Sept. 7, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
This football season, the Monogram Club will begin producing “Monogram Club Musings,” a regular online article after each home football game. The publication will fill Monogram winners in on Club events throughout the season, provide information on alumni and prominent figures that return to campus for the game, and mention Monogram Club presentations and activities that occur before, after and during the game. Photo galleries and video clips will also be included.
If you can’t make it to campus, but would like to update the Monogram Club on what you’ve been up to, please send an email to mlafranc@nd.edu and “The Muse” will include it in an upcoming edition.
Purdue Game Notes
Members of the Notre Dame football family who passed away in the past year were recognized during the pre-game flag presentation. The group included 18 football Monogram winners and three football managers that earned Monograms during their tenures.
Monogram Club Executive Director Beth Hunter and Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick presented Mike McCoy ’70 (football) with a plaque during a halftime ceremony for his career accomplishments both on and off the field. McCoy, an All-American linebacker with the Irish, played 11 seasons in the NFL before retiring in 1980. He will be honored with the Bronco Nagurski Award by the Charlotte Touchdown Club in December, which is presented annually to one of the top defensive players of the past 40 years. Off the field, McCoy now is president of Mike McCoy Ministries — and has become nationally renowned while speaking primarily in schools all across the country. The Monogram Club hosted McCoy and his wife, Kia, over the weekend.
Sightings Around Campus
ESPN Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale attended the Friday football luncheon and was seen at a number of events around campus during the weekend. Vitale is the father of Monogram winner Terri Vitale ’95 (tennis), who serves on the Club’s board of directors. Terri was featured in the “Monogram Club Corner” in the Sept. 4 gameday program. To read the story on Terri, click here.
The Muse spotted Grammy Award-winning pop singer Taylor Swift on the Irish sideline prior to the game. Swift’s brother, Austin, is a freshman at Notre Dame.
Recent graduates Luke Harangody ’10 (basketball) and Scott Rodgers ’10 (lacrosse) were seen on campus over the weekend. Rodgers just completed his first season with the Toronto Nationals of Major League Lacrosse, finishing fourth in the league’s rookie of the year award voting. Harangody was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics this past June and signed a two-year contract with the team in July.
Friday Football Reception
The Friday night football reception in the Schivarelli Players’ Lounge was buzzing on the eve of the 2010 opener against Purdue. The Muse caught up with a number of football Monogram winners at the event to see what they’ve been up to.
Tom Eastman ’77, a three-time Monogram winner at linebacker with the Irish, works as a branch manager of Key Bank and is living in Elkhart, Ind.
John “Bumper” Schiro ’84, a free safety with the Irish, resides in Sugarland, Texas, where he’s been a cosmetic dentist for 22 years. Schiro is impressed with what he’s seen from head football coach Brian Kelly so far.
“I’m very excited about Coach Kelly, I think he’s the guy we need,” Schiro said. “He’s consistent. Everywhere he goes, he wins.”
Former halfback Steve Dover ’77 currently lives in Morro Bay, Calif., and is the quality control director for a clinical device studies company that he founded with his wife. The company works in countries all over the world to gather materials for medical researchers that they can use to conduct studies and help treat a number of life-threatening diseases.
The annual alumni baseball game was held Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
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Alumni Baseball Game Highlights
More than 40 Monogram winners representing six decades of Notre Dame baseball took the field at Frank Eck Stadium for the annual baseball alumni game on Saturday, September 4. Included in the group of participants were members of both of Notre Dame’s squads that reached the College World Series (1957, 2002). New head baseball coach Mik Aoki was also on hand to take part in the festivities.
“I am thrilled by the turnout this year,” Alumni Association Executive Director Chuck Lennon `61 (baseball) said. “With the excitement surrounding our baseball program and the return of so many of our young alumni today, I can see this event getting even bigger in the coming years.”
The Muse spoke with a number of baseball alums at the game to get their take on the event and catch up with what they’ve been doing since graduation.
Elmer Kohorst ’57, a member of Notre Dame’s first College World Series team, is now retired after working at an insurance company in Albany, Minn. for many years. Kohorst has been married for 53 years and returns regularly to campus with his wife, who is a South Bend native and a football season ticket holder.
Frank Carpin ’60, a long-time Major League Baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros, lives in Richmond, Va. working as a stock and commodity broker. Carpin also made a living as a stock and commodity broker while playing professionally, as baseball salaries at the time were only around $10,000, a far cry from the million-dollar contracts present now in professional sports.
“When I was playing baseball, a college graduate was a rarity,” Carpin said. “Most of the guys I played with only had a high school education or less. Baseball was the only livelihood they knew. It was a totally different situation for me, so my education from Notre Dame really helped me during the offseason.”
Former pitcher Mike Naumann ’01 is an interventional radiologist living in Chicago, Ill. Naumann uses image guidance technology to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures on patients.
“The team was a pretty tight-knit group when I was here, so it’s always fun to come out and see the guys again and everybody’s families,” Naumann said. “Everyone’s starting to get married and having kids now, so it’s fun to see.”
Steve Sollman ’04 works in sales at an investment research firm in Chicago, Ill. Sollman learned about the job through a former Notre Dame teammate that also works at the company. A 10th round draft choice by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004, Sollman played four years of minor league baseball before beginning his work in Chicago. While at Notre Dame, Sollman played second base and was a part of a key ninth-inning rally in the 2002 NCAA Tournament against Rice that helped propel the Irish into the College World Series.
To read more about the alumni game, click here.
Monogram Club First Vice President Dick Nussbaum ’74 & ’77 performed a reading at the post-game Mass.
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Monogram Alumni Update
A number of Monogram winners checked in with us at the Club’s pre-game reception prior to the Purdue game. If you plan on attending a Fighting Irish football game this season, make sure you check in at the Monogram Club table at the pre-game reception to share with us what you’ve been up to!
Jim Cameron ’83 (baseball) works with the Stratmor Group, an investment consulting group, and lives in Atlanta, Ga.
George Marshall ’91 (football) lives in Washington, D.C. and is employed as a risk manager in Washington, D.C.
Dane Whitley ’95 (soccer) is a business developer in Columbus, Ind.
Nate Schomas `04 (football) works as a consultant with Accenture in Dallas.
Tim Sheehan ’05 (fencing) is a resident of Washington, D.C., working with a start-up company called StickK.com.
Carolyn Cooper ’06 (volleyball) recently became a marketing coordinator with Nelligan Sports Properties in Princeton, N.J. Cooper works on the accounts for Princeton University and Rutgers University. She took the job after spending the last two years as the event coordinator for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament first and second round games held in Providence, R.I. in March 2010.
Eileen Froehlke `07 (rowing) lives in Branchberg, N.J. and serves as a financial analyst for Johnson & Johnson.