GOOD NEWS: The good news is, robins have been sighted. The bad?
They were in Parksley, Va. Al Barnes dropped a line to tells us he
had about 50 robins in his yard – “apparently they are heading
north early.”

He adds, “I couldn’t tell if any had been born in Bradford until
one called me ‘El’ rather than ‘Al.'”

ALL-ITALIAN: Barb Maletta dropped off a clipping from 1939-1940
with the headline, “Italian Boys Carry on Grid Tradition at
Bradford Hi: Susi, Nuzzo, Giordano, Maletta Figure in Present
Campaign.”

The story reads, “Outstanding Italian football players have come
to be a tradition at Bradford High School, and the Owls are true to
form this season.”

“To be exact, Bob Pflug has 10 Italian boys on the Owl squad
this year. The group includes Dominic ‘Boom Boom’ Maletta, Angelo
and Danny Susi, Angelo Nuzzo, Carmen Giordano, Mike Langianese,
Paul DiFonzo, Mike Pecora, Jim Ross and Frank Fair.

“History of Red and Black football, particularly during the last
decade, is dotted with outstanding performance of Italian boys.
Even as far back as 1914, the Owls had Carmie Lucco, who later
played at St. Bonaventure, at quarterback.

“The 1925 team, which won seven out of nine games, took its
orders from fiery little Patty Leo. It’s easy to recall that
Thanksgiving Day afternoon when Leo crawled between Center Juny
Clark’s legs for the winning touchdown against Olean.

“When the Owls were marching through the 1933-34-35 seasons
without defeat, it was Joe Bizzaro, Jimmy Nuzzo, John Thomas, Sammy
Sylvester, Frank and Homer August.

“Bizzaro still is recognized as just about the greatest
touchdown runner the school has known. He scored ’em from all
distances, including two from kickoff.”

The story goes on a bit more – then comes to a sudden stop.
Obviously, the rest of the clipping is missing. To whit: “And then
when the Owls were starting another three-year undefeated stretch
in – “

Included with the story was a photo which we cannot reproduce,
but can report on the caption: “Bob Pflug could field almost an
entire all-Italian team at Bradford High this season what with the
boys pictured above on the squad. They are Dominic Maletta, Dan
Susi, Angelo Nuzzo, Mike Langianese, Mike Pecora, Paul DiFonzo,
Angelo Susi, Jim Ross, Carmen Giordano. Frank Fair was not present
when the picture was taken.”