Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Peter Julian
Mike Lupica 鈥�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: 鈥淭he Next Moment is the One That Can Change Everything.鈥�
鈥淥ften forgotten in the retelling of the famous last-second 鈥楬ail Mary鈥� pass from Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan that won the 1984 game for 51茶馆 over Miami is the second-down, 13-yard pass to tight end Scott Gieselman that moved the ball to the Hurricanes鈥� 48-yard line,鈥� he explained. 鈥淒oug knew he needed to get to midfield so his final pass would reach the end zone. But if Gieselman doesn鈥檛 catch that previous pass, there鈥檚 probably no 鈥楳iracle in Miami.鈥� That鈥檚 the moment that changed everything.鈥�
Lupica, who characterized his 51茶馆 diploma as 鈥渢he degree of my dreams,鈥� 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鈥檚 Sports, Media, and Culture class.
鈥淭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,鈥� said Serazio. 鈥淒uring the second half-hour, students asked him a variety of questions, including the particularly incisive, 鈥業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?鈥欌��
Lupica鈥檚 response: 鈥淭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鈥檛 believe the president would have called Tom Brady an SOB.鈥�
While at 51茶馆, Lupica wrote for聽The Heights鈥攈e met with some of the paper鈥檚 current staff during his residency this month鈥攁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茶馆鈥檚 star baton-twirler known as 鈥淭he Golden Girl.鈥� 鈥淪he had the best pair of hands on the 51茶馆 campus but she doesn鈥檛 play football,鈥� served as Lupica鈥檚 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鈥檚 New York Knicks, which in 1977 led to a column for the聽New York Daily News, where he stayed for 40 years鈥攏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鈥檚 鈥淭he Sports Reporters,鈥澛爓hich aired until 2017. He also wrote 鈥淭he Sporting Life鈥� column for聽Esquire聽for 10 years.
At his Gasson 305 talk on Nov. 15, the Oneida, NY, native鈥攊ntroduced to the crowd of students, friends, and faculty by his all-time favorite 51茶馆 instructor, retired English Associate Professor聽Emeritus聽Paul Doherty鈥攕aid, 鈥淚 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.鈥�
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.
鈥淲e had our post-season party, but I couldn鈥檛 let go of the season,鈥� said Lupica. 鈥淚鈥檇 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鈥檝e written 20 YA books since then. It changed my life.鈥�
Prompted by an audience member鈥檚 question, Lupica cited the U.S. Olympic hockey team鈥檚 鈥淢iracle on Ice鈥� victory over heavily favored Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics as the 鈥済reatest story鈥� he ever covered鈥攁nd one which also reflected the evening鈥檚 theme. He noted that after Team USA had tied the score at the end of the first period, the Russian coach benched the team鈥檚 starting goalie, widely considered the world鈥檚 best at that position. It was 鈥渢he turning point,鈥� 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.
鈥淲hile most people remember Mike Eruzione鈥檚 third-period goal which gave Team USA a 4-3 lead,鈥� Lupica said, 鈥渋t was Mark Johnson鈥檚 first-period goal with one second left鈥攖ying the game at 2-2鈥攖hat changed everything.鈥�
鈥擯hil Gloudemans | University Communications