EI Club News is the official Athletic Department publication for former Eastern Illinois University Athletes and staff

Volume 1, Issue 2

Ken Baker Named Interim Athletic Director

Women’s Basketball Opener vs. IllinoisFriday, November 9 @ 7:00 pmMen’s Basketball Opener vs. Harris StoweSaturday, November 10 @ 7:00 pm

Call (217) 581-2106for ticket information

FALL 2007

(Reprinted with permission of the Charleston Times-Courier)If asked, sure, CNN Headline News Sports anchor Ray

D’Alessio will talk about his days kicking for Eastern Illinois’s football team.

That was as 29-yard field goal with 1:19 left, he can tell off the top of his head of that game-winner when Eastern beat North-western Louisiana 23-22 in 1990.

“Oh yeah, I tell war stories,” D’Alessio said. “C’mon. I wouldn’t even attempt to kick a field goal now. But I have to pull out the old game films sometimes. The wife is the one whose nerves I really get on and I tell the old war stories and I say yeah, I remember when we played Northern Illinois and Stacey Robinson. . .”

These days D’Alessio is usually telling stories of others whether it is results from the previous nights major-league base-ball games from his anchor desk or standing in the pits of the Daytona 500.

You know how Eastern was a big story a year ago when Sean Payton became the school’s third graduate to be an NFL head coach?

Well, CNN has two sports anchors and both went to Eastern Illinois – D’Alessio of Decatur and Larry Smith of Mattoon.

Smith helped D’Alessio get into this deal of rising at 3 a.m. in order to be at work by 4 and be on the air for your 6 a.m. breakfast.

“Usually I’m in bed 8:30 or 9 o’clock,” he said of his night life. “That’s my typical week. It’s not easy getting up at 3 o’clock. Being out of work for those 18 months I said I would never com-plain. I get paid to talk about sports. How many people would give their left arm about that? The hardest thing I do is get up.”

Between this current CNN gig that began and July 2001 and covering the Indiana Firebirds for Fox Sports and anchoring an ESPN morning radio show after earlier working for Fox covering the Indianapolis Colts, D’Alessio learned how the less fortunate lived.

“My contract was not renewed at Indianapolis, which hap-pens in this business,” D’Alessio said. “I sold cars, I hung dry-walls, I finished basements, anything to put food in the table.”

Through that time, Smith did not forget about the place-kicker he met at Eastern. Changing his major from plans of being an athletics trainer to the media and working for WEIU, D’Alessio struck an impression with Smith, who quickly climbed through the business to CNN.

A position opened, Smith called and told D’Alessio to send a tape and CNN hired a second Eastern Illinois alum.“I owe so much to Larry Smith,” D’Alessio said. “He was a good friend before and now he’s a great friend.“Larry said ‘let’s talk; we’re friends.’ He said ‘if you do this and do this and don’t do this you’ll have a long career at CNN.’ ”

So far that has lasted six years with D’Alessio not talking about going anywhere else. “You know what, if CNN wants an overweight, receding hairline guy, if they can live with that, I’ll be here,” he said. “A lot of people overlooked me when I was out of work. They didn’t want to touch me. I owe a lot to CNN Vice President) Bill Galvin, “It’s a great place to work. Coming from a local TV station you hear horror stories about the network. We don’t have that have that here. We all get along.”

D’Alessio does not mind saying he plays second fiddle to the other Eastern Illinois product at the cable television network.

“Without a doubt Larry is the face of CNN sports,” D’Alessio said. “He really is. He covers the major events like the Super

D’Alessio Anchors Sports on CNN Headline NewsBowl and World Series. There’s no animosity that he gets to do this and why can’t I do that? I get to cover the Daytona 500 because Larry knows my background and my love for racing. I’ve got to go to the Major league all-star game. I’ve covered U.S. Open. I’ve been at Kentucky Derby.”

Of course, neither D’Alessio nor Smith goes as Eastern’s big-gest personality in the sports world these days.

“We’re overshadowed now by Tony Romo,” D’Alessio said. “I lot of people don’t even know Larry and I went to school togeth-er. When Tony broke out on the scene I had to go break out all the EIU coffee cups and EIU banners.”

The CNN anchormen may never reach the People Magazine popularity that Romo has as a Dallas Cowboy after winning the 2002 Walter Payton Award as the NCAA Division I-AA football player of the year as an EIU senior, but D’Alessio had his mo-ments as a Panther as well.

Transferring from Illinois Valley Community College for his ju-nior year as a walk-on, D’Alessio won EIU’s starting place-kicking job that preseason and helped the Panthers to their last I-AA play-off win in 1989. That was when the 15th-ranked Panthers, featur-ing defensive tackle John Jurkovic who went on to play in the NFL before getting his own radio job working for WMVP in Chicago, up-set No. 4 Idaho which had future NFL quarterback John Friesz.

From that win at Idaho’s dome the Panthers the following week went to the frozen field at Montana where one of D’Alessio’s memorable moments came from just warming up on the sideline during an EIU possession, slipping and falling on his behind.

Local television cameras just happened to be showing the EIU kicker at the time as if the embarrassment was not enough just in front of Montana spectators.

“I just remember the fans laughing at me and throwing snow-balls at me,” D’Alessio said. “Those fans were absolutely ruthless.” D’Alessio temporarily quieted the crowd by kicking a 31-yard field goal cutting Montana’s lead to six points with 1:16 remaining. But trying an onside kick on an icy field where the football could slide forever, he tried to put the touch on the football that would give teammates a chance to recover only for the ball to stop short of the required 10 yards. “It went 9 ½ yards,” D’Alessio said. “We had three guys ready to pounce on the thing when it rolled out of bounds. I remember I was thinking of that the whole off-season if it just would have gone another half yard.”

Instead, Montana managed the 25-19 win and D’Alessio’s senior season, even with that winning field goal at Northwestern Louisiana, wound up 5-6. “I would say I was an average kicker,” he said. “Like every other kicker I had NFL aspirations but when I was out a year I was like no, I don’t have the leg.”

He found he did have the skills to make it on national televi-sion, however. “I still look at those big CNN letters and just pinch myself,” D’Alessio said. “I’ve been a very, very lucky individual. I got to play college football and for (Eastern Illinois) coach (Bob) Spoo and go to the playoffs and now I get to work at CNN.”

Long-time Charleston resident Ken Bak-er was named the full-time interim athletic director at Eastern Illinois University in mid-August.

In announcing the appointment, President William L. Perry said, “Ken is well-known to the campus and community; his integrity and his devotion to EIU are second to none; and his experience with athletics as a participant and official makes him extremely knowledge-able of the athletic arena.

“His knowledge of fitness and his expe-rience as a teacher and director of campus recreation are indicative of his concerns for the development of the whole student -- aca-demically and physically,” Perry added.

“(Baker) is in complete agreement with me that is it critical for our student-athletes -- with the staff’s assistance, guidance and coaching -- to achieve academically, give 100 percent athletically, and represent EIU with honor both on and off the field.”

Baker was chosen for the interim posi-tion from among several nominees named by members of Eastern’s Department of In-tercollegiate Athletics. He will serve until a permanent athletic director is in place, with a national search expected to begin this fall.

It was also announced that intercollegiate athletics will report to Dr. Dan Nadler, Vice President for Student Affairs, until further no-tice.

As acting director, Baker will be respon-sible for the development and administration of the intercollegiate athletics program. Du-ties include, but are not limited to:

• Supervising, coordinating and ad-ministering all aspects and activities of the program;

• Providing leadership and commit-ment to the integrity and graduation of stu-dent-athletes;

• Monitoring regulations of the various conferences and regulatory agencies and as-suming responsibility that all EIU athletic pro-grams are in compliance;

• Working closely with the various coaches in order to assure that the athletic program is being conducted within the exist-ing framework of policies and regulations of the university and other regulatory agencies, and rectifying any variance from established rules;

• Making recommendations to the president/vice president concerning budgets for athletics and assuming responsibility for the appropriate use of funds;

• Coordinating, supervising and ad-ministering fund-raising activities for intercol-legiate athletics; and

• Providing leadership in maintaining quality staff through recruitment, retention and development.

Before assuming the role of Eastern’s director of Campus Recreation, Baker previ-ously served as a physical education instruc-tor at Eastern (1994-2000); an adjunct health

instructor at Lake Land College, Mattoon (1993-1994); and optician (1977-1994).

In addition, he served as a football refer-ee for the Big Ten Conference (1984-1990); a referee for the National Football League (1991-2001); and currently serves as a re-play official for the National Football League (2003-present).

Baker received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from East-ern in 1972 and 1973, respectively. He has been actively involved in many community activities, including the Community Unit #1 Board of Education, the Charleston Com-munity Youth Baseball Association, the Par-ent-Teacher Organization, the United Way Board, the Panther Club, the EIU Letterman Club, the Trojan Booster Club and the Gov-ernor’s Council on Health and Fitness.

Baker’s full resume can be found at http://www.eiu.edu/~staff

Ken Baker Leads Athletics for 2007-2008

CNN Sports AnchorRay D’Alessio

“... he knows how to win, and his passion for the University of Oregon is boundless.”

Vin Lananna

Former Eastern Illinois track and field national champion and 2002 Olympic Bronze Medalist Dan Steele has been promoted to associate di-rector of track and field at the Univer-sity of Oregon according to Ducks As-sociate Athletics Director and Director of Track and Field Vin Lananna.

In that capacity, Steele will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of the men’s and women’s track and field teams. His promotion is another important step toward establishing Oregon track and field as the premier program in the country.

Lananna, who has provided the leadership and vision necessary to help revitalize track and field at the local as well as the national levels, was instrumental in organizing efforts to help Eugene/Springfield secure the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials June 27-July 6. He will continue to oversee the Ducks’ program while also concentrating on the continued development of Hayward Field and the l o n g - t e r m success of track and field at the University of Oregon.

“I am c o n f i d e n t that Dan is an excellent choice to oversee the daily coach-ing, recruiting, and administrative de-cisions necessary for the University of Oregon track and field teams to be successful,” said Lananna. “He has demonstrated throughout this athletic and professional career that he knows how to win, and his passion for the University of Oregon is boundless.”

Steele has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s most respected assis-tant coaches. Athletes under his guid-ance have captured four NCAA and nine Pacific-10 Conference individual titles, earned 41 All-America honors, and broken school records 25 times. In 2005 and 2007, he was honored as the NCAA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in the category of men’s sprints and hurdles while play-ing a pivotal role in the Pac-10 team titles captured by the men’s track and field team in those years.

The Moline, Ill., native has over-seen the men’s sprinters and hurdlers in his five seasons as a full-time Or-egon assistant coach, in addition to the men’s and women’s pole vaulters. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer assistant for the program in 2001. Steele was the 1992 NCAA Division I National Champion in the 400 me-ter hurdles with a time of 49:79 sec-

onds, a mark that still stands as the EIU school record. Steele also won a bronze medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics as a member of the USA Bobsled team.

“We have a special program and Vin has created a structure that maximizes our ability to become an unprecedented leader in the sport of track and field,” said Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny. “While Vin focuses on the long-range vision for our program and its role at the University, in this community, and in the entire sport, Dan will be ensuring that the plans for our teams’ success are implemented successfully on a daily basis.”

“I am excited by the opportunity that the University of Oregon and Vin have provided me,” Steele said. “Vin has articulated an ambitious vision for our program, and I am eager to work together with him and the staff on making it happen.”

Dan Steele Named Assistant at Famed Oregon Track Program

Comstock NCAA Senior Vice-PresidentEastern Illinois alumnus Dr. Joni Com-

stock, Class of ’79, is in her second year as the NCAA Senior Vice-President of Championships and senior woman admin-istrator.

She reports directly to NCAA President Myles Brand and oversees 84 champion-ships and a staff of 50. Comstock pre-viously served as Director of Athletics at American University (2003-2006) and at North Carolina-Ashville (2000-2003). She also was senior associate athletic director at Purdue (1989-2000).

When selected to her current posi-tion in 2006, Brand said, “Joni emerged from a very strong field of candidates as the new senior vice president because of her experience at the local, conference and national levels. Her efforts at both the University of North Carolina, Asheville and at American University have been charac-terized by strong leadership and visionary growth.”

The following is a Q & A with Dr. Com-stock in regard to her position at the NCAA, her views on intercollegiate athlet-ics and her experience at EIU.

Q? Joni, let’s start with an easy

question. What’s the best part of your job?

A! Whether it’s the 25 years I spent on college campuses or here at the NCAA, it is knowing that you are supporting the dreams of student-athletes…giving them an opportunity to excel at every level:”

Q? What is the most challenging as-pect of working at the NCAA national office?

A! I believe working with institutions to try to be sure they are supporting a strong intercollegiate athletic program while con-tinuing to deal with the issues related to funding…the financial piece of intercolle-giate athletics gets tougher every year…I knew this first hand as an athletic direc-tor…but even now when I’m removed from the day to day aspect of directing an in-tercollegiate program, I still get calls from institutions and conferences who are deal-ing with this critical financial part of inter-collegiate athletics.”

Q? You made the decision to transi-tion from athletic director to the NCAA national office. Do you miss being on a college campus where you had more direct contact with student-athletes?

A! Yes, I certainly miss the day to day interaction with the coaches and stu-dents…but even though I’m one step removed, I still try to find time to go to

campuses…visit with coaches and stu-dents…and attend as many championships as possible…the NCAA sponsors 88 total championships and has separate adminis-trative staffs for men’s and women’s bas-ketball, baseball and the football champi-onship subdivision…so there are 50 people who assist in managing the other 84 cham-pionships under my direction.”

Q? Where are we in regard to gender equity and opportunities for women in collegiate athletics. Is it a level playing field or a constant vigil to assure pro-grams are following Title IX?

A! “As I reflect back to 1979 when I left Eastern, there certainly has been dramatic progress…both in quantity and the quality of women’s athletics…I tell current student-athletes how women shared locker rooms and uniforms and how we traveled…they can’t believe it…so indeed there has been considerable progress but we still have a long way to go…and much of that is in the visibility of women’s sports…and that in-creased visibility goes hand in hand with the financial challenges which make it much more difficult to increase and improve these opportunities today.”

Q? There seems to be fewer women interested in a coaching career in inter-collegiate athletics, at least when we look at the pool of candidates…is that a fair comment or not?

A! Yes it is…this is a major area of concern for the NCAA…as I mentioned we have seen increased support for women’s athletics but there has been a correspond-ing decline in female coaches…and it’s in all sports at all levels although I would say that softball and basketball have held up the best…but we’ve started programs to encourage women to consider coaching and administrative positions…but it’s also most important that young people are ex-posed to great professional role models, regardless of gender.”

Q? What or who initially influenced your involvement in athletics, and when did this occur?

A! As probably is the case with a lot of women, it started with my father…he had a huge amount of influence on me…grow-ing up in Lincoln in the 60s and 70s there weren’t very many organized athletic pro-grams for women…so my Dad and I spent a lot of time in the backyard and in the neigh-borhood playing whatever sport was in sea-son…my interscholastic activities started as a sophomore and were swimming and tennis…so I credit my father by encourag-

ing me a great deal.”

Q? What sport or sports were you in-volved with at EIU?

A! I had a great experience at East-ern…Joan Schmidt, Helen Riley and Margie Wright were the women who I re-spected…I played volleyball…Joan was thecoach the first two years and then Margie Wright took over…Margie was great with young people and she was a real competitor in whatever sport she was involved with…she wanted to win…and taught me some great les-sons on how to be competitive.”

Q? If you had not become a college athletic administrator, what would U be doing now?

A! I think I would still be on a college campus but in a different role….when I left my first job at Lincoln College to get my doctorate degree at Illinois, I thought I was finished with athletics because my intent was to pursue a career in higher education administration…but I had the opportunity to get an assistantship with the athletic as-sociation at the University of Illinois and work with Karol Kahrs (now retired Asso-ciate AD and senior woman administrator at the University of Illinois)…she was very influential on my career…really mentored me and gave me an opportunity…and here I am today still in college athletics.”

Q? When you have time to relax what do you enjoy doing?

A! I have been a bit of a golfer…but my first year with the NCAA hasn’t allowed for much extra time on the golf course…but the one thing that is a plus living in India-napolis is that I’m only three hours from my parents and sister so it’s nice to be able to get back to the Springfield and Lincoln ar-eas and spend some time with family.”

Q? If you were speaking with a group of EIU student-athletes what would be your advice?

A! Take advantage of everything that college offers…experience the entire en-vironment so that you can get a great edu-cation at EIU…I know Eastern graduates have accomplished some great things and it’s due to their abilities…but also due to the opportunities they were offered so work hard and enjoy the experience.”

Dr. Joni Comstock

Dan Steele Coaching at Oregon Track

“... he knows how to win, and his passion for the University of Oregon is boundless.”

Vin Lananna

Former Eastern Illinois track and field national champion and 2002 Olympic Bronze Medalist Dan Steele has been promoted to associate di-rector of track and field at the Univer-sity of Oregon according to Ducks As-sociate Athletics Director and Director of Track and Field Vin Lananna.

In that capacity, Steele will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of the men’s and women’s track and field teams. His promotion is another important step toward establishing Oregon track and field as the premier program in the country.

Lananna, who has provided the leadership and vision necessary to help revitalize track and field at the local as well as the national levels, was instrumental in organizing efforts to help Eugene/Springfield secure the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials June 27-July 6. He will continue to oversee the Ducks’ program while also concentrating on the continued development of Hayward Field and the l o n g - t e r m success of track and field at the University of Oregon.

“I am c o n f i d e n t that Dan is an excellent choice to oversee the daily coach-ing, recruiting, and administrative de-cisions necessary for the University of Oregon track and field teams to be successful,” said Lananna. “He has demonstrated throughout this athletic and professional career that he knows how to win, and his passion for the University of Oregon is boundless.”

Steele has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s most respected assis-tant coaches. Athletes under his guid-ance have captured four NCAA and nine Pacific-10 Conference individual titles, earned 41 All-America honors, and broken school records 25 times. In 2005 and 2007, he was honored as the NCAA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in the category of men’s sprints and hurdles while play-ing a pivotal role in the Pac-10 team titles captured by the men’s track and field team in those years.

The Moline, Ill., native has over-seen the men’s sprinters and hurdlers in his five seasons as a full-time Or-egon assistant coach, in addition to the men’s and women’s pole vaulters. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer assistant for the program in 2001. Steele was the 1992 NCAA Division I National Champion in the 400 me-ter hurdles with a time of 49:79 sec-

onds, a mark that still stands as the EIU school record. Steele also won a bronze medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics as a member of the USA Bobsled team.

“We have a special program and Vin has created a structure that maximizes our ability to become an unprecedented leader in the sport of track and field,” said Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny. “While Vin focuses on the long-range vision for our program and its role at the University, in this community, and in the entire sport, Dan will be ensuring that the plans for our teams’ success are implemented successfully on a daily basis.”

“I am excited by the opportunity that the University of Oregon and Vin have provided me,” Steele said. “Vin has articulated an ambitious vision for our program, and I am eager to work together with him and the staff on making it happen.”

Dan Steele Named Assistant at Famed Oregon Track Program

Comstock NCAA Senior Vice-PresidentEastern Illinois alumnus Dr. Joni Com-

stock, Class of ’79, is in her second year as the NCAA Senior Vice-President of Championships and senior woman admin-istrator.

She reports directly to NCAA President Myles Brand and oversees 84 champion-ships and a staff of 50. Comstock pre-viously served as Director of Athletics at American University (2003-2006) and at North Carolina-Ashville (2000-2003). She also was senior associate athletic director at Purdue (1989-2000).

When selected to her current posi-tion in 2006, Brand said, “Joni emerged from a very strong field of candidates as the new senior vice president because of her experience at the local, conference and national levels. Her efforts at both the University of North Carolina, Asheville and at American University have been charac-terized by strong leadership and visionary growth.”

The following is a Q & A with Dr. Com-stock in regard to her position at the NCAA, her views on intercollegiate athlet-ics and her experience at EIU.

Q? Joni, let’s start with an easy

question. What’s the best part of your job?

A! Whether it’s the 25 years I spent on college campuses or here at the NCAA, it is knowing that you are supporting the dreams of student-athletes…giving them an opportunity to excel at every level:”

Q? What is the most challenging as-pect of working at the NCAA national office?

A! I believe working with institutions to try to be sure they are supporting a strong intercollegiate athletic program while con-tinuing to deal with the issues related to funding…the financial piece of intercolle-giate athletics gets tougher every year…I knew this first hand as an athletic direc-tor…but even now when I’m removed from the day to day aspect of directing an in-tercollegiate program, I still get calls from institutions and conferences who are deal-ing with this critical financial part of inter-collegiate athletics.”

Q? You made the decision to transi-tion from athletic director to the NCAA national office. Do you miss being on a college campus where you had more direct contact with student-athletes?

A! Yes, I certainly miss the day to day interaction with the coaches and stu-dents…but even though I’m one step removed, I still try to find time to go to

campuses…visit with coaches and stu-dents…and attend as many championships as possible…the NCAA sponsors 88 total championships and has separate adminis-trative staffs for men’s and women’s bas-ketball, baseball and the football champi-onship subdivision…so there are 50 people who assist in managing the other 84 cham-pionships under my direction.”

Q? Where are we in regard to gender equity and opportunities for women in collegiate athletics. Is it a level playing field or a constant vigil to assure pro-grams are following Title IX?

A! “As I reflect back to 1979 when I left Eastern, there certainly has been dramatic progress…both in quantity and the quality of women’s athletics…I tell current student-athletes how women shared locker rooms and uniforms and how we traveled…they can’t believe it…so indeed there has been considerable progress but we still have a long way to go…and much of that is in the visibility of women’s sports…and that in-creased visibility goes hand in hand with the financial challenges which make it much more difficult to increase and improve these opportunities today.”

Q? There seems to be fewer women interested in a coaching career in inter-collegiate athletics, at least when we look at the pool of candidates…is that a fair comment or not?

A! Yes it is…this is a major area of concern for the NCAA…as I mentioned we have seen increased support for women’s athletics but there has been a correspond-ing decline in female coaches…and it’s in all sports at all levels although I would say that softball and basketball have held up the best…but we’ve started programs to encourage women to consider coaching and administrative positions…but it’s also most important that young people are ex-posed to great professional role models, regardless of gender.”

Q? What or who initially influenced your involvement in athletics, and when did this occur?

A! As probably is the case with a lot of women, it started with my father…he had a huge amount of influence on me…grow-ing up in Lincoln in the 60s and 70s there weren’t very many organized athletic pro-grams for women…so my Dad and I spent a lot of time in the backyard and in the neigh-borhood playing whatever sport was in sea-son…my interscholastic activities started as a sophomore and were swimming and tennis…so I credit my father by encourag-

ing me a great deal.”

Q? What sport or sports were you in-volved with at EIU?

A! I had a great experience at East-ern…Joan Schmidt, Helen Riley and Margie Wright were the women who I re-spected…I played volleyball…Joan was thecoach the first two years and then Margie Wright took over…Margie was great with young people and she was a real competitor in whatever sport she was involved with…she wanted to win…and taught me some great les-sons on how to be competitive.”

Q? If you had not become a college athletic administrator, what would U be doing now?

A! I think I would still be on a college campus but in a different role….when I left my first job at Lincoln College to get my doctorate degree at Illinois, I thought I was finished with athletics because my intent was to pursue a career in higher education administration…but I had the opportunity to get an assistantship with the athletic as-sociation at the University of Illinois and work with Karol Kahrs (now retired Asso-ciate AD and senior woman administrator at the University of Illinois)…she was very influential on my career…really mentored me and gave me an opportunity…and here I am today still in college athletics.”

Q? When you have time to relax what do you enjoy doing?

A! I have been a bit of a golfer…but my first year with the NCAA hasn’t allowed for much extra time on the golf course…but the one thing that is a plus living in India-napolis is that I’m only three hours from my parents and sister so it’s nice to be able to get back to the Springfield and Lincoln ar-eas and spend some time with family.”

Q? If you were speaking with a group of EIU student-athletes what would be your advice?

A! Take advantage of everything that college offers…experience the entire en-vironment so that you can get a great edu-cation at EIU…I know Eastern graduates have accomplished some great things and it’s due to their abilities…but also due to the opportunities they were offered so work hard and enjoy the experience.”

Dr. Joni Comstock

Dan Steele Coaching at Oregon Track

EI Club News is the official Athletic Department publication for former Eastern Illinois University Athletes and staff

Volume 1, Issue 2

Ken Baker Named Interim Athletic Director

Women’s Basketball Opener vs. IllinoisFriday, November 9 @ 7:00 pmMen’s Basketball Opener vs. Harris StoweSaturday, November 10 @ 7:00 pm

Call (217) 581-2106for ticket information

FALL 2007

(Reprinted with permission of the Charleston Times-Courier)If asked, sure, CNN Headline News Sports anchor Ray

D’Alessio will talk about his days kicking for Eastern Illinois’s football team.

That was as 29-yard field goal with 1:19 left, he can tell off the top of his head of that game-winner when Eastern beat North-western Louisiana 23-22 in 1990.

“Oh yeah, I tell war stories,” D’Alessio said. “C’mon. I wouldn’t even attempt to kick a field goal now. But I have to pull out the old game films sometimes. The wife is the one whose nerves I really get on and I tell the old war stories and I say yeah, I remember when we played Northern Illinois and Stacey Robinson. . .”

These days D’Alessio is usually telling stories of others whether it is results from the previous nights major-league base-ball games from his anchor desk or standing in the pits of the Daytona 500.

You know how Eastern was a big story a year ago when Sean Payton became the school’s third graduate to be an NFL head coach?

Well, CNN has two sports anchors and both went to Eastern Illinois – D’Alessio of Decatur and Larry Smith of Mattoon.

Smith helped D’Alessio get into this deal of rising at 3 a.m. in order to be at work by 4 and be on the air for your 6 a.m. breakfast.

“Usually I’m in bed 8:30 or 9 o’clock,” he said of his night life. “That’s my typical week. It’s not easy getting up at 3 o’clock. Being out of work for those 18 months I said I would never com-plain. I get paid to talk about sports. How many people would give their left arm about that? The hardest thing I do is get up.”

Between this current CNN gig that began and July 2001 and covering the Indiana Firebirds for Fox Sports and anchoring an ESPN morning radio show after earlier working for Fox covering the Indianapolis Colts, D’Alessio learned how the less fortunate lived.

“My contract was not renewed at Indianapolis, which hap-pens in this business,” D’Alessio said. “I sold cars, I hung dry-walls, I finished basements, anything to put food in the table.”

Through that time, Smith did not forget about the place-kicker he met at Eastern. Changing his major from plans of being an athletics trainer to the media and working for WEIU, D’Alessio struck an impression with Smith, who quickly climbed through the business to CNN.

A position opened, Smith called and told D’Alessio to send a tape and CNN hired a second Eastern Illinois alum.“I owe so much to Larry Smith,” D’Alessio said. “He was a good friend before and now he’s a great friend.“Larry said ‘let’s talk; we’re friends.’ He said ‘if you do this and do this and don’t do this you’ll have a long career at CNN.’ ”

So far that has lasted six years with D’Alessio not talking about going anywhere else. “You know what, if CNN wants an overweight, receding hairline guy, if they can live with that, I’ll be here,” he said. “A lot of people overlooked me when I was out of work. They didn’t want to touch me. I owe a lot to CNN Vice President) Bill Galvin, “It’s a great place to work. Coming from a local TV station you hear horror stories about the network. We don’t have that have that here. We all get along.”

D’Alessio does not mind saying he plays second fiddle to the other Eastern Illinois product at the cable television network.

“Without a doubt Larry is the face of CNN sports,” D’Alessio said. “He really is. He covers the major events like the Super

D’Alessio Anchors Sports on CNN Headline NewsBowl and World Series. There’s no animosity that he gets to do this and why can’t I do that? I get to cover the Daytona 500 because Larry knows my background and my love for racing. I’ve got to go to the Major league all-star game. I’ve covered U.S. Open. I’ve been at Kentucky Derby.”

Of course, neither D’Alessio nor Smith goes as Eastern’s big-gest personality in the sports world these days.

“We’re overshadowed now by Tony Romo,” D’Alessio said. “I lot of people don’t even know Larry and I went to school togeth-er. When Tony broke out on the scene I had to go break out all the EIU coffee cups and EIU banners.”

The CNN anchormen may never reach the People Magazine popularity that Romo has as a Dallas Cowboy after winning the 2002 Walter Payton Award as the NCAA Division I-AA football player of the year as an EIU senior, but D’Alessio had his mo-ments as a Panther as well.

Transferring from Illinois Valley Community College for his ju-nior year as a walk-on, D’Alessio won EIU’s starting place-kicking job that preseason and helped the Panthers to their last I-AA play-off win in 1989. That was when the 15th-ranked Panthers, featur-ing defensive tackle John Jurkovic who went on to play in the NFL before getting his own radio job working for WMVP in Chicago, up-set No. 4 Idaho which had future NFL quarterback John Friesz.

From that win at Idaho’s dome the Panthers the following week went to the frozen field at Montana where one of D’Alessio’s memorable moments came from just warming up on the sideline during an EIU possession, slipping and falling on his behind.

Local television cameras just happened to be showing the EIU kicker at the time as if the embarrassment was not enough just in front of Montana spectators.

“I just remember the fans laughing at me and throwing snow-balls at me,” D’Alessio said. “Those fans were absolutely ruthless.” D’Alessio temporarily quieted the crowd by kicking a 31-yard field goal cutting Montana’s lead to six points with 1:16 remaining. But trying an onside kick on an icy field where the football could slide forever, he tried to put the touch on the football that would give teammates a chance to recover only for the ball to stop short of the required 10 yards. “It went 9 ½ yards,” D’Alessio said. “We had three guys ready to pounce on the thing when it rolled out of bounds. I remember I was thinking of that the whole off-season if it just would have gone another half yard.”

Instead, Montana managed the 25-19 win and D’Alessio’s senior season, even with that winning field goal at Northwestern Louisiana, wound up 5-6. “I would say I was an average kicker,” he said. “Like every other kicker I had NFL aspirations but when I was out a year I was like no, I don’t have the leg.”

He found he did have the skills to make it on national televi-sion, however. “I still look at those big CNN letters and just pinch myself,” D’Alessio said. “I’ve been a very, very lucky individual. I got to play college football and for (Eastern Illinois) coach (Bob) Spoo and go to the playoffs and now I get to work at CNN.”

Long-time Charleston resident Ken Bak-er was named the full-time interim athletic director at Eastern Illinois University in mid-August.

In announcing the appointment, President William L. Perry said, “Ken is well-known to the campus and community; his integrity and his devotion to EIU are second to none; and his experience with athletics as a participant and official makes him extremely knowledge-able of the athletic arena.

“His knowledge of fitness and his expe-rience as a teacher and director of campus recreation are indicative of his concerns for the development of the whole student -- aca-demically and physically,” Perry added.

“(Baker) is in complete agreement with me that is it critical for our student-athletes -- with the staff’s assistance, guidance and coaching -- to achieve academically, give 100 percent athletically, and represent EIU with honor both on and off the field.”

Baker was chosen for the interim posi-tion from among several nominees named by members of Eastern’s Department of In-tercollegiate Athletics. He will serve until a permanent athletic director is in place, with a national search expected to begin this fall.

It was also announced that intercollegiate athletics will report to Dr. Dan Nadler, Vice President for Student Affairs, until further no-tice.

As acting director, Baker will be respon-sible for the development and administration of the intercollegiate athletics program. Du-ties include, but are not limited to:

• Supervising, coordinating and ad-ministering all aspects and activities of the program;

• Providing leadership and commit-ment to the integrity and graduation of stu-dent-athletes;

• Monitoring regulations of the various conferences and regulatory agencies and as-suming responsibility that all EIU athletic pro-grams are in compliance;

• Working closely with the various coaches in order to assure that the athletic program is being conducted within the exist-ing framework of policies and regulations of the university and other regulatory agencies, and rectifying any variance from established rules;

• Making recommendations to the president/vice president concerning budgets for athletics and assuming responsibility for the appropriate use of funds;

• Coordinating, supervising and ad-ministering fund-raising activities for intercol-legiate athletics; and

• Providing leadership in maintaining quality staff through recruitment, retention and development.

Before assuming the role of Eastern’s director of Campus Recreation, Baker previ-ously served as a physical education instruc-tor at Eastern (1994-2000); an adjunct health

instructor at Lake Land College, Mattoon (1993-1994); and optician (1977-1994).

In addition, he served as a football refer-ee for the Big Ten Conference (1984-1990); a referee for the National Football League (1991-2001); and currently serves as a re-play official for the National Football League (2003-present).

Baker received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from East-ern in 1972 and 1973, respectively. He has been actively involved in many community activities, including the Community Unit #1 Board of Education, the Charleston Com-munity Youth Baseball Association, the Par-ent-Teacher Organization, the United Way Board, the Panther Club, the EIU Letterman Club, the Trojan Booster Club and the Gov-ernor’s Council on Health and Fitness.

Baker’s full resume can be found at http://www.eiu.edu/~staff

Ken Baker Leads Athletics for 2007-2008

CNN Sports AnchorRay D’Alessio