Dream Season

Book excerpt: John McDermott was born October 25, 1956 in the Hells Kitchen section of New York City. His first move was when he was five-years-old to East New York, Brooklyn. There, he attended St. Fortunata Grammar School where he was introduced to strict nuns as teachers. In May of 1965 he moved to Hazlet where his dad put a basketball in his hands and its still there today. At Raritan High School, John started on the Varsity Basketball team all three years, setting the alltime single season scoring record his senior year with a 24.1 points per game average. Forty-three years later that record still stands along with scoring forty points in back to back winsforty away against Toms River North and then forty-one in a home game vs. Matawan, both were wins. The following year was even better at Brookdale Community College where he led the team to the championship game in the Region 19 tournament. The Star Ledger named John the best point guard in the state that year while earning first team all- Garden State and all-Region. Johns college career ended sadly two years later as a junior at Bloomfield College while he was always bumping heads with the coach. Despite this, he still led the conference in assists. John was married by the age of twenty-three in 1980 and within five years Renee and John had three lovely children, Lori, Val, and Tom. Today, thirty-three years later, all three have grown into successful adults and Renee has also reestablished herself in the work field. John was forced into early retirement due to his health and lives with his new puppy, Little Mac, a mini Dachshund in the Pt. Monmouth section of Middletown within a few miles of his kids who have stayed very close through the years. John is a devoted member of St. Anns Catholic Church where he volunteers to be a lecturer once a month or whenever called upon. He also goes to A.A. meetings on a regular basis. His hobby of writing letters and eulogies has started him on the idea of writing his first published book A Legend in His Own Mind and he now spends a couple hours every day in the Middletown Library to use their computers. Maybe one day he will get his own, but for now things are working out just fine, ya think!! Lastly, John still assigns refs to games and will teach 2nd and 3rd graders the fundamentals of the game.