Barry Love was the first high school basketball player in the Philadelphia area to score 50 points or more when he scored 54 points for the Overbrook High School Basketball Team in 1947. (Wilt Chamberlain broke Love’s record a few years later.) Love was captain of the basketball and track teams and won medals at… Read more »
Jules “Babe” Love has led a life committing sports to the service of Judaism and Israel. His single goal has been to show students that integrity, respect and high academic standards are more valuable than gold medals. Love attended Bartram High School in Philadelphia and made the varsity basketball team as a point guard his… Read more »
For three decades, Glen Macnow has been an influential voice in Philadelphia sports, through newspapers, talk radio, television and books. As a fixture on WIP, a hard-nosed reporter and author of regional best-sellers, Macnow has been an integral observer of this city’s unique sports scene. He also hosts the Philadelphia Eagles official radio pre-game show,… Read more »
Gary Martin, a native of Long Island, made his name in Pennsylvania by becoming a two-time Lacrosse All American for the Penn State University Nitanny Lions. He made his name in Philadelphia with the Wings, winning five World Championships: four as a player and one as a member of their coaching staff. Martin went to… Read more »
Sylvia Wene Martin is known as one of the greatest women ten pin bowlers in history. A winner of numerous bowling crowns, she was the first woman ever to rack up three perfect or 300 games in sanctioned competition. She rolled her first perfect game in March 1951. Almost nine years later, in December 1959,… Read more »
After tripping over a hurdle in eighth grade, Sam Mattis was told he would be a thrower. From that day forward, he became a track and field athlete competing in the discus throw. Setting the New Jersey state record from 2010-2012, he won the NJ Meet of Champions and the New Balance Nationals in 2011… Read more »
Contrary to popular belief, Sandy Koufax wasn’t the first dominant Jewish pitcher in baseball. That distinction belongs to Erskine Mayer, who made history nearly five decades earlier by becoming the first Jew to win 20 games and also pitch in a World Series, both of which he did twice. Mayer, whose father composed an opera… Read more »
Dave graduated from Overbrook High School in 1933. He found the ideal sport for his great size and strength by becoming a heavyweight weightlifter. He finished second at the 1936 U.S. senior nationals. That same year, he won a position as a member of the United States Olympic weightlifting team. At the Berlin Olympics, Dave… Read more »
When you think of television sports commentary and play-by-play in Philadelphia, the first name that comes to mind is Al Meltzer. “Big Al” has spent most of his more than 50-year television career in Philadelphia. A nine-time Emmy Award winner, Meltzer come to Philadelphia from his native Syracuse, NY, to join WPHL-TV in 1966 as… Read more »
Every day when he awakens and heads to the gym Dr. Ira Meyers reminds himself that it is a privilege to run. The allure of running is that it can be done anytime, at any place and with or without others. 1974 marked the beginning of competitive running for him with the appeal of competing… Read more »
