JOURNAL

JOURNAL ARCHIVE

Friday, July 27, 2007

I look forward every year to an annual visit from the bidders of an auction item held at a Make A Wish Foundation event held in Hartford, CT every year, in which the winner flies down to Sarasota, FL and attends a Devil Rays/Red Sox game with me in my first row box seats by the visiting team. This year, Mark Wilson (who has won the auction item the past two years) was planning on coming to Fl with his buddy, Dave Daniel. Unfortunately Mark fell ill before the trip, so Dave brought his teenage son Jordan and his friend Austin Davis.

We had a great time, first eating dinner at the stadium and then getting a chance to say "hi" to some of the Red Sox players before the game. They even got some signed baseballs! Howie Schwab, associate producer at ESPN, works tirelessly for the Make a Wish Foundation in Hartford and helps organize the visit each year- a big thanks to him! Dave and his son sure were happy to see the Red Sox come away with a "W" over the Devils Rays - and a super time was had by all, but most importantly, it went to helping a GREAT, GREAT cause!

 

 

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 24th and 25th, 2007

I had a great time traveling to Milwaukee, WI with my wife to be a part of festivities celebrating Northwestern Mutuals 150th Year in business. Tuesday night they had Jerry Seinfeld and Sheryl Crow perform.

The guests were falling off their seats laughing to the jokes of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and then afterwards, everyone was dancing in teh aisles listening to the great sounds of Sheryl Crow.

I was so proud and honored to be a part of Northwestern Mutual's Celebration in which they had Colin Powell, Dan Rather and myself speak. A big thank you goes to Carol Flemma of Northwestern Mutual for all her prep work and assisting me with background information on her company.

What a thrill to share the stage with these giants! Northwestern Mutual manages over $150,000,000 in assets and has over $20 billion in revenues, making it a top 100 Fortune 500 company. My wife and I had a terrific time with these special people!

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Straight from Milwaukee, my wife and I flew to Toronto where I was a guest speaker for Aegis, a corporation that provides insurance for energy and utilty companies. I was proud to be a part of their convention - in the past they have had some of my favorites speak like the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden and Coach K of Duke.

I had so much fun sharing stories with Aegis CEO Alan Macguire and Jay Foley the VP of marketing. Jay was a tremedous help in providing me background information and preparing me for my presentation. I also had so much fun sharing old times with Wes Von Shack, the Chariman of the Board, about the Long Island area where Jimmy V was from. We concluded our trip in Toronto with a visit with my good buddy and partner at ESPN, Dan Shulman. He and his beautiful family live in the suburbs of Toronto and we were able to spend some time at his gorgeous home and go to dinner with his entire family before my wife and I had to fly back home to Florida.

 

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

I had a great weekend in Kiawah Island, South Carolina with my wife, daughters, my sons-in-law and five grandchildren.  We had the pleasure of staying at the gorgeous Sanctuary Hotel; and Resort and enjoyed a fabulous vacation. 

The main reason for my visit to South Carolina though was to celebrate a most special day with a dear friend, Mark Kelly, a research expert at ESPN.  Mark is an inspiration to me as I had the pleasure of meeting Mark many years ago when he was a youngster who had a very serious form of cancer.  Many doctors dud not believe Mark would survive his cancer and he was put in touch with the people at the Make a Wish Foundation to fulfill a special dream of his at the time.  His dream was to spend some time with me during the 1992 Final Four.  Mark and I continued to stay in touch through the years as he continued to fight his challenging disease.  He never gave up hope and kept up his fighting spirit even during his most difficult days of treatment and chemotherapy.   Mark is now doing well and living a wonderful and successful life.  He is a talented researcher at ESPN and over the weekend to celebrate his marriage to a wonderful young woman, Kelly MacGuire of Columbia, South Carolina.  Mark and Kelly had a lovely wedding and they and their families could not have been more gracious to me and my wife.  I was so honored to celebrate this special day with him and his new wife.  I am so proud of him and all of his accomplishments and he is living proof of why we can never give up hope and never give up our fight against cancer.  Best wishes to Mark and Kelly!

Over the rest of my visit to South Carolina, I had loads of fun playing the amazing golf courses on Kiawah Island and also took in some great walks on the beach.  I also had a blast talking with all of the members of the food and beverage team at the Sanctuary under the management and leadership of the Food and Beverage Manager, Richie Simmons and his assistant Herman Whitney.  They were a great group and I had a wonderful time and visiting their first class resort. 

While hanging out at the pool, I also met a great young kid visiting the hotel with his family.  The young man was Andrew Wilensky of Memphis, Tennessee. 

Andrew was a huge hoops fan and basketball player. We had a great time in the sun as we talked hoops and sports and of course, I took the opportunity to share with him some of my thoughts on working hard in pursuit of his dreams.  I had a great time meeting Andrew and his dad and his entire extended family.