Krause: Agganis’ humility, humanity as impressive as his on-field achievements

It’s been said that even as a child, Harry Agganis, when it came to sports, was like a man playing with boys. It would be that way throughout his high school career. The man they called the “Golden Greek” was always ahead of the learning curve athletically.That was impressive enough. But even more impressive, he was ahead of the learning curve in the human being department. Those who knew him as a high school athlete (and every time one of his contemporaries dies, you get the feeling a bit of history has died with them) has said that as good an athlete as he was, he was an even better person.It is said that he was a humble, well-adjusted, normal teenage boy ? who just happened to be better than everybody else his age when it came to playing games. But what made him remarkable was that the feeling of superiority did not transcend to the rest of his life. He was, as one might say today, very grounded in reality.For example, while he had chances to go to far bigger and more prestigious colleges than Boston University, he chose the Terriers because he didn’t want to be too far from his widowed mother ? and because he genuinely liked their coach, Aldo “Buff” Donelli.The outpouring of grief when Harry Agganis died in 1955, at the age of 26, could have been because he was – obviously – much too young, and much too promising. The world was in front of him. All he had to do was take it.Fate intervened, of course, and he died of an illness that, perhaps today, he would have conquered easily. Even at the time, it was simply incomprehensible that someone so young, so rugged, and so golden, could simply die.But I like to think that at least some of that grief was felt because Harry Agganis was as genuine as they came ? someone that the city could be proud of not only because of his abilities as an athlete, but because of his attributes as a man.And it’s this ? his overall character, and not simply his ability to throw footballs and hit baseballs ? that we’ve been celebrating all week. The world is full of self-absorbed, affected athletes who aren’t just conceited, they’re convinced.But it’s rare to find someone who was so dominant AND equally willing to embrace all of the responsibilities that went with his unique gifts. That was Harry Agganis, and this is why an army of volunteers sets forth every July to make sure that the games played in his honor proceed smoothly. And this is why the Agganis Classics make up one of the most necessary of spectacles every summer.Tonight marks the 48th edition of the Agganis Football Classic. Football, of course, was Harry’s best sport in high school and college (it even says something about him that he turned down lucrative offers from the NFL because he wanted to excel in the more challenging of his two favorite sports ? baseball), and when it came time to come up with a marquee attraction to raise money for the fledgling Harry Agganis Scholarship Foundation in 1955, the most obvious solution was to hold an all-star football game.This year, the game makes its return to Manning Field after the City of Salem was kind enough to host it while the Lynn facility was being rebuilt. And what a fine facility it is, too. All the elements are in place for a classic Classic.If you’re looking for something to do tonight, go to the Agganis game. Some of the kids you’ll see will go on to play in college, and some of them will be putting on pads and a uniform for one final time.But all of them will automatically become part of what is now a 54-year legacy. And that, all by itself, is pretty darn cool, I’d say.While we’re on the subject of legacies, we should note the passing last week of Ray Sharples, who was, for lack of a better term, Mr. Everything for Connery Post 6 American Legion baseball.Sharples is one of the last real links to Connery’s glorious past – a pretty rich legacy that includes two legendary coaches in Nipper Clancy and Dick Champa. If you wanted something done in those days, Sharples was the one who