Last week, however, marked a stylish rebirth of the 128-year-old fixture in the city that bills itself as “The Horse Capital of the World.” The National’s debut at the Kentucky Horse Park wraps up a five-day run this afternoon with the ASPCA Maclay equitation championship. The new setting has been embraced by riders, owners and sponsors, groups usually not known for their unanimity of opinion.

With the backing of Lexington-based Alltech, a global company that manufactures animal feed supplements and ingredients, the landmark competition — rechristened the Alltech National Horse Show — opened in grand fashion in the Alltech Arena. Some of the world’s best show jumpers competed for trophies against a panoramic photo backdrop of the Horse Park, as VIPs watched from above in a special section where tables seating six sold for $6,500.

“I feel like it’s a whole rebirth of the National Horse Show,” said Mason Phelps, the show’s president and the man who spearheaded the bold move to Kentucky. “We were at death’s door and I think we’ve had a resurrection. It’s all come together like I thought it would,” said Phelps. “Everything’s just nothing but kudos and `thank you’s. You don’t find that when you go to horse shows these days.”

Located underneath the auditorium stage at the high school, The Pit occasionally sees visitors. But few know or seem to care about the gold mine behind a locked cage door. The Pit is at the center of a reclamation project headed by a group of alumni volunteers and donors, which aims to revitalize some of Montclair High’s proud sports history.

Saturday morning, their hard work will come to fruition in a dedication ceremony for brand-new trophy cases at the Furlong Field House, in conjunction with the MHS Class of 1961′s reunion weekend and Montclair’s 1 p.m. football game against Belleville at Woodman Field. On display at the Field House – itself refurbished several years ago – will be roughly 100 restored trophies pulled from The Pit. The project isn’t finished yet. Money is always an issue, but in The Pit itself, there appear to be hundreds more trophies lying around; some are destroyed beyond repair, others are in fair to good condition. But the history of MHS athletics is in a better state than it was six years and thousands of dollars ago.

For a town and a school steeped in athletic lore and tradition – MHS is perhaps the most decorated public-school football program in New Jersey, and coaches Gil Gibbs and Homer Robinson put lacrosse on the map here – it seems impossible that so much history could be lost. But that was the situation in late 2005, when Bill Kennedy (class of 1958) returned to his alma mater to watch his son coach the Bloomfield junior varsity basketball team.

Kennedy noticed that few of the trophies in the gym lobby, nor the banners on the gym walls predated the 1980s. Curious as to the location of older trophies – especially those from his time at MHS – Kennedy asked around and learned about The Pit. That was the founding moment for the group that became known as “The Pit Crew,” a group of six alumni who dedicated their efforts to saving as many relics and as much history as possible. They include Kennedy, Vincent Valenti, Barbara Fortunato Hurley, Peggy “Grange” Rutan Mahne-Habermann, Tony Naturale and Sandy Kennedy.

Wednesday night June 9th, 2010 the Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Chicago Blackhawks on in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals. Although Philadelphia lost they fought hard, as they delivered a game-tying goal late in the third period and a few hard-hitting minutes of overtime before Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane blasted the puck between the legs of Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton. Maybe one of the top ten hockey goals in sports history. It’s been a wild year for Kane, who was also on the team that represented the United States at the Winter Olympics, so he now has a the most prestigious hockey trophy and sports trophy ever the Stanley Cup to go with his silver medal.

Along with the rest of his teammates on the Blackhawks, Kane will be getting his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup, the most iconic trophy in all of professional sports. It’s a special prize because there exists only one (unlike other sports, where a fresh trophy is made every year, so there are currently dozens of Lombardi Trophies out there) and it’s the same one that has been used since organized hockey was awarding prizes to champions.

trophies & awards

The Rhinos are attempting to win an unprecedented third consecutive Super League title, as well as a second straight World Club Challenge. Sinfield has also set his sights on victory in the Challenge Cup.

“We want all the trophies. The Challenge Cup is something that has eluded me in my career and it’s something I’m desperate to get my hands on but no more than the Super League trophy,” he said.

“The success we’ve had has spurred us on for more. It gets better every year and to be part of what we have experienced at Old Trafford again would be something special.

“And why not? Someone has got to win it so why not us? We’ve got a great squad, although we understand we’re going to be a big scalp for everyone this year.”
Squad

The reigning champions have added former Australian international Danny Buderus and New Zealand Test forward Greg Eastwood to their squad in the off-season.

Sinfield believes that they, along with the younger players who have secured a spot in the senior squad this season, make the Rhinos even stronger than last year.

“We’ve recruited pretty well. To bring in someone like Danny Buderus is a major coup for the club and I expect big things from Greg Eastwood when he comes,” he added.

“Add to that four or five younger lads we’ve pulled into the squad who look every bit Super League players.

“I feeling it’s turning more into a squad game every season and the team with the strongest squad invariably wins it. Our prospects are good.”

Originally posted at Skysports.com