Exactly one week ago marked 18 years that O-E women's basketball coach and guidance counselor, Randy Stebbins, passed after a two-year battle against cancer. Many citizens of the O-E community and basketball coaches and fans in the Big 30 area saw Randy as a talented and successful basketball coach. He was the Big 30 and also the Northern Tier Coach of the Year in 2003.
His teams during his 11 plus years at O-E won over 64 percent of their games (194- 108).
Those who first knew Randy through his work as a guidance counselor and a high school coach and maybe even the ten years that preceded his Terrors' time as an assistant coach at Saint Bonaventure are completely justified in their respect and admiration for this wonderful man who died at the age of 45.
This rare photo of Randy as a member of his 1976 O-E graduating class that is rehearsing the "Anne Frank" story may seem a bit out of character for him, but he is wearing a football jersey and most coaches have a bit of role-playing in their bench character.
Class co-actors with Randy include: Anne Jobe, Larry Detar, Glenn Myer, Rob Curtin, Drenda Wilcox, Don Cutler and Melanie Wilcox.
Many of Randy's friends, supporters, players and opposing coaches may not be aware that Coach Stebbins' initial thrust in to the coaching world came from the world of baseball. He coached the Coryville little league team as a teenager-and in a non-league scrimmage one weekday morning his team played the Eldred little league under the direction of another first year coach-ME.
His team led by brothers Larry and Art Fenstermaker and a hustling Scott Porter left the "big city" with a convincing win.
*Below- the names and roles of the cast in the '76 performance.
Randy's grandmother lived directly across the road from our home in Larabee, two miles south of Eldred. His home was a long baseball toss from his grandmother's and a five minute walk from the Pransky house, a house and backyard where he spent hours and hours from the time he was ten years old until post college days.Randy was three years younger than me and my good friends from Eldred and Larabee. He was a 1976 graduate from O-E and most of us were in the '73 class. Randy was probably ten or eleven when he started participating in both outdoor and indoor sports' activities with us.
He was easily the smallest kid in our group and a least a foot shorter than one of my best friends, Jerome Wolcott.
My dad and Ernie Cook had installed a blacktop basketball court in our backyard and we played dozens of games on it, shoveling it off in the winter. I don't know how many of Randy's shots were blocked and sent sailing past our apple trees or rolling down the hill to the garage.
Even then, the shortest, skinniest and youngest kid never complained and never quit. He never went home crying or claiming he was being picked on. He just kept playing.
Randy was chosen several times to coach one of McKean County's teams in the Pennsylvania Regional Baseball Tournament (both the 13 year old group along with the 14-15 year-old team.) Circa 1980-1981
Below: One of the McKean National and American Rosters. Randy is coaching one club and Henry Reap the other. Eldred players are Mike Pascarella, Dave Campbell and Chris Chase. Port Allegany has five players on the team; Jeff Young, Dan Buckenschutz, Tom Jerko, Bob Burlson and Darren Royal.
Above: Roster- T.J. Reap, Don Burdick and Scott and Paul Ennis are Smethport representatives. Mt. Jewett players include Dana Wilson, Sean Munson and Tom Alexis.
1982- Randy's Nationals' team comes back from a 10-2 deficit after one inning and and defeats East Tioga to advance in the Pa. playoffs with a 4-0 tournament record. Terry Babcock came on relief in the first inning and did not allow a hit the rest of the way. Doug Brown was the tournament's Most Valuable Hitter going 9-15 in four games with seven walks and 10 RBI's
Below: June 1983- Despite the headline misprint (It was Williamsport not Williamsburg!)- the marriage was still official as Wanda Esposito and Randy were married. It probably was a true coincidence, but those of us in the wedding party stayed in a hotel on a hill that overlooked the Little League World Series field.
Randy and Wanda-1983
Below (L to R)-Wanda's brother, William, Rob Stebbins, Jeff Anastasia, brother Joe Swatt and Jim Pransky.
Randy, Wanda and Jeff Anastasia were all Lock Haven University graduates.
Above: 1984- Randy was preparing for his fourth year as the track coach at Otto-Eldred with key personnel; Tony Barnish, Mike Sullivan and Mike Pascarella.
Above: Randy is named as an assistant basketball coach at St. Bonaventure University-one year after I became the head baseball coach at Bonas. I stayed three seasons before moving on to George Washington University. Randy stayed with the Bonnies for 11 seasons.
Head Coach Mary Jane Telford was out with the flu and two starters were missing (injuries), but Randy, as head coach, helped lead the SBU squad to a convincing win over Mansfield University.
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Randy and I worked very closely together for 11 years, "said Telford. "Not a day went by where I didn't look forward to going to work because of Randy's smile and sense of humor."
"I know Randy enjoyed working with young people. He always had high standards in terms of the work you had to do in order to be successful, not only on the basketball court but also in the classroom."
This is easily one of my favorite photos of my good friend with then Astros' coach, Yogi Berra. Yogi, a Yankees' legend and Randy a forever Yankees' fan (Correction-a HUGE Yankees' fan)
Randy and Wanda came down to Kissimmee, Florida where I was living at the time- I'm thinking 1988 or 1989.
Randy was pregnant with their first son, Matthew- Jeffrey would follow.
Above: Another favorite photo. The whole gang eating dinner at Johnny's Restaurant in Moline, Illinois (just across the Mississippi River from our Davenport home) Jeff, my wife Grace, Wanda, Jim, Matt and Randy. The year was 2000 (July)
The girls went to a Boys and Girls Club Banquet and the men went to a single A minor league game in town.
This is an emotional photo for me and I'm sure for others, taken less than two months before Randy's death on February 2, 2004. I chose to display it because despite his illness, he was so glad to see us and we laughed, joked and talked about the Bills most of the afternoon.
They had a spacious and beautifully decorated basement complete with a table tennis court. Randy and I used to play for hours at my home when we were kids, especially on those chilling days and we had our share of nail biting contests.
Matthew, then 13-14 years-old, must have heard his dad mention some of the games we had in the old days and demanded that I play him.
Randy looked at me and gave me the thumbs up that I read as "Go ahead and give him your best shot."
Now I was 49 years old and if we played H-O-R-S-E or one on one or ran a mile, I would have lost embarrassingly. Fortunately, if you haven't lost that hand-eye coordination, you have a pretty good chance and I won the game.
As the momentum was definitely moving my way, I could see the frustration and semi-anger in Matt's eyes. "He wanted the victory."
Just as his father always did, he demanded another match that I backed out of quickly. I was 1-0 and stopping right there.
Randy laughed and laughed as I'm sure it brought back memories of almost 30 years earlier.
Later, Grace and I said our good-byes and we sat in our car in their driveway for a few minutes knowing we would never see him again. We both cried as a big part of my life and many others was going to leave us.
Randy's framed plaque that hangs above the entrance to the O-E gymnasium.
My mother called me on August 31, 2002 and told us that Randy had cancer. We were shocked, but we didn't know the severity of it at the time.
When he began traveling to the Cancer Treatment Center in northern Illinois, almost to the Wisconsin border, I visited him several times. He would receive treatment there for four or five days and then return back home.
He sat in a recliner, hooked up with tubes for five or six straight hours. I thought I might run out of things to say, but he carried the conversation as he designed plays and wrote down practice schedules for his girls on a yellow legal pad. Not once, did he ever show signs of giving up.
I was there the morning the doctors told him that he was not improving and they could not see any benefit of him returning for more treatment. He calmly talked to Wanda on the phone and despite being given the worst news he could receive, he would not break down and give up all hope.
We watched the Yankees in the World Series that evening.
Jeff Anastasia, Terry Gribble and I spoke at Randy's funeral. Randy's assistant coach and my good friend, John Hepfer, sat in the first row with their basketball team.
I am not a very good public speaker except maybe at a baseball clinic-not a eulogy for my respected, long-time neighbor and friend.
I could only relay that for all those years when he competed against me and all of my older classmates, he wanted to be like us. But as he battled his painful disease with bravery, courage and dignity it was all of us who wanted to have the characteristics that he had showed,
I read beautiful and heart-felt tributes as I worked on this project- Bob Falk, the O-E superintendent of schools at the time, John Hepfer, his assistant coach, Pat Lewis, the former coach at Cameron County and later a very successful collegiate coach and Jeff Anastasia, who led the Olean Huskies program for many years.
"Randy always amazed me with his memory. I could go several months without seeing him and the first thing he'd ask me is , 'How's that number 12 from your JV team coming along?' He was a master of junk defenses. You had to prepare your team for anything and everything when you faced his team," said Pat Lewis
Matt Splain, the current O-E superintendent, had many on-court encounters with Randy's teams when Matt was coaching at Coudersport. Matt is also an O-E graduate.
Matt was the head coach at Coudersport when, in a gracious show of respect and sportsmanship, he changed a scheduled home contest vs. the Terrors to an away game at O-E. That gesture allowed the O-E faithful an opportunity to honor Coach Stebbins that evening at a game his health would not have allowed him to attend on the road.
Sue Shay Danielwicz and Mackenna Bechilli. two of Randy's ex-O-E players and other team members through the years spoke in elegant terms about their caring coach.
"Stebs was my father away from home. He watched over us," stated Sue Shay Danielwicz.
Mackenna Bechilli said, "Throughout my six years at Otto-Eldred HS, my basketball coach and guidance counselor has had a profound affect on my life. Mr. Stebbins has been a great influence on my life academically, athletically and personally. Without his influence, I wouldn't be the person I am today."
Randy influenced so many people. He cared and took a sincere interest. He was THE COACH.
