Fire departments face off at football game
Josh Riskin, number 11, of the Point Lookout-Lido fire department evades defenders of the Island Park fire department. (Jan. 29, 2012) Credit: Steve Pfost
Ali and Foreman. Lakers and Celtics. Yankees and Red Sox. Extend this list of great sports rivalries long enough and eventually you get to the one between the Island Park and Point Lookout-Lido fire department football teams, which played their third annual game Sunday at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium.
It was a game of "rough touch" -- defined by Island Park coach Garrett Gorton as, "You can hit 'em hard, just don't kill 'em" -- that pit Island Park's speed against Point Lookout-Lido's brawn, with concession and ticket sales going to the Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center.
There were no helmets or pads of any kind used in the game, which organizers estimated raised about $5,000 and drew close to 150 supporters.
Speed won, 36-24, with Island Park jumping out on early touchdowns from Tommy Gaynor and Kyle Cruz. "That's what I do, baby!" said Cruz, after he shook his coverage with a nifty stutter step and pulled in the pass that brought him to the end zone.
Island Park and Point Lookout-Lido are relatively small departments of about 120 and 100 members each. More would be nice, said Gaynor's father, Thomas Gaynor, a volunteer since 1979, taking tickets at the gate. "All these departments on Long Island are looking for more manpower," he said. "It's a little tougher now with the economy, guys working two jobs, paying for school."
They get by, said James Guerin, Point Lookout-Lido's coach and captain of its tank company, because most members turn out for emergencies and practice firefighting in between. "We drill a lot, stay on our toes," he said. "And we're big on fire prevention," which he hopes leads to fewer fires.
Point Lookout-Lido's quarterback, Bill Dara, put his team on the board with a sneak and then came within a touchdown of tying. "Get on him! Get close!" Guerin shouted at one of his defenders, to little avail.
As the game ended -- after two minor injuries and much slapping of backs -- Cheryl Foran, a fan in the stands whose husband, Jim, is a volunteer firefighter with the Hempstead Fire Department, said she was satisfied. "I love football." But that wasn't the main reason the couple were in the stands Sunday. The East Garden City museum needed their support, Cheryl Foran said. Like the Long Island fire departments represented on the field below, the museum gets by "mostly with volunteers and donations, and I'm impressed with the way it turned out."
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