Homecoming and a Cause

This weekend is homecoming. Most any other year that sentence would be sufficient and quite frankly wouldn’t differentiate our tailgating activities one bit. However this year umtailgate.com has their own events scheduled and their own former students involved in the events that encompass the reunion of friends and family. As I have taken the time to mention previously, the alumni of the division of kinesiology are launching an online auction to benefit the Bernard “Pat” Maloy Scholarship Fund to honor our former professor, mentor, advisor and friend who passed away from cancer in the winter of 2001. In an effort to raise the $400,000 necessary to endow the scholarship we will be launching the online auction this weekend, bidding starts on October 15th. The items are tremendous. If you haven’t signed up or placed a watch on an item already I encourage you to do so here…

http://www.kines.umich.edu/auction.html

Pat was extremely important to my development and most anyone you talk to would echo those sentiments. I recently spoke with one of Pat’s former students who just happens to be one of the best running backs in Michigan history as well as the current Dearborn Robichaud high school football coach Tyrone Wheatley (for an upcoming feature on this website) and he said of Pat…

“Well, anybody who knows anything about the Kinesiology family knows that it’s a tight knit group and he was just a cool guy. He did a lot for us. And to have a debilitating disease like cancer and to have it strip someone of the things they love, the things they do and to have it strip you of your life…and then to turn around to honor someone that either has cancer or a family member that has it…to get on board to honor someone like Pat, you just have to do it. It’s hard to really articulate, it’s just one of those things were you know it’s the right thing to do…”

And I couldn’t agree more, Pat will always be in our memories and the way to ensure of it is to log on and sign up!

Auction items range from Michigan memorabilia to Football tickets and professional sports memorabilia. You will notice an Atlanta Braves jersey with the autographs of Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Jeff Francouer and Brian McCann; soon to be NL MVP Jimmy Rollins autographed bat and a Derrek Lee autographed Cubs jersey. There are Michigan/OSU tix up for auction as well as a full size New England Patriots Helmet autographed by Tom Brady. Mitchell and Ness is our main sponsor and they have provided some outstanding throwback jackets and clothing. You can’t go wrong as bids start as low as $20 so there’s sure to be something for everyone.