Thanks for a Great Sporting Moment EJ
I got a very elementary e-mail from Ivan Marquez the other day. Ivan was my best friend in college and is currently the Athletic Director at Concordia College in Bronxville, NY and Commissioner of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. There was no "how ya' doin' bro!" or commentary about the just past March Madness, just a single blue line of print that was a link to an article about EJ McGuire dying after a five month battle with a cancer so rare (Leiomyoscarcoma, an incurable, form of cancer that aggressively attacks the cells that make up the involuntary muscles within the body) they don't pretend to a cure with some nifty slogan.
In the most generous of descriptions, EJ and I were 'contemporaries' at Brockport State (NY) back in 1978-79. I took over a small group of skaters called the Women's Ice Hockey Club as a senior, leading them all of four games, and McGuire was the cool as hell coach of the men's varsity. Ivan had his own cancer concerns about five years ago (prostate), but beyond the fact that during games he got to sit next to those extremely good-looking ladies EJ always dated and traveled many miles to very cold places with McGuire as he searched for young men to attend a small state school in western New York, they seemed to share a common bond of independence, focus, and maybe machismo I've never possessed.
I really only have one good EJ McGuire story in eulogy, and while I'm proud to use it, I'll also include that link, http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=558601 , because NHL.com's Mike Morreale does an excellent job of presenting a picture I knew only small pieces of.
Having previously written (October 6, 2009 'The Purity of an Underdog's Effort) about my single victory as Head Coach of the women's hockey team, one of the essential facts about that 8-2 busting of Ithaca College's 20 identically clad players by my rag-tag group was passing out a handful of cold, wet, truly stinking green practice jerseys from the mens team. When the girls had protested I'd simply said, "Put 'em on, we need to tape numbers on the back."
When Ivan and I went to ask about borrowing some jerseys, EJ just said, "Hey, couple of you guys give Glenn your jerseys." I popped them in a bag without even thinking about washing them (college guy on a Friday night and beers to be drunk? Ha!) but I've NEVER forgotten how jazzed both the girls and I were about winning that game. My folks, brother Steve, an aunt, uncle, and cousin Mike came to the game at Cornell's Lynah Arena because while they were around to see Steve play basketball for the Cornell JV, he knew I was there and brought them down. Maybe giving us jerseys wasnt that big a deal, but I believe having the same color jerseys truly counts for a 'team' effect. 32 years later, only winning an Upstate Rugby championship with the Reds in 1981 rivals that day in my athletic memory.
After working on his Masters at USC, Ivan worked his way into management roles at Macy's and Bloomingdale's in New York, then got the smallest of breaks while coaching a girls high school basketball team part-time, where a referee appreciated his control of players at that level and hired him for an assistant AD-volleyball coach position at Concordia. He built a way above average men's program with a "men beat boys" philosophy, but thats another story. When you recognize those who share your deepest passions for what you strive to do in life, its almost your achievement when they succeed, a shared pain when things go otherwise, and I think that's going to hurt with Ivan for a while.
Its obvious that EJ McGuire's earliest days driving around upstate NY looking for talented young men represented what was always meant to be his calling, and becoming Vice President of NHL Central Scouting meant he definitely reached the pinnacle of his profession. As someone who only knew him in the very earliest days, I'll still say thanks for his part in my best hockey story, and offer a wink with the opinion that Ivan and I could definitely tell you, EJ McGuire always had an eye for spotting talent.
Glenn S.
