Rotary Log for Meeting of July 14, 2016
By Mark Lorusso
Photos by Sara Treacy
President Jim exercised his presidential prerogative and took the meeting off. Vice President Ben admirably took the helm for this one. Today, we ventured into the world of sports, or more precisely, the world of retired professional athletes. Before we get to that, let’s take a trip around the Rotary in 30 seconds.
Never to be thwarted by penmanship issues, VP Ben read the names of quests and visiting Rotarians. Leo Gagnon reminded us about the upcoming Gundalow Piscataqua cruise event. The cruise will take place from 6:00pm - 8:00pm on Thursday, August 28. Tickets are $38 per person and are available at our meetings or at the event. Sara Treacy informed us about Rotarian participation at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. A warm round of applause was given for all those that have volunteered—another fine example of Rotary in action. Sara held a meeting immediately after the luncheon for those interested in learning more about the soup kitchen.
Justin Finn reminded us about the upcoming Portsmouth Rotary Cross Country 5K Race to be held August 4 with a 6:15 pm start time at Portsmouth High School. More volunteers are needed, please sign up! Sign-up sheets are available at the back of our meeting room. Basil informed us about a specific need for volunteers to do a course walk-though immediately before the event. Again, please sign up!
Happy bucks galore were received from Neal Ouellett in recognition of his colorful table mates; from Judy Ringer who informed us about two upcoming Gaelic music concerts to be held Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16 at the North Church and in York, Maine, respectively; and from Taylor for her Spagnolo (or Spinone) Italiano’s 4th place finish in a dog show held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The strong finish garnered an invitation to the world famous Westminster show in the United Kingdom, or is it back to Great Britain? Brexit anyone?
Further happy bucks were received from Frank Firicano celebrating a visit from his son and grandson from San Diego; from Luis Melchor in recognition of his guest and from Cindy Shanley who recognized Leonard Seagren for hosting the lastest Belfast Friends Forever cohorts to reach our shores, a group that apparently appreciated visits from Leonard’s female friend. Cuzin Richard gave happy bucks to inform us that the Seacoast Repertory Chorus sang for Hillary and Bernie at PHS. Leonard finally got to pay his $20 happy bucks in celebration of Cindi Shanley’s birthday and for everything else happening in his life. And last, but not least, Jim Rini paid happy bucks in recognition of the fact that Leonard’s lady friend actually comes over to his house to visit.
Turning to our main event, Dave Holden introduced our guest speaker, David Ostrowsky, who has penned a book about retired athletes. The book entitled, “Game Over or Game On” describes the lives of several athletes (male and female) after their days in the sun. Written four years ago, inspiration for the book came from an ESPN documentary about sports athletes going broke. This book delves into the lives of those athletes that remained successful and productive after their glory years on the grid iron, diamond, etc. The stories run the gamut from Derek Sanderson’s fall from grace with substance addiction to re-emergence as a beloved announcer and commentator for Bruins games to football player Alan Page who went to law school after his sports career was over and ended up sitting on the Minnesota Supreme Court bench. Some went into politics, e.g., former basketball player, Kevin Johnson, while others used their names, fame and wealth to improve the lives of others. A standout in this vein is basketball player Dikembe Mutombo from the Congo in Africa who went back to his home country and started a foundation to address the malaria epidemic there. Others entered into business, such as Drew Bledsoe and his vineyard.
David also gave us some insights into patterns involving the lives of professional athletes. Apparently older athletes, those from the 50’s and 60’s, were much better prepared for life after sports. Despite today’s astronomical multi-million dollar salaries, many professional athletes today are broke after five years. What about the sport played? Does it play a role in an athlete’s relevance? The athlete’s fame? Apparently personal fame and name recognition are far more valuable than the particular sport played. Rodger Federer is one name that stands out in this regard. Worst sport for health? Football—most players last no more than 3 years and their health insurance runs out after five years removed from the game. For the rest of the story, you’ll have to read David’s book. Copies of his book were made available for sale at our meeting with 25% of the proceeds going to our club.
The 50/50 raffle for $58 was won, once again, by the infamous raffle table cartel. Stella Scamman did the honors, but no match. Adios until next week.
Respectfully submitted by Mark Lorusso
