Bruce Gilbert, class of 1972, was a fine athlete at the Bay in football, basketball and baseball, was a corporate lawyer for 30 years and chose as his retirement hobby to write and record songs with his band Boo Rits and The Missing Years. He also plays national level 70+ baseball, where he’s been a key part of several Roy Hobbs national champion teams. And he’s become involved in the Bay athletics alumni old-timers community these days. To join you need to know the secret password.*
Bruce was in charge of the successful effort to put the great Tom Jankowski into the Whitefish Bay Athletics Hall of Fame. So when putting together his band’s fifth album, he wrote a song called “The Legend of Tom Jankowski.”
The new album — Gadgets and Whispers — has been released. “The Legend of Tom Jankowski” is track 11.
I had the good fortune to sit next to Bruce at the 2025 Bay Homecoming game. We lamented the lost grass field, replaced by perfectly painted turf. Also no wood bleachers across the field for opponent fans to sit in. A long time ago a bunch of Bay teachers/coaches would sit at the far south end of those stands, talk shop and sometimes even talk about the game, not wanting to be overheard. The song mentions the grass and wood bleachers.
Bruce likes to have appearances on his albums from his daughters and grandchildren.
Yeah, I’m guessing that Blue and Gray as the color theme is a total coincidence.
* The secret password is “Waukesha Could Never Win A Fair Fight.”
Whitefish Bay Track and Field History 