“Sad Day When We Lose A Man Like Rob Dean”

That succinct observation needs no embellishment.

It comes from Dave Vetta, two-time All-Suburban running back at the Bay, a teammate of Rob Dean and a captain on the Whitefish Bay football team that came out of nowhere to win the 1971 Suburban Conference football championship.

https://www.feerickfuneralhome.com/obituary/robert-dean

Rob’s passing has resulted in reverberating shock waves through the Bay school community of that era. Schoolmates, teammates, teachers, coaches and many more. It certainly knocked me on my butt and I was merely an acquaintance of Rob’s, hadn’t seen him in 50 years and knew nothing about his adult life. But the memories and emotions relating to the person Rob was and what he accomplished at the Bay are still that strong.

This line from that extraordinarily fine obituary does need some embellishment:

“Rob graduated from Whitefish Bay (WI) High School”

Yes, yes he did.

My memory is that twins Rob and Randy Dean were considered as one entity by most people during their high school days, since you rarely saw one without the other nearby.  But once you spent some time around them, it was easy to tell them apart, both physically and from their demeanor. 

Randy was more conversational. Rob would likely not comment on the matter.

Rob had a slightly smaller nose. Randy might not agree with that.

A good case can be made that Rob had a more accomplished overall athletic career at the Bay than Randy. I think Randy would agree with that.

I briefly mentioned the Dean Dynasty at the beginning of the Bay 440 School Record Progression piece:

“Ross Dean (1959) is the oldest of the Dean Dynasty. He was 1st team All-Suburban in football and 2nd team in basketball. Simply a great athlete. Rich (1965) and twins Rob and Randy (1973) were also great athletes. The Dean parents went 4 for 4 with a grand slam thrown in there. The younger three were All-Suburban in football and were excellent, tough-nosed, basketball players.”

Reading that now is horrifying since I understated things JUST a little bit.

The Dean parents having four sons, as opposed to four daughters, was extremely fortunate for Bay athletics during three decades and an unfortunate nightmare for the rest of the Suburban Conference.

It’s not hard to figure out why Ross was called Dad.

Rob burst onto the Bay varsity athletics scene late in his sophomore basketball season in 1971.  It was uncommon in that era for sophomores to be called up to the varsity from the JV late in the season for the state tournament series, but it happened with Rob.

And it was very, very rare for a sophomore to be called up and then play a prominent role in the tournament, but Rob was the extremely uncommon sophomore who did that.

Waukesha, which back then at least doubled the size of any other Suburban Conference school and tripled the Bay, waltzed to an 18-0 record in winning the 1971 Suburban Conference basketball title. They ran everybody out of the gym and averaged 89 points a game. It was all kicks and giggles for the Blackshirts.

Obviously, the Bay had a good team.  They had functional size with 6’3″ All-Suburban 1st-Teamer Tom Ebert, sharpshooting 6’5″ Pistol Paul Anderson and 6’9″ late-bloomer Stan Brown.

The Bay won tough, nail-biting games at the Menomonee Falls North Regional, 36-35 over Port Washington and 67-64 over Menomonee Falls North on its home court, with the Pistol going off from deep in one of the greatest individual performances in Bay basketball tournament history.

Meanwhile, Waukesha coasted through their Regional games, winning 86-54 and 93-51.  They were led by two 1st-Team All-Suburban picks.  Senior Dave Delsman, who played college ball at Marquette and junior Jim Rappis, who went on to have a great college career at Arizona.

At the Whitefish Bay Sectional, City Conference champions Milwaukee Rufus King faced off against rural Hartford Union while Waukesha faced the Bay. The knowledgeable fans were looking forward to an epic showdown between the City and Suburban Conference champions.

King beat Hartford in an expected ridiculous laugher, while the Bay-Waukesha game was anything but.

These were the days of no 3-point line and no 2-shot bonus free throws.  All one-and-one in the bonus during crunch time.

The Bays size dominated the boards and they led Waukesha the whole way, 13-9, 30-24 and 42-37 at the quarter marks. But things were never comfortable and everybody in the packed Bay Fieldhouse knew Waukesha could, and likely would, go on a game-ending run at any time.  But Bay guards Mike Burke and Rob Dean never surrendered to Waukesha’s pressure and with every Waukesha early 4th quarter punch, the Bay punched back and then some. 

Thanks to three Rob Dean 4th quarter baskets, the Bay led 53-45 with a little less than five minutes left, but then Waukesha began their inevitable charge.  The Bay led 58-55 with under 10 seconds to go when Waukesha threw up a prayer from the top of the key and the crazy thing hit the backboard and went in to make it 58-57.  Unbelievable.  The Bay inbounded to Rob Dean, who was fouled with 5 seconds left. 

Not only did Rob make both free throws, but neither throw caught rim and the net barely moved. 

Waukesha scored at the buzzer, but it didn’t matter.

Sophomore Rob Dean scored something like 12 of the last 15 Bay points.

The next night the varsity cheerleaders put up a huge banner on the wall above where the Bay students sat. 

“Rob Dean:  Start Of A New Dream”

A sophomore becoming known to the varsity cheerleaders is a win.  A big one. 

Perhaps as big an accomplishment as the performance against Waukesha the night before?  You make the call.  I got it as 50/50.

Alas, the tired Bay lost to a well-rested Milwaukee Rufus King in the sectional final 69-65.  The Bay got off to a nice first-half lead, but tired in the second half and simply couldn’t hold on.  One team had a tough, ultra-emotional win the night before.  The other had a scrimmage.

I will always think that the Bays skilled size and improved guard play could have done some damage in Madison.

King went on to win two close games in Madison, but lost the State final to Janesville Parker 79-68, who went 28-45 from the floor and 23-23 from the line.

Preseason 1971, the Bay football team was projected to be mid-pack in the Suburban Conference, behind Wauwatosa East, Waukesha and Wauwatosa West.

The Bay had a strong, deep senior base.  While Dave Vetta, Joe Purman and Steve Knap had been quality starters since they were sophomores, there were a bunch of other seniors that started as juniors and were rock solid. But it wasn’t known what the junior class could provide.  Dennis White and Brian Stark were the only sophomores on the varsity the previous year.

The junior class blended in superbly.  Two of many were Rob and Randy Dean.  At 6’1″ 175 lbs, they were lock-down corners who had the physicality, grittiness and willingness to take on blocks in providing tough run support while having the speed to defend deep.

50 years later, the decision to start unproven senior Bruce Gilbert at quarterback over promising junior Randy Dean might be questioned.  But it wasn’t questioned at the time.  Nor should it have been, since Bruce Gilbert proved to be the consummate intelligent leader that elevated the offense, while possessing physical skills that were, to be honest, not all that awe-inspiring.

The Bay went 7-2, along with three other teams, and had to overcome Dave Vetta badly spraining his ankle in the second game, missing several games and never being 100% afterwards. 

The Bay was the only 7-2 team having to play all the other 7-2 teams on the road, and they also had Tosa West on the road. 

The highlight of the season was 5-1 Whitefish Bay putting a stunning 34-0 shellacking on 6-0 Waukesha on the Blackshirts’ field. 

Dave Vetta was the only Bay player to make All-Suburban, which left the Bay coaches furious and amused.  Furious, because it simply wasn’t right, particularly on defense, and amused because it meant the Bay was somehow able to schlep their way to a Suburban title with a bunch of stiffs.  That implied superior coaching, obviously.

The Bay 71-72 basketball season didn’t go as planned.

The Bay lost 6-4 senior Kevin Mathews to illness for much of the season, taking away their only natural scorer.  But to their credit the Bay scrapped their way along and were competitive for the win in most games.  Juniors Rob Dean, Randy Dean and Mike Collentine were the backbone of the team for much of the season.

The highlight of the season came early.  The Bay snapped Waukesha’s 22 game Suburban Conference winning streak, triggered by Rob and Randy Dean tag-teaming to stop Waukesha’s Mr. Wonderful Jim Rappis like Mad Dog Vachon and his brother Paul The Butcher working over the very capable Kenny Jay.

The season ended with a 58-57 sub-regional final loss to Braveland Conference champions Nicolet on Nicolet’s court. An outrageous charging call on Bay junior Mike Collentine with just seconds left in the game was the decider.

The 1972 football season began with optimism, as it should have, with the Bay having experience coming back at all position groups, except the most important position on the field — QB. Waukesha was picked as a slight favorite over the Bay, with South Milwaukee looking to crash the party.

The season started off with a 21-13 win over Wauwatosa West in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might suggest.

Two weeks later the Bay beat Wauwatosa East 19-14.

Perhaps the more important result of the night was Cudahy upsetting Waukesha 8-6. The Blackshirts had a chance to win it late, but John Anderson, who went on to Michigan and Green Bay Packers fame, missed a 37 yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game.

Two weeks later, Whitefish Bay hosted South Milwaukee in a showdown clash of 4-0 teams.

The game was not an offensive masterpiece, as far as it relates to points. The Bay gained lots of yards, but didn’t convert, while South Milwaukee never got past the Bay 37 yard line. The Red Rockets lost their starting quarterback Jack Kadamian to a broken collarbone in the second quarter, which undoubtedly affected things. But South Milwaukee hung in tough, since they had a very good squad.

The only score of the game was a 21 yard TD pass from Randy Dean to Rob Dean. It was kind of a broken play. Rob was double-covered on the right sideline and Randy threw sort of a duck out there that Rob saw, while the two Red Rockets defenders didn’t. Rob caught it at about the six from a stationary jump tight to the sideline, turned around to see two defenders directly in front of him, faked left, went right and with a huge jump and dive got the ball to the pylon while ending up flipped over on his back. Simply a spectacular effort and play.

The deciding game of the season was Waukesha at the Bay two weeks later. Waukesha won 17-6.

It was a nightmare, with the Bay continually shooting itself in the foot with drive-killing penalties and fumbles. Penalty yards were 55-5 and the Bay didn’t have the 5. The Bay coaches acknowledged to the team the next week that they spent too much time and effort yelling at the officials over the obvious disparity that was plain to all.

An always calm, measured guy like Bay head coach Bob Albrightson getting raging mad was certainly a sight to see.

Waukesha (8) and Whitefish Bay (6) dominated the All-Suburban team.

I’m not sure I agree with Randy being 6’2″ 185 lb while Rob was 6’1″ 175 lb. And, miraculously, Randy gained another five pounds when he was named All-State 1st Team Quarterback.

Note the name Jim Caldwell from Beloit Memorial.

Going into the 72-73 basketball season, the Bay had only one problem — but it was a big one — size. 6’1″ was about it.

The Bay struggled early in the season going 1-3 while coach Jack Nagle was in the process of figuring out how the parts fit.

The Bay hit their stride, closing with an amazing 12-2 to finish second behind your favorite, and mine, Waukesha.

The X was necessary to let Waukesha students and fans know that they were the Suburban Conference champions.

I’ll give you one guess about the highlight win of the season. Congratulations in advance for being able to figure it out.

As satisfying as the win over Waukesha was, by far the most memorable moment of the season was the game at South Milwaukee.

Some backstory is that the villages of Whitefish Bay and South Milwaukee, on opposite ends of Milwaukee County, were vastly different. The Bay was more affluent. Back in the 1930’s, the Bay was often called the Goldcoasters in the newspapers.

After the Bay-South Milwaukee football game in 1970, a Red Rockets player said to a Bay player that South Milwaukee was looked down upon socially by the Bay. The Bay player was stunned.

So in the game at South Milwaukee there was a scramble for the ball and a foul or jump ball was called. Rob Dean got up from the floor, ran over to the Bay bench holding out his right hand to coach Jack Nagle. The pinkie was dislocated at the top joint and was pointing out at a 45 degree angle. Dr. Nagle quickly worked at it and popped it back in. When the pinkie went back in, Rob’s face was something out of a horror movie, but he didn’t make a sound. Rob then calmly asked for a towel, dried off his hand and went back onto the court.

Meanwhile, there wasn’t a sound in the packed South Milwaukee gym when this was going on. Except for a collective groan from the South Milwaukee student section that had a perfect view from across the court when they saw the pinkie going back in and then they gave a huge ovation when Rob went back onto the court.

The whole incident lasted maybe 15 seconds.

And, oh yeah that’s right, the Bay won a close one with Rob scoring 21 points.

The season ended for the second straight season in a close loss to Braveland Conference champion Nicolet, this time in the sub-regional at Shorewood. I’m not going to talk about it.

Nobody on the 2nd place Bay team was worthy of being All-Suburban as voted on by the coaches. Never a surprise. The Suburban players named Jerry Mullaney to the second team. As a freshman, Jerry was one the last players to make the 17 player team, but he could use either hand well and that was a rare skill with a freshman. Jerry then grew from five feet nothin’ to 6’1″, never stopped working and developed into a unique player who could slither his way to the basket against much taller defenders. And he had to guard those same guys.

I’ve gone through the Bay 1973 track season in detail in the Bay 440 School Record Progression piece. This is about the Mile Relay final at State. John Kearns had won the State 440 title in 49.4 (49.1 converted). I’ve updated what I wrote back then in small ways here and there.

“The Bays State team title hopes were gone by the time the gun went off for the Mile Relay final.  Coupled with the Bay finishing second in the Mile Relay each of the previous three years and three seniors running their last race, emotions were running high. 

All of the Mile Relay heats the night before were closely contested.  So Bay coach Earl Zamzow decided to make a daring move by pulling John Kearns off his customary anchor spot and have him lead off in hopes of getting the Bay out of the muck and into some clean air. Bill Taylor flipped to anchor, with Estil Strawn and Rob Dean running their customary second and third legs.

Nobody who saw the 1973 Class A Mile Relay final will ever forget it.  The temperature was 90 degrees and the wind was 20-30 mph directly against the finish straight. Earlier in the meet, 10.4 had won the Class A 100 Yard Dash, which is 11.3 in the 100 meters. 

Kearns got the Bay off to a lead, but there was only so long that was going to last.  The Bays Rob Dean took four teams packed into a sardine can into the first turn of the third leg.  Milwaukee West was one of the favorites in the race, and their guy tried to pass Rob. But all of a sudden the Comets baton flew into the air as if it had been kicked like a field goal.  The baton may have been helped on its way by an inadvertent elbow from Rob Dean.

Bay sophomore Bill Taylor took the baton from Rob Dean for the anchor leg in a three-way pickem with Racine Case and Beloit Memorial.  Bill settled into third and then passed Beloit to get into second heading into the final turn, thought about passing Racine Case for the lead, but decided to chill in second through the turn.  He then passed Racine Case on the final stretch and may or may not have held off a furious late charge from Beloit Memorial’s Jim Caldwell (future Iowa football player and later head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions). 

What did the judges see?

Sometimes the good guys win one.

The winning time of 3:24.6 (3:23.5 converted) was in no way impressive, and was way off the Bay times of 3:21.1 (3:20.0) run in 1970 and 1971, and the 3:22.0 (3:20.9) run in 1972.  Nobody cares.

The Bay finished second as a team at State for the second straight year.”

I don’t have much to add to that now. Just that Rob was a physical football player running the 440 and passing him needed to be earned.

Rob and Randy Dean shared the Bill Hilgendorf Award as the best senior athlete in the 1973 class and Rob also won the Rock Rumack Award for sportsmanship.

Ruthanne Kastner was named the Sportswoman of the Year and totally dominated Rob and Randy in the fashion competition.

Many people who grew up in the Bay ended up with two lives. Through the high school/college part and then the important part.

Rob Dean excelled at both.