SPORTS HALL of FAME ATHLETE
Greg Davie '76'

The love of sports isn't always measured by pure athletic abilities. Talents can surface from that love and be displayed in many ways. With a mix of writing, broadcasting and volunteering, the first-ever "contributor" for the Sidney Alumni Sports Hall of Fame is being inducted.

Greg Davie enjoyed playing sports as a youth. Baseball and basketball were his two favorites. In two varsity seasons for Sidney, he won 4 games as a pitcher and still is believed to be the only pitcher to ever start both games of a doubleheader. Beyond that, there were many games of pick-up football, ping-pong tournaments with his brothers as well as other forms of competitive activities. Foremost, he nurtured his love of sports by listening to announcers on TV or radio, devouring daily box scores, reading The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated and collecting sports trading cards to learn more about pro and college athletes he admired.

Thanks to his neighbor Ed Roelle, Greg was able to write for the Tri-Town News starting in 7th grade, covering JV and Varsity sports. For the next six years, he wrote every article by hand. His mother Donna typed each one and someone drove Greg to the Division St. mailbox to drop off his "copy" for the next weekly edition. There were no word limits and nothing was ever cut for space. He was a free-lance writer of the best kind!

Then came his natural transition to a college major of Journalism at the University of South Carolina. However, in addition to writing sports for the campus newspaper (The Gamecock), Greg found his way to the campus radio station, WUSC-FM. He plunged into the fun life of a college radio DJ, then added a sports call-in show, called "Jock Rap". The best opportunity came during his junior year, when he was asked to cover the fledgling Women's basketball team. Calling live play-by-play and traveling with the team was the ultimate for a 20-year old kid! With no network contracts the Lady Gamecocks, and women's basketball overall wanted any and all publicity. So during that time, Greg convinced coaches from other schools to come to his table for halftime interviews - they included Pat Head of Tennessee (later the great Pat Summitt), Kay Yow of NC State, and others.

After graduation, radio employment was unavailable, though he did host a local TV cable talk show in Columbia, SC. Two years later, WCDO Radio was about to come to the Tri-Town area so it seemed the logical step to take. Greg came home. By 1986, Greg was given free rein to develop a local sports program; WCDO proceeded to cover all sports, boys AND girls, and go beyond the norm with features, awards, interviews and more. Through his full-time service which ended in 2005, WCDO Sports flourished, thanks to terrific student-athletes, dedicated coaches, loyal sponsors, and of course the fans who listened to the games and followed local teams.

When it came to Sidney sports, there was a lot to crow about! State Champions emerged in Field Hockey (1991-92), and Boys Basketball (1997-98). Numerous student athletes won honors for their play in broadcast games but also earned "Athlete of the Week" mentions with live or taped interviews and write-ups in the Tri-Town News. It was also a certainty that Sidney's Athletic banquet program would have a full page just for WCDO in order to list all the Warriors who won awards. This included end-of-year special awards for athletics and displays of sportsmanship.

In 1992, Greg gave back to his alma mater, creating the Sidney Alumni Basketball Association. Annual basketball games are played with proceeds giving a $300 scholarship to a graduating senior. By 2003, he and current committee members Tony Zieno and Dennis Porter started the Sidney Alumni Sports Hall of Fame to honor the "best" in Sidney sports. The goal here is also to give back. Annual donations to the school's athletic department, benefiting many students, average $2,000 from each induction.

All of this is possible because of the love and support from Diane, a teacher at Sidney since 1987; Kevin, a junior Physical Therapy major at Ithaca; and Brynn, a freshman and future Dance Therapist at SUNY Geneseo. With his March induction as a contributor to the Section IV Sports HOF, Greg expects many more contributors to follow suit by joining him in the Sidney Alumni Sports Hall of Fame.