brandon Graham's ineffectiveness.

The subject line of the e-mail read: "What a f- culture. " Well, then. The missive - and others like it - came Tuesday, the day I wrote about Doris Swarn, a dedicated young lifeguard at the Hartranft pool in North Philadelphia and one of many unsung heroes making a difference in disadvantaged neighborhoods. You know, the communities that folks love to stereotype, but God forbid they'd try to see for themselves. The cyber shooter went on: "I'm watching the 6 o'clock news and crimes by African Americans are taking up the first 10 minutes.

His career high in points is seven. He has scored two points, total, in four tournament games this season. So don't look in the box score for evidence of Steve Rodio's contribution to the St. Augustine Prep basketball team. Well, except maybe in the final scores. "He's the glue that holds us together," senior forward Charlie Monaghan said of Rodio, a 5-foot-8 senior guard and the son of Hermits coach Paul Rodio. Monaghan, who has signed with Division II St. Michael's in Vermont, and senior guard Isaiah Morton, who has signed with Division I Marist, score most of the points and get most of the attention for the Non-Public A state champions.

A GROUP OF community activists planned what they called Super Saturday in the late 1980s to launch a campaign to revitalize Columbia Avenue in North Philadelphia. The street, which later became Cecil B. Moore Avenue, was still scarred from the devastating riots of August 1964. It badly needed work, and the activists wanted the city to know that something was going to be done. Super Saturday was to be the launching event. The problem was, there was no money to make it into a real festival, with fun and games for the youngsters.

The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship By Denise Chong Counterpoint. 256 pp. $26 Reviewed by Jeff Gammage Whenever I visit Tiananmen Square, with its iconic portrait of Mao, I like to try to pick out the plainclothes police among the crowds of tourists. The security cameras are, of course, easier to spot. The square constitutes some of the world's most sensitive real estate. In her revealing book, author Denise Chong explains how it got that way. Egg on Mao: The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship is the tale of Lu Decheng, a bus mechanic with a rebellious bent.

They're cleaning out their desks at the District Attorney's Office. Seth Williams, the recently elected DA, will be taking over in January, and, as is customary, he will be bringing in his own team to take charge of the office. And so the incumbent old hands in leadership positions will be replaced. The departing senior prosecutors are stalwarts who have navigated three changes of administration over the last 30 years and, in the process, professionalized the District Attorney's Office.

In this Christmas season, I want to pay tribute to two unsung heroes who stood up to repressive regimes - and paid with their lives. One was Iranian, one Russian, and I doubt you've heard of either. Yet they represent many other lonely heroes around the globe who have held on to their values in the face of government repression, even though they knew it might cost them their freedom - or their very existence. Just as every country honors its unknown fallen soldiers, we should honor those who died in solitude and pain for upholding universal principles of human rights.

The wins won't stay in the win column, but the 76ers hope they will remain in their memory. Last night at the Wachovia Center, Sixers power forward Elton Brand hit a falling-away jumper with 7.0 seconds remaining, giving his team a 93-92 come-from-behind victory over the New Jersey Nets and keeping the Sixers undefeated through three preseason games. "We took it really seriously; they had their starters in and we had ours in," Brand said. ". . . I can definitely hit that shot, like I did. " His shot capped a flurry of top-this heroics by the Sixers that included a three-pointer from forward Jason Kapono with 57.5 seconds left, and a baseline jumper from swingman Andre Iguodala with 17.9 remaining.