SRM Alumni Updates - July 24, 2013

Jason Aughey (’03), senior director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, was recognized as an industry leader in Connect magazine’s “40 Under 40” feature in the May/June issue.

Nicki Averso (’10) has accepted the Manager of Event Presentation position with the Kansas City Royals.  She had previously interned with the team during the 2012 season.

Kelly Berger (’07), a former JMU lacrosse player, is on the roster of the U.S. Senior National Team. Berger was also featured on the cover of the June 2013 issue of Lacrosse Magazine and will play in the 2013 Lacrosse World Cup in Ontario.

Chad Byers (’12) will be an assistant football coach at Denison University.

Cody Clifton (’11) is currently studying for his Masters of Education in Educational Leadership while serving as the Assistant Sports Information Director at Lynchburg College.

Jamie Coder (’12) works as the Director of Events at Notus Sports, a new sport and event management company based in Charlottesville.

Alan Daniel (‘13M) recently became the Operations Assistant with the Army A Club at West Point in New York.

Greg Forsberg (’13) accepted a job as Project Manager with AT&T in Atlanta.

Courtney Hamner (’11) received her Virginia Real Estate license.

Justin Harris (’10, ‘13M) accepted a position with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as an Academic Counseling Intern.  He will be advising Men's and Women's Track and Field and Baseball. 

Daniel Jankowski (’11) is a now an Account Executive with Legends Sales and Marketing at the Jacksonville Jaguars.  He was previously with Legends Premium Sales at the New York Red Bulls.

Chase Leonard (’11) has been promoted to Senior Account Executive, Premium Seating for the Washington Redskins.

Kelsey Melland (’12) graduated with her Masters from the VCU Center for Sport Leadership. She will be moving to Orlando, Florida to work in sponsorship account management for the ESPN WWos for runDisney.

Alex (Fotiou) Moore (’08) is assistant director of donor relations at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked for VCU in various development roles since 2009.

Ali Noel (’13) accepted a position as an account executive with Global Marketing Concepts in Columbia, Maryland.

Krista Nuzum (’11) is now with Octagon as an Event Coordinator for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Erin Parker (’12) is moving to Cleveland to work for the Indians as a Client Service Specialist.  She was previously with the Washington Redskins.

Philip Pierce (’09, ’12M) recently accepted a position as the Athletic Development and Promotions Director at the University of Mary Washington.

Renard Robinson (’13) has accepted a position as Membership Consultant with the Sport & Health in Washington, D.C.

Ashley Schneider (‘13M) is an Event Coordinator for Clyde’s Restaurant Group.

Jonathan Smithgall (’11) is a Digital Media Manager for Love Communications. 

Emily Usle (’10) is an Academic Coordinator with the St. Bonaventure University Academic Support and Student Services.  She works with incoming freshmen student-athletes and at-risk athletes.

Meryssa Wacholder (‘13M) accepted a job as the first assistant coach for Waynesburg University women’s soccer.

Kay Weninger (’11) is now Show Director at The Limo Digest Show in Medford, N.J.

Anna (Applegate) Williams (’09) has become the author of a new-adult, paranormal romance novel set in modern times entitled, Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy).  Anna drew a lot of the “college life” inspiration from her time at JMU.  Protected is an e-book available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  The untitled Book 2 in the trilogy is set to be released November 2013.

Sarah Williams (’10, ‘12M) has returned to JMU as an assistant women’s basketball coach.

Job Opportunity: Game Night Staff – Washington Capitals and Wizards (Part-time)

Monumental Sports & Entertainment Guest Services is looking to hire several game night staff for the 2013-14 Washington Capitals and Wizards seasons.  It is a part-time, paid position working on game days at the Verizon Center.  Please click here for more details.

Interview with James Irwin, author of "Midnight in Chattanooga"

Interview with James Irwin
Mr. Irwin is currently the Assistant Director in the James Madison University Office of Alumni Relations.  He is also the author of Midnight in Chattanooga and former sports editor at the Washington Examiner.

By Brad Burgess and Ryan Hourigan, students in SRM 334: Introduction to Sport Media

Q: What compelled you to write your book, Midnight in Chattanooga?

A: I fell into a great situation when I was here [at JMU]. I applied to be sports editor at The Breeze and, for some reason, they hired me for it. And JMU [football] goes on this run that no one expected them to go on. Remember, the three seasons before 2004 they were 2-9, 5-7, and 6-6. They were getting better, but they didn't get one top 25 vote. They had a quarterback controversy coming into training camp. Mickey [Matthew]'s son Clayton had just been in second car accident. There was a lot of turmoil around here. Mickey was coaching for his job. Nobody really knew what to expect of that team. The went 2-1 out of the gate. They lost the game at West Virginia when they get drubbed, and West Virginia was No. 6 in the country. And then they won six straight. And they won these games in such dramatic fashion. Up until the day they won the national title, nobody really understood what was happening because nobody has ever experienced it here before. So when you roll all these things up and you look at a guy coaching for his job with the family situation that he had with Clayton's accidents, a quarterback controversy, a program that hadn't done anything in better than a decade, and all of a sudden, bang, the flip gets switched and they win a national championship. As a journalist, immediately I thought this can't be as overnight as it appears to be. So my mission in writing this book was to uncover the back story of how it happened. I wanted to show that it just wasn't an overnight success. Success is earned and [the 2004 JMU football team] embodied that.

Q: Why did you decide to come to JMU as an undergraduate student?

A: I'm from New York and went to a college fair at a local community college. I stopped by the JMU table and talked to Joe Manning in Admissions. Joe talked to me for 25 minutes. He got me to come down here in late March of my junior year. Everything looked great. The flowers are freshly planted, it's a 70 degree day, and the Quad is packed with people and they're having a great time. I fell in love with the place. I decided to come here, because it's where I felt at home.

Q: What dorm did you live in freshman year?

A: Gifford Hall.

Q: Who is your favorite athlete of all time?

A: I'm a huge Mariano Rivera fan. I think part of it is because his appreciation for the game. He's always composed. Rivera is so stoic and so calm and so deliberate. His pants are the right length, his hair is cut close to the scalp, and his ball cap is on completely straight as an arrow. He does the same thing every single time, he throws the same pitch every single time, and he's still the greatest closer of all time. He's incredibly passionate about the game, and he's very astute when it comes to the history and he appreciates it. I'm a huge Mariana Rivera fan, both because of the way he carries himself and because of his athletic ability.

Q: What would you say is the easiest sport to cover?

A: I don't want to say this in a way that makes it seems like it's trivial compared to the others. For me, soccer is very easy to cover. I played a little bit when I was a kid so I understand the basics of it. The field is so big, everything unfolds in front of you and the ball is big. You can usually see something developing in soccer a lot further away because of the space, and because you know what great teams do and how they function. If you cover a team for a long time, you know when a team likes to run. The players are very approachable compared to a lot of the other major sports.

Q: What's your most enjoyable sport to cover?

A: I really did enjoy covering football, but I enjoy covering pretty much any sport.

Q: What's your favorite sports team?

A: New York Yankees.

Q: What's your ultimate dream job?

A: I would love to spend my career just cutting 30 for 30 films. They are great.

Q: What's your favorite cereal?

A: Life

Q: E-Hall or D-Hall?

A: E-Hall

Q: Would you write another book?

A: Absolutely.

Q: What would the book be about?

A: The Electric Zoo, JMU men’s basketball from 1977-1990. I'm actually working on it.

Q: New York or Washington D.C.?

A: New York

Q: What's your favorite thing about JMU?

A: I love JMU's mission and the purpose of this university. It's very student-focused. The idea is to be an involved citizen, but at the core of that involved citizen is to get a great education. That's the most important thing a university can do, and I think we do a great job of making sure that's the focus here.