| NEWS |
  
 |
| FEATURES |
| ENTERTAINMENT |
  
|
| COLUMNS |
     |
| CONTACT US |
|
| HOW TO SUBMIT |
|
|
| BACK ISSUES |
|
|
caption:
|
An Era of Straight Talk to Pass into History As Princeton's Towns Starts Final Season
By Bill Alden
Tucked away in the bowels of Caldwell Field House at Princeton University is a pleasantly cluttered office filled with such Tiger sports memorabilia as football helmets, a framed poster featuring hoops great Brian Earl, and various Ivy League plaques.
While the office beneath the leafy campus above may seem to be worlds away from the inner city, it has been the inner sanctum at Princeton for the dispensing of "ghetto logic" as the workplace of longtime Tiger equipment manager Hank Towns.
An era of straight-talk is about to pass into history as Towns started his last football season this week, having recently announced that he will be retiring after 33 years on the job.
Towns will leave with a legendary status in the world of Princeton athletics, being known for his deep relationships with players and coaches alike, a gruff but kindly confidant who could get to the bottom of a problem.
While a player or coach may not have always liked the counsel they got from Towns, they always knew they were getting the straight scoop.
In defining his "tough love" approach in a recent interview, Towns emphasized his focus on being honest. "I look at it as being real," said Towns in his distinctive gravelly voice. "I look at things as they really are and I don't sugarcoat things. You have to do it without hurting someone."
During his tenure, Towns has the distinction of being just one of two people (along with facilities foreman John Cruser) to have worked for all four Princeton athletic directors Ken Fairman, Royce Flippen, Bob Myslik, and current AD Gary Walters. Towns was named an honorary member of the Class of 1982 and oversees the needs of all 38 varsity teams at Princeton.
Towns came to Princeton in 1970, a time when standing up for one's beliefs was a badge of honor. "To be honest, I think my personality fit in well with that particular time," said Towns, a star athlete at Trenton Central High who had played football for the legendary Eddie Robinson at Grambling before returning to the area and ending up at Princeton.
"I was kind of outspoken in the early 1970s. At that time, Princeton went through some turmoil with the war. The kids here were looking for someone they could look up to and someone who would say no to them. I tried to treat everybody the same, whether you were the star or the last person on the team."
But with the stars typically having a relatively smooth ride through college, Towns more often than not found himself counselling those out of the limelight.
"A lot of the guys I had relationships with weren't necessarily the stars of the team," recalled Towns with a smile. "They were the guys who felt like second class citizens, like they weren't getting a fair shake. Those are the ones that came to you."
Working seven days a week during football and basketball seasons, often 10-12 hours a day, Towns also became close with many of the Princeton coaches, most notably legendary basketball coach Pete Carril.
"Coach Carril and I hit it off right away," remembered Towns. "He's the one who used to say that I might be one of the first guys to ever come here and tell these guys no. He nicknamed me the Professor and he said that 'you might not know it but you're teaching these guys as much as the professors up on campus, just in in a different manner – ghetto logic.'"
The "Professor" is now ready to end his tenure. "I'm just tired right now, mentally and physically," said Towns, who managed the Mitchell Davis Post 182 American Legion team to the state playoffs in 1987 and has become deeply involved in the Beauty Grove P.B. Church in Trenton now holding the post of deacon there.
"I think that when I looked at everything I started thinking that my life was dictated by what other people do. You come in planning to work 10-7 but you may not be finished until after 8. If a coach decides that he or she wants to practice at 7 at night or 6 in the morning then I've got to be sure that they are taken care of."
While Towns never planned to make a career out of the equipment job, he realized that it had opened up a special world to him. "Looking back on things, where else could I have worked where I have come in contact with all the different people I have come in contact with," said Towns, noting that he has met one president [Bill Clinton], several Governors, and celebrities in sports and cinema
"I have had the chance to go to so many different states and even travel to other countries. The athletes have kept me young. "
When Towns made his decision to retire public, the announcement was met with an outpouring of accolades. Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, the captain of the 1978 Princeton football team, called Towns a "legendary part of Princeton athletics" whose "humor, wise words, and professionalism" will be missed.
AD Walters described Towns as an "unforgettable character" whose "warm heart and spirit of generosity has touched the lives of those whom he has come in contact with."
For Towns, who has no set retirement plan other than to spend more time with his wife Joyce, and their three children and ten grandchildren, the laudatory statements were nice but not necessary.
"A lot of times you take things for granted," asserted Towns. "Now that I look back on it this job was a blessing. They are honoring me but I should be honoring them for the things they have done for me. I'm a humble-type person, I appreciate the things people do for me."
Just another nugget of straight talk from Hank Towns.
