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	The Butler Did It By Dylan Butler New York Post March 26, 2010 http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/dylan_butler/the_butler_did_it_B0jcBf1LQoa0hMICeW3XMP In Middle Village, Queens this afternoon, Father John Savage Gymnasium was packed for a pep rally as the Christ the King community wished its boys and girls basketball teams luck as they trekked to upstate Glens Falls for the New York State Federation tournament this weekend. At around the same time in Boston, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office was preparing a press release detailing an indictment against longtime boys coach Bob Oliva on two charges of child rape and one of disseminating pornography to a minor. A Boston grand jury handed down the indictment after hearing testimony from a number of former Oliva associates as well as from two alleged victims. They spoke about horrific and despicable acts by a man who was lauded for his coaching ability by some. The only time the CK boys team won the state Federation crown, Oliva was on the bench. He coached the Royals for 33 years, winning four CHSAA Class AA intersectional titles and that one state crown in 1989. Oliva was known as “Shock” by friends and associates and that’s how so many who knew him feel tonight. “I’m still devastated. It’s a year and a half since I found out and I’m still in disbelief,” said Ray Papocky, a longtime friend of Oliva’s who is now one of his harshest critics. “Many of us who were close to Bobby feel like we had wool pulled over our eyes. He’s a very calculated man, very clandestine.” Five years ago, I wrote a feature about eight Queens men who had each been coaching high school hoops for 20 years or more. Oliva was part of the story and I remember meeting him at the school where he told me how he started coaching at Christ the King. He said Savage, who was the athletic director at the time, offered Oliva a chance to coach the freshmen team on Oct. 2, 1978, the same day he went to Fenway Park with friends for the historic divisional playoff game against the Yankees. Two years earlier, it is alleged, he also brought a friend up to Boston for a Yankees-Red Sox game and that is where he reportedly sexually abused Jimmy Carlino. There was a lot to like about Oliva, it seemed. He was one of the cool guys from the neighborhood, he drove fast cars, owned a bar on Liberty Avenue in Queens – The Short Porch – and found ways to get into some of the biggest Yankees games of the day. He talked a good game, always having a funny story to tell. But even some of his closest friends began questioning some of his stories. At different times he’d say he was a Vietnam veteran, that he graduated from Queens College, that he played baseball at John Adams HS. All, Paprocky said, were fabrications. “There’s just so many lies,” Paprocky told me last month. “He coached at CK for 20 years but he doesn’t have a college degree. How do you believe anything he says? What sick person goes around saying he was a Vietnam Vet?” Oliva took over as CK varsity coach when Don Kent, who was the varsity coach from 1974-1981, refused to cross the picket line during the teacher strike of 1981. Kent was fired and eventually ended up at Monsignor McClancy. Oliva crossed the line and became varsity coach. Being called a scab, though, is the least of Oliva’s problems now. Now he’s in a battle for his life, which coincidently, is what he’s facing in prison if he’s convicted of the two charges of rape. There is no happy ending to this story. If found guilty, Oliva will spend the rest of his life in prison. If not, Oliva will still be guilty in the court of public opinion. He’ll never return to coaching and his legacy, which Paprocky said he was so worried about, is shattered beyond repair. Now, all of his old quotes suddenly have a double meaning, like this one from that interview five years ago. “I love New York, I love Queens, I love this age group,” Oliva said. “This is the greatest place in the world to work. They've been so good to me, I guess I've been good to them.” With second-year coach Joe Arbitello at the helm, Christ the King will play Albany CBA on Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center and, with sophomore sensation Omar Calhoun and junior point guard Corey Edwards back next year, the future is bright. As for the Royals former coach Bob Oliva, his future is much murkier. Contact: dbutler@nypost.com
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