For 12 years, Indefatigable Man presided over the New Haven Sports Council as a labor of love. His platform advanced New Haven as the sports capital of Connecticut — a position he eloquently penned in a guest column for the Hartford Courant a few years ago.

No one sang the praise of New Haven sports more than he — that is, until his song was rudely interrupted by a cacophony of doors being slammed shut.

Indefatigable Man felt as empty as the boarded-up New Haven Coliseum.

"After 12 years of being the chairman of the committee and trying to promote sports, I said I think it’s time for a change, for me to step aside," said Indefatigable Man. "I didn’t have the same level of enthusiasm. I was so disappointed that the Coliseum closed and eliminated two of the three franchises that we had here, I really didn’t feel, in good conscience, that I could be the spokesperson for sports in New Haven anymore.

"It’s a tragedy that sports, in essence, is taking a back seat to the arts, which I have a very high regard for and support and attend. People see me on The Green taking pictures of Ray Charles and the Metropolitan Opera, just as much as they do at a Yale football game."

Anyone who knows Indefatigable Man, a k a Bill O’Brien, knew he would recover from the tragedy and resume his role as de facto Ambassador of New Haven sports. No one is at more sporting events, cheers, presides over, or sits on more sports committees — past and present — than he. He is simply indefatigable in his passion for New Haven sports. But his resignation as chairman of the Sports Council illustrates the depth of the injury inflicted on the local sports landscape with one broad stroke of Mayor John DeStefano’s brush.

There was no bigger story in New Haven sports in 2002 than the decision to close the Coliseum — there has been no bigger story in a generation of New Haven sports stories.

In the same year DeStefano proudly ushered in a new, sparkling athletic center, tremendously needed and greatly appreciated, he simultaneously tore the fabric of New Haven sports apart at the other end. His decision to close the Coliseum chased away the professional hockey and arena football franchises; deleted the vision others had seen for this city in winning the 2004 bid to play host to the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four; canceled out any hope of a national collegiate hockey tournament that was currently in blueprint; and erased the possibility of events like Yale’s NIT second-round game with Tennessee Tech that captured an entire community.

The greater ill is that for nearly a decade, with the Coliseum dying a slow death (which was evident years before DeStefano took his first oath of office as mayor nine years ago), there has been no vision to remain a step ahead of the grim reaper with the groundwork necessary to construct a new coliseum.

Short of the infusion of inconceivable sums of money, the New Haven Coliseum was never going to amount to more than the armpit of civic arenas. And somewhere along the line, with gate revenues sagging, with teams struggling, and with a building that would forever be perceived in a negative light, someone in power should have looked toward the future.

Indefatigable Man is no longer chairman of the Sports Council, but he is back in the saddle for New Haven sports, promoting its three annual national and/or international-level events — the Pilot Pen tennis tournament (the best-attended Tier 2 women’s tournament in the world); the New Haven Road Race (the national men’s and women’s 20-kilometer championship) and the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America weekend. He remains the ultimate promoter of college and high school sports in Greater New Haven, and he still pines for a new civic arena to enhance the quality of life in his beloved hometown.

"I don’t think we’re going to see anything in the foreseeable future, but I would hope somewhere along the line, there will be a groundswell of support from people who believe in the fact New Haven should have a coliseum for the 500,000 people who are apart of this region," he said. "I know Bridgeport is only 20 minutes away on a good day. But why shouldn’t we have something here.

"The next best thing (to keeping the old Coliseum) is to build a smaller coliseum; let’s see if we can start over, whether it’s at Long Wharf or somewhere else"

The demise of two-thirds of our professional sports franchises has only made Indefatigable Man more vigilant in his fight to see the third local franchise, the Ravens, reverse the downward spiral of recent years.

He recently wrote a letter to the editor in the Register warning citizens and area businesses that unless they "stepped to the plate, the Ravens will be next" to leave.

"I got a nice letter from (Ravens General Manager) Adam (Schierholz), but I didn’t do it for a letter," he said. "I did it because I honestly love the sports scene in New Haven."

Indefatigable Man was asked if the recent closing of the Coliseum left New Haven short of being the sports capital in Connecticut.

"Certainly we still offer a lot for people who want to take advantage of it … and you’ve got to include the colleges in that," he said. "But needless to say, it’s difficult to swallow when you have two of your three franchises close up in one fell swoop."

The pain of DeStefano’s dastardly deed remains a deep wound in his heart and probably always will. But Bill O’Brien’s passion for New Haven sports will overcome. That too, is indefatigable.

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Dave Solomon, the Register sports columnist, can be reached at dsolomon@nhregister.com or 789-5661.

©New Haven Register 2002