Remembering Doc Goldman

This morning at the beautiful and historic Cornell Boathouse on the Marist Riverfront, I attended the Memorial Service for former Marist Athletic Director and Physical Education Department Chair Howard “Doc” Goldman, who passed away last week at the age of 79, after a 2.5-year battle with leukemia.

When I was a student at Marist in the mid-1980s (1982 to 1986, to be exact), I really only knew Doc as the guy who taught phys ed classes and as the men’s soccer coach. I never had him for class. When I started coaching back in 1991, I got to know Doc much better. By that point, he was an old but proud soccer coach. He struck me as a thoughtful, extremely intelligent man.

As Professor Emeritus Dr. Louis Zuccarello said today, “Howie” (that’s what he called him) was one of the “sequoias” and “pillars” of the “old Marist,” who are slowly but steadily succumbing to the relentless hands of time. Several of those Marist pioneers have left us lately – Brother Joe Belanger, Old Professors like Casey and LaPiedra and Dr. George Sommer, the old-school English guy whose rigid rules gave me a greater appreciation for correct grammar and spelling. (Yeah, yeah, I know: Read this blog enough, and I’m sure you could find things that old Dr. Sommer would cringe at. Such as ending a sentence with a preposition. Or writing in fragments. Yikes!)

Anyway, Doc Goldman was one of those Marist Pioneers. He hits a little closer to home, because he was the Godfather and architect of Marist Athletics. The McCann Center was built under his watch. Please note that the McCann Center fieldhouse DOES have a track around it. Sure, it’s a hideous, 160-meter layout … but it IS a track, and it DOES beat doing intervals in the parking lot, or running circles around Donnelly Hall (as Rich Stevens had his pre-McCann Center teams doing back in the day). And, you may not know this, but the first indoor state track championship for girls in New York was held at … the James J. McCann Recreation Center track. Amazing, huh? Thanks, Doc.

I also remember Doc telling me, more than once, that he had the blueprint plans for an outdoor track to circle his beloved patch of soccer pitch known as Leonidoff Field. It never happened, of course, but I always sensed it was not for a lack of trying from Doc Goldman.

Look, I know ours is a sport that always seems to get the short shrift from athletic administrators – in high school, in college, everywhere. We always tend to have a collective chip on our shoulders – even now, in the days of traveling to meets in coach busses and a lot more meal money than we used to get. Long-ago Marist Running alums may not have the fondest memories of Doc Goldman, Athletic Director. I know that former coach Rich Stevens always spoke to me of battles in terms of budgets and getting vans for travel and practice, etc. In short, the usual.

Here’s what I know: Under Doc Goldman’s watch, the program that I now direct was created. When I was a young and insecure coach back in the early 1990s, Doc Goldman took an interest in my program, and was always supportive and encouraging. In his retirement, Doc was always gracious to me, with a smile, a handshake, a genuine interest in our program, and usually an extended conversation about something or other when I ran into him in town while running errands and such.

At today’s Memorial Service, a lot of folks spoke. It was really cool to see former Marist basketball coach and athletic director Ron Petro, who came all the way from Oregon for the services. Several of Doc’s former players spoke. They talked of a hard-ass coach with a soft side. They talked of a coach who made a lasting impact in their lives. Like many of us, they talked about the most memorable 4 years of their lives, when they were on a collegiate sports team.

Marist Running alum Jim McCasland (Class of 1975) gave an impromptu speech after Mr. Petro opened the floor for anyone else to speak. It was great to see Jim, and it took a lot of guts for him to go up there and speak in front of a large group of people who had no idea who he was.

Kudos to my Marist classmate Valerie Hall of the Advancement Office for putting together this fine event so quickly, and current Marist AD (and my boss) Tim Murray and his staff for doing their usual professional job in hosting this meaningful event.

The boathouse was filled with Doc Goldman photos and memorabilia. There were nearly 30 team pictures from old soccer teams, which gave me an idea – maybe a decade too late, but what the heck. We need to start taking team pictures every year, and I need to begin collecting them. That way, God willing, when I am an old and proud coach like Doc, I can look back at all the teams I have coached and have a smile. As I’m sure old Doc Goldman had today from above, as he saw how many lives he touched over his four decades in Marist Athletics.