Sports capsules 1951 FOOTBALL TEAM WILL BE HONORED AT SPASH GAME: Members of the 1951 Stevens Point High School (P.J. Jacobs) football team will be honored Friday, Oct. 12, during halftime at the SPASH versus D.C. Everest football game at Goerke Field. The 1951 Panther team won the Wisconsin Valley Conference Championship and posted an 8-0 overall record. The team earned the title of "Mythical State Champion" by virtue of heading the Associated Press Honor List. Team members scheduled to appear include Hans Vetter, Bruce C. Summers, Rhody Tuszka, George Roman, Ralph Woyak, Gerald Menzel, Jack Sether, Lamar Kluck, Dave Hurlbut and Joe Sanks. Head coach John Roberts and assistant coach John Beste are also scheduled to appear. Attendees will also participate in a tour of P.J. Jacobs Junior High School prior to the game. A social and tour of Stevens Point Area Senior High School will follow the game. * * * PURPLE AND GOLD GAME WILL BE HELD OCT. 20: The annual Purple and Gold game will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the K.B. Willet Arena. Former Stevens Point Area Senior High School players on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point roster include Craig Busse, Adam Kostichka, David Lee, Nick Molski and Ryan Scott. Mike Brolsma of Appleton started his career with Portage County Youth On Ice and Sean Leahy is from Port Edwards. Admission for adults is $2. Admission for students and children is $1. Students or children can also gain admittance by donating a canned good (donated food will go to Operation Bootstrap). Those who bring their skates can skate with the 2001/2002 Pointers following the Purple and Gold game. Select Pointer hockey merchandise will be on sale. Purchased items can be autographed by the team. * * * SAINTS RESCHEDULE GRAND OPENING: The Central Wisconsin Saints Hockey Association has set the formal ice arena grand opening and dedication program for Saturday afternoon, Dec. 8. Professional hockey player Mike Gartner will visit Stevens Point to celebrate the opening of the Central Wisconsin Saints Hockey Association Ice Arena. The ice arena is located in Arnott in the town of Stockton. League play on arena ice will begin later this fall. The arena opening was previously set for Saturday, Oct. 13. Transportation delays precipitated this change in date. The public is invited to the arena grand opening. For more information, contact Central Wisconsin Saints Hockey Association at 343-8997. * * * FRIDAY, POOCK WILL BE INDUCTED INTO BASKETBALL COACHES HALL: Don Friday, the longtime sports editor of the Stevens Point Journal and a former sportswriter for The Portage County Gazette, and Ed Poock, a former basketball coach and administrator at Almond-Bancroft High School, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Saturday, Oct. 13, in Madison. Friday will be inducted into the Hall as a "Friend of Basketball." He covered basketball for the Journal from 1960 to 1999, often riding on the team bus for high school or college competition. He retired on May 28, 1999, and was writing sports stories for The Gazette, covering University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point teams. He suffered a stroke Feb. 26, 2000, at halftime of a UW-SP game and remains paralyzed on his right side. His handicap hasn't stopped him from attending games though, because he's still a familiar figure at area games. In addition to sports writing, he played a major role in organizing and creating the Sentry Classic Basketball Tournament. He served three times as president of the Associated Press Sports Editor Association and in 1998 was presented with the Tom Butler Media Award for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Poock started his basketball coaching career with one year at Montello High School where he had been the football coach, then spent 11 years at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School and two years at Green Bay East High School. He came to Almond-Bancroft as principal and wound up coaching the team in the 1979-80 season, when the Eagles won a conference championship. He coached basketball again for a year at D.C. Everest High School, then returned to Almond-Bancroft as district administrator. As administrator, he coached basketball for two more seasons, from 1988-1990, with the 1988-89 team winning another conference title. He retired in 1996.