November 25, 2010
Thanks for the Memories
From the Hall of Fame Committee comes the following announcement:
Alonzo Mourning Headlines Class of Seven Hoya Stars to be Inducted into Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame The Department of Athletics, in conjunction with Hoyas Unlimited and the Georgetown University Alumni Association, will host the 19th edition of the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner on Friday, February 25, 2011. Seven former Hoyas will be honored at the event, including All-America basketball player Alonzo Mourning (C'92), track and field national champion Michael Stahr (C' 88), tennis star Kathryn Federici (C'87), prolific football running back Dean Lowry (C'89), linchpin lacrosse goaltender James Kenny (B'90), Big East swimming champion Mark Marilley (C'86), and offensive soccer force Andrew Hoffmann (B'90). Cocktails will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the dinner and ceremony will commence at 7:30 p.m in the Leavey Center on the Georgetown campus.
Alonzo Mourning is one of only two Georgetown basketball players to have graduated with 2,000 or more points and 1,000 or more rebounds. A three-time All-America selection, Alonzo led the Hoyas to four NCAA appearances and three Big East finals appearances from 1988 through 1992. As a senior, he became the first player ever named the Big East Conference's Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP in the same season.
Michael Stahr is one of 16 individual national champions in Georgetown's track history. A four-time All-America honoree, Mike captured the NCAA indoor mile title and anchored Georgetown's world record-setting distance medley relay at the Penn Relays with the fastest split in Relay's history. He set an IC4A record in winning the second of two IC4A indoor mile crowns, and led the men's indoor team to a third place in the NCAA track championships in 1987 and to Big East and IC4A titles in 1988.
Tennis player Kathy Federici was a dominating force at the net, playing at the number one singles position for most of her career on the Hilltop. In three of her four years of competition, Kathy was selected individually to participate in the NCAA championship tournament, reaching the quarterfinals on two occasions. She also reached the finals of the Big East championships in both singles and doubles. A two-time All-America selection, she led her team to the 1986 NCAA tournament, the first and only time the team has participated in NCAA post-season play.
The most productive Georgetown running back of the 1980's, Dean Lowry graduated as the school's all-time leader in rushing and scoring following a four-year career from the 1985 through 1988 seasons. Dean rushed for 2,619 yards and scored 31 touchdowns, becoming the first Georgetown back in the modern era (1964-present) to rush for more than 200 yards in a single game. He is presently second all-time in career rushing yardage, second in career touchdowns, and third in scoring.
One of the bright lights in Georgetown men's lacrosse history, Jim Kenny is the Hoyas' all-time career saves leader against NCAA competition with 722 saves. A big-play goalie and inspirational talent, Jim remains among the all-time single season and career leaders in save percentage and goals against average. One of Coach Dave Urick's first captains at Georgetown, he is the only player ever to receive the Corcoran Memorial Trophy as the team's most valuable player three times.
Mark Marilley was one of the leading swimmers in the 60+ year history of the program. A consistent scorer at the Big East championships, Mark captured two conference championship titles in 1985 in the 50-yard and 100-yard free style events, and earned a top five finish in the 200-yard free style event. By graduation, he had set GU all-time records in three free style events: 50, 100, and 200 yards and was twice named team MVP.
Andy Hoffmann earned Best Offensive Player honors four times on the Hilltop, the only player ever so recognized. Twice named to the All-South Atlantic team, Andy graduated as Georgetown's all-time leader in goals, assists, and total points. He began his career as Georgetown's rookie-of-the-year and concluded it as team MVP. With a conference-leading 12 assists, he led his team in 1988 to the best record in school history and its first-ever berth in the Big East tournament.
The Athletic Hall of Fame Citation is a University-wide award presented to a graduate of Georgetown or to a coach or administrator who qualifies for recognition on the basis of superior athletic achievement or contribution to athletics at Georgetown. The Georgetown Hall of Fame was established in 1953 and is located in the southwest gallery of the Leavey Student Center on GU's campus. More than 230 student-athletes and leaders from the annals of Georgetown have been enshrined.
For more information on the Hall of Fame Induction, please contact Hoyas Unlimited at 202-687-7159 or hoyasunlimited@georgetown.edu.
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November 2, 2010
Last Hurrah for Marty G.
Take a look at this video footage.Marty Gallagher was inducted into Georgetown's Athletics Hall of Fame two years ago. Thought-to-be-erased video of his induction ceremony was recently discovered and is now available in the following embedded segments:
Marty Gallagher Induction - Part 1
Marty Gallagher Induction - Part 2
Marty Gallagher Induction - Part 3
Marty Gallagher Induction - Part 4
Marty Gallagher Induction - Part 5
An original blog posting on his induction in 2008 can be found here: This Bud's For You
A followup blog post in 2009 by Tom Quinn '55, Marty's prize pupil and successor instructor, can be found here: The Red Corner
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October 22, 2010
Rivals and Friends : Utraque Unam
This story received some coverage at the time, but it was never fully recounted from a Georgetown perspective. At the end of June, 2010, a Syracuse temple presented its Citizen of the Year award to former Hoya basketball coach John Thompson, Jr.
On hand to introduce John was rival head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange.
Prior to the dinner, Coach Thompson and local Hoya alum Denny Owen were interviewed by the local TV station. That interview can be found here: TV interview.
You can also hear Coach Thompson's dinner remarks by playing the embedded video below.
| John Thompson, Temple Adath Yeshurun's 2010 Citizen of the Year |
What was not chronicled in most accounts was the turnout of the Georgetown alumni at the dinner. A distinguished group of Hoyas was there to support Coach Thompson and to defend the honor of Georgetown. But, lest you think that the Georgetown-Syracuse connection begins and ends with basketball, you are only half-right.
You see, former hoopster Denny Owen '51 stands in the middle of a long line of star athletes who came to the Hilltop from Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse. It started with Hoya basketball Hall of Famers, Fred Mesmer '30 and Ed Hargaden '35, and continued with the likes of footballer Ed Moses '65, runner Dave Dobrzynski '79 and more recently, the football Paulus brothers '03-'07 and baseballer Matt Harrigan '08.A bad knee sidelined Denny during his playing days, but he has played a starring role ever since as an alumnus. He was one of the first in the nation to sign on as an alumni interviewer. As alumni club president and then as Hoya patriarch, Denny and a hardy group of Hoya alumni have, over the past fifty years, built the Georgetown Club of Central New York into a model organization for small but energized alumni groups. They are the only Georgetown alumni club in the nation who has established three named John Carroll Scholarships for needy students from their club region. A Knight of Malta, Denny went on to serve as national president of the Georgetown Alumni Association as well as a member of the University's board of directors. In alumni circles, he is a living legend.
Hoya alums who live in central New York -- Hoya-cusans, I call them -- are a breed apart. If you are a Hoya fan who lives between Albany and Buffalo, and have walked into the Carrier Dome wearing your blue and gray, you have had to learn the meaning of standing tall while unwelcome in your homeland. With roots in that region, I am more than familiar with what our Georgetown faithful endure each year living in the land of the Orange. Three years ago, I wrote about my experiences in this linked blog posting. As my Hoya brethren living among the Orange know so well, we stand as rivals and friends, utraque unam -- according to our University's motto -- both and one.Hoya, Hoya Saxa!
Hoya, Hoya - Cusans!
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November 11, 2009
Pro Patria
Today on Veterans' Day, we honor all those who have served our nation.
Former outstanding student-athletes such as footballers Jim Mooney '30, Al Blozis '42, and Robert Duffey '44 in World War II, and more recently, Terry Barnich '75 in Iraq all lost their lives on behalf of their country.
Former teammates: Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Navy Captain Ken CrimThe U.S. military has also drawn many first-class leaders from the ranks of the Hoyas including James Jones '66, George Casey '70, Ken Crim '73, Dave Stapleton '95, and Miles Kass '08.
Many other Hoya athletes have served and sacrificed their lives over the past century. I have written about several of these individuals in the following linked blog posts:
11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month
Keeping Faith, General-ly Speaking
A Memorial Day Tribute
One former Hoya hero I have not written about heretofore is ‘Big Jim’ Mooney, class of 1930 and a member of Georgetown's athletic hall of fame. The following is excerpted from The Pike County Courier (PA) this past week:“Big Jim” was born in Chicago, Ill. on Sept. 16, 1907. Recruited by Hall of Fame coach Lou Little to the Hilltop, where he captained the Georgetown University football team, he was named an All-America lineman and punter. During the 1930 East-West Shrine Game, he captained the East team to at 19-7 victory.
After graduating with a BA in psychology, Jim joined the still young National Football League, where he played from 1930 until 1935 for the Bears and Cardinals as an All-Pro lineman, kicker and punter. Following his departure from the NFL, he coached for Columbia University, as well as the New York Yankees of the “American Professional Football League”.
Big Jim’s father had spent his entire career in the Chicago police force, and retired as the chief of detectives. In 1937, in order to please his father, Jim Mooney became a Chicago police officer, continuing the family tradition. After six years on the Chicago police force, he joined the Army on November 20, 1943.
On Aug. 12, 1944, while serving as a Corporal in the 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, Jim Mooney was killed near Sourdeval, France. He left behind a young widow and two young sons, 10-year old James III, and two-year old Philip.
Hoya, Hoya Saxa!Hoya, Hoya Georgetown!
Hoya Mooney! Mooney! Mooney!
Requiescat in pace.
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November 2, 2009
Rest Their Souls
In the northern hemisphere, the end of October and beginning of November signal the end of the harvest and the coming of the winter months. It also signals the confluence of several pagan and Christian feasts surrounding the dead, e.g., Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day.Today is All Souls Day and I usually visit the graveyard on the Georgetown campus to pay my respects to the departed Jesuits who rest there. Over the past year, a number of Jesuits who either served at Georgetown or studied on the Hilltop have left us. The graves of several of these are evident in the cemetery.
One of these Jesuits made a lasting impression on me and upon thousands of students who followed. In the fall of 1968, he was teaching his first theology class at Georgetown. It was my first college class as well. I had never heard of Teilhard de Chardin nor read Jean-Paul Sartre. I had never before thought that there was a "Problem of God." Fr. Thomas King, SJ taught us about all that and more. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to know and learn from this man, priest, and scholar.Links follow for obituaries in the past year for Georgetown-connected Jesuits:
Requiescant in pace.
Hugh A. Kennedy, SJ - 2009.9.6 (b. 1918)Joseph F. Curran, SJ - 2009.9.3 (b. 1924)
William M. King, SJ - 2009.9.3 (b. 1928)
William A. Ryan, SJ - 2009.7.19 (b. 1914)
Thomas King, SJ - 2009.6.23 9 (b. 1929.5.9)
Joseph Logan, SJ - 2009.5.4 (b. 1921)
Jerry Hall, SJ - 2009.3.11 (b. 1950)
Joseph A. Haller, SJ - 2008.12.14 (b. 1920)
Josef Kadlac, SJ - 2008.11.2 (b. 1921)
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October 22, 2009
The Red Corner
The story of boxing on the Georgetown campus dates to 1920's, but the current version of the sport can trace its roots to the Marty Gallagher pugilists of the 1940's and 50's. Tom Quinn '55, a retired investment executive and an accomplished film and stage actor, was one of Marty's heavyweights and is now a boxing instructor at Yates Field House. He is a former NCAA Eastern Heavyweight Champion and a member of the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame. In this guest blog, he shares the experience last spring of preparing one of his pupils for an intercollegiate bout.
"So -""So?"
"So, aren't you going to give me any last minute instructions? Words of advice or anything like that?"
We were standing in the boxing room at Yates Field House on the campus of Georgetown University. It was 9:15 on a Thursday night and we had just finished boxing classes for the week. Alex Oleskar, an 18-year old, 147-pound freshman in the School of Foreign Service, was talking with me, his coach.
On Saturday we were driving to the University of Maryland for Alex's first amateur boxing match, "Oh, I have some things I want to say to you, Alex. We'll talk before you go in the ring."
Saturday morning, we met at 11:30 in the parking lot at Yates - Alex, myself, John L., Ray, Steve, John S., my assistant coaches. Dan, the other boxer who was competing that day, an older, more experienced graduate student, had driven up earlier with his girlfriend. We loaded our equipment into four cars - bag gloves, hand pads, big gloves, mouthpieces, water bottles, water bucket, gauze for hand wraps, tape, Vaseline, sponges, latex gloves, scissors, Q-tips, towels - more equipment than a new mother takes for her infant's first visit to Grandma's house. Alex rode with me.
How you feeling?"Terrific. Great. Perfect."
"This is really your first match?"
"First one!"
"Well, in the gym you looked pretty good for a novice. Have you had a lot of gym experience?"
"Oh, yeah. I've been boxing since I was seven or eight. I was born in Moscow and we moved here when I was four. We're Russian Jews. My family now lives out side of Boston, but I've lived in a lot of different places and I would always try to find a gym. I've had a lot of coaches but they were never able to get me any matches. I really love to box but I was always frustrated that I hadn't had a real fight. See, I was never a good athlete.
I stunk at everything. My grandfather was an Olympic weightlifter in Russia and my father was on the national soccer team. They always teased me about not being an athlete and I always wanted to show them that I was an athlete, too."
His cell phone rang. Alex said "excuse me, I have to take this." He began speaking in Russian. I didn't understand a word he was saying, of course.
There was a pause. "Mama. Mama. Mom . . .” I didn't have to know Russian to understand, "Mom, I'm fine. I know what I'm doing. I'll be OK. I'll call you after. I'll be fine."
He gave me an apologetic smile. "That was my Mom. She doesn't really like me boxing, but she said that if I'm going to fight, I better win."
We drove in silence for a while up U.S. Route 1, toward the U. of Maryland campus where boxers from about twelve colleges would be competing. I asked Alex what he was studying at Georgetown.
"International Security."
"International Securities?"
"No! Security. You know, making the world safe. Stuff like that." He grinned. His cell rang.
"Hi." More Russian, this time sounding more like guy talk, then subtly switching to unmistakably father and son talk. The last words were in English. "I love you too."
"That was my Dad. He said he's proud of me."
Dan's bout was fourth on the afternoon card. He boxed coolly and cleverly with a tough rangy 175-pounder from U. of West Virginia, scoring a standing eight count in the first round and winning a unanimous decision. It was his seventh win against two losses. I sensed that he was more pleased with himself than he was willing to show. He introduced me to his girlfriend, Kathleen. She was a redhead and she had never seen a boxing match before.
When we got to the boxing venue we didn't know whom our opponents would be. Luke Runion, the Maryland coach who had organized the program was extremely conscientious about matching opponents evenly. Navy had a kid Alex's size- a few pounds lighter, but he had had ten bouts - a big advantage against a complete novice. I told Alex the situation. "This guy has a record of seven and three. Not great, but a lot more experience. You don't have to take the fight if you don't want to."
Alex said "But I came here to fight. OK, he's had experience. But he's been beaten. I'll take the fight." I told him I knew he would. I told Luke and Jim McNally, the Navy coach, that we'd take the fight. They told me that they had found another boxer for Alex, a slightly bigger kid from Gettysburg College, also fighting his first bout. I told Alex about the change. He shrugged.
I sat Alex on the bench in the locker room and turned a chair around so he could put his hands on the back of the chair while I wrapped his hands for his first fight. For everyday training, Alex, like all amateur boxers, wrap their hands in standard cloth wraps. I had decided to dramatize the event by doing the ritual the way the pros do it - rolls and rolls of fine gauze, carefully wound around the wrist and thumb, across the knuckles and the back of the hand, with thin strips of tape between the fingers and a broad band of tape around the wrist. Then I gave him the final advice he had been waiting for since Thursday night.
"Now, Alex. In the unlikely event that you get knocked down, don't bounce right back up. Get to one knee and pick up the ref's count. Look to me in the corner. When I signal for you to get up, you get up. Now, the guy will probably come charging at you, thinking he's gonna get a knockout. He'll probably come flailing at you. Stand flat with your hands up and put a left jab right down his throat. Then move out of there and box, box, box. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good. Now, if you knock HIM down, go right to the neutral corner and wait for the ref to signal you to continue. When you move to the guy, give him something - a fake, a move, something - check his reflexes. See if he's hurt. If you dropped him with a right, start the right but come back with a left hook. If you drop him with the hook, fake it and come back with the right. They usually expect you to throw the same punch you put 'em down with. You got all that?" We laced on his twelve-ounce red gloves and headed upstairs to the ring.
The kid from Gettysburg was powerfully built, in obviously good condition, and with a stand-up style, gloves held high. Alex moved around him easily, mixing his punches cleverly, showing more style than I had realized he had. I thought he won the first round easily.
In the second round, the Gettysburg boxer came out stronger, more determined, and landed a good right hand to Alex's head. The referee put up his hands, signaling "Stop". He sent the other guy to the neutral corner and walked to Alex. In amateur boxing, bouts are often stopped when one fighter is clearly outmatched or hurt or unable to continue or, more often, the boxer is given a standing eight count. But Alex clearly hadn't been hurt. What the hell was going on? What were they pulling on us?
The ref led Alex to his corner and pointed to his foot. "Shoelace," he said. Steve tied Alex's loose lace and the fight continued.
Alex finished the fight strong and looked like he wanted to go another three rounds. The referee called the fighters to the center of the ring and stood with them on either side of him. The announcer declared, "We have the judges' unanimous decision. The winner, out of the Red Corner . . . "
"That's us! He raised Alex's hand and Alex beamed.
After removing the gloves and tape, Alex went to the judges and asked if he could see how they scored the fight. He had won by the comfortable margin of 18-7, 18-7 and 17-10 on the cards of the three judges.
In the car, as we were leaving the parking lot of the boxing arena, Alex, still in his boxing gear - he said he wanted to shower back at the dorm - punched some numbers on his cell phone. Russian conversation. At one point, Alex said something that sounded like numbers being repeated. I bet they were 18-7, 18-7 and 17-10. He ended the conversation and said to me, "I hope I wasn't rude, jabbering on like that, but I promised my parents I'd call them after the fight. They were very happy for me. I could tell that they were really proud. God! I did it! I finally had a real fight. Now I can say I'm a real fighter!"
"Alex, I believe you have always been a real fighter and I expect that you always will be. But now you can say you're a real boxer, too."
"And a winner!"
"Yes. And a winner, too."
Tom Quinn
3/10/09
Current boxing coach and instructor Tom Quinn in 1978 with his coach at Georgetown, Marty Gallagher
Former Georgetown boxing coach and instructor Marty Gallagher in 1957
Tom Quinn continues Marty's legacy -- teaching the sweet science to students at Yates during his first class of the Fall semester
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October 6, 2009
Turn, Turn, Turn
One hundred forty years ago, Georgetown students took their intramural athletic endeavors to a new level and, for the first time, began to compete against students from other schools. Thus, intercollegiate athletics on the Hilltop were born.Amidst a surge of similar competition occurring among colleges throughout the country, the principal emerging issues of this intercollegiate activity (aside from establishing agreed-upon rules for each sport) were 1) funding the costs of competing (mostly equipment and travel at the time), and 2) keeping a semblance of competitive balance amongst opponents. Not surprisingly, in this era of little-to-no regulation, the disparities on these issues between institutions could be significant and even from year to year within the same institution.
Collegiate athletics today has come a long way since those early days of student-managed intercollegiate teams. Yet, in this evolving and revolving environment, intercollegiate athletics today continue to face the same essential financial and competition issues.A recent article in the Baltimore Sun outlines a range of options that the University of Maryland will be studying in the coming year in its strategic planning for athletics. These possible choices stem from resource limitations which, in turn, shape future options for competition. They include increasing revenues in the current unstable economic climate to tiering some of its athletic programs to eliminating teams altogether.
Georgetown has not stopped grappling with such issues since its first contest in 1870. However, through the years, the University has always embraced an additional parameter, i.e., the guiding principle that participation in intercollegiate athletics ought to be a meaningful and formative experience for the student.In the past forty years, we have seen steady progress and growth both in resources and level of competition. Participation in the Big East Conference in basketball and track and field has led the way in contributing to the overall accomplishments of the Hoyas. Sailing and crew have also achieved impressive competitive success. Lacrosse and soccer have expanded their reach in recent years as well. Still, the lasting measure of success for all Georgetown teams is the meaningfulness and formative impact of the athletic experience on every student-athlete.
Dynamic forces in intercollegiate athletics continue to affect resource and competition factors. As a result, Georgetown must keep a close eye on the athletic landscape, ready to adapt to the changing environment.Read more...
September 26, 2009
Yesterday's Been 20 Years
For as long as I have been writing this blog, I have noted this date as the sad day in 1989 when the Georgetown athletic community lost a great alumnus, staff member, and friend in Greg Carroll '71.
An entire generation of students has passed through Healy gates since his passing twenty years ago. Here are several past blog entries remembering Greg Carroll: 2007, 2006, 2005
Requiescat in pace.
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September 10, 2009
In My Life
Could I imagine myself not having gone to GTown? I guess I can, but this reflection is more about people who've impacted me along the way. Perhaps these thoughts will get you to think about and remember the people who sent you off in a direction of aspiration and motivation that you never quite appreciated -- until one day you wonder about where you are and how you got there, and you realize -- IT WASN'T ALL YOU!
It certainly wasn't -- and isn't -- all me. It was part luck, fortune, fate, and at the right moments in time, it was SOMEONE-- coming out of their world and entering mine with a selfless, giving heart!
Okay, so I pretty much grew up winning-- and that had to be pure luck! It wasn't MY skill. My first two baseball teams in Toms River, NJ lost a total of like three games in two years. I was eight and nine years old at the time.
My parents taught me to say please and thank you, my coaches taught me to say Yes Sir! and No Sir! And they all taught me to have appropriate respect-- earned respect--for everyone. Elderly people deserved it. So did teachers and coaches. And so did shopkeepers.
Mom and Dad had a few simple rules-- don't cheat, don't lie, don't steal, and don't curse (and calling people names was cursing too). I never heard my mom or dad curse. Oh, and one more rule -- always help ladies with the groceries -- and NEVER accept anything for it. Simple? Yes, but occasionally I needed to re-learn it all a little bit better.
That brings me to my Rutgers/GEORGETOWN story.
My coaches also had a big impact in forming my standards and my beliefs--especially in my confidence in my own ability to do anything. But sometimes there is that someone who happens in your life at the right time and plays a role they don't EVEN KNOW how big.
Like the SECOND time I didn't get into Georgetown. OH -- you don't know about the first time either! Unlike the first time when I got completely rejected, this time I was merely "wait-listed," a near-permanent state of college purgatory. I was pissed!! I mean, c'mon -- nothing but A+'s at Rutgers, good guy and all, and they WAIT-listed me. It was the summer of 1979 and I was in Seattle, Washington working by selling books door-to-door. I didn't think I'd make enough money to pay for Georgetown (it cost about $7,000 back then) by working my standard job on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. So there I was in Seattle, selling my butt off to pay for the school that didn't even want me -- even though the football coach said they did and that they were "working" on it.
I'll SHOW THEM, I thought -- I'll just stay at Rutger's and SHOW THEM!
And then I finally get a call, from this guy I really don't know. His name is Jay Calabrese. Coach Calabrese, whose wife or mother-in-law was from Toms River, was calling me with good news.
He was congratulating me because it's late July, 1979 and I've been accepted to the school I was thinking all along that I was going to attend: Georgetown University.Well, I answered, I kinda already told my Mom I'm not worrying about GTown ANYMORE! And he then spends a few valuable minutes of his life trying make me understand the pivotal moment I am at IN MY LIFE."
Little did I know....
This was one of those moments where I am thankful today that I decided to get off the "high horse" I was on, and MOVE ON. I called Coach Calabrese back the next day, and I said thank you to him. I told him that I looked forward to playing for him and Coach Glacken at Georgetown.
HOW BIG were those minutes from Coach Calabrese? Let's just say that I had never heard of Wall Street growing up in Toms River! Or during my brief time at Rutgers. We never wanted for anything when I was young, but my parents didn't own a home, let alone stocks. And so sure enough, Coach Jay Calabrese said enough that day to convince me I had to give GTown a shot.But, to be clear, it WAS -- and it is -- one of the key moments in my life. Because I DID find Wall Street and the job I loved, I did GO to the school I was meant to be at, and I did get to say "YES Sir" a few more years on the football field.
And of all the people who might have had some impact on that, I know there is one person who had a HUGE impact -- Coach Jay C. I have told him so in person and also in a letter about nine years ago.
I cannot imagine if Jay Calabrese had simply said "okay Tom, good luck at Rutgers" and had a one minute phone call and went back to his life and his family and his kids. He certainly could have. Instead, he spent 15 minutes on the phone trying to make me understand where I was, and where I had the chance to be going. Young Tom from PODUNK Catholic high school in Toms River, NJ -- YO, buddy, WAKE UP!And I almost, almost missed it.
I continue to remember today the many people that have positively impacted me with their time, especially Coach Jay Calabrese talking me down from my high horse. I am thankful to all of them, and have directly told them just that.
So take a moment to reflect on those pivotal moments-- and who impacted you----and share it if you choose.
Peace
TT
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July 29, 2009
All-Time Hoya Week
Last week was a banner week for me. The headliner was the taping of the latest installment of the ESPN television series, Homecoming. The show featured Alonzo Mourning '92, one the greatest athletes in the long intercollegiate history of Georgetown University, in the sports version of the old TV show, This is Your Life. ESPN will air the one-hour show on Thursday, August 6 at 7 p.m. EDT and again at 11 p.m. on ESPN2.
All-time great Patrick Ewing with future star Trey MourningNow, I tend to refrain from rating the all-time greatest athlete on the Hilltop. I won't start now. Nevertheless, would Alonzo be one of the top contenders? Absolutely. The greatest ever? Won't go there. Not with all-time superstar Patrick Ewing sitting in the auditorium for the Homecoming show. And not with the two other visitors I entertained on campus the previous and following day.
LeGendre granddaughter Martha Tucker and cousin Jane MuszynskiAs the TV trucks were crowding Healy Circle last Wednesday in preparation for Thursday's taping of Homecoming, I hosted another homecoming in the Library archives with local resident Martha Payne Tucker and her Maine-reared cousin Jane LeGendre Muszynski. Martha is the daughter of the late Jean LeGendre Payne. That makes Martha the granddaughter of all-time Hoya great Bob LeGendre '22. I had just blogged about her grandfather several days earlier (link here). Bob was the dominant Hoya superstar of his era. Together, we poured through the old yearbooks and early editions of The Hoya for most of the day, discovering new tidbits about Georgetown's legendary pentathlete and one-time world-record holder.
Michael and Nicholas Libretto learn about their famous forebear
from their grandmother Barbara
After the last of the ESPN trucks had departed, I was paid a visit on Friday by New Yorker Barbara Blozis Libretto, her husband Mike, and her two grandsons. With her instantly recognizable maiden name, Barbara is the daughter of the late Joseph Blozis, which makes her the second cousin of all-time Hoya great Al Blozis '42. I blogged and wrote about her world-reknown relative several years ago (link here). Al was the dominant Hoya superstar of his era as well. We spent half a day in McDonough and in the archives looking at Blozis memorabilia, from his WWII purple heart, to his football Hall of Fame plaque, to his written correspondence with the Jesuits, to the special edition comic book created in his honor, to the 16 lb. ball of iron, the shot put with which he set one record after another.
What a week for the stars of yesteryear! I could feel the spirit of the Blue and Gray pulsing with the physical and ethereal presence on campus of four of Georgetown's finest: Bob, Al, Patrick and Alonzo. The confluence of these four names in the same week not only made me proud to be a Hoya, but reminded me of Georgetown's tradition of athletic excellence through the generations. The best of the best? Take your pick.
As we say on the Hilltop, "Utraque Unam." Have it both ways.
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July 13, 2009
A Time to Remember
The first Golden Age of Sport in America occurred during the 1920’s when larger than life figures captivated the nation’s attention with exploits in their respective sporting venues: Babe Ruth (baseball), Jack Dempsey (boxing), Red Grange, (football) Bobby Jones (golf), Suzanne Lenglen (tennis), Jack Kelly (rowing), Bill Tilden (tennis), and Man o’ War (horse racing). Public interest was similarly focused upon the finest athletes participating in the sporting events once commonly referred to as “Athletics,” and today better known as Track and Field.
The opening ceremony of the 1924 games and track and field events took place
in the Olympic Stadium of Colombes (capacity of 45,000)
85 years ago today -- July 13, 1924 -- the track and field competition at the 8th Olympiad in Paris, France concluded. These were the first Games to feature an Olympic Village and the last one organized under the presidency of modern Olympics founder, Pierre de Coubertin. These games also saw the introduction of the Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (Faster, Higher, Stronger). With the number of participating nations growing from 29 in the 1920 Antwerp games to 44 in Paris (along with the presence of 1,000 journalists), the Olympics had finally begun to gain widespread acceptance as a major athletic spectacle.
Well beyond the recall memory of most persons alive today, the 1924 Olympics surely carry some of the most interesting story lines of any Olympic games:
• USA trackman William DeHart Hubbard became the first black athlete ever to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics; he triumphed in the long jump (then known as the running broad jump).
• The saga of British gold medalists Harold Abrahams in the 100 meters and Eric Liddell in the 400 were chronicled in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire. Liddell, a devout Christian, opted out of his best event as well as two relays because the preliminaries were held on a Sunday. Nevertheless, he got his gold and a bronze in other events.
• USA swimmer Johnny Weissmuller burst on the scene, winning two individual gold medals and a single team relay gold. He added a bronze as a member of the water polo team. He would later become even better known for his prolific role in Hollywood as Tarzan.
• USA swimmer Gertrude Ederle earned a relay gold and two individual bronze medals. Two years later, she caused a sensation by becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel -- and in a time almost two hours faster than any man had ever achieved.
• USA gold medal winning crew was comprised of the entire Yale rowing squad, led by captain Stillman Rockefeller, who would go on to head The First National City Bank of New York (later CitiBank) for 17 years. In the boat with him was Benjamin Spock, who would later become a well-known expert on child-care).
• In gymnastics, 24 men scored a perfect 10. Twenty-three of them scored it in the now discontinued event of rope climbing.
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Georgetown played a large role in these games, sending five Hoyas to compete in Paris, its most ever at one Olympics in the sport of track & field. The Hoya contingent that year : Emerson Norton (decathlon), Jimmy Connolly (3,000m team race), James Burgess (4x400m relay), William Dowding (long jump), and Bob LeGendre '22 (pentathlon). While Norton captured a silver medal, it is the story of Bob LeGendre that merits reciting here.
Robert Lucien LeGendre arrived on the Hilltop from Lewiston, Maine in the fall of 1918. The youngest of 13 children, he was an athletic prodigy, playing scholastic football, basketball and baseball. His blazing speed and size on the gridiron soon caught the eye of GU coach John O’Reilly, who quickly put him on the track team. With his natural athleticism, Bob began to compete in the pentathlon, a multi-event contest that included the long jump, javelin, 200 meter run, discus, and the 1500 meter run. 
Following his freshman year, Bob earned a spot on the U.S. team competing at the Inter-Allied Games in Paris, where he captured the gold medal in the pentathlon. One year later, he tied for third place in the pentathlon at the Olympic Games in Antwerp. He lost the tie-breaker for the bronze through a secondary point scoring system.By the time he graduated from Georgetown, Bob was crowned national pentathlon champion three times and widely acknowledged to be the most outstanding athlete ever to wear the blue and gray. He was not finished with world-class competition though.
In the 1924 Olympics, Bob shattered the world record in the long jump (25’ 5.5”). However, since the jump was part of the pentathlon competition, his effort contributed to winning a bronze medal in the pentathlon and did not earn him the gold. Because he had not competed in the long jump at the U.S. trials, Bob was not eligible to jump in that individual event. As it turned out, his world record jump ended up exceeding DeHart Hubbard’s gold medal-winning mark in the individual long jump event by more than one foot. Blessed with movie star good looks and a magnificent physique, Bob actually signed a Hollywood contract, but never pursued an acting career. Instead, he earned a second degree from Georgetown in dentistry and served as an officer in the dental corps of the U.S. Navy. Sadly, Bob succumbed to bronchial pneumonia in 1931 at age 34.
We are left to wonder forever, "What if?" Still, what he achieved during his brief life brought great honor and glory to his family, his Alma Mater and his country.
Hoya, Hoya Saxa!Hoya, Hoya Georgetown!
Hoya LeGendre! LeGendre! LeGendre!
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