I still live in Ozone Park and I often run into former students.... and most ask about you.

God Bless you for your inspiration, graciousness and four caring about the kids. Many happy returns! Ann Sokolowski

This is the beginning of my year end letter to my friends and associates. I thought you should have a copy, Coach.

A Time to Acknowledge Source

Things ending are always an opportunity for new beginnings. The surge of energy associated with powerful endings is more a function of the space of completion than anything else.

I want to use the approaching years ending to complete my relationship with the most relevant of my many sources. There are many sources in my life that will not be mentioned by name. Each and every being that I have interacted with, directly or indirectly, have in some way, been a source of a part of my life. Your not being specifically mentioned by name may be a function of your having provided a perfectly transparent form of service. Please accept my transparent " Thanks!".

If I were to select the top ten of my sources at random and toss them in the air and let them settle into focus one of the first to crystallize in this
visual cortex of mine would be spelled H-A-R-R-Y O-S-T-R-O. Harry was
my high school football coach. When I look back on significant influences in my life the list always begins with my mom and dad. I was blessed with two great parents that loved and shepherded me during my early childhood years. Harry Ostro was kind of an auxiliary booster that I strapped on as I began my teen age era. He was a unique and most influential source of power for me during those very formative years. Meeting Harry has always occurred as a line of demarcation for me. Once you've met Harry (become one of Harry's boys ) life never quite looks the same to you. There is no place for losers in "Harry Land". Oh yes, there are times one may loose big in the big games played as one of Harry's boys. Harry's boys always show up as stand outs. They can be counted on to use their losses as springboards for propelling them in the direction of their commitment. They tell the truth and live by what they say. I seem to remember the sign on some locker room wall that said, "A Quitter never wins-and,
A winner never quits!"

Thank you, Harry, for being such a rock for me and for so many others that you have touched over the years.

Gerinamo! (Harry, You got your job done. We've got the ball now.) Herb Tanzer.

Dear Coach Ostro,

       I graduated Lafayette in 1954. You may think it strange that I am writing to you since I did not participate in any sports at Lafayette but I wanted to let you know that you even touched the lives of the students in the stands.  The success of the football team during my 3 yrs(52-54) gave myself and others a feeling of pride and a sense of being part of something that I would never forget. I guess in the year of my 50th graduation anniversary I sometimes sit back and reminisce about, "the good old days". When I do, one of the first thoughts that pass over my mind is that of Coach Ostro and his great football teams.

                                                                           All my best wishes,

                                                                           Bob Hliboki---Class of '54

Dear Coach,

As you might guess, I was surprised beyond words to hear Vico’ voice on my answering machine, apologizing for the call if I  was not the Herb Tanzer that, played football at Lafayette high school, graduated in 1950 and went on to play at Cornell on a scholarship. If , per chance, I was that Herb Tanzer he left me a N.Y. phone number to call the following morning. I could hardly wait to find out who that was on the other end of the telephone.

Thank God we are three hours ahead out here in San Diego so I could call bright and early the next morning. I couldn’t believe the tale that unfolded. Most of all I was thrilled to hear that you were still alive and very much kickin. Speaking to you on the phone was the high point of a great year that had many high points in it. It was as though speaking to you was a very special way for me to finish up a great year as it came to a close.

There are some things that I want to let you know before either one of us leave the planet (I am 71 you know!☺).

First, My life has never been the same since I met one Harry Ostro. There is seldom a week, perhaps a day, that goes by without you arising in my consciousness. You have occurred as a line of demarcation in my life. During the course of one’s life one may be blessed by an event or the meeting of a special person that kind of supports you in drawing a line in the sand for yourself. And when you look back in retrospect, you can see that prior to that event or meeting you were functioning at one level, and after that event or meeting,you abruptly began to function at a much higher level. A transformation had taken place. Coach… I can say with certainty that you have been that line of demarcation  for me and I don’t doubt you have been that for a lot of heavy-hitting guys that are heavy-hitters because they are one of Harry’s boys. Just think, Coach, there are hundreds of Harry’s boys running around the world making a difference. Being the kind of generative human being that you taught and trained us to be creates a standard as well as a possibility in the world.

Second, I have shared “Harryisms” all over the world in the course of the transformational teaching and coaching  I have been doing for the past 23 years. There are people in India that teach their children that, “A quitter never wins …and a winner never quits!” Really Coach! You should see the great Harry imitation I do. (You know you are important when people do imitations of you).

Third, I have been a winner in some big games and played with some world class players. I have had the privelige of coaching Prime Ministers, Admirals, ,Generals, captains of industry and world class athletes. It’s simple. It’s not that I don’t lose from time to time. It is that I get back up because I am one of Harry’s boys and “Harry’s boys” are always being winners. It has taken me some years to embody this ability to be with the paradox called being a loser and winner at the same time. It sure makes playing high stake games more fun!

Fourth, I have had a full life because you taught me to give one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time. If it’s worth doing …it’s worth doing one hundred percent. And , as you predicted, the only time I have ever been hurt is when I didn’t go for it full out..

Fifth, I have been trained by you in the kind of  spirit that it takes to be part of a high performance team. I have learned a great deal of  what you need to do to function as part of a real team from other sources. There is a difference. Playing on one of your teams I experienced that special kind of spirit  in a very special way.  

Sixth, It was half time during the Brooklyn Tech game and we were losing 7 to 6. Worse yet, we had been inside their one yard line at least three times in the second quarter and couldn’t push it over. ( That damn Koofy went off side on at least one called back touchdown.☻). I can hear your words as clearly as if I was sitting on that concrete  floor in the  Ebbits Field locker room, sucking on half an orange right now. You said, “You can win every other game you play in for the rest of your life. But if you lose this one 7to 6 you will never forget it.”  We lost.  Coach…I haven’t forgotten that day or your prophecy. What’s more important, I want you to know I don’t ever lose 7to 6. As  a matter of fact, no one around me would even think of loosing 7 to 6.

When I reflect back on my life I realize what a lucky kid I was to be born into a great family with an outstanding mother and father. They really loved me and did a great job of launching me into life. Meeting up with you was like strapping on a powerful  auxiliary booster that propelled me into the world as a fully self-expressed human being.

I could write much more. However, words seem to be an inadequate medium to express my appreciation for the lasting contribution you have been in my life. So I will end for the moment with a simple and  profound: Thank You. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for  your partnership. And, most of all thank you for the stand that you always were for Herby.

I love you,

   Herb Tanzer

Hi Coach,
Billy Romano sent me your e-mail address, we met again at his rooftop party two years ago. I don't think you will remember me, I was the manager in 1953, graduated in the year of 1954. I was with Peter Julo ,Ray Cafeiro, Vinny Tritto, Mike Head, Gino, the Greek, Monte, Harpo, Ronzino, etc. I was in all the teams photo's. You gave me my first paying job at the jch as a locker boy, you suggested I come out to help the team, as a manager. What an experience is was for me, too be part of the undefeated football teams of the fifties. Because of you, I made friendships on the team that have lasted me a lifetime. Thanks for the memories, thanks for enriching my life.

Jerry Gordon
class of 1954
presently living in the great state of Florida

Dear Coach,
     Your memory is not that good--nor were my feeble efforts on the football field that memorable--for you to really remember me. After all, we're talking about the passage of 53 odd years. (And they were odd, but more about that in a minute.) But do I ever remember you!
     I can recall as if it were yesterday, that late summer day I reported for practice on a brown bare field to which grass would never find a home. I was sixteen years old; a skinny kid, with thin legs atop thinner ankles; narrow shoulders and, as I review photos of that time, a sunken chest. Not a great prospect, to be sure. Only time would bear out that initial assessment.
     Nonetheless, you accepted me on the squad. I got a Lafayette football uniform, shoulder pads, hip pads, a leather helmet, and a cup for my jock. And with that cup, I felt like a football player--all 155 pounds of me. Watch out, Glen Davis, here comes Uhlberg. Oh, yeah, that goes for you too Darienzo.
     That was a brutal end-of-summer inauguration into the world of Coach Harry Ostro; the toughest man--physically and mentally--that I would ever meet in this lifetime. And it was the introduction into my barely emerging intellect of the intoxicating--albeit confusing, at times perplexing--Coach's world of aphorisms, maxims, apothegms, epigrams, dictums, adages, proverbs; and now and then, a metaphor or two for good measure. But, Coach, even when we didn't get it--we were enlightened, and surely entertained; that is, when we weren't down right terrified.
     At the end of that summer of my sixteenth year, I no longer had thoughts of the Heisman. Or Davis. Or Darienzo. My entire world had shrunk down to just one question: would I live to see the end of this summer?! 15 pounds later, with lips that learned the meaning of "parch," and with a uniform that no longer fit, you accepted me as a member of the squad--the last member, to be sure. "But, Uhlberg, don't worry. Your time will come."
     It's a credit to Joe Darienzo's incredible skills, that he failed to notice me for two years. And a credit to Coach's humanity (pity?) that he let me remain on the team. Oh, I had my uses in Coach's scheme of things. I was designated as Joe's back-up. I stood in for him at practice each week prior to the next Saturday's game. Coach wanted to see if our first team had learned all of our opponents tricks. The tricks and slants and subterfuge that they would employ to get at our team's star: Joe D. "Try your best." Coach exhorted the mock opponents. Do your best to destroy our offensive line; decimate our blockers in the backfield; destroy our tailback Joe Darienzo--who for the moment, will be Uhlberg!"
     Coach, as you know, you never had to say anything to us twice. There I stood, poised behind Gene Roth elevated behind, ready for the snap--my eyes locked on 22 pairs of eyes, in which I could read one burning thought; "Kill Uhlberg! Coach said so!!!" However, I was thankful for the opportunity to offer up my body in the exalted task of ultimately perfecting our first teams ability to decipher the opponents stratagems, so as to protect  Darienzo, at all costs, the following Saturday.
     "Don't worry, Uhlberg," you said, as 11 players slowly got off my body, "Your time will come!"
    And don't you know it, but you were right. As promised, it did.
     The last game of the year. Our hated cross-town rival, New Utreich. Joe D's final game. And the night before, unbeknownst to all of us, Joe D falls down a flight of stairs and lands, passing hand first, on a broken milk bottle. Game time. And here comes Joe D into the locker room, coat thrown over his shoulders, hand wrapped in three miles of gauze. "UHLBERG!!! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?" you whispered in the locker room. GET OUT HERE!!! WE NEED YOU!" "me?" I said. "YOU," you said.
     One by one the first team came over to my locker to tell me I would be all right, and they would protect me, just as they did for Joe D. "Good luck," Mike Kimek said, towering over me. "What did you say your name was?" And so it went, 9 first stringers wishing me well, promising to protect me, as they had done for Joe D--and not one of them knew my name. The  only exception was Gene Roth, but even he was at first confused, since he had only seen me previously--week after week--upside down. And here I was, right side up. "Good luck," he said.
     Coach, you had faith in me. But how misguided you were. I played in a daze. All I recall is Joe D striding up and down the sidelines, yelling at me. "What in God's name, do you think you're doing, Uhlberg." And in-between plays, mumbling, "Pathetic. Pathetic." Joe D always did have a superior vocabulary.
     But, you stuck with me. Then again, you had little choice, as we were not very deep in the tail back department. I recall I completed 15 passes in a row, with style and grace--all to a new Utrecht's defensive back field man. My accuracy was uncanny. I had always said, when you asked me, Coach, that a good end is what made a good quarterback. I wasn't being facetious (so there, Joe D, looking down at this, you were not the only one with a vocabulary in those ancient days). But on this wondrous Saturday afternoon, I learned the great lesson that a defensive back makes for a good receiver as well.
     And so it went. Play after play. Frustration, disappointment, and a sense of impending doom. New Utrecht scores. 7-0. Kimeck plows over from the one. 7-7. Fourth quarter. Bare minutes remain. My deaf father, who you always so graciously let roam the sidelines, exhorting me--in sign language--to stop embarrassing him, the Coach, and all the Uhlberg's who still lived on the steppes of Russia, as well as all the Uhlberg's living and dead, wherever they may be. And in sign language: "Get your ass in gear, and DO SOMETHING!!!"
     It was then, Coach, you pulled a play out of your hat (cap?). Since I had been doing everything backwards all afternoon, you designed a backwards play--just for me. A double-end around reverse, with me starting the play--and eventually, after most of the team had touched the ball, getting it back. With Gene snapping the ball, we went as a team, into crazed action. Everyone running this way and that. Lineman cross blocking; backs crossing the field left to right; right to left; and the ends positively going berserk. Me? I was running this way and that, not unlike a chicken with his head cut off. Of course, in consideration of my pathetic feeble disguise all afternoon of a football player, nobody on the new Utrecht team was paying the least bit of attention to Uhlberg. "Who?!"
     I could barely follow the progression of the ball; it was like the proverbial pea and the three walnut shells: now you see it, and now you don't. But suddenly--well not so suddenly, as the damn play must have taken three minutes to develop--I found the ball in my hands, with not a sole in front of me. Off I went on my merry knock-kneed way. Over my shoulder I could hear the thundering hoof beats of Kimeck's cleats chasing me--and Mike yelling "If you drop the damn ball, Uhlberg, I'm gonna' run right up your ass!"
Do you remember how big and how tough Mike Kimeck was, Coach? Do you happen to recall, as well, the LOOK...GRIMACE...that you leveled at some player's bone head mistake?!  With that image etched in my mind,  I didn't dare drop the ball, and after spending three hours trying my level best to give the game to New Utrecht, I scored the winning touchdown.
     As you had promised, my time had come...and went, as the next year everyone went on strike, and I was not to play another down for you on any other brisk autumn afternoon.
     There the story might have ended, if you had not gone out of your way and personally recommended me to Benny Friedman at Brandeis. I have no knowledge of what you could have told him, but surely they had to have ranged from outright lies to sheer exaggeration. And for that, I am forever grateful to you, and forever in your debt.
     Because, you see, my going to Brandeis changed the course of my life.
     As for the "course of my life," and the "oddness" of the 53 ensuing years, that's another story--which will someday follow this.
     Coach, I truly admire and love you and pray you continue to do 100 pushups a day--and live in good health to a hundred,
     Mike Uhlberg

When I came out for the football team in the Spring of 1955, I was a plump Polish/Italian kid from 16th Avenue. I wore glasses since I was 9. I was an altar boy and a Boy Scout. On my block, many larger and tougher guys
than me tried out and quit the Lafayette High School Football Team. I was determined not to be a quitter. If I had anything, it was determination and speed. I think Coach Ostro saw this in me. When he saw my speed, his
eyes opened up. It was at this point when he started to push me. I remember when the sporting goods salesman was taking our names for equipment, he told the Coach, " I guess you have your Polish Fullback. The
Coach just looked at him and smiled. I knew at this point that I was going to be something special to him although it was never said and at times I wondered why he pushed me so hard. You see, I skipped a year in school, so
I was younger than most guys. I don't know if anyone knew that, but the Coach was pushing me to make me grow up a little earlier. His push and my determination to "Never Quit" were all the ingredients I needed. I had a
lot of help growing up from the likes of Steve Pessin, Sergio Camagnola, Billy Appel, Angelo Palumbo and all the other great guys who "toughened me up." I remember all the sayings and have used them many times in my life
when the "Going did get Tough". But somehow, you always survive. I remember when the Coach gave me the Weinberg award at the annual dinner. They said a Junior never got a trophy. When he announced my award, he
described me as a Choir Boy who can knock down a wall. I was proud of that distinction despite my sometimes embarrassment at all the attention. I think the culmination of this relationship was my making All-City in 1957. In my yearbook, the Coach simply wrote " A Great Fullback". I will never forget that.

Hi Coach,
My name is Arthur Watnick.  I first met you at Lafayette in 1947.  Your
determination to succeed, where other had failed has been with me for my
entire life.  I'm still in touch with Dan Luciano and Phil Unger.  Both have
also done well.  Dan is an Appellate Court Judge in Brooklyn and Phil is a
successful business.  I went on the get a Ph.D. in Science and worked in a
pharmaceutical company.  I hope all is well.
Arthur

Hello coach. from John R Addrizzo M.D. ; thanks to you I have become a
professor of medicine, proud father of four; grandfather of eight; same
girlfriend/wife Amy since high school. God bless and thanks

Words cannot express what I feel for Coach Ostro, however my plans have been made for this year. I am going to try to see Coach in October when I visit South Carolina for my 50th reunion. Say hello to all for me, Thank them for honoring a wonderful person.
Vince Gargano

My name is Steve Pessin. I joined the team in 1952. I was 13 years old (5'6" tall and 165 lbs.) I was going out for the soccer team, when I got to the field and I heard them counting "hut-two!, hut- two!"  I said this is for me.  I met Harry Ostro for the first time.  How he even allowed me to put on a uniform amongst those giants, I will never know. Coach said do and I did.
I played slightly in 1953 and started my last two years in '54 & '55. (guard offense, LB defense, OT & LB) Obtained a football scholarship to College of the Pacific in Stockton CA.
Coach was such an influence on my life that I could not express in the next ten pages what he did for me.
As far as I am concerned Vince Lombardi was an impostor compared to the coach.
I would never have graduated college (married with 4 children) and received a BEE (2 years at COP & 7 years night at CCNY) if it was not for coach. One of his summer mailings preparing us for the killer, two-a-day practices, the quote "a winner never quits and a quitter never wins"  I went through life not being able to quite on anything. Went into sales after 12 years of Engineering and broke every sales record the company ever had as a salesman (So. NJ & Del.) and manager of CA, AZ,  & NV. Influenced by the coach. I could not even say my name in front of a potential client until I read the salesman literature and listened to what a salesman is supposed to do and did it.
Tenacity, Toughness, Drills, Speed, Quickness, Spirit, Loyalty, Honesty, Sacrifice, Confidence, Winning, Competitiveness, "Size of the man in fight", "Man in the Glass" I probably left out another hundred's of things he instilled upon us that I incorporated into my every day living without thinking about.
Sorry to get so talkative.

Hi everybody. It has been a long time since I have actually been in contact with the old group. Unfortunately, the old adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks applies to me. I'm not familiar with how this thing works and therefore my contribution to the Coach's gatherings are rather limited. I had the honor of playing on the 1947 team under the Coach and remember well the unique approach to the game an life. I vividly remember that we were not allowed to drink water during practice and in games. This gave us a tremendous psychological ( spell ling?) advantage over our opponents. I still carry that feeling and to date when i am playing tennis I find it difficult to drink anything while playing.. Yup, I still play singles although I have lost a step or two..-------- Most of the players who played for the Coach never have had the thrill of finally having a winning team, as we did. Prior to the Coach Lafayette had been regularly stomped upon by everyone. The Coach's! drive, confidence and motto writings forged in us a new and proud feeling of superiority in regard to our opponents. He was and will always remain in my mind as a person willing to force his values on us to our betterment.  I owe my present well being to him since he was instrumental in getting me into Cornell University which has led to many good things in my life. I hope that life has been equally good to him. ----------It seems that I've been rambling when I only wished to send my regards. But, I have such great memories of the Coach and the fellows I played with that I ran off at the fingers. Being an attorney, I guess that that's par for the course I'm presently living in Goshen, N.Y. but still practicing in Nyack, N.Y. ----- Coach, you have made a great lasting impression on me as well as others, which places you in the Hall of Fame of human beings. Good Luck and may you obtain all you desire. My regards to your family, which I know also includes ! your former players. --Heshye

Dear Coach, Hope you are well and thought it was about time you heard from the other gender. I worked in the Boys Physical Ed dept. during the 1951 to 1954 season along with Myrna Steiner (now Singer). What a pleasure to have known someone like you. While some memories fade in time, my years at Lafayette are clear and vivid (some good, some not) I will carry them with me always. The perks of working for you included free passes to all the games the I regularly attended with Myrna, Renee Weiniger (Mark) and Terry (Taglia) and many more. Our friendships have endured all the good and bad times and I believe that to be solely for the camaraderie that was instilled at Lafayette. May you continue to have good heath and hope these messages put a smile on your face. It was also my pleasure to have started your son with his first reading ability and know you must! be so proud of your children. I am now retired, recently widowed and living in Beautiful Myrtle Beach, SC, My family consists of 3 daughters, 2 son in laws and 3 terrific grandkids.
With much respect and Love, Idelle Weiss Wharmby