January 19, 2012

Brianna Delaney of Stittsville is up there with the biggest names in sports in Pittsburgh.

By John Curry • Thursday, January 19, 2012

Brianna Delaney of Stittsville is up there with the biggest names in sports in Pittsburgh.

The Robert Morris University women's hockey player is in the running for the 2011 Dapper Dan Sportswoman of the Year award. This award will be presented at the 76th annual Dapper Dan Dinner and Sports Auction on Monday, March 12, an event billed as Pittsburgh's original, largest and most prestigious sports banquet.

And you know that this is a big event and that the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year awards are awesome by some of the names involved. Those up for selection for the Sportsman of the Year award include Dan Bylsma, coach of the National Hockey League Pittsburgh Penguins, Joel Hanrahan, a Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher who was selected to the National League's all-star team last season, and Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers.

Those up for selection for Sportswoman of the Year include not only Brianna Delaney but also Alex Gensler, who was the leading scorer on the Duquesne University women's basketball team last season, and the Pittsburgh Passion, a winning team in the Women's Football Alliance League.

Selection of the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year awards is being done by online voting, with the voting ending at noon last Friday, Jan. 13. The winners will be announced in late January.

Brianna Delaney, who is a graduate of Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Stittsville where she played for the school's girls' hockey team as well as with the National Capital Raiders girls' hockey team, is now a senior at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

She has set new scoring standards, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer this season, a mark that is continuing to go up as the season progresses. She recently extended her all-time points scoring record to 112 while moving her all-time assists mark to 63.

Brianna is serving as the team's senior assistant captain this season.

The Robert Morris University Colonials play in the College Hockey America conference, although the team also plays non-conference games as well.

Brianna's sister, Cobina, another Sacred Heart graduate, also plays for the Robert Morris University Colonials.

The Dapper Dan Dinner and Sports Auction at which the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year awards will be presented on Monday, March 12 is considered a night honouring the sports celebrities of the Pittsburgh area. It is meant as a celebration of the best athletes in college and professional sports in the Pittsburgh area.

Besides the presentation of the Dapper Dan Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards, the dinner this year will see the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to former University of Pittsburgh and National Football League star and coach Mike Ditka.

Proceeds from the dinner and other activities of the Dapper Dan Charities support youth sports programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs of western Pennsylvania. These programs allow under-served urban youth to participate in hockey, basketball, flag football, golf, RBI baseball and wrestling leagues while helping them develop leadership skills, stay motivated in school and make a positive difference in the community. These leagues now serve more than 7,000 youth each year.

"Dapper Dan" has been a figure on the Pittsburgh scene for three-quarters of a century. Founded in 1936 by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports editor Al Abrams, the organization over the years evolved from a businessman's sports club into a charitable organization that runs six fundraising events throughout the year.

The first Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year Dinner was held in Nov. 1936, generating $800 which was given to charity.

This started the tradition of combining sports entertainment with charity.

The name came from an off-hand remark by a Pittsburgh restaurant owner who was a friend of Abrams. Since Abrams wanted to attract membership from the sportsmen and businessmen of Pittsburgh, men who were always dapperly dressed, the name "Dapper Dans" was suggested and it has stuck over the years.

Over the years, the impact of Dapper Dan on the sports community of Pittsburgh and area has include staging an annual Dapper Dan Open professional golf tournament, bringing championship boxing matches to Pittsburgh including the Jersey Joe Walcott/Ezzard Charles heavyweight title fight in 1951 and an appearance by fighter Casisus Clay in 1961, co-sponsoring the PGA Championship at Oakmont in 1961, holding annual basketball and wrestling tournaments and beginning the Pittsburgh Hall of Fame.

Over the years the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year award grew to be one of the nation's most prestigious honours, recognizing the most outstanding local sports figure. In the 1990's, Dapper Dan added a Sportswoman of the Year award.

It was also in the 1990's that the organization underwent change, being re-christened as Dapper Dan Charities with the Boys and Girls Clubs of western Pennsylvania designated as the primary beneficiary of fundraising events.