MARBLEHEAD — Mike Lynch made his message clear as guest speaker at the 74th Item All-Star Football Dinner Thursday at Tedesco Country Club.
“There are three different groups of people,” the former WCVB-TV Channel 5 Sports Anchor and Swampscott native said. “Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder, ‘what happened?'”
This year’s Item All-Stars made it happen, he said.
Some carried their teams to state championships. Others broke records and made doing so look easy. And there were those who overcame obstacles to help their teams reach long-awaited goals.
Lynch delivered an empowering speech that homed in on a handful of important topics. He made sure to let the All-Stars know that individual accolades result from team efforts.
“I hope that they go back and thank their teammates that helped put them in the position they’re in right now,” Lynch said. “Thank the scout squad, the guys that helped run the other team’s plays in practice. Thank their coaches. And thank their parents or any other relative responsible for getting them to games and practices on time, and making sure they’re in the best position to succeed.”
Lynch carries a special connection to the All-Stars. He was one of them in 1970, among the representatives of the Swampscott football team.
“I remember the great group of guys that were there,” Lynch said. “Dan Heaney of Saugus won the Player of the Year Award. I was just in awe of so many great athletes on the North Shore. I was honored to be just one of many of them.”
Lynch continued his career at Harvard, where he kicked the game-winning field goal in the 100th anniversary of the Crimson Ivy League rivalry tilt against Yale in 1975. But his high school memories have always remained special.
“You don’t think about it until the season’s over, saying ‘I hope I get the call, I hope I get the call,'” Lynch said. “It might have been (cartoonist) Hank Collins, he had this great sketch of every one of us and it was on one big poster board. We all got to keep it. I still have it on my scrapbook. I looked at it (Thursday) before I came up.”
This year’s Item All-Stars are St. John’s Prep’s Matt Crowley and Matt Duchemin; Classical’s Daniel Gisonno and Manny Guerrero; Lynnfield’s Clayton Marengi and Jack Ford; Marblehead’s Joshua Robertson and Tim Cronin; Tech’s Haidar Bdaiwi; Fenwick’s David Cifuentes, Matt Juneau and Chrys Wilson; Swampscott’s Dylan January, Graham Inzana and Zack Palmer; Revere’s Joe Llanos and Jonathan Murphy; English’s Ryan Dewan and Mathias Fowler; KIPP Academy’s Mike Brice and Dave Filias; Saugus’ Marvens Jean; Peabody’s Kyle Maglione; St. Mary’s George Percy; and Winthrop’s Bobby Hubert.
As the season progressed, a handful of area teams remained as the last few standing. St. John’s Prep and Swampscott won Super Bowls in Division 1 and Division 5, respectively. Fenwick reached the Division 6 Super Bowl. KIPP reached the Division 8 state semifinal. Revere advanced to the Division 4 North final.
“I enjoy the exuberance and enthusiasm of all the players,” Lynch said. “We went to Revere this year. I met Joe Llanos and head coach Lou Cicatelli. Every one of those kids came up to us after practice and thanked us. A little sneak preview, coming up this week I’m going to Swampscott, my alma mater, for a ‘High 5.’ That’ll be airing Thursday, Dec. 19.”
Lynch offered words of wisdom to the All-Stars as they move forward with their respective careers and future endeavors.
“You’re a leader,” Lynch said. “Set a good example. There are a lot of young players, not only in high school but there are many youth players and Pop Warner players looking up to you. When I was growing up I wanted to be like Barry Gallup. He was a big star at Swampscott. He was polite, he was on the honor roll. Set an example because young kids look up to you. Be a good student, a good citizen and a good role model.”