wvrevy
Daddy to da' princess, which I guess makes me da'
- Joined
- Nov 7, 1999
- Messages
- 8,130
Saw this in the local paper and thought you guys would enjoy it:
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WVU goes to bat for our troops in sports-gear drive
BOB HERTZEL
It started with a radio promotion and an unexpected e-mail from Greg Richmond, a West Virginia University graduate, class of 1979.
Richmond lives in Charlotte, and one day he was listening to a sports talk show on WFNZ, a show hosted by Mark Packer, who is the son of Billy Packer, the basketball zealot from CBS.
"Operation Sacrifice Fly," he called it.
"I do this goofy thing, I answer every e-mail," Packer explained. "I got this long e-mail that I read on the air. He told me how the soldiers in Iraq needed equipment, that this one group had only one soccer ball and they were using it for everything, fo otball, basketball, volleyball."
Having heard this, Richmond zipped an e-mail off to WVU that found its way to the desk of Terri Howe, the school's associate athletic director for sport development.
"I thought it would be a great idea to see if the WVU Athletic Department could help out by providing any old jerseys, shorts, equipment, etc. not currently needed by the department," he wrote.
"From what I understand, all our soldiers have to wear is government issued T-shirts when they participate in their recreational sports. They are wanting to provide enough 'home and away' jerseys for basketball, baseball, football, softball, soccer, etc. as possible as they play three games a day.
"Imagine the good will toward the university, especially from a West Virginia soldier who happens to receive a Mountaineer jersey! I'm sure many other soldiers would become Mountaineer fans as well from this show of goodwill. If nothing else it would hel p build their morale."
Howe thought back to a conversation she had with a nephew who had served in Iraq.
"I'd sent him a football media guide and he talked how the troops shared all their stuff and how that got around and how it was always good to get something from back home," she said.
He also told her about how he had come across an Iraqi kid on the streets who was wearing a "Hook 'em Horns" Texas baseball cap.
He asked the kid where he got it and the boy told him it was from an American soldier.
Now Howe knew WVU probably wouldn't sell many tickets or help its television ratings if a few Iraqi kids were running around wearing the flying WV, but she still felt this was a worthy cause.
She got on the phone and checked in with the three main equipment managers at WVU -- Dan Nehlen, Bubba Schmidt and Kevin Johnson -- and they went on a scavenger hunt.
By the time they were done they had come up with three sizable boxes of equipment to send to the troops.
You name it, they sent it -- footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, baseball bats, T-shirts, jerseys. They even included some DVDs and, of course, WV Frisbees and pencils.
WVU was not alone. Packer was off and running.
"We have this great relationship with Dick's (Sporting Goods). We did a remote from there and asked fans to come and contribute money or equipment. Next thing I know, we tied this in with a bunch of different companies," Packer said.
"The PGA holds the Wachovia Open here. They called and said they had 120 dozen golf balls that were used by the pros on the range and they didn't know what to do with them. They donated them, too."
The items were picked up recently by Fort Bragg and sent to Kuwait City, where they have been distributed to the troops.
So, if you happen to be watching CNN and you see a soldier wearing a Rasheed Marshall jersey, you know how it got there.
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WVU goes to bat for our troops in sports-gear drive
BOB HERTZEL
It started with a radio promotion and an unexpected e-mail from Greg Richmond, a West Virginia University graduate, class of 1979.
Richmond lives in Charlotte, and one day he was listening to a sports talk show on WFNZ, a show hosted by Mark Packer, who is the son of Billy Packer, the basketball zealot from CBS.
"Operation Sacrifice Fly," he called it.
"I do this goofy thing, I answer every e-mail," Packer explained. "I got this long e-mail that I read on the air. He told me how the soldiers in Iraq needed equipment, that this one group had only one soccer ball and they were using it for everything, fo otball, basketball, volleyball."
Having heard this, Richmond zipped an e-mail off to WVU that found its way to the desk of Terri Howe, the school's associate athletic director for sport development.
"I thought it would be a great idea to see if the WVU Athletic Department could help out by providing any old jerseys, shorts, equipment, etc. not currently needed by the department," he wrote.
"From what I understand, all our soldiers have to wear is government issued T-shirts when they participate in their recreational sports. They are wanting to provide enough 'home and away' jerseys for basketball, baseball, football, softball, soccer, etc. as possible as they play three games a day.
"Imagine the good will toward the university, especially from a West Virginia soldier who happens to receive a Mountaineer jersey! I'm sure many other soldiers would become Mountaineer fans as well from this show of goodwill. If nothing else it would hel p build their morale."
Howe thought back to a conversation she had with a nephew who had served in Iraq.
"I'd sent him a football media guide and he talked how the troops shared all their stuff and how that got around and how it was always good to get something from back home," she said.
He also told her about how he had come across an Iraqi kid on the streets who was wearing a "Hook 'em Horns" Texas baseball cap.
He asked the kid where he got it and the boy told him it was from an American soldier.
Now Howe knew WVU probably wouldn't sell many tickets or help its television ratings if a few Iraqi kids were running around wearing the flying WV, but she still felt this was a worthy cause.
She got on the phone and checked in with the three main equipment managers at WVU -- Dan Nehlen, Bubba Schmidt and Kevin Johnson -- and they went on a scavenger hunt.
By the time they were done they had come up with three sizable boxes of equipment to send to the troops.
You name it, they sent it -- footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, baseball bats, T-shirts, jerseys. They even included some DVDs and, of course, WV Frisbees and pencils.
WVU was not alone. Packer was off and running.
"We have this great relationship with Dick's (Sporting Goods). We did a remote from there and asked fans to come and contribute money or equipment. Next thing I know, we tied this in with a bunch of different companies," Packer said.
"The PGA holds the Wachovia Open here. They called and said they had 120 dozen golf balls that were used by the pros on the range and they didn't know what to do with them. They donated them, too."
The items were picked up recently by Fort Bragg and sent to Kuwait City, where they have been distributed to the troops.
So, if you happen to be watching CNN and you see a soldier wearing a Rasheed Marshall jersey, you know how it got there.
