Last modified: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:26 AM EDT Not exactly a big secret, but there's a pretty good chance Boston College-bound Mary Nwachukwu of Dighton-Rehoboth is an all-star. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) FARINELLA: Stars still like to align There's something to be said for the power of tradition. Even in this era of immediate dissemination of news and information, there are still some things that were done in the newspaper business 30 years ago that are still valid and important to readers today. At least I'd like to believe that - and when I see the evidence, my belief is reinforced. The evidence I saw Tuesday night was in the form of 28 basketball players and three coaches, who arrived at our offices on time and with smiles on their faces, ready to be photographed as part of one of the longest-standing traditions we have at The Sun Chronicle. It was Thursday, March 16, 1978, when we ran a color photo of our assembled boys' basketball all-stars for the first time. We gathered the boys on that year's team at Seekonk High - the Warriors had reached the sectional semifinals that year, playing on longer than any other local team before losing an overtime heartbreaker to Fairhaven - and posed them in their colorful road uniforms around the circle at center court for a photograph that, compared to everything else in the paper in those early days of color printing, absolutely leaped off the page at people. Before long, we were doing both the boys' and girls' all-stars the same way. We first posed them at various schools in our area, but later found that we could produce better photographs in our own studio here in Attleboro. So, for the better part of three decades with only a few missing years along the way, we've immortalized our basketball all-stars by allowing them to don their uniforms for one last time each year - and in the case of some of the athletes, for the last times in their lives. It's true that in this business, the best ideas have usually been stolen from somebody else. So it was with the idea to pose all-stars in their uniforms for a group shot. I've always credited the genesis of the idea to the weekly newspaper where my career began, the Mansfield News, and its sports reporter of the 1950s, Dick Yager, who found a way to get the Hockomock League all-stars in one location and wearing their uniforms for a group shot that would run in black-and-white on the sports pages of the News and nowhere else. You have to remember, in those days, the Hockomock was a far different league than it is today. Westwood and Randolph were members of the two-division Hockomock through much of the 1950s, yet the kids would gladly drive the many miles to Mansfield in the pre-Interstate Highway System era and assemble for a photo with their peers. When I arrived here in 1977, it was one of the first things I wanted to bring to the Blue Ribbon Daily's audience - and fortunately, we've been able to maintain it with just a few interruptions ever since. Many of the kids on our all-star teams know each other well. They play against each other in the winter, but may be teammates on the same AAU teams at other times of the year. And make no mistake, they do read about each other's exploits. The Sun Chronicle's circulation area includes 21 boys' and girls' varsity teams that share membership in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, hailing from six different leagues, yet they all find a common bond when they walk into our photo studio and can hobnob with players whom they might not face in person, but know from the coverage of their games in the newspaper. Because I don't want to spill the beans about this season's selections, I'll just note here that we have three individuals who earned their third selections to the teams, and six other individuals who were making their second trips to our studio. And two of the three coaches we've honored this year were Sun Chronicle all-stars themselves within the last 20 years. Tradition. I love it. So, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the coaches and athletic directors for their help in informing the athletes and making sure they had the correct uniforms, and of course, all of the athletes - not only for arriving on time, but also for the thrills they provided to everyone who follows high school sports in these parts, including this aging ink-stained wretch. The games may be over for another year, but the happy memories can live on in the form of a series of photos of the best athletes the area has to offer. Some of them will play in college, or continue their high school careers next year. Others may never dribble a basketball again as a member of a team, but will instead be happy to shoot around or play intramurals or pickup games. One way or another, I hope we've been able to give them one more pleasant memory from their high school years by taking these group photos. See you on the courts again in December ... MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.