Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Peter Julian
Mike Lupica �74, the prolific and provocative sports columnist and best-selling author, recounted a very familiar and momentous Boston College football tale to underscore the topic of a recent presentation in Gasson 305: 淭he Next Moment is the One That Can Change Everything.�
淥ften forgotten in the retelling of the famous last-second 楬ail Mary� pass from Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan that won the 1984 game for 51动漫 over Miami is the second-down, 13-yard pass to tight end Scott Gieselman that moved the ball to the Hurricanes� 48-yard line,� he explained. 淒oug knew he needed to get to midfield so his final pass would reach the end zone. But if Gieselman doesn檛 catch that previous pass, there probably no 楳iracle in Miami.� That the moment that changed everything.�
Lupica, who characterized his 51动漫 diploma as 渢he degree of my dreams,� was back on campus for a three-day residency coordinated by English Professor Carlo Rotella. During his visit, Lupica took time to share his experiences as a writer and media professional with students who may follow a similar path. He gave talks to a class on sports writing taught by adjunct faculty member and Associated Press sports writer Jimmy Golen and both sections of Assistant Professor of Communication Michael Serazio Sports, Media, and Culture class.
淭he first half-hour I posed questions about the professional challenges of sports journalism, the dramatically changing media landscape, and the fraught intersection of sports and politics, among other topics,� said Serazio. 淒uring the second half-hour, students asked him a variety of questions, including the particularly incisive, 業f a white quarterback like Tom Brady had taken a knee to protest racial injustice, as former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had, would the National Football League, the president, and nation as a whole, have reacted differently?櫇
Lupica response: 淭he reaction would have been far less mean and far less extreme if it had been a white, Super Bowl-winning quarterback doing the kneeling, and I don檛 believe the president would have called Tom Brady an SOB.�
While at 51动漫, Lupica wrote for聽The Heights攈e met with some of the paper current staff during his residency this month攁nd freelanced for the聽Boston Phoenix,听Boston Magazine, and聽The Boston Globe; an assignment from Globe sports editor Ernie Roberts, a well-known mentor to aspiring sportswriters, resulted in a front-page story on Pam Lake, 51动漫 star baton-twirler known as 淭he Golden Girl.� 淪he had the best pair of hands on the 51动漫 campus but she doesn檛 play football,� served as Lupica lede.
During this three-day residency on campus, Mike Lupica '74 visited with staff members of The Heights.
He started working for the聽New York Post聽in 1975 on a temporary basis, and then the next moment changed everything: At age 23, he was assigned to regularly cover the NBA New York Knicks, which in 1977 led to a column for the聽New York Daily News, where he stayed for 40 years攏ot including short stints at the ill-fated聽The National, and one year writing for聽Newsday.
He began reaching a nationwide television audience in 1988 when he became a regular panelist on ESPN 淭he Sports Reporters,澛爓hich aired until 2017. He also wrote 淭he Sporting Life� column for聽Esquire聽for 10 years.
At his Gasson 305 talk on Nov. 15, the Oneida, NY, native攊ntroduced to the crowd of students, friends, and faculty by his all-time favorite 51动漫 instructor, retired English Associate Professor聽Emeritus聽Paul Doherty攕aid, 淚 followed the advice that to be a good writer you need to be a good reader and be exposed to good writing. While in high school, I decided I wanted to write for a newspaper and write books. Life has come full circle.�
Lupica wrote his first sports book in 1984, an autobiography with baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, followed by 15 sports titles. But when his son Alex, then 12, failed to make a youth basketball travel team, lightning struck again. Based on the suggestion of former Knicks and Houston Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy, Lupica recruited all of the boys who had been cut and formed his own team, scheduled games, and created an opportunity that would not have ordinarily existed. The team was awful, but they improved with every game, and won their last game by one point on a free throw with three seconds remaining, and euphoria erupted, he recalled.
淲e had our post-season party, but I couldn檛 let go of the season,� said Lupica. 淚檇 seen something special watching these kids, which motivated me to write a three-page outline for a novel, which became the best-selling YA [young adult] book聽Travel Team. I檝e written 20 YA books since then. It changed my life.�
Prompted by an audience member question, Lupica cited the U.S. Olympic hockey team 淢iracle on Ice� victory over heavily favored Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics as the 済reatest story� he ever covered攁nd one which also reflected the evening theme. He noted that after Team USA had tied the score at the end of the first period, the Russian coach benched the team starting goalie, widely considered the world best at that position. It was 渢he turning point,� he said: The US would go on to score two more goals off the replacement goalie, enabling them to advance to the finals and win the gold medal.
淲hile most people remember Mike Eruzione third-period goal which gave Team USA a 4-3 lead,� Lupica said, 渋t was Mark Johnson first-period goal with one second left攖ying the game at 2-2攖hat changed everything.�
擯hil Gloudemans | University Communications