“They were not just happy to be there,” said Dalen Cuff, who called Vermont’s 2-1 overtime victory over Marshall on ESPN2 last Monday night. “They felt like a team on a mission and they were. Their mind-set was, ‘We will be forgotten if we don’t win the whole thing.’ I think they were just very salient in the fact that if we win the whole thing, then we hit legendary status. And they were right.”

So when the Catamounts achieved what might have been a stunning outcome to just about everyone outside of their own locker room, prevailing on Max Kissel’s golden goal in the 95th minute, Cuff’s exceptional call included acknowledging the Catamounts’ own we’ve-got-this, no-glass-slipper-necessary mentality.

“Oh my gosh! They do it!” exclaimed Cuff as Kissel’s goal rolled toward the net. “Don’t call them Cinderella! You can call them national champs!”

Vermont’s victory and how it occurred made the Catamounts an instant social media sensation, and the buzz carried through much of the week. On Tuesday, the match drove conversation on such shows as ESPN’s “Around The Horn,” where host Tony Reali declared it the best sporting event of the year.

I told Cuff – whom locals may remember from his time at Comcast SportsNet New England nearly a decade ago — that watching the end of the championship match reminded me of what it felt like when Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary found Gerard Phelan to lift Boston College over Miami in November 1984.

“It’s funny you mention the Flutie thing,” said Cuff, who has called four NCAA men’s soccer finals for ESPN. “When I grew up, I had the VHS tape, ‘Great Sports Moments of the ‘80s.’ One of them was the Flutie play, with the radio call: ‘He did it! He did it! Flutie did it’!

“I never thought I’d be the voice of any type of unforgettable moment, especially since I started my career as an analyst.

“I’ve heard people like Al Michaels or Mike Tirico or Joe Buck talk about when you’re calling something that has a chance to be an incredible moment, or when you’re calling a championship, ‘Do you think about it in advance? Do you rehearse?’ The weird thing is, I don’t think you can in soccer, where one moment that can define the game can happen at any time.”

Cuff said he just instinctively went with what was already on his mind.

“And what was on my mind was that they found it practically offensive to be called Cinderella,” he said. “Their point of view was, ‘We’ve won more games than anybody in this tournament the last few years. We know we’re a small school from America East, but we’re not Cinderella.’

“So we mentioned that during the broadcast a couple of times, and so in the moment I communicated that they’ll never be considered Cinderella again. Just call them champs.”

Cuff acknowledged that he didn’t quite grasp how much the championship match and Vermont’s team was resonating with sports fans until the next day.

“I walked out of there in kind of a stupor,” he said. “Not that they won, but more like, ‘I can’t believe that happened.’ The way it went down. I was kind of dumbfounded for a couple of hours, and I don’t think I understood the response and how many people watched and appreciated what they’d seen. I realized Tuesday with all of the talk about the game and people texting me how much people gravitated toward this.”

The championship aired on ESPN2 in the spot in which the “ManningCast” would normally be on as the alternate broadcast of “Monday Night Football.” But there was no show last Monday.

“Shout out to the Manning brothers for taking the week off,” said Cuff with a laugh. “Thank you for that. I’m sure some people tuned in thinking the ‘ManningCast’ was on, stuck around, and got this unbelievable game.

“I do think where it’s on television matters. It was on ESPN2 for the first time since I’ve been calling it. I think random people stumbled across the game. I recognized that part instantly. When you walk into a bar, ESPN is likely on TV. ESPNU is not likely to be on. So the platform made a difference.”

…

Jim Donaldson, an important member of an outstanding Providence Journal sports section for nearly four decades, died Thursday morning at age 73. Donaldson never smoothed the edges of his opinions as a writer, particularly when it came to the Patriots, and was a friendly companion in the press box. I enjoyed his wry sense of humor as a frequent weekend host on WEEI back in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Even after his retirement in 2016, he remained an engaging — and opinionated, of course — presence on social media. I’ll miss hearing from him . . . Expect the Red Sox to announce their broadcast booths for both NESN and WEEI at Fenway Fest — an even kinder, gentler version of Winter Weekend, apparently on Saturday, Jan. 11. Dave O’Brien (NESN) and Will Flemming (WEEI) will remain in their play-by-play roles, but some other specifics are still being worked out.

Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeChadFinn.

The parents of 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg, a Philadelphia teacher whose 2011 death was ruled a suicide after she was found with nearly two dozen stab wounds and covered in bruises, appeared in court last week, where a judge told them the city’s suicide declaration was “puzzling.”  

Greenberg was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds and a knife in her chest with a half-made fruit salad on the countertop during a blizzard Jan. 6, 2011. Her parents, Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg, have been entangled in legal battles with the government since their daughter’s death, fighting the determination that it was a suicide. 

Oral arguments were heard Dec. 11 in a Philadelphia courtroom as part of a 2022 lawsuit the Greenbergs filed that accuses local officials and the medical examiner’s office of covering up their daughter’s death and participating in a “concealed conspiracy for the purpose of disguising Ellen’s homicide as a suicide,” according to legal documents. This was the first time the Greenbergs sat in a courtroom and listened to arguments in their daughter’s case. 

“I feel like we’re advocating for her,” Sandee said in a statement to Fox News Digital after the hearing. “We are getting closer to justice for Ellen. We are very determined and not giving up.”

FIANCÉ OF TEACHER FOUND WITH 20 STAB WOUNDS SUGGESTS WHAT LED TO HER ‘SUICIDE’

At the time of her death, Greenberg had sent out save-the-date notices for her wedding with Sam Goldberg, who said he returned home from a gym, broke down the door and found his fiancée’s body in their shared apartment in Manayunk, a quiet neighborhood in Philadelphia. 

In the hour before Goldberg called 911, he sent Greenberg a series of calls, emails and eerie text messages, according to court records. 

Between 5:32 p.m. and 5:54 pm, Goldberg’s last nine texts to Greenberg included the following: “Hello,” “open the door,” “what r u doin,” “im getting pissed,” “hello,” “you better have an excuse,” “what the f***,” “ahhh,” and “u have no idea.” 

Goldberg called 911 at 6:33 p.m., and Greenberg was pronounced dead by medics shortly thereafter. 

ELLEN GREENBERG PROSECUTORS SAY THEY CAN’T PROVE CRIME IN ‘SUICIDE’ BY 20 STAB WOUNDS

Ellen Greenberg, left, in an undated family photo, with fiancé Sam Goldberg. (Greenberg family)

Outside investigators said the damage shown to the lock on Greenberg’s apartment door is inconsistent with the report that it had been kicked in from the outside. (Tom Brennan)

A forensic pathologist with the city medical examiner’s office at the time, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide, according to court documents. Then he reversed course after meeting with police behind closed doors and officially ruled it a suicide.

The Greenbergs have argued that officials involved in their daughter’s case “grossly botched” the investigation and conspired to cover it up as a result. The Greenbergs also accused them of intentionally causing the couple emotional distress. 

“I don’t think anyone disagrees the crime scene should have been handled differently,” Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Erdos said during the Dec. 11 hearing, Greenberg family attorney Joe Podraza confirmed with Fox News Digital. “The fact the death certificate still lists the cause of death as suicide is puzzling.”

JUDGE TIED TO ELLEN GREENBERG’S FIANCÉ TOOK ITEMS FROM HER ‘SUICIDE’ SCENE BEFORE POLICE SEARCH

Ellen Greenberg worked as a teacher.  (Ellen Greenberg’s family)

The Greenbergs and outside investigators have questioned why authorities allowed the crime scene to be professionally cleaned and sanitized before detectives arrived with a search warrant, according to court records. 

“Just as Dr. Osbourne was conducting his autopsy … ultimately concluding Ellen’s death was a homicide, the premises where Ellen was murdered were thoroughly cleaned,” documents state. 

The Greenbergs have also questioned why Goldberg’s uncle, James Schwartzman, a prominent Pennsylvania judge, was allowed to enter the apartment and remove a number of Ellen’s belongings, including her computer and cellphone. 

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During last week’s hearing, Erdos dismissed one of the defendants in the lawsuit against city officials involved but withheld judgment on the other four defendants. Erdos asked Podraza to file briefs outlining how he intends to show a jury that the remaining defendants directly and intentionally, not just recklessly, inflicted emotional distress upon the Greenbergs.

“It’s a steep climb but not an impossible climb. … You have a fighting chance,” Erdos said during the hearing in reference to the Greenbergs’ lawsuit. 

The defendant dismissed was Lyndsey Emery, a former pathologist with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office who was asked in 2019 to examine a section of Greenberg’s preserved spinal column. The other four defendants named in the lawsuit include Osbourne, the former city pathologist who conducted Greenberg’s autopsy; former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino; retired Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney; and Homicide Det. John McNamee. 

WATCH ‘TEACHER DEATH MYSTERY’ ON FOX NATION

Over the years, forensic pathologists, crime scene experts, former law enforcement officials and attorneys have expressed doubts about Greenberg’s suicide ruling. And Goldberg recently broke his silence on the death of his bride-to-be, seemingly believing otherwise. 

“When Ellen took her own life, it left me bewildered. She was a wonderful and a kind person who had everything to live for. When she died, a part of me died with her,” Goldberg told CNN in his first public statement about Greenberg’s death. 

“Unimaginably, in the years that have passed, I have had to endure the unimaginable passing of my future wife and the pathetic and despicable attempts to desecrate my reputation and her privacy by creating a narrative that embraces lies, distortions and falsehoods in order to avoid the truth. Mental illness is very real and has many victims.” 

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Ellen Greenberg, left, in an undated family photo. (Greenberg family)

Greenberg’s 20 stab wounds included 10 from behind, at least one of which could have been inflicted after she was already dead, according to court documents. She was also found covered in bruises in different stages of healing, implying she had received them over the course of some time, according to the autopsy report. 

“My daughter was being abused,” her father previously told Fox News Digital. “She had injuries on her body consistent with abuse.” 

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Dr. Cyril Wecht, a famed forensic pathologist who conducted an independent review of the autopsy, found the evidence “strongly suspicious of homicide.”

Wecht, who died in May, previously told Fox News Digital that after looking at the forensic evidence, he believed the idea that Greenberg could have died by suicide was “highly, highly unlikely.”

Greenberg’s parents previously said that while a psychiatrist, Dr. Ellen Berman, had diagnosed the 27-year-old with anxiety before her death, the psychiatrist also noted that Greenberg did not have suicidal thoughts or feelings. 

TEACHER’S UNLIKELY ‘SUICIDE’ RULING CALLED OUT AS WEB SLEUTHS DIG INTO SURVEILLANCE VIDEO

The knife found piercing the chest of 27-year-old Philadelphia teacher Ellen Greenberg has never been fingerprinted, according to the attorney for her parents, who are suing officials over an alleged cover-up. (Fox News)

In addition to their latest lawsuit, the Greenbergs previously filed another active lawsuit in 2019, aiming to have the designation of “suicide” on her death certificate replaced with “homicide” or “undetermined.” That case is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Philadelphia Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. They have previously declined to discuss the case. Goldberg did not immediately respond for comment.

A representative for Schwartzman previously responded to the claims that he removed items from the scene on his behalf, telling Fox News Digital that police gave Schwartzman permission to go in and take Greenberg’s belongings, confirming he had removed her computers and cellphones. 

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

A Boston Police officer who was fired for sending pro-Trump tweets anonymously on Jan. 6, 2021, had his termination vacated by the state civil service commission.

Originally Published: December 21, 2024 at 7:36 PM EST