events

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Tug of War 2009

The dust was just clearing from “Strong Cops Save Lives” Boxing Event- SCPD vs. NYPD that was held in May of this year. Strong Cops was at it again for another great event. On Friday, July 24th at Jones Beach, Strong Cops Save Lives teamed up with WBAB radio to host our second annual Tug of War to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
Last year we lost a grueling 13 minute battle against our western neighbors from Nassau County Police Department. It was a tough loss and one of which that burned for a year. I remember the pain that was in my hands and arms afterwards. I could not feel my legs and my back was screaming. But the pain was not over; the real pain came when I had to do a follow up interview with Roger and JP from the WBAB morning show the day after. “Billy what happened, we thought you guys were bench pressing, airplane pulling, and truck tire flipping mad men”? JP asked. I replied, “We did not pull together as a team. We were all pulling out of sequence”. I have been competitive all my life and I live for challenges but this tug of war is brutal. It’s a balance of power and cardio. You must have both if you really want to win.
So here are the basic rules for the event: Each team has to have ten cops from there respected departments, one of the ten must be a female. The teams combined weight must not exceed 2,500 pounds.
So this year we assembled a well balanced team of very strong athletes that had great cardio stamina. I was not looking for a team of all heavy weights. Team Nassau had a team of all huge cops. At the official weigh- in Team NCPD had a combined weight of 2,498.5 pounds!! Team SCPD weighed- in at 2,147 lbs., they had us by 350 pounds. That is a huge difference, but I knew that the team we had assembled was up for the task and we did not have one weak link. Each member of our team had to be carefully picked.
I knew right away that I could count on “ole reliable” P.O. Brian Keegan from the Gun
Squad. Brian has competed in all but one of Strong Cops Save Lives 14 events. Brian is pound for pound, well, maybe second to two time bench press champion P.O. Danny Rella, the strongest cop on our job. When we were training for the Strongman event I have seen Brian dead lift 405 lbs. 15 times, not bad for weighing less than 200 lbs. Brian has also fought in both of our Boxing Events and recently boxed in the Golden Gloves. P.O. Pete Cunneen, also from the Gun Squad was next on my list of reliable guys who loves competing and hates to lose. Pete is a solid 230 lbs. and is like a bull. Pete was my training partner in 2006 for our Strongman event and can move a lot of heavy weight and also has great stamina. Pete beat me by one repetition in the dead lift event by doing 32 reps of 405 lbs in 90 seconds. P.O. Keegan and P.O. Cunneen are both United States Marines. When you think of old school cops, P.O. John Wright from the Third pct COPE Section has got to be top of the list. I was so lucky to be John’s partner in COPE after my partner; Frank Rathgeber was promoted to Narcotics. There is a rumor that during the academy in the 90’s, John and a classmate had an arm wrestle and John almost tore the guys shoulder off, which still hurts him today. John weighed in at 240 lbs.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting P.O. John Farrell from Emergency Services. John shook my hand and it was like a vice grip, I took note of that and I knew he was going to get the call for our team. John is a very humble man, a true gentle giant, but when it comes to game time he gets all fired up. John was our anchor man and he was awesome. P.O. Mike Cummings from Emergency Services and his wife P.O. Heidi Cummings from Crime Stoppers was the dynamic duo of Team SCPD. Mike is a great athlete and very strong. Mike came to the rescue of Team SCPD when P.O. Jonas Cortes from the Third Pct had to step down do to an injury. Heidi is one tough woman who has a serious competitive spirit. She was a very important member to our team. Both Mike and Heidi competed in last year’s Adventure Race. They came to the beach with there twin boys and the whole Cummings family had a great time. Sgt. Pete Hanson from the Third Pct. and P.O. Brian Grenz stepped up and played a big part. Sgt. Hanson was behind me in the lineup and he was ready to go. His son was right next to us screaming and cheering his Dad on. P.O. Grenz is a big jolly guy that just loves to pull things! He was in our two Jet Plane pulls, last year’s Tug of War and Bench Press events. Last but by far not the least is P.O. Steve Bardak from Emergency Services. Steve is another humble man who has the heart of a lion. He competes in triathlons so his cardio is primo and he is very strong. He was a great addition our team needed.
Last year’s event was a huge success and WBAB wanted to make it even better this year. They decided to have more teams compete. The day would have three team pulls. The first was the Suffolk Corrections vs. Nassau Corrections the second was Suffolk Sheriffs vs. Nassau Sheriffs and the last was Suffolk Police vs. Nassau Police.
The first to go was the Corrections teams. It was a great pull and the Suffolk Corrections won. The second up was the Sheriffs and they won as well. Our team was watching their strategies so we could come up with our own.
We asked P.O. Dan Chmura from the Third Pct. and P.O. Chris Davis from Emergency Services to be our line coaches and help our team win. We decided that we were going to count to three and then pull as hard as we could together for about 5 seconds then just hold the line and repeat it again. Our whole team needed to be in synch with one another. Danny lined up on one side toward the front half and Chris was towards the back on the opposite side. The referees instructed us to pick up the rope and hold the strain. When he yelled “pull” and blew the whistle that was our queue to start the tug! The energy was incredible amongst us as well as the crowd. We held onto the rope and planted our feet in the sand. The whistle blew and the crowd went crazy! The battle of David vs. Goliath had begun. The referees wrapped a piece of red tape in the center of the rope. When the red tape went over the measured line that team would be the victors. The rope did not budge for the first few seconds.
Danny came up to the side of me and yelled “ARE YOU READY- 1, 2, 3 P-U-L-L”!! We all pulled at the same time and the red tape started coming our way. Roger and J.P. were announcing a play by play on the microphone and the crowd started getting louder and louder. The next time Chris gave the count down, the crowd that was around our team started to count down with them. The second pull we gained more distance. We held the line and refused to give anything to Team Nassau. The crowd was screaming so loud that the next time the coaches called out the cadence it sounded as if the whole beach was in on it. This pull we actually had the first three guys of Team Nassau fall forward. Our whole team fell backwards and hit the sand. We had to get up right away to avoid a sitting penalty. We all stood up and Danny and Chris immediately went into another 1, 2, 3 P-U-L-L!! It was so loud. We all pulled together and when I opened my eyes that were closed shut from squeezing, I saw the red tape in front of me! The whistle blew and the crowd went crazy, WE WON!! It was incredible, TEAM SCPD beat the giants. Our team jumped up together with bear hugs and high fives. We beat NCPD and we did it in three minutes! A huge amount of pressure came off my shoulders. I ran up to J.P. and yelled, "I told you we would win, and teamwork wins every time"!
WBAB presented the trophy to our entire team as we posed for our victory photos. The trophy now sits in the trophy case at Head Quarters until we meet Nassau P.D. next year to defend our title.

War at the Shore

October 12th of 2008 Strong Cops teamed up with the Suffolk Police Veterans Association to run a triathlon and raise money for Wounded Warrior Christopher Levi. Christopher lost both of his legs in an IED attack in Afghanistan. Once again Kenny Bombace, who is the president of the SPVA, and I called on the services of our fine men and women to support our cause and compete in this race. The race consisted of 3 events, the first was a 5.5 mile tandem kayak run down the Nissequogue River, we then transitioned to a 10 mile bike ride through the Kings Park Psych Center, and the final stage was a brutal 5k trail run in Sunken Meadow Park which included Snake and Cardiac Hill. The teams consisted of 2 competitors, one of which had to be in law enforcement. Each team had to raise a minimum of $500 to enter. Many of the 25 teams that competed raised over 2 times the donation fee. The race day weather was incredible, it was 65 degrees with very low wind and the sun was shining bright without a cloud in the sky. The course was a challenge for all and thankfully nobody got injured. We had an after party at D.S. Shanahans and presented the Levi family with a check for $10,000 and over the next few days the money was still coming in and we gave an additional $3,000. Strong Cops started in my garage shining shoes for a fellow 3rd pct cop who was having treatment for cancer and we raised $500. Four years later, and 11 events, Strong Cops has become the premeire police fundraising organization in Suffolk County Police Department history. We have raised money for Breast Cancer, March of Dimes, Lou Gehrigs disease, Wounded Warrior, and the family of NYPD Rich Going and SCPD Al Chiuchiolo. We are very quickly closing in on the $200,000 mark!! Please check our website for the second annual boxing event coming in April of 09, this time we will be fighting the NYPD.. Thank you all for your support. Billy

For pictures of the race and to order photos online ...(more)

New York's Strongest Cop Challenge 2007

Sunday August 26^th at the Suffolk County Police Academy in Brentwood the 3^rd annual Strong Cop Save Lives competition was held to benefit the Breast Cancer Help Inc. foundation of Long Island.

Teams of 3 P.O.’s challenged other law enforcement teams throughout Long Island in a 1 rep max bench press event. The team with the lowest body weight and the highest max bench press won.

The second team challenge was a 225lbs. bench press for repetition event. The team with the highest reps won.

Awards given: - Best Team max lift, best individual max lift, best team rep, and best individual rep, and most money raised by a team.

Each team had to raise a minimum $100 donation. Teams did not have to compete in both events.

Also visit www.breastcancerhelpinc.org

New York's Strongest Cop Challenge 2006

On May 13th of 2006 the Suffolk County Police Departments Strongest cops challenged the New York City Police Departments Strongest to a strong man event featuring 3 brutal events. The event was held at Suffolk County Police Headquaters in Yaphank. The event was to raise money for the family of SCPD Al Chiuchiolo and NYPD Rich Going.

There were two weight classes which consisted of the light weights, less than 205lbs and the heavy weight who were 205lbs and up.

The first event was a trap bar dead lift, for the light weights 315lbs was put on the bar and each competitor had 90 seconds to do as many reps as possible. Mike Simonelli from the 3rd pct did and incredible 46reps and took 1st place. For the Heavy weights 405lbs was put on the bar and competitors had 90 seconds. Jonas Cortes from the 3rd pct did a mind blowing 40reps!!!

The second event was the over head Log Press, the Light weights were given 170lbs and had 60 seconds to do as many reps as possible. Heavy Weights had 190lbs. and also had 60 seconds for reps. Mike Simonelli again took first place with 18 reps. Danny Rella from the 1st pct took first place with 16 reps.

The last event was the Strongman medley, sounds like fun...NOT!!! This was the ultimate test of strength and endurance. This event consisted of 3 stages all done one after the other. The first was the Farmers Walk where Light weights had to carry 165lbs in each hand and walk 100 feet to the next stage. Heavy weights had to carry 185lbs in each hand. The second stage was the Tire Flip, the tire had to be rolled 10 times before you could go to the final stage. The tire for the Light Weights was 330 lbs and the Heavy Weight tire was 475 lbs. The final stage was the battle ship Chain Drag which had to be dragged backwards for 75 feet. The light weights had a 280lbs chain and the heavys had a 380lb chain.

In first place for the light weights was 3rd pct Brian Keegan with a blurring 53 seconds and for the heavy weights was Stephen Tracey from Emergency Services.

Go to the home page and checkout the video.

Results of Challange.

Strongman MedleyHeavy Weights 100 ft

Trap bar deadlift

Log Press Heavy weights 190 lbs 60 seconds

Bench Press 2005

2005 was the official start of Strong Cops Save Lives. We held a bench press event at the SCPD Police Academy. The event was to raise money for Second Precinct Police Officer Neil Keating. Neil was my academy classmate and 2 weeks prior to graduating the academy we were informed that Neil had Lou Gehrigs Disease. We felt a strong need to help our academy classmate. So along with the help of Officers Gary Blind and Brian Erdody our first event was a success and $5,000 was raised for Neil. Neil took the money raised and donated it to the Ride For Life ALS foundation

Results ...(here)

Wounded Warrior Project

On July 25, 2008 at Jones Beach, Suffolk County P.D and Nassau County P.D. teamed up with WBAB radio for a tug of war to benefit the Wounded Warriors Foundation. Over 2,000 people packed the board walk to listen to a free concert and watch the tug of war.

The battle lasted for over 12 minutes, both teams were dug in the trenches and at a stalemate. The ref stopped the action and did a restart. The battle continued and slowly SCPD lost the edge and NCPD was victorious..The actual tug of war lasted only 20 minutes but we all stayed for hours enjoying the live music and adult beverages. It was one of our best events and I can not wait to do it next year. checkout some cool event photos ...(here)

Please Help Us.

Mike Nemes 37 years was previously with the NYPD and was in the 90th precinct in Williamsburg Brooklyn ( ten years); He had been with the Southampton Town Police for five years. Mike was soon recognized for the outstanding Officer that he was and volunteered and was appointed to the Emergency Service Unit. He was also one of the teams Snipers. Mike was also a member of the elite Community Response Unit. Mike is survived by his wife Victoria and two year old daughter Gabreilla, his wife Victoria is pregnant and due to have their son on October 6.