Who is Corning's best athlete? The Crystal City has produced some serious contenders

This has happened on a number of occasions and this past week, it happened again. Walking out of my garage one night, it was my delightful privilege to see my friend Mickey Graham strolling down the street.

As often is the case when we run into each other, it’s never just a "Hello, how you doing?" type of conversation. When you see Mickey, those types of encounters are very rare indeed. And this wasn’t one of those brief encounters. So, you could say the stroll stopped at my house.

After exchanging salutations, Mickey, as always, asked me how my family was doing and what was the latest news with my kids. He has followed the accomplishments of many of his friends' kids and it always makes me feel special when he asks me about mine.

After the basic pleasantries, the conversation drifted to what it always seems to drift to – local sports. You see, Mickey has more knowledge and remembers so much more about the local sports scene than any other person that comes to mind. Don Allison (he of the Corning Red Sox and Elmira Pioneers memorabilia fame) comes in at a close second.

As is usually the case, Mickey had just come across an article that he felt was important enough to share with me at that time. It detailed a few things that occurred during a certain investigation a few years ago at Penn State University. No need to get into the particulars of that issue, but it did lead us to talking about some of the best athletes ever to come out of Corning.

Was Gary Wydman Corning's best all-around athlete?

Naturally, with the conversation about Penn State came a few stories about one of Mickey’s good friends, Gary Wydman. Although Mickey went to Northside High School and Gary attended Corning Free Academy, they became good friends. Mickey’s argument is that Gary was the best athlete to ever come out of the Corning School District. He was an outstanding three-sport star for the Bulldogs who went on to be the starting quarterback for Penn State in the early 1960s. He was unstoppable on the gridiron for CFA, but was also the best basketball player and an outstanding baseball player.

As Mickey says – he was simply the best at everything he did.

Keep in mind the discussion was about the best all-around athlete, not at just one sport. We’ve had a number of athletes who excelled at a certain sport and go on to play at the highest level. Gary Wydman filled that bill, plus he was also the best basketball and baseball player around the area.

Gary is actually one of the three surviving members of the Charter Class of the Corning-Painted Post Sports Hall of Fame. Of the 25 original members of that 1975 class, only Gary (football), Paul Colaccechi (who played baseball for the San Francisco Giants) and Ron Childs (basketball) are still alive. Check the Hall of Fame website for a list of the other people inducted that first year. Some great and very recognizable names.

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Or was it Dana Eckel?

My counter argument with Mickey about the best athlete ever was a dear friend, Dana Eckel, a 1973 graduate of Corning East High School. Dana was the best football player of his time (earning a scholarship to play at Duke University) and he was also a star on the basketball court (three-year starter) along with being the fastest guy on the track team. Won all the sprint events at every meet.

Since he couldn’t play baseball and run track at the same time in high school (not allowed by state rules), Dana played Babe Ruth League baseball and was one of the best hitters and outfielders at the time.

There was never a more fierce competitor on the field of play (or off the field of play, for that matter) than Dana Eckel. He had a fire that just could not be extinguished. He just absolutely hated to lose. After a couple of injuries curtailed his football career at Duke, Dana enlisted in the Marines and became one of their top notch pilots. He lost his life during a training mission off the coast of California a number of years ago. He was inducted into the local Hall of Fame in 2005 and, quite frankly, should have been enshrined long before that time.

How about the Touchdown Twins, or one of the LeBarons?

As we continued our conversation, a number of other top notch athletes got mentioned. Mickey’s good friends Bob Morse and Doug Benjamin, who dominated on the football field and earned the nickname of the Touchdown Twins. They also combined to practically win track meets for Northside High by themselves. Doug, or more affectionately known as ‘Nutser’, would take home the titles in the high jump, long jump and triple jump while Bob would win the sprinting events. Then the duo would both take legs in the relay races.

Another name that popped up was Gerry LeBaron. He was an All-League football player in the early 1970s and was also a three-year starter for the Corning East High basketball and baseball teams. His greatest accomplishments came after high school when he started playing softball. He was one of the most feared hitters in the entire Northeast as he led a number of local teams to state championships and to success in a number of national tournaments.

With the mention of Gerry LeBaron, you have to remember his son Brian, who was one of the most outstanding and accomplished football players ever at Corning East. He went to Syracuse University where he played in seven different bowl games. Brian was also an outstanding lacrosse player at East and also played the sport at Syracuse. He was also a mainstay on the East High basketball team. And like his dad, turned into a power hitting softball player. That father-son duo was inducted into the local Hall of Fame together in 1993.

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Let the debate continue

It was a great conversation, as always, with Mickey. His knowledge and memory of the accomplishments of so many local athletes really amazes me. He’s like a walking a dictionary of local sports. He’s always the first to mention or talk of someone else’s accomplishments in the local folklore of sports, but he has one accomplishment of his own that can’t really be beat. He was the first kid in the history of the Corning Little League to pitch a complete game no-hitter. There’s only one first, and that one bit of sports history is Mickey’s to keep.

We’re sure if this type of conversation is had with a friend of yours, you will both come up with a great list of names. And all names mentioned will be justified. That’s what makes sports fascinating. You can talk about it for hours and everyone has their own entitled opinions.

Anyone interested in sharing their thoughts, here’s my email – lfrench@stny.rr.com. For the record, negative stuff will be ignored.

So, the next time Mickey Graham sets out for a stroll around the Northside, he might better take a detour. Unless, of course, he has stumbled across another article he’d like to share with a guy who delights in talking about local sports and the athletes who have played them.

— Larry French writes a weekly column appearing in Friday's Corning Leader.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Who is Corning's best athlete? Let the debate continue