Bair starred for Bellmar and on first BV football team
When the merger between Rostraver and Bellmar High School蘑菇视频 happened, big Jim Bair was one of the building blocks for the first Belle Vernon Area football squad in 1965.
Bair started building a resume in athletics early.
鈥淚 played Little League baseball and I was terrible,鈥� Bair recalled. 鈥淚t was seventh grade when I went out for football at Bellmar Junior High. I was also a competitive swimmer as a teenager, I swam for Nemacolin Country Club and Uniontown YMCA, AAU. I started swimming when I was 12 years old. I placed fifth in 1960. At 13 I came in fifth place again and I was first when I was 14. I gave it up because I started with football when I was 15.鈥�
Bair蘑菇视频 first two seasons of varsity football were at Bellmar as a sophomore and a junior. In 1963 Bellmar was unbeaten at 10-0, but didn鈥檛 qualify for the WPIAL playoffs because of Gardner Points. In 1964 the Hurricanes posted a record of 8-1 with the lone loss coming to North Union.
鈥淎s a sophomore I started and Coach Bap Manzini蘑菇视频 son Denny was the quarterback,鈥� Bair said. 鈥淭hey put me in at defensive left end and one the coaches said if you would quit fooling around that position is open. I never thought I would start with the senior team we had. I went back to the guy I was fooling around with and told him I was done goofing off because I had a chance to start.
鈥淔rom then on I started and we went 10-0, but there were other teams that had more Gardner Points. We played one of those teams the next year, Swissvale, and my grandfather lived in Swissvale and he made some bets saying his grandson played for Bellmar and he made some money. We lost the one game in 1964 to North Union.鈥�
As a sophomore and junior Bair played for the legendary Manzini.
鈥淐oach Manzini was something else, he was quite a guy,鈥� Bair stated. 鈥淗e knew his stuff, he could look from the sidelines and know who did right and who did wrong and he let you know it.鈥�
The first year of the Belle Vernon merger in 1965 the newly minted Leopards went 5-4.
鈥淏ellmar and Rostraver were great rivals and they merged,鈥� Bair explained. 鈥淚 was pretty sad about that because most of the players on the Belle Vernon team were from the Bellmar side. I was waiting for Manzini to be the head coach, but they named Jim Russell and Manzini went to Thomas Jefferson. We played TJ and beat them.
鈥淭hat was a weird season. We played only nine games and we played five away games and won them all and four home games and lost them all. That was very weird.鈥�
Bair also played basketball as a sophomore at Bellmar and then played as a senior at Belle Vernon.
鈥淭wo of us played as sophomores, Gary Cramer and me, we would play half the JV game and then suit up for the varsity,鈥� Bair recalled. 鈥淚 did letter as a sophomore, then as a junior I just didn鈥檛 feel like playing anymore and after a few games I quit the team. After the merger Don Asmonga was the head coach and he said he wanted Cramer and I to come out and lead the team, but I wasn鈥檛 really into it. I didn鈥檛 do very well.鈥�
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Bair played offensive and defensive tackle and was voted BVA蘑菇视频 most valuable lineman in 1965. He was All-Big 8 Conference at tackle in 1965. Bair was selected to the 1966 Big 33 squad and was named Honorable Mention All-State,
鈥淚 tried playing hard,鈥� Bair stated. 鈥淢y junior year I wound up going out to the Big 33 with some friends and I told them that I was going to really try and make the team the following year. We lost to Texas in that game 34-2. Bobby Layne was the Texas coach, he didn鈥檛 pay attention to some of the rules. He was out to win and they crushed us.
鈥淚 was honorable mention All-State UPI and AP. I really decided on a college early. Sever Toretti was the Penn State recruiter that covered our area, and we met in the hallway one day and he told me about what Penn State could go for me. I said it sounded good and he said welcome to Penn State. I said I didn鈥檛 know I said yes. At that point I was going to Penn State. Rip Engle was the head coach and I was one of the first recruits for Joe Paterno.
鈥淚 was starting tackle on the freshman team. We were pretty decent. We had quarterback Chuck Burkhardt. We only played two games, Pitt and West Virginia. We played WVU at home and lost and we played Pitt down there and won. I was married as a freshman and I decided to quit at the beginning of my sophomore season after we had a child. I was losing interest in football.
鈥淚 quit school and came back to live in Belle Vernon and got a job at US Steel in Clairton and I was there for 25 weeks. I then got a job with Pittsburgh Steel at Monessen and I went back to school at Cal. U. I asked the coach if I could play and he said you can try out. I thought about it, and I decided not to play.
鈥淚 got a degree in secondary math. I graduated from Cal U in 1972. I worked at Pittsburgh Steel for a couple of years. I had a mortgage, a car payment and three kids when I graduated. I took a job as a salesman selling books and audio visuals to schools in West Virginia and half of Pennsylvania. I did that for two years. I started working for Kathryn Beich candies. They had a warehouse in West Mifflin. I was with them for 15 years.鈥�
Bair wasn鈥檛 completely through with football. He briefly played semi-pro football with the Washington Generals.
鈥淭hat was a farce,鈥� Bair laughed. 鈥淎 friend of mine talked me into it, I played one season in the early 70s.鈥�
At age 39 Bair was a professional wrestler. He wrestled on weekends for a tag team known as the Moon Dogs.
鈥淚 did that for four years,鈥� Bair said. 鈥淚 was coached by Domenic DeNucci. I was a heel, I was a bad guy in the ring. I enjoyed it until I separated my shoulder.鈥�
Bair also was a raft guide at Ohiopyle on the Youghiogheny River and on the Cheat River in Albright, West Virginia.
In 1988 Bair moved to Florida. He started teaching at Lakewood High School. He was there for three and a half years. Bair蘑菇视频 daughter got him into market research with Sterling Research Group and he was there for nine years in 2001. He is doing freelance work with Story Work. He taught at Boca Siega High School for a year and a half. He still is working for Story Work.
Bair, 75, resides in St. Petersburg, Florida with his wife of 56 years Shirley and they have three adult children, Amy, Michael and Lauri.
In 2000 Bair was in the first class of inductees for the Belle Vernon Area Football Hall of Fame.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 been a very interesting life,鈥� Bair stated.