True Wealth

Blog #6--(Only 1070 to go!): Defining "True Wealth"  
       I love stories; I love hearing them and I love telling them. This story isn't about Christmas, but I think it's a part of what Jesus tried to tell us as He walked with us on Earth.
      The Story: While a man of God was reciting his morning devotions near a small village, a poor peasant approached him. When the holy man saw him, he said, "Can I help you?"
      The peasant said, "Father, where is it?"
      The holy man asked, "Where is what?"
      The peasant said, "Last night I had a dream that if I came here in the morning, you would give me a precious stone."
      The holy man said, "Oh, yes". He reached into a cloth sack and pulled out the largest and most beautiful ruby any one had ever seen. He handed it to the peasant, and immediately went back to his prayers.
      The peasant took the ruby and carried it home in hands with the same care as he might have had it been a small bird. When he got to his little hut, he placed it on his lone table and spent the rest of the day gazing upon it in adoration.
      The next morning, when the holy man was deep in prayer, the peasant approached him again. When the holy man looked up, the peasant returned the ruby. The holy man asked him if something was wrong, and the peasant replied, "I want you to give me something more valuable than the ruby. I want you to tell me what it is that you know that made it so easy for you to give this gem to me."

  True wealth is not determined by how much we have, but by how little we need.
      I'm a big fan of Fr. Mark Link, and I recommend to you three of Fr. Link's books, Still Point, You, and The Merriest Christmas Book. The latter book is a wonderful source of stories and reflections on Christmas...very appropriate for this time of year.           Have a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year.

K.I.S.S.

Blog #5 (Only 1071 to go!) K.I.S.S.     Attention, class! (Sound of ruler hitting desk top to silence students). Today's lesson is about K.I.S.S...ing.
     As an outsider looking in, I've been around many very smart people, and I've tried to discover their secret. How was Pat O'Mara so effective at controlling and teaching a class or Bob Gabric able to get so much from his players. How has Frank Raispis been so successful in virtually everything that he's attempted. Intelligence? yes! But there are many who could match their knowledge. However, I witnessed one common thread that that emerged with each of them...SIMPLICITY. They saw the simple solution.
     At a tennis workshop quite a few years ago, I heard for the first time, but not the last, the expression "K.I.S.S." KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID encouraged coaches not to complicate their instructions or the strategies given to their players. Looking both forward and back from that point, I can see the wisdom in that short phrase as it applies to most of life.
     My brother, an architect, helped me hang a sign on the outside of the Ignatius gym. I had figured that we’d have to drill holes into the wall and use huge bolts to secure it. John simply tied a rope to the top of the sign and weighted the rope down on top of the roof. It worked quite well. Then John suggested, “Always start with the simplest solution.”
     A friend of mine, who was a high school all-state football player, and I were playing in a pick-up touch football game. Suddenly, a fight broke out between the players on the two teams. My friend was a pretty tough guy, but, when I looked up, I saw him walking away. I approached him, and told him that the other guys thought that he was "chickening out". He said, "I don't care. I came to play football. If they're not going to play, I'm going home." My friend had the ability to keep things simple.
     Pat O'Mara, Bob Gabric, Frank Raispis. They all seemed to have that common component in their approach ...K.I.S.S. Was it their intelligence that allowed them to see the simple solution or on some intuitive level, they saw the simplest solution? Probably both.

     When I look around at people who are dealing with some difficult situation in their lives, often...not always...it was the result of not abiding by that principle. K.I.S.S.

Flying Under the Radar

Blog #4 (Only 1072 to go!) Flying Under the Radar       Most people with even a passing familiarity with Saint Ignatius will know of the iconic teachers of the past...Fr. Grant, Dr. Malliard, Frank Raispis, Pat O'Mara...but there are many great teachers and coaches who "fly under the radar". Jim Luzzi is such a person, and I believe that he is just fine with that. An outstanding math teacher, he served many years as chairman of the math department, and, if anything, he's an even better soccer coach.
      First, a little background. Jim had graduated from Ignatius in 1965, and came back to teach math in the fall of 1969. His background in athletics was minimal, but he wanted to be involved in some program. That fall and winter, he helped me with the sophomore basketball team.
      How soccer came to Saint Ignatius and how Jim became its first coach is a story for a different time, but during the spring of 1970, he learned as much as he could about the sport, and that fall, the school fielded its first soccer team with Jim at the head. The first high school soccer game that Jim ever saw was the one that he coached. We beat Quigley South in that game, winning on an over-time shoot out (or whatever it's called). The previous year, Quigley South had finished sixth in the state, so the next day, the Sun-Times had Saint Ignatius ranked 6th in the state. That ranking didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted.
      But I digress. This blog is about Jim Luzzi, and all that he has brought to Saint Ignatius. This season, Jim completed his 41st year as the only varsity soccer coach Saint Ignatius has ever had. In that time:
        His teams have won over 400 games,
        he has served as the president of the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches' Assn.,
        he has been named "Person of the Year" by that organization,
        and he has earned membership to both the IHSSCA and the Chicago Catholic League's Hall-of-         Fame.
       What a list of credits!

      In addition to being an outstanding coach and running the math department, Jim has headed the Financial Aid Committee, and, for several years, ran the school book store, all this while being a loving husband and father, and a good friend. (I suspect he also operates a butter churner with his left leg while he's resting.) Pat O'Mara once told me that Jim was one of the most organized men that he's ever known. That's like Devin Hester saying someone else is really quick.
      Each year, I ask Jim if this is his last year. After all, he wasn't a child when he started teaching and coaching. Forty-one years; do the math. Each year, he says that he might have retired, but he's got this great group of underclassmen coming up, and he wants to stay until they graduate.
      God bless you, Jim. Keep going. I think that I heard that there are some super pre-schoolers on the horizon. Just hang in there a little while longer.

The Good ol' Days

Blog #3--(Only 1073 to go!): The "good" Ol' Days        Not to belabor the point, but on charts which list data according to age groups, my group ends with three dots (...) instead of a number. I'm of the generation who talk about their aches and pains, brag about their grandchildren, and tell the same stories over and over (the "Grandpa Syndrome"!). So I know a thing or two about being old. Actually, I'm old enough to be something of an expert on it. However, just being old doesn't make a person an expert; there must be some level of introspection and analysis.
      Now here's my dilemma. On the one hand, if I tell what I remember about my early years at "1076", it can be an asset to folks, like Dr. Ray Heisler, who might update his previous book on the school history. It can also be a unifying device to help younger members of the Ignatius community understand what us "old timers" came through...why we are like we are. Older alums might enjoy having their memories jogged by some shared experiences . "Where were you when you heard that we had dropped football?", "What was Father Nastold really like?", or "Remember when we couldn't eat meat on Friday?" Ah, Those were the days.
      On the other hand, I want to avoid the temptation to relive my past. It is too easy to view my future as behind me. (Forgive the potential for a Zen Koan.) This is where people of my generation fall into the trap of aggrandizing the “good old days”. Frankly, the period from the fall of 1963 to the bicentennial wasn’t all that great. During that period, we experienced the assassinations of President Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. There was racial unrest that ranged from peaceful marches to full scale riots, and we were locked in a war in South-east Asia that tore at the nation's loyalties. Finally, President Nixon was impeached and resigned his office in mid-term.
      Many of these events impacted Ignatius. Following the assassination of Dr. King, school was cancelled until Fr. Nastold determined that it was safe for the students to return. A year later, there was a walk-out by the African-American students. The centers of the anti-war demonstrations were the universities. It was a period of great social unrest. For a time, SICP was in danger of closing because we couldn’t get insurance.
      I heard it said that the reason the good ol’ days were good was because we survived them, and I guess to some extent that is true, but time does blunt the acute edges of our memories. I have friends who blame Vatican II, the dropping the Latin Mass and nuns not wearing their "classical" habits for problems in the Church. Some hold that the internet and other electronic phenomena are responsible for virtually every other social problem. However, the Church was not the same in 1953 as it was in 1000 A.D., and the telephone was not the cause of societal decay in the early 20th century.
      What's my point? Just a reflection, a reminiscence, and, perhaps, a warning to those of us who are "up in age" and those who are in great danger of becoming so. Live in the moment. Don't squander your time stewing about what might have been or what use to be.
      Life is what it is! Deal with it.

The GIANTS of Saint Ignatius??

Blog #2 (Only 1074 to go!) The GIANTS of Saint Ignatius??       My wife, Mary Jo, prompted this article. She noted six of the letters of “IGNATIUS” could be rearranged to spell “GIANTS” with two letters left over. She even suggested that as a new option for a mascot. Imagine; using all of the letters, it might "U. I. GIANTS". There's something kinds of brutish about that if you say it with a low voice and grunt. I think that's called "irony".
      Of course there are a couple of problems with that. For one, whatever our skills and achievements in athletics, size has not been the most obvious asset. The other reason for not changing to the "GIANTS" is that there is an historical link to “WOLVES”. Did you know that the name LOYOLA* is a contraction of “lobo y olla”, the Spanish words for “wolf and kettle”. If you look at the emblem of the Jesuits, there is a shield, a knight’s helmet and the image of two wolves standing at a kettle.
      Still, her observation is interesting. Did you know that, in the ‘20’s, Ignatius was a powerhouse in Catholic League football. I discovered that fact while reading Fr. Jim Arimond's book on Loyola Academy’s sports history, including a connection with George Gipp (reference to "Win one for the Gipper."). More recently, some of you might be aware of the famous coin-flip of 1945 between Ignatius and Fenwick. If not, ask your grandfather, or Frank Raispis, who won. It's too painful to talk about.
      I’m sure that we had many successful years between ‘45 and ‘60. I am aware of a couple fine players during that period. Don Hogan and Carm Pintozzi come to mind. But my first two years at Ignatius were not very successful. (It's a shame that there's not a symbol in English to denote "understatement".) It is always risky to name names, and, perhaps, missing many who are equally worthy of recognition. I wasn’t around Ignatius then, so I’m only referring to players with whom I am somewhat familiar. Apologies to the many others who deserve mention.
      For the record, I want to acknowledge my deepest respect and admiration for the fine athletes who were on the football teams my first two years. I'll let those of you who were around then direct the blame.
I won’t take all of the blame for why Fr. Koch decided to drop the sport, but I can’t escape my role. To my players, I humbly apologize.


*Would it insult you if I said that I hoped everyone knew the tie between Saint Ignatius and Loyola

1076 Reflections

Reminiscence #1 (Only 1075 to go!)
When John Chandler and Ryan Osborn asked me to write a "blog" for the alumni webpage, my answer was, "Sure!", but deep in my head, a voice that sounded strangely like Bill Cosby was saying, "Riiight! What's a blog?" (If you're close to my age, you'll understand the reference.)
     You see, I just turned 70. When I was in grammar school, the height of electronic technology was the telephone. If I wanted to make a phone call, I'd pick up the receiver and waited for the operator to say, "Number, please!". A huge advancement was the dial system...the rotary, not the button. When I started teaching at Saint Ignatius, in the fall of ’61, the phone number was HA-1-5900, originally “Haymarket-1-5900”...and you “didn’t need no stinking” area code.
     So I called one of my daughters, and asked her, “What’s a blog?” She understands my ignor...er...ah...innocence. She told me once, “Dad, to you the computer is the devil’s own magic!” She proceeded to tell me, “Blah, blah, blah, yatta, yatta, yatta...there are 1552 alumni on the Saint Ignatius Alumni Facebook site.” (Again! “Riiight! What’s a facebook site?”) I think that she was telling me that most of the alums, if they’re interested in what’s going on with their class members, go to Facebook or some such internet site.
     Why would two reasonably intelligent young men, John and Ryan, ask a codger to write for a hip-and-with-it “publication” like a blog? Then I realized; it’s because I’m old. What is now history was a part of my life. To youngsters, the first moon-landing is an historical event to be memorized for a quiz. Members of my generation ask each other whether they remember where they were when we first learned of it. (FYI, I was in a cocktail lounge at Lakelawn Lodge in Lake Geneva...probably doing sociological research.)
     So, that’s it. With the help of Frank Raispis and others, I can reminisce, try to explain (Why did we drop football in the spring of ’63?) and, to use Frank’s word, be a part of a unifying element to the history of our great institution.
     The Lord and Katie Cummings willing, I’ll see you down the road.