TOLEDO, Ohio — When he took the field for Ball State’s game against Toledo on Nov. 6, coach Pete Lembo had a different appearance to his usual game day attire.
Instead of wearing a Ball State baseball cap, Lembo was wearing a dark blue NYPD hat, in tribute to the New York Police Department and the East Coast, which was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in late October.
“That borough probably isn’t going to be the same place for a long, long time,” Lembo said. “I just wanted to show some support.”
A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Lembo attended Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island before earning his bachelor’s from Georgetown and attending graduate school at Albany. After the team’s win over Toledo, he said he still had some family and high school friends in the area who were affected by the superstorm.
As the storm crashed into the East Coast, Lembo stayed in touch via text message with his friends and family to see how they are doing and send them good wishes.
“It’s keeping those folks in my thoughts,” he said. “My wife has reached out to some people via Facebook and I’ve had several phone conversations back and forth with people. They’re hanging in there.”
Lembo and the Ball State team have prided themselves on focusing on the task at hand when it comes to playing the games. But when family and friends are affected by a superstorm, it can be hard to focus.
Ball State was able to pull off the upset on the road of the then-No. 23 Toledo, snapping an eight-game winning streak.
But after the game, Lembo, with that dark blue cap, was soft-spoken when he talked about the situation back in New York.
He said he knows the recovery time for the area will be for the long haul, but being a native, he wants to show support in anyway he can.
