By Michael Letendre

It’s time for everybody’s favorite game: Two truths and a lie, Bristol sports edition.

Well, here at the Bristol Edition, we’re going to play this challenge a little bit differently.

Our version is called ‘One truth and two, um, not truths.’

You, an esteemed reader of the Bristol Edition, will be given three possible truths about a certain Bristol scholastic athlete or coach.

Your job is to figure out which one of the three facts listed is the actual truth.

Let’s keep this one in house and talk about TBE Sports Editor Jack Krampitz.

Now, Mr. Krampitz – and I use the term Mr. very loosely – is a retired state championship coach, guiding the Bristol Eastern softball program to the Class L title in 1997 and helped the Kingstreeters to the final game in 1996.

He also coached football at the school in the early 2000s before a much better coaching choice was made in 2004 (Paul Philippon).

So, you know who we’re talking about and now, let’s play the game.

One truth and two, um, not truths – Saturday, August 26

Today’s Subject – Jack Krampitz

Here’s a little info about the outstanding former coach and teacher from Bristol Eastern:

*One of Krampitz’s hobbies includes living across from graveyards.

*He cheers for the Red Sox – typically when the team is out of contention.

*Krampitz can be found hanging out at your local Dunkin’ Donuts, enjoying all the aromas and yummy treats.

Now that you know the man, here’s three statements about Krampitz.

It’s now your job to find the truthful statement about him:

• Jack Krampitz once pulled Bristol Eastern softball pitching stud – All-Starter Jennifer Hadley – from a game in 1996, inserting Beth Ponte on the mound to close out the contest over a critical 3-2 victory against New Britain. 
• Krampitz coached three seasons of scholastic football at BEHS, compiling 13 wins over 2001-2003, going 5-5 in his debut campaign. One season later, his squad dropped 49 points on current Naugatuck Valley League competitor Woodland. Of course, Krampitz was a longtime assistant coach under Dave Mills.
• Krampitz once proclaimed he was the best softball coach ever in the history of Bristol scholastic softball, noting that his two championship appearances were much more impressive than what coach Chris D’Amato was able to accomplish over his career at the school.

Is there an obvious choice out of the three?

Do you need more information on the three choices?

I’ll give you a little more information to help craft your ultimate guess:

• On that fateful day against the New Britain softball team, after he pulled Hadley in a rare move, Krampitz told Jack Lautier of the Bristol Press, “I’m a pretty bright coach. Hadley was an okay pitcher (she ended up pitching at UMASS for crying out loud). Ponte wanted to show Keene State a little more of her versatility before heading off to New Hampshire and she did exactly that against New Britain. But again, it starts with the head coach and I’m the best around, period.”
• Over Krampitz’s first scholastic football season, Krampitz won his debut game against Plainville (16-14) on September 14, 2001, and ended up 5-1 over his first six games. Four straight losses against Southington, Platt, New Britain and Bristol Central saw Krampitz go .500 over his first campaign. And after scoring 49 points against Woodland during his second game of his second year, the squad never played Eastern again.
• Krampitz once told the Bristol Observer, “Chris D’Amato is an okay coach. But he’s a dime a dozen and couldn’t win the big American Legion game during the Northeast Regional on August 24,1994, just about 29 years ago to this day. I heard he was too busy watching teammate, pitcher Jimmy Deschaine (how did that box-and-one defense fare against the Plainville boys basketball team in 1994, Jimmy?), was purposely throwing at opposing players from Brooklawn, New Jersey. Deschaine, and later Jeremiah Kurasz, nearly got Bristol coach Jim Ziogas into a big brawl. Ziogas’s picture ended up in the back of the sports section of the Boston Herald for crying out loud. That starts and ends with D’Amato.”

Did you figure out which item was the truth?

If you picked B, you’re not just correct but the master of the obvious.

In scenario A, I don’t think Ponte ever pitched scholastically (she certainly never hit any three-pointers for the girls basketball team at Eastern. During her senior year, the squad hit just one 3-pointer overall. ONE).

Scenario B was truthful from start to finish but scenario C did contain some honesty as well.

Deschaine managed to hit two batters in a row on that fateful day and coach Ziogas got hot when the New Jersey third base coach started yelling at Bristol coaches after a Kurasz HBP in the 1994 New England Regional Championship game from West Warwick, Rhode Island.

And Ziogas’s picture was indeed in the Boston Herald – on the back cover – being held by an official during that fateful title game.