Hills Alum Metzger Receives Jewish Hall of Fame Award

This article was posted by Ryan Bonner. It was written by Mike Virgintino. 

At the 21st Annual Induction Ceremony at The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, Long Island high school and college athletic standout James C. Metzger was honored with the organization’s annual George Young Award. 

The award was presented as part of the April 21 hall of fame ceremony that inducted the 2013 class of Jewish athletes who have excelled in national or international competition in football, swimming, gymnastics, basketball and lacrosse.

The George Young Award is presented at each induction ceremony to a Jewish or non-Jewish individual within the sports community who exemplifies the high ideals displayed by professional football executive George Young. Past award recipients have included football’s Wellington Mara and Ernie Accorsi, hockey’s Bobby Nystrom and basketball’s Lou Carnesecca.

Growing up on Long Island, Metzger (who is not Jewish) was known as a jock who excelled at football, basketball and lacrosse at Half Hollow Hills High School. He was a Suffolk County All-Star running back who started every game during his three-year varsity football career. Metzger graduated during 1977 as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rusher. He also was a lacrosse All-American and Suffolk County scoring champion at Half Hollow Hills, winning the 1977 Ray Enners Award as the outstanding lacrosse player in Suffolk County.

Metzger was the first player at Half Hollow Hills to receive the award. Following high school, Metzger played for the Hofstra University lacrosse team and was named to the 1980 USILA Division I All-American team during his sophomore season. His record setting scoring average of 4.9 points per game ranks fourth in the history of the Hofstra lacrosse program.

Coach, Teammate Among Supporters

Joining Metzger to celebrate the recognition from The National Jewish Hall of Fame were legendary New York lacrosse coach Richie Moran and star Hofstra teammate Vinnie Sombrotto. Rob Pannell, Metzger’s nephew and one of the country’s outstanding college lacrosse players at Cornell University, surprised his uncle as he joined family and lacrosse supporters after traveling from a record-setting road game a day earlier in Rhode Island.

Moran is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. At midnight Saturday, he left a charity event in Ithaca to travel to Long Island for the ceremony. Moran’s playing and coaching careers began on Long Island, and then he starred at the University of Maryland and coached at Cornell for 29 seasons that included three national championships. 

Sombrotto is a four-time USA Lacrosse player, four-time USA Champion and also a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

On the previous day, Pannell had set the Ivy League career record for points, recording three points to total 318 for his career during a win against Brown University. The previous record of 316 points had been held by a Brown player for 20 years. 

Metzger, who also is Pannell’s godfather, has been instrumental in guiding the young college star’s lacrosse path from high school (Smithtown High School) to Deerfield Academy and now at Cornell. Pannell is the fifth leading scorer in the 100-year history of college lacrosse.

The Jewish Hall Of Sports

Among this year’s eight inductees to The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, which is located in Commack, were David Mark Berger (a weightlifter murdered with 10 other members of the Israeli team at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany), Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl receiver Randy Grossman, college and amateur lacrosse star Bruce Cohen, 2012 London Olympics U.S. gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman and 2008 Beijing Olympics U.S. gold medal swimmer Garrett Weber-Gale.

Over the years, inductees to The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame have included executive Marvin Miller, broadcasters Marv Albert, Mel Allen, Howard Cosell, Marty Glickman, Sam Rosen, Dick Schaap and Warner Wolf, baseball’s Sandy Koufax, Art Shamsky and Ron Blomberg, soccer’s Shep Messing, swimming’s Mark Spitz and basketball’s Red Auerbach.