Remembering one of the greats in Tod Trent
The Fayette County sports community was saddened by the news that Tod Trent had passed away on Feb. 6 in LaFayette Manor.
Trent was 90, and he was preceded in death by his loving wife Irma (Anderson) Trent, Sept. 9, 2016; and a son, Todd Trent.
From 1951 until he retired in 1991, Tod Trent was a friend to Fayette County athletes and chronicled some of the greatest moments in Fayette County sports history as a writer for the Uniontown Evening Standard and Morning Herald.
Trent was featured in a Memory Lane article back in 2009, here are some excerpts from that article.
Trent went to high school at Richlands, Virginia, and had his sights set on playing basketball in college when he graduated in 1943.
鈥淚 enjoyed playing, I graduated at 17 and World War II was still raging and I enlisted in the Air Force,鈥� Trent stated in that Memory Lane piece. 鈥淲hen I turned 18, instead of being drafted, I would go to my own choice of where I wanted to go. I came to West Virginia University as a 17-year-old freshman, and I鈥檓 thinking I鈥檓 going to tryout for basketball but was stepping into a lot of competition.鈥�
He entered the Air Force at 18. After leaving the service in 1946, Trent went back to college for one year at Concord College before returning to WVU. He went to the journalism school.
鈥淚 was on the school paper the Daily Athenaeum,鈥� Trent explained. 鈥淚 took courses in most everything and found out early on that I would not have been a good advertising man. My talents were in writing and reporting. I got to know Tony Constantine and Mickey Furfari from the Morgantown paper and, of course, got to know them real well later in my career.鈥�
Trent graduated from WVU in 1951.
鈥淚 heard that there was a job opening in Uniontown,鈥� Trent reported. 鈥淚 heard about it when I was taking final exams and I called and they asked me to come up for an interview. I had never been to Uniontown and this was my first trip. I interviewed with the editor, George Gray, of the Evening Standard. I came up by bus and I find out the first of the week, and I started on the job Feb. 6 of 1951.
鈥淚 started out on general news and I was on general news until 1954 鈥� Ralph Schulze 鈥� he was more interested in the outdoors and features than he really was in the games. During football season and basketball season I was always available. I got to cover the games and got to know the background and the sports through this area. When they named me sports editor of the Evening Standard in 1954 鈥� the sports editor of the Morning Herald Bob Wood was so gracious and took me around and introduced me to the coaches that I didn鈥檛 know, and he was a great story teller 鈥� I loved to listen to him. Bob went to the Washington Observer shortly after I took over the Evening Standard, and I was also named sports editor of the Morning Herald in the late 1950s.鈥�
Trent covered the 鈥淕olden Age鈥� of Fayette County athletics 鈥� rubbing elbows with great coaches and players and covering some outstanding teams.
鈥淥f course, Abe Everhart was a personal favorite,鈥� Trent opined. 鈥淏ill Power was great also, they both were easy to work with and they were cooperative. I loved to go out to Masontown when John Lozar was coach, and this was after Gene Franks wasn鈥檛 coaching anymore 鈥� he was an administrator, but the 鈥淥ld Fox鈥� was one of my favorite people. I loved to hear him tell stories. Lash Nesser was quite a character and I enjoyed him. I always had a good relationship with German蘑菇视频 Lou Rozzi and there were folks that thought Lou was a little gruff, but Lou always seemed easy to approach for me.
鈥淛oe Bosnic at Dunbar turned out some super teams and did the same thing at Redstone. Let蘑菇视频 not forget Warner Fritsch at Brownsville and Nick Bubanovich at North Union and Park Glass, Okey Ryan and Ringy Stefancin at South Union. I thought the North Union-South Union rivalry was a great rivalry. Sometimes they might not have had the best teams, but when they got together, it was a battle royal.
鈥淎fter Laurel Highlands was formed I loved covering the Uniontown-LH games. I saw every Uniontown-LH game from the first one in 1967 until I retired in 1991. I had a very good relationship with Horse Taylor and we always got along.鈥�
Trent also reflected on some of the great players that he covered.
鈥淚 guess even before I was on sports I loved watching Francis 鈥淢oose鈥� Machinsky play,鈥� Trent said. 鈥淭he first year that I was here I went to the Uniontown games and he was one of the first lineman that I ever watched who stood out. Usually it was the ball carriers that stood out, but he was such a dominant player.
鈥淎s the years went along I thoroughly enjoyed watching the development of Sandy Stephens and Bill Munsey and the thrill that you get to know that two kids from Uniontown High School are starting in the Rose Bowl two years in a row and winning a national title. I enjoyed the basketball and football teams in 1962, and Ron Sepic and I loved watching Don Yates. Stu Lantz will always be a favorite and Chuck Davis was another favorite and he was the leading scorer in the county, but he could do so many things 鈥� he could shoot and he could handle the ball.
Trent did an outstanding job in his column of following the athletes from Fayette County when they left and went on to college.
鈥淚 always tried to keep as close a contact as I could,鈥� Trent revealed. 鈥淚 would write to the SIDs at the various schools to get on the mailing list so that I could keep up with them and this was before email. I鈥檇 even call and ask for pictures. That was a fun part of it 鈥� it really was.鈥�
Trent covered WVU, Pitt and Penn State and the local professional teams.
鈥淚 went to a lot of Pirate games,鈥� Trent stated. 鈥淚 went to a lot of Sunday games, and my son, Todd, loved baseball and I always took him with me. I was there and saw Mazeroski蘑菇视频 home run in 1960. In my last column I mentioned that the biggest single event that I watched personally was Maz鈥� home run, I saw the Steelers turn around. But I concentrated on high school sports and I felt that was an important aspect for a hometown paper.鈥�
Many of the coaches and athletes that he covered appreciated the importance Trent placed on area high school athletics.
鈥淚 think he had compassion for every coach,鈥� Former Connellsville basketball coach Hal Weightman said. 鈥淎ll those years covering Abe Everhart and they had such a winning record. When he would come in to interview the losers locker room he had compassion for the losing coach. He really was so understanding. He never tore the kids down or the team or the coaches.鈥�
鈥淚 still have the article hanging up downstairs that he wrote when my dad passed away,鈥� former Albert Gallatin football coach Doc Franks stated. 鈥淗e wrote a real nice article about my dad 鈥淭he Old Fox鈥� and he wrote a nice article when Lash Nesser passed away. He was a friend to all the coaches in the area, he was always fair to everybody and he was always fair to the kids especially.鈥�
鈥淣o matter how good you are,鈥� former Redstone and Pitt star quarterback Fred Mazurek said. 鈥淵ou are never going to be recognized unless there is somebody supporting you. Just like Tod Trent did for me, he did a great job publicizing Fayette County athletes.鈥�
Trent was voted into the prestigious first class of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
鈥淚 think I鈥檓 going in on the coat tails,鈥� Trent said when he learned he was going into the Hall of Fame. 鈥淭he real heroes are the players and the coaches, but I am highly, highly honored to even be considered. It never dawned on me that this would happen. It蘑菇视频 very pleasing for an old West Virginia ridge runner.鈥�
George Von Benko蘑菇视频 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 蘑菇视频. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.