Philomena Gianfrancisco
Baseball
Philomena Gianfrancisco Zale was born in Chicago in 1923 – January 18, 1992) She was an outfielder who played from 1945 through 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. At 5 ft 2 in she was an offensive force to be reckoned with, batting left-handed and throwing right-handed. Her most productive season came in 1946, when she posted a career-best .226 batting average in 98 games, ranking eighth in runs batted in (53) and ninth in doubles (9), while tying for sixth in home runs.
In 1949, she left the league to become boxer Tony Zale’s manager and booking agent. The two married in 1970. She worked as a physical education teacher for more than 25 years and specialized in teaching the hearing impaired at St. Francis De Sales Catholic High School in Chicago and for the Chicago Park District.
Gianfrancisco is part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She died four years later in her hometown of Chicago at the age of 68.
Sal Paolantonio
NFL Sportscaster, ESPN Reporter
Sal Paolantonio is an accomplished NFL sportscaster and reporter, best known for his long-standing career with ESPN. With a deep knowledge of football and a keen ability to engage audiences, Paolantonio has earned a reputation as one of the network’s most respected and recognizable voices in sports journalism.
Paolantonio began his career in sports reporting after earning a degree in communications from Temple University. He joined ESPN in 1995 and quickly became a key figure in the network’s NFL coverage. Paolantonio is particularly known for his coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles, his hometown team, as well as his insightful reporting on NFL events, news, and storylines.
Throughout his career, Paolantonio has contributed to various ESPN platforms, including SportsCenter, NFL Live, and Sunday NFL Countdown. He is also known for his work as a sideline reporter during NFL games and his in-depth features on players, coaches, and the broader football landscape. His reporting style combines thorough analysis with a personal touch, often offering unique perspectives on the human stories behind the game.
Sal Paolantonio’s work has earned him multiple accolades, including recognition for his excellence in sports journalism. He is a trusted and influential voice in the world of NFL reporting, continuing to bring expert analysis and behind-the-scenes access to football fans across the country.
Johnny LoBianco
Boxing Referee
Giovanni “Johnny” LoBianco (October 7, 1915 – July 16, 2001) was an American boxing referee for over 30 years, who was referee for a number of championship fights, including several that ended controversially, most notably Roberto Durán’s successful 1972 dethroning of Ken Buchanan in which LoBianco ruled Durán the victor by knockout despite having appeared to have hit Buchanan with a low blow.
Born in Sicily on October 7, 1915, LoBianco immigrated to the United States as a five-year-old and was raised in Corona, Queens. LoBianco took over his father’s barber shop on Delancey Street at age 15 after his father’s death. He started boxing in his teens, cutting hair during the day and fighting at night, and ended up winning 52 of his 54 professional bouts as a lightweight boxer. He became a boxing referee in 1954, and otherwise worked as a liquor salesman, continuing his boxing role until 1986.
Among the other championship fights LoBianco refereed were the 1965 fight in which José Torres won the light heavyweight title from Willie Pastrano, the March 1967 bout between Muhammad Ali and Zora Folley and Nino Benvenuti’s March 1968 fight in which he regained the middleweight title from Emile Griffith.
LoBianco was best known for his role as referee in Roberto Durán’s June 26, 1972, match with Ken Buchanan at Madison Square Garden for the world lightweight championship. Durán was ahead on all three cards at the end of the 13th round, at which time the fighters spent an additional 20 seconds punching each other. Buchanan was knocked down writhing in pain from a groin injury, that Buchanan’s trainer, Gil Clancy, said was caused by a knee to the groin. LoBianco awarded the fight to Durán, insisting that the blow that took down Buchanan was “in the abdomen, not any lower” and that he felt that Buchanan would be unable to continue fighting. Columnist Red Smith of The New York Times wrote that LoBianco had to award the victory to Durán, even if the punch was a low blow, as “anything short of pulling a knife is regarded indulgently” in American boxing.
LoBianco died at age 85 at Southampton Hospital on July 16, 2001, due to congestive heart failure.
Caroline Colianne
Special Olympics
Swimming, Track and Field, Basketball, Bocce, Flag Football, Softball, Unified Volleyball, Snowshoe, Floor Hockey and Powerlifting
Caroline dove headfirst into the world of Special Olympics at 24, all thanks to her dad’s genius plan to keep her on her active instead of lounging around with pals. Starting off as a champ in Track and Field, she sprinted her way to Gold in the 200-meter dash and aced the softball throw. As if that wasn’t enough, she leveled up her game to conquer the 3000-meter run, shot put, and even dabbled in other sports.
Fast forward to 2014, Caroline made a splash as a swimmer for Team Illinois at the Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey. She snagged a Bronze in the 100 IM, Silver in the 100 Freestyle, and rocked Gold in the 100 Backstroke along with crushing it in the 4×50 Medley Relay. Her winning streak didn’t stop there – she’s dominated State Basketball, glided through Winter Games on snowshoes, joined a Unified volleyball dream team, and even reigned as the lone lady on her flag football squad, snagging gold in 2021. To top it off, Caroline made a grand return to the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida, where she flexed her muscles in shot put (6th place), 1500-meter run (5th place), and clinched a Silver in the 800-meter run. This girl is on fire!
Bruno Banducci
NFL Pioneer
Bruno Banducci, born in 1921, in the Tuscan village of Tassignano, Italy. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and during his first year of high school, Banducci went out for the football team at the urging of the team’s coach, making the squad as a reserve tackle, even though he had never seen an organized football game prior to and making the team.
Banducci was a prominent lineman, twice making the All-Conference team, eventually attending Stanford University in 1939, which offered him a four-year, full-ride athletic scholarship. As part of the Stanford “Dream Team” of 1940, he went on to win the 1941 Rose Bowl, earning All-Conference honors during his 1941 junior and 1942 senior seasons at the tackle position, and was an honorable mention as an All-American. Bruno was drafted in the sixth round of the 1943 NFL draft, eventually landing with San Francisco 49ers, a deal which paid him $5,000 for the 1946 season and made him one of the highest-paid members of the inaugural San Francisco team. He would play nine seasons with the 49ers, serving as team captain for the last five. He earned a Pro Bowl nomination in 1954 and named an Associated Press first-team All-Pro in 1947 and 1954, capping a twelve year career in the NFL.
Bruno Banducci passed away in 1985 at the early age of 63, and his legacy is honored through the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
Lou Albano
Wrestling
In the colorful world of professional wrestling, few individuals were as larger-than-life than Louis Albano. He was a wrestler, manager of athletes and musicians and actor who performed under the stage name “Captain” Lou Albano from 1953 until 1996.
Born in Rome, Italy, Lou was a unique showman with a long beard with rubber bands, facial piercings and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection and was a pioneer of the World Wre`stling Federation. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects. He became well known to a younger generation of fans as the actor and voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and he also appeared in several MTV videos including Cyndi Lauper’s, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
He was a devout husband and father and we lost Lou in 2009, but not without indelible marks in the many worlds he was a part of.
Chris Corchiani
NBA Player
Christopher Corchiani Sr. (born March 28, 1968) is an American-Italian former professional basketball player who played at the point guard position. Born in Coral Gables, Florida, Corchiani attended Miami’s Kendall Acres Academy, and Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, in Hialeah, Florida. He played briefly in the National Basketball Association after a college career at NC State. Corchiani was the first college player to amass 1,000 career assists and as of 2024 is one of only four players in history to achieve the milestone.
Corchiani’s college basketball career lasted from 1988 to 1991, at North Carolina State University, where he played with the NC State Wolfpack. Corchiani was the first NCAA Division I player to record 1,000 assists in a career. In the 1990–91 season, he led the nation in assists per game average, at 9.7 per game. At the time he finished his career, he was in 5th place on the NCAA’s all-time steals list.
Professional career Corchiani was selected by the Orlando Magic, with the 9th pick of the 2nd round (36th overall), of the 1991 NBA draft. In addition to the Magic, he played with two other NBA teams, the Boston Celtics and the Washington Bullets. He also played professionally in Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Germany. He was a member of the Bayer Leverkusen team, which captured the German Bundesliga title in 1996 under the guidance of coach Dirk Bauermann. In 2002, he won the Spanish national championship with Tau Cerámica, alongside players like Elmer Bennett, Luis Scola and Andrés Nocioni, coached by Duško Ivanović.
After retiring from basketball, he settled in Raleigh, North Carolina, working as a realtor, then as the owner of a mortgage bank. In 2007, Chris founded Tryon Title Agency, and he is currently the managing member of the LLC. Chris is focused on serving the law firms the company supports as well as business development activities with realtors, mortgage loan officers and commercial developers.
