Catholic Sports Radio

The author of "Crossing Parish Boundaries: Race, Sports, and Catholic Youth in Chicago, 1914-1954," a book which reveals the history of CYO. He is a professor of history at Salve Regina University, a private, Catholic, coed school founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1934 in Newport, Rhode Island, where he teaches a course on U.S. sports history. As a student-athlete himself he had played baseball, basketball, football, and tennis, including club basketball in college in Ireland.

The CEO / Executive Director of Arizona Sports Foundation, Valley of the Sun Bowl Foundation and Fiesta Events, Inc., community-based organizations that operate the Fiesta Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and numerous charitable and community events throughout the state. Prior to heading the Fiesta Bowl, he spent eight years with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and Jobing.com Arena, most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining the Phoenix Coyotes in January 2006, he spent four seasons with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. He has also been both a football coach and a basketball referee.

He spent 25 years as a referee in the NBA, officiating over 1,400 regular season games, 240 playoff games, 23 NBA Finals games, and two All-Star Games. He has also been a rules analyst for ESPN/ABC. Earlier in his career he was a referee in the CBA, which followed time that he had spent as a minor league baseball umpire, himself having played in the Baltimore Orioles organization at the minor league level after pitching for Temple University. In high school he had achieved All-Catholic honors in both baseball and basketball in his Junior and Senior years. Four years ago he was inducted to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, and last month he was the recipient of Sports Faith International's Father Smyth Award. In 2019 he was ordained a Deacon in the Catholic Church and just celebrated the two-year anniversary.

A professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 13 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. He began his racing career in 1996 and by 2001 was the American Speed Association Champion and Rookie of the Year. In 2009 he was NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year. He also builds and races his own late model cars. And, he and his father and two brothers became only the second family in NASCAR history to have four members compete in a national series race.

He spent six decades in basketball, coaching high school, college, NBA, WNBA, and internationally. In the NBA he was the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, and Orlando Magic, and was an assistant coach with those three franchises as well as the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also served as a consultant with the Boston Celtics. He is enshrined in the hall of fame at William Paterson University for TWO sports. Late last year he put out a book called, "Havin' a Ball: My Improbable Basketball Journey."

Faith-wise, she tells a story here of having a reversion to the faith with her husband after a significant life event. Sports-wise, she worked for college football's Fiesta Bowl for two years, the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes for eight years, and at the Central Hockey league for seven years. As a student-athlete she had played both softball and volleyball, and, present day, she still participates in a couple sports recreationally. She is the Executive Director of the Arizona chapter of HopeKids, which provides ongoing events, activities and a powerful, unique support community for families who have a child with cancer or some other life-threatening medical condition.

This interview includes the guest sharing from his personal life about having gone through something that no parent ever wants to experience. On the vocation side, he has worked in youth and young adult ministry and CYO athletics for 37 years, including five years in the Diocese of Columbus. He has worked for Catholic Charities in Cleveland for 26 years. On the sports side, he played high school and college tennis, coached high school girls’ volleyball and coached Special Olympics teams in Pennsylvania and Texas. He is a tennis teaching pro and has coached boys and girls’ varsity high school. Plus, he was a Head Tennis Pro at a camp and resort north of Toronto, Ontario, for five summers and in the North Shore area of Chicago at a private club. He also even served on the U.S. Olympic Committee.