By Ed Gotwals
Public Opinion (Chambersburg, PA)
John Alosi has a master's degree in history.
If you met him, you wouldn't be surprised by that fact. He wears glasses, dresses conservatively and is mild-mannered.
But Alosi's career was not in history. He spent 32 years as the sports information director at Shippensburg University before he retired a year ago - and he's not always as serious as he might appear.
When Alosi receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA) in Philadelphia on Wednesday, it's a safe bet that laughter will be a large part of the program.
"That laugh of his was just great," Mansfield SID Steve McCloskey said. "When he got going, he could crack himself up."
Clarion SID Rich Herman said, "John has a great sense of humor and excellent timing. And his laugh is unique and contagious."
The prankster
Alosi was not above pulling off a good prank.
Once, a Clarion County commissioner made a statement, which made it into an Associated Press story, in which he thought it would be OK to serve fresh road kill to prisoners at the county jail.
Alosi saw the story and it just happened that Clarion was playing at Shippensburg in football that weekend. So he doctored up a little surprise for Herman.
When Herman arrived at his seat in the press box, he found a box. Inside the box was a hoagie that had a set of deer antlers taped to it.
"That was hilarious," Herman said.
Another time, Ship was playing at Clarion in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball playoff game and stayed at a Holiday Inn. Two of the freshmen on the team went out the wrong door and set off an alarm.
Alosi and Herman quickly got together with SU coach Rodger Goodling to hatch a little scheme.
Herman, who was also a part-time probation officer, went to the room the freshmen were staying in and knocked. When they answered, he flashed his badge and said they had deliberately set off a false alarm.
Alosi then appeared on the scene and said they needed to get the coach involved, so he went and got Goodling. When Herman told the story to Goodling, the coach said, "Just take them downtown."
And then they all broke up laughing.
Tom Byrnes, the SID at California, said one time he was at a CoSIDA convention in Washington, D.C., and Alosi truly stood out in a crowd. One of the various parties held in conjunction with the convention advertised itself as a "toga" party.
When Byrnes showed up, he said Alosi was the only male there who was actually wearing a toga.
"And he didn't seem to be bothered by that a bit," Byrnes said.
PSAC commissioner Steve Murray recalled one time a bunch of SIDs, including Alosi and Kutztown's Pete Katsafanus (note the name's heritage) were discussing school nicknames. Someone mentioned that California's nickname, the Vulcans, was from the Roman god of fire.
And Alosi said, "Yeah, but who was the Greek god of fire?"
Silence.
"Katsafanus."
Longtime East Stroudsburg SID Pete Nevins, who is now retired, offers this take on Alosi: "John is the nicest guy, but he's like an absent-minded professor. One minute he can be sitting there and you think he's half-asleep, and the next minute he can give you some obscure baseball stat from years ago."
Good memories
One of the highlights of Alosi's career came in 1979, when a football game between Shippensburg and Slippery Rock drew 61,143 fans (still an NCAA Division II record). No, the game wasn't at Seth Grove Stadium, it was at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan athletic director Don Canham wanted a game to go along with Band Day at Michigan and the Wolverines were playing football at Stanford. So he suggested that Ship move its home game against The Rock to Michigan.
Canham covered both teams' expenses and paid SU the equivalent of a sellout at Seth Grove.
And, because of the big crowd, Michigan actually made money.
"That game was covered by Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and several major dailies," Alosi said. "We went ahead 31-0 at halftime and won 45-14."
In 1981, the Red Raiders hosted North Dakota State University in an NCAA Division II football semifinal game that was broadcast by ABC. Alosi worked his tail off to get ready for all the notes and information the TV people might need. He was ready.
But when ABC called, the question Alosi was asked was, "Can you recommend a good caterer?"
Fortunately, he did know a Shippensburg alum who was in the business and it worked out well.
One Saturday night, Alosi and Herb Bowers, the head of campus police, were driving back from a football game at Lock Haven. Near the town of Honey Grove on Pa. 75, they came across an accident.
"While some people were attending to the folks in the car that had crashed," Alosi said, "there was a bride and groom - in a white wedding dress and tuxedo - on the road directing traffic around the wreck. It was quite a sight to see."
Here's an example of the kind of wry humor Alosi is known for:
"Back when they were called gas stations, someone came out and pumped the gas, checked the oil and cleaned the windshield. Now, they are called service stations and I have to pump my own gas!"
He'll probably have them rolling Wednesday.