SteveChop
PhD Student
Posts: 1150
Reg: 07-28-07
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01-21-22 04:53 PM - Post#333891
After 27 years at Lafayette, Frannie O will be retiring at the end of this season.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/21/f...
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palestra38
Professor
Posts: 32685
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-21-22 04:55 PM - Post#333892
In response to SteveChop
Always wondered what would have happened had he gotten the job when Dunph left rather than Miller.
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T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
PhD Student
Posts: 1169
Loc: Our Nation's Capital
Reg: 01-18-05
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-21-22 05:24 PM - Post#333893
In response to palestra38
Always wondered what would have happened had he gotten the job when Dunph left rather than Miller.
One thing is certain: We wouldn't be wading through the muck of a defamation suit on this board.
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Silver Maple
Postdoc
Posts: 3765
Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-21-22 05:56 PM - Post#333895
In response to palestra38
Always wondered what would have happened had he gotten the job when Dunph left rather than Miller.
Unfortunately, I don't think there was any chance whatsoever of that. Bilsky clearly wanted Dunphy's replacement to have no connection to Dunph at all. Because Bilsky appears to have been a petty, egomaniacal weasel.
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Stuart Suss
PhD Student
Posts: 1439
Loc: Chester County, Pennsylva...
Reg: 11-21-04
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01-21-22 06:30 PM - Post#333897
In response to Silver Maple
I have a different recollection of what happened in 2006.
Fran O'Hanlon was contacted regarding the Dunphy vacancy. As noted in the Feinstein story, Lafayette had just allowed athletic scholarships after years of making Lafayette compete without scholarships in a scholarship league. O'Hanlon supposedly said that Lafayette stood by him when his non-scholarships teams were getting beaten by other teams in the league and that he wanted to reciprocate the loyalty that Lafayette had shown to him.
There was even a story, perhaps apocryphal, that while visiting Philadelphia, either for the Penn job interview, or for some other reason, he had been caught in some awful traffic jam on the Schuylkill expressway and said, "I don't need this."
Those stories are consistent with O'Hanlon's quote in the Feinstein story:
<<When Lafayette was at the top of the Patriot League, he had numerous opportunities to leave, but turned them all down. “I decided to give up my shot at the Hall of Fame to be at a place where I’m completely happy,” he said. “Tough decision, huh?”>>
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yoyo
Senior
Posts: 354
Reg: 03-25-09
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Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-27-22 03:23 PM - Post#334385
In response to Stuart Suss
never knew his nickname was Rainbow
Edited by yoyo on 01-27-22 03:24 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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SteveChop
PhD Student
Posts: 1150
Reg: 07-28-07
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-27-22 06:26 PM - Post#334397
In response to yoyo
His full nickname was Rainbow Johnson
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LyleGold
PhD Student
Posts: 1712
Reg: 11-22-04
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-27-22 06:36 PM - Post#334398
In response to SteveChop
Even unabashed Dookie John Feinstein remembers the nickname:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/21/f...
I guess he has a soft spot for the Patriot Legue from his book, The Last Amateurs, written before Lafayette began offering athletic scholarships.
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Go Green
PhD Student
Posts: 1124
Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-28-22 08:28 AM - Post#334417
In response to LyleGold
I liked that book a lot.
It was better than the Ivy equivalent "Outside the Limelight" by Kathy Orton.
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LyleGold
PhD Student
Posts: 1712
Reg: 11-22-04
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Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-28-22 09:50 AM - Post#334420
In response to Go Green
I remember that in the opening chapter or the foreword, Feinstein discussed how he initially wanted to follow the Ivy League, which at the time was the only other non-scholarship DI conference. He decided the high academic and professional profiles of the Ivy schools made for a less compelling story, so he went with the Patriot League instead.
It was very good and lacked Feinstein's characteristic self-congratulatory bloviating. His insufferable Forever's Team about the young Duke team that lost to Kentucky in the 1978 NCAA Final, but was expected to have plenty more opportunities to get back there. He only gave superficial treatment to the second round game when Penn had them down, but failed to stomp on their necks.
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mbaprof
Senior
Posts: 342
Age: 66
Reg: 12-24-11
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-30-22 10:39 AM - Post#334733
In response to LyleGold
Dont ever make the mistake of bringing up the 77 ncaa game to John!
I was going to have him do something at the Palestra around the Atrium project, he was very receptive until i half jokingly said “we should/could have won that game” to him. He went on a rant about how everyone says that about Duke games but always from losing team. Love his writing though and his true affection for the Palestra.
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LyleGold
PhD Student
Posts: 1712
Reg: 11-22-04
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Re: Fran O'Hanlon Retirement 01-30-22 11:54 AM - Post#334738
In response to mbaprof
Good job hitting his raw nerve. If there's anything that characterizes true Dookies, it's their sense of superiority and thin-skinned defensiveness. I'm sure that was worth losing him for the Atrium Project.
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Streamers
Professor
Posts: 8141
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
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01-30-22 12:45 PM - Post#334748
In response to LyleGold
Thankfully, my daughter's Dukie tendencies, at least the undesirable ones, waned right after she graduated.
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