Marty Headd

[bevosu]

This is from the DO 2009. Nice story about a pretty good ex SU BB player. Not sure it was ever posted? If not, a good time to post it. He deserves more mention.

http://dailyorange.com/2009/03/no-c...-30-years-ago-now-he-works-here-as-a-janitor/

No Complaints: Marty Headd was a basketball star at Syracuse nearly 30 years ago, now he works here as a janitor

 

[kcsu]

This is from the DO 2009. Nice story about a pretty good ex SU BB player. Not sure it was ever posted? If not, a good time to post it. He deserves more mention.

http://dailyorange.com/2009/03/no-c...-30-years-ago-now-he-works-here-as-a-janitor/

No Complaints: Marty Headd was a basketball star at Syracuse nearly 30 years ago, now he works here as a janitor

I played more games and shot more hoops with Marty than I can remember. We were both guards shooters and we had some great games. Mostly half court at one of a handful of church or school gyms that we had access to. I remember one night in July Marty me andsome ludden guy's started playing about 10 at night and I was hitching home as the sun was coming up. Marty was a great player great guy and we had many nights of too much fun. Glad to hear that he is in good health and happy. Thanks for posting

 

[rstone7727]

Great Player for Cuse! Love the guy for his hard work on the floor, (I'm talking 30 yrs ago not as a janitor) a big favorite of mine..

 

[kcsu]

The article is spot on as Marty wasn't going to take guys off the dribble but between his first step which was unbelievably quick and a trigger release he could always get his shot off.

 

[cuseattle]

Just before my time, seems like a great guy!

 

[Deano]

How true this is -

‘Today everybody wants things handed to them,’ Marty said, his bushy eyebrows raised in disgust. ‘That was a different generation of people back then. That generation is gone. Lost. I don’t think you’ll see that generation of men ever again. Those were my role models.’

 

[Col. Bleep]

ESPN did this story after the DO article.

Hit a sweet scoop shot to beat G-town one day in the Dome.
And the impetus for one of the most memorable lines Joel Mareiniss ever had (after a loose ball scramble):
"Off the noggin of Headd and out of bounds!"

 

[Cheriehoop]

Marty worked constantly from a very young age to get to be the player he became. He lived near me and you would find him alone or in a pick up game day or night. If you lived in the Strathmore to Westvale area you saw him running incessantly with weights on his ankles , holding weights in his hands running his own Mountain Goat race heading up and down the steep hills from Geddes to Winkworth all by himself. I remember games of HORSE at Wadsworth Park, then seeing him a few minutes later in pickup games at Onondaga Park, then running up Velasko Rd with the ankle weights all in the same day. Totally self motivated.

 

[BillJay]

I couldn't find anything more recent other than a short piece noting that he was inducted into the Great Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in October 2015.

A good summary of Marty the SU Player can be found at the orangehoops site: http://www.orangehoops.org/MHeadd.htm

Looking back at those teams in JB's early tenure brings back some memories from what seems like a lifetime ago (I suppose that for some of the posters here it actually is a lifetime ago!) - local guys Marty & Danny Schayes (who was blocked behind Roosevelt Bouie & only became a full-time starter in his senior year), somewhat local guys Hal Cohen (from Canton, the TV announcers would always mention that he'd once made 598 consecutive free throws after a high school practice) & Dale Shackleford (from Utica, he was one of the first to wear a t-shirt under his jersey, in his case he started doing it because he had a cold) and of course the Bouie & Louie Show. A different time for sure, when games against St Bonaventure were regularly scheduled (and not regularly won).

 

[CaptainJ]

I'm a name guy, and how can you not like a dude with the name Headd? Wait, how is that pronounced?

 

[Noexcuse]

I'm a name guy, and how can you not like a dude with the name Headd? Wait, how is that pronounced?

The Cone Head back court. The other half became a doctor, so if you average them out they came out pretty much like the rest of us.

 

[cuseattle]

I'm a name guy, and how can you not like a dude with the name Headd? Wait, how is that pronounced?

Great having you back on the board Capt

 

[JoeSU]

ESPN did this story after the DO article.

Hit a sweet scoop shot to beat G-town one day in the Dome.
And the impetus for one of the most memorable lines Joel Mareiniss ever had (after a loose ball scramble):
"Off the noggin of Headd and out of bounds!"

Mareiniss also dubbed Headd and his backcourt teammate Hal Cohen the "Kosher Connection" (although it isn't clear that Headd is even Jewish). Mareiniss would probably get fired for that in today's PC world.

 

[RF2044]

Played at Corcoran with his much younger brother, and was very good friends with another brother.

Great family.

 

[br801]

The guy had a beautiful jump shot and was a very efficient scorer (nearly 11 points per game on 54% from the field and 81% from the line).

 

[rrlbees]

Mareiniss also dubbed Headd and his backcourt teammate Hal Cohen the "Kosher Connection" (although it isn't clear that Headd is even Jewish). Mareiniss would probably get fired for that in today's PC world.

As an aside, saw Hal Cohen this weekend at an AAU girls basketball tournament. Was curious why he'd be there, then found out he was with his daughter Brittany who was looking at a couple of the HS juniors and seniors. She just got her first head coach job as she was named the HC of Potsdam St last week.

 

[tbonezone]

first SU back court i remember watching live . local heroes.

 

[bozophobe]

ZZ Top stole their whole last name/hair presence twisted irony thing from him.

 

[pulaski74]

just curious, is there something wrong with being a janitor? a trashman? not everyone aspires to be a rocket scientist, brain surgeon, i.t. man etc. Some people enjoy simple lives and are very happy. Is this a sad story or is marty happy, hell I don't know but work is work. sign me retired car washer

 

[Cuseregular]

Dome foams!!

 

[CaptainJ]

ZZ Top stole their whole last name/hair presence twisted irony thing from him.

If you want to talk about irony and ZZ Top, I think of Frank Beard being the only guy in the band without a a beard! As a side note, I think Beard is a cool last name like Headd.

 

[CaptainJ]

just curious, is there something wrong with being a janitor? a trashman? not everyone aspires to be a rocket scientist, brain surgeon, i.t. man etc. Some people enjoy simple lives and are very happy. Is this a sad story or is marty happy, hell I don't know but work is work. sign me retired car washer

Darned straight. For awhile I worked in "housekeeping" in a metal forge, and those were some of the happiest days of my life(albeit mostly for non-work related reasons).

At the time I may not have went to work as a "sharp dressed man" (I had the guitar from that in my head after the last post), but I generally was happier than when I did. #not-ashamed(like I said about supporting the reinstatement of **** **** to the board) Life isn't always lived by our assumptions.