Soccer crew celebrates its 50th Turkey Bowl
It started on Thanksgiving Day in 1969 as just another practice for the St. Anthony's youth boys soccer team. But the club’s coach, Joe Speca, stood in the middle of Radecke Field and enthusiastically proclaimed it, “The first annual Turkey Bowl.” While the Calvert Hall football team was getting the better of Loyola Blakefield this Thanksgiving, a huge collection of soccer enthusiasts — multiple family generations — were at CCBC-Essex playing their own Turkey Bowl, celebrating the event’s 50th anniversary with the Oldtimers claiming a 4-3 win over the Turkeys. Speca, now 82, a Highlandtown native who played professionally and with the U.S. men's national team, and Roberto Ascenzi were honorary members for the Oldtimers team. Lou and John Dino Mangione, and Frank Kujawa have played in all 50 games, and 16-year-old Pete Mangione was the youngest player on the field Thursday. PRO BASKETBALL: The Washington Wizards signed free agent forward Okaro White. White (6feet-8, 205 pounds) has averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 41 career games over the last two seasons (2016-18) with the Miami Heat. Undrafted out of Florida State (2013-17), he averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Seminoles. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native appeared in 23 games for the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat Affiliate) of the NBA GLeague during the 2016-17 season and averaged 18.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The Wizards’ roster now stands at 14, not including two-way players Devin Robinson and Jordan McRae. ... The Wizards ve assigned Troy Brown Jr. to the Capital City Go-Go, the team’s NBA G League affiliate. Brown Jr. was the Wizards’ first round draft pick in 2018 out of Oregon. He has appeared in five games with Washington this season, averaging 3.2 points per game in those contests. Brown, 19, is the fourth-youngest player in the NBA this season and will be the youngest player on the Go-Go. Brown Jr. was a standout on the Wizards’ Summer League team in 2018, where he averaged 18.4 points, the second-most points per game on the team, and 6.8 rebounds per game. COLLEGE BOWLING: Mount St. Mary's freshman Rebecca Dodson has been named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Dodson's frame average rose each day at the Hawk Classic, a three-day tournament hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore that featured six of the nation's top-10 teams. The rookie peaked during Sunday's best-of-seven baker play, averaging 21.15 pins per frame over the course of three matches. —