Bates & Chock...and Fortino?

Post date: Feb 4, 2020 8:53:08 PM

"Welcome back to the top," - and I quote the commentator immediately following their incredible free dance to win the 2020 US Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeA1CqN_m8A

Truly the crème de la crème.

Such amazing talent.

Marc Knisely was (IS! IS!) sharp to catch the Alma High School report on three brothers who graduated and who went on to pretty accomplished lives. Marc did not want to take any of the light away from the amazing trajectory of the skaters, but did want to illuminate some of the lineage...

Thus did we discover one Mario "Sam" Fortino, Evan's mother's (Nancy Fortino) father (so this would be Evan's grandfather if Hecker got the apostrophes right and correctly ascribed the begats). Sam Fortino.

Grampa.

Set a scoring record that stood for over 40 years, and was broken as if by magic... well, actually, it was Magic. Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who played a bit of ball for Sparty and then had a hot minute in "The Show".

Behold, Mario "Sam" Fortino!

https://almaschoolshof.weebly.com/al-sil-and-sam-fortino.html

" Sam Fortino - Excelled in Basketball at AHS; Became an All-American Basketball Player at Michigan State University; set a Spartan scoring record which stood for more than 40 years (eventually broken by Magic Johnson); Played Basketball at the University of Detroit while in Dental School; Practiced Dentistry in the Lansing, Michigan area; Won Gold Medals at the 1991 and 1992 Senior Olympics."