Before each of the inductees were introduced by former channel 30 newscaster and Bristol native Tom Monahan, who listed many of their top accomplishments, videos for each showed still photos with captions set to music, highlighting each inductee’s life and sports achievements.
Each inductee had time to talk in front of the sold-out room of about 300 people, and all had plenty of people to thank.
Vito Colapinto, a member of the Bristol High School Class of 1940 who played baseball, basketball and football in the city, was shown in a pre-recorded video interview talking about a game he played at Muzzy Field. He was able to be present for the dinner, although that wasn’t certain at the time the video was recorded.
His
daughter spoke briefly on his behalf at the
dinner.
“To have him be able to come tonight is
wonderful,” she said of her 89-year-old
father.
Francis “Hop” Murphy, one of Bristol’s
all-time best baseball players, was inducted
posthumously. He pitched for two city
championship St. Joseph’s teams, once
recording a city record 80 strikeouts for 40
innings of work.
His sons Tom and Fran accepted the honor on
his behalf and told the story of how he got
his nickname after he once hit a baseball
into and down the aisle of St. Joseph Church
while batting from the Federal Green.
Steve Mills had the longest speech of the
evening, thanking friends and coaches and
explaining the many reasons he felt lucky to
grow up in Bristol.
He is perhaps best remembered as the
quarterback of the state champion 1988
Bristol Eastern football team, the lone such
title in Bristol high school sports history,
and later went on to play for Yale.
“We were just a bunch of kids with really
good senior leadership,” he said, noting
that he was a junior during that
championship year.
Ray Taillon, a 1947 Bristol High graduate
who has won several medals competed in the
Senior Winter Games, reminisced about an
amusing story from a ski trip he once took.
“Old skiiers never die,” he said in
conclusion. “They just go downhill real
fast.”
Coral Richardson, a long-time former
volleyball coach at Bristol Central and an
accomplished player herself, playing 30-plus
years of USA Volleyball, had perhaps the
most enthusiastic crowd of supporters at the
dinner. One friend and former teammate
traveled from Tucson, Ariz., to attend the
dinner.
“I’m so lucky to have such amazing family
and friends,” she said.
Local historian and Bristol Press
correspondent Bob Montgomery accepted the
honor on behalf of the old New Departure
manufacturing company, Bristol’s largest
employer for decades which offered numerous
top-level sports programs for its employees.
He noted that the company’s baseball team
once played and beat the 1925 World Series
champion Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1926
exhibition at Muzzy Field.
Recently-retired long-time local soccer
coach Tony Carrier spoke of the many coaches
who influenced his career.
Speaking about Tom Moylan, who invited him
to become his assistant boys soccer coach
back in 1973, Carrier said, “We had a great
run, brother.”
Last to be introduced was Spec Monico, a top
baseball player for many local teams who
coached the American Legion baseball team to
two state titles and five Zone 1 crowns
between 2003 and 2009, compiling an .801
winning percentage.
He, too, thanked many of his former coaches,
including the late Little League coach Bob
Watson, Bill Sweet and Mike Giovinazzo.
Playing for Giovinazzo, he said, “I learned
the game of baseball and how to win.”
In order to be inducted into the Bristol
Sports Hall of Fame, an individual must be
at least 35 years old and be nominated by
someone who does so by contacting the Hall
of Fame. The Hall’s selection committee
reviews candidates on an annual basis.