PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy was announced as the keynote speaker at Saint Joseph High School's Hall of Fame gala in May.

Levy is most known for leading the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls - losing all of them - in the early 1990s. With star-packed teams featuring Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith, Levy is the most successful coach in team history with a 112-70 record. Under his reigns the Bills made the playoffs right out of nine years with six division championships.

Levy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame first ballot in 2001 and he has since moved on to be a motivational speaker.

He will be the keynote speaking for Saint Joseph's gala "An Evening with the Stars" that will induct the school's best football athletes of all-time into its Hall of Fame. The gala will be held May 20 at the Crowne Plaza on West Street. The proceeds will benefit the Catholic Schools of Pittsfield.

The Hall of Fame induction will celebrate the grand tradition of Crusader’s football by honoring a legends team comprised of the stars from the 1940s, 50s and 60s and all-decade teams from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. St. Joseph’s has a storied history that has included several championship teams and a number of standouts who would go on to play at the college level. Ballots are being distributed to St. Joe’s alumni to vote on the legends and all-decade teams.

 "We are thrilled to host this gala that will bring all the generations of St. Joe’s football together to share in this special tradition," said Bill Jones, board chairman of the Catholic Schools of Pittsfield, in a press release. "Also, we are all looking forward to welcoming Marv Levy to the community to hear his own motivational stories."

HINSDALE, Mass. — Dalton-Hinsdale Little League officials have informed the Berkshire News Network that a Uniform and Equipment Replacement Fund has been started to replace thousands of dollars worth of equipment and uniforms that were destroyed by vandals at the Hinsdale Field.

The concession stand, announcing booth and equipment shed were damaged, plus more than $1,000 worth of equipment including uniforms were removed from the equipment shed and burned this past weekend.

Donations can be made a couple of different ways. Checks can be sent to the Dalton-Hinsdale LL Uniform Fund in care of Mick Lavinio, 46 Weston Ave., Dalton, MA 01226 or donations can be made on the league's website www.dhllbaseball.org.

Donations are being accepted in the form of a "single" ($5), "double" ($10), "triple" ($25), or an amount of your choosing. The league is looking to raise $1,000 to help make up the cost of the destroyed uniforms and equipment.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After blowing an 18-point lead in the second half, Williams College men's basketball team will not be playing for the title.

The Ephs were dealt a crushing lose Friday to the College of Wooster in the Division III semifinals at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. Williams blew an 18 point lead in the second half and could not get a last ditch effort by Taylor Epley to fall - losing the game 73 - 71.

Williams stormed out of the gates hitting 7 3-pointers and out rebounding Wooster 17 to 13 in the first half. The Ephs returned to the locker room with a 42 - 28 lead.

But with about eight minutes left the complexion changed dramatically. In less than three minutes later, Wooster had cut the 18 point lead to three with 15 unanswered points.

Wooster took its first lead, 65 - 64, with only about three minutes left in the game.

But they fought back. Led by Troy Whittington, who finished the day with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, the Ephs jousted with the Fighting Scots - exchanging baskets in the waning minutes.

Nate Robinson put the Ephs in the lead from the free-throw line with about one minute remaining. Robinson had an outstanding day sinking 21 points but when the Ephs were down by one with 35 seconds to go he missed a layup to give Wooster the ball.

Wooster's Nathan Balch was fouled to stop the clock and made only one of the two shots - giving the Ephs what could have been the final possession. They took the ball down the court and James Wang launched a 3-pointer for the win but missed.

But that was not quite the end, the rebound was tied up and the Ephs got another chance for the tie. With 2 seconds remaining the Ephs in-bounded the ball from the baseline to heavily defended Taylor Epley who could not send the game to overtime from the post.

Wooster outscored the Ephs 45 - 29 in the second half while Williams turned the ball over 10 times. The Ephs shooting percentage dropped from 65.2 percent in the first half down to just 36.8 percent in the second.

Wooster was led by their star Ian Franks who scored 24 with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Wooster's Justin Hallowell scored 18 with 8 rebounds.

For Williams, Wang was held to 14 points and 6 rebounds.

SteepleCats opening day is in 84 days, three hours and 53 minutes at the time of writing this. I got that information of the teams new website. Check it out.

The new site is much cleaner and easier to navigate. It's got some good photo galleries, roster, updated news and standings on the front page. There are tabs for the schedule and then the standard information about the park and ticket prices. It even has the team records, which will be a nice reference.

However, I don't like how quickly the links send you off the site. If you go to the photo galleries you get rerouted to photobucket. If you choose stats it takes you to the league's site. And though the standings are on the front page, if you click the tab at the top it reroutes you to the league's site. I would rather have it stay on the site itself.

I knew a new website was in the works and I have no idea when this was launched. The only reason I looked was because the sun was out and I wanted to know how close that first pitch was. Baseball season is coming and it's great to see the Cats back for their 10th season.

10 seasons! It's approaching a county record. In those 10 season Wahconah Park has seen four different teams. The Pittsfield Mets were at Wahconah Park from 1989 until 2000 - and the Cats are close to beating that. Cats General Manager Sean McGrath said the city is inching closer to the longest tenure in the league. For a city that with so many businesses closing and moving, that is great. Look at how difficult it is for Pittsfield to keep a team and they have a park with even more history than Joe Wolfe.

Speaking of Joe Wolfe, that park has seen tremendous improvements since my days at second base in the Babe Ruth league. It really is a great place to catch a game.

The city really has embraced and supported the Cats so it's on you Bosley, McGrath, Bond and crew - we've given you a decade now bring us a championship.

The season opens on June 10 with a new coach, a new team and a new president. The new coach, Clayton Kuklick, was the guy the Cats wanted and they finally reeled him in. Kuklick has said that his offense style will be a lot of running. I like that. It makes for exciting games.

Sadly, all this excitement about a new website is lackluster because we still have 84 days, three hours and 14 minutes until that first pitch.

More reason to hate the Montreal Canadiens was reported by the Boston Globe this morning. Montreal Police are opening an investigation on Zdeno Chara for the hit last week.

Yes, I said police. Cops. Pigs. Fuzz. 5-0. Whatever term you want to use. The police are investigating the on-ice play that the National Hockey League said was perfectly legal.

I want an investigation on all fighting incidents involving Canadien players. Assault and battery. Let's go.

What year was it when half the Canadiens were charged with organized crime? And the police are finding a way to charge our defenseman with a crime for a legal hit? Oh, might I add that Max Pacioretty, who suffered a severe concussion and cracked vertebrae because of it, said not to charge Chara.

Why don't we just make it against the law in Boston to play hockey in a Canadiens uniform? The police can just arrest the entire team next time the puck drops between the two. It is apparently against the law to be a better hockey team in Montreal. I know they were winning at the time but as of today there is only one team better than the Canadiens in the division.

That was a Lenny from Of Mice and Men hit. That's what that was. Chara is a beast. He doesn't want to hurt anybody with his 105 mile-per-hour slapshot - people just get in the way. He doesn't want to hurt anybody when he wants the puck - they just get in his way.

Now to be a little more serious.

What is happening in the NHL when it comes to serious injuries is happening in all sports. The players just keep getting bigger, stronger, faster and basically have overgrown the sport. Concussions are not something to be taken lightly. A person can die from them.

That being said, it is up to the employers to do everything they can to ensure the safety of their employees.

You have to watch that same crappy movie about lifting boxes and putting fires out every year to be up-to-date on the safety techniques at your job. There needs to be fire extinguishers in businesses, proper ventilation and emergency exits. There are procedures in place. There are health codes. There are laws that define this. There is a labor board. A lot of men and women work hard to ensure you work in safe conditions. With sports, it's the same principle on a larger scale. They are workers under a microscope.

Athletes are working people and the leagues need to do everything they can to ensure safety. There are rules about dangerous plays that are now being enforced. If you can't provide safety for your employees, you should not be in business. That's a sad thought when it comes to sports because we love them. But frankly, I would rather see the sports go than see situations like Pacioretty and Chara.

I fully support every league's attempt to make the game safer but I think the worst part about making this argument is that I am a huge fan of hard-hitting hockey. If I built a team, they would be bruisers. Same thing with football. I also do not want to see other sports do what NASCAR did with the restrictor plates. You can't take away part of the competition.

Retraining players to eliminate dangerous plays can go a long way and I hope it does. You can still have physical play without as many serious injuries. Too many people are getting seriously hurt in all sports. The way the games are played needs to change from the youth up. It will be sad to see the old styles of play gone but we'll get used to it.

Unrelated:
Why can't the Bruins win at home?
I have tickets to the Blackhawks v. Bruins in two weeks. My allegiance is torn (not really). I used to live in Chicago.
Baseball needs to cut down on the number of preseason games. Maybe I am partially bored with the Red Sox preseason because we saw most of these guys in the show last season.