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ScuttleBurt leftovers, May 2018

ScuttleBu(r)t …

Retired quarterback Matt Hasselback, the most impressive speaker for any of Iron Mountain’s Lee Remmel Packer Night outings, was among the many who auditioned for ESPN’s Monday Night Football analyst opening. Hasselbeck played with the Packers for two seasons, 1999 and 2000.

Former Cowboys tight end Jason Witten will replace Jon Gruden in the MNF booth. Joe Tessitore is the new play-by-play guy, with Lisa Salters and Booger McFarland on the sidelines …

David Haugh of the Tribune, commenting on Chicago sports fans in the wake of Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish going on the DL with the flu: “We respect grit and praise perseverance. We glorify gutsy performances and have no tolerance for timidity.”

Eric Kolenich of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, on the Winnipeg Jets being the last team with a shot at ending Canada’s 25-year Stanley Cup drought: “The Great White North Hope.”

Norway Speedway folks are fired up for the season.

“Car counts are blowing up in our superstock and sportsman division,” Dickinson County Racing Association official Johnny Ostermann wrote on Facebook. “New blood, new fans, new sponsors and renewed optimism.”

Knights baseball assistant Mike Maule influenced many of Norway’s athletes including Iron Mountain athletic director Joey Pontbriand.

Mike Maule, who passed away April 26, got Pontbriand started in youth sports.

“He was a great man with a unique way to get the respect of kids while making them better human beings,” Pontbriand said on Facebook. “He will be forever missed but what he has done to shape so many young kids into men will have a lasting impact for many generations.”

Former NFL coach Steve Mariucci of Iron Mountain joined former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and former Panthers receiver Steve Smith for NFL Network first-round draft coverage. Situated in a separate desk from the main analysts, they all drew passing marks from the boss.

Charlie Yook, NFL Network coordinating producer, told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic that he was “pleased with the chemistry of Aikman, Mariucci and Smith.”

Laurium native George Gipp, who became a football legend at Notre Dame, never played high school football at Calumet.

Gipp and Lyman Frimodig, a future Michigan State star, did lead Calumet to the 1911 UP basketball championship, noted Paul Peterson of The Mining Gazette.

“George could easily kick a football 50 or 60 yards and he had the overall ability he later showed at Notre Dame,” said Frimodig in a 1956 Mining Gazette story. “But he was a free spirit who would rather play pool than be at football practice.”

Burt Angeli is a Daily News columnist and sports writer. He can be reached at bangeli@ironmountaindailynews.com or 906-774-2772, ex. 25. Follow him on Twitter @ScuttleBurt

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