Steve “Merc” Morris, longtime sports information director at Assumption College and a 1970 graduate of the college, is being mourned in the college sports world. A mentor to many in athletic media relations and the elder statesman of the Division II Northeast-10 Conference known for his friendships and quick wit, Mr. Morris died last night (January 25) at the age of 60 of an apparent heart attack. Morris currently held the position of Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations.
He graduated from Assumption College in the early 1970s with a double major in History and math and worked at the College since his graduation. An on-campus memorial will be scheduledin the future.
statement from Assumption College President Dr. Francesco C. Cesareo
statement from Northeast-10 Conference on Morris' passing
• also read online
"Assumption College, as it turns out, was his family”, by Linda Bock, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Assumption College mourns loss of Steve 'Merc' Morris
by Jennifer Toland, Worcester Telegram & Gazette sports staff
WORCESTER, MA - The back door to Steve Morris’ office was always open. There was no need to knock, an appointment was never necessary, everyone was welcome. And through the years, thousands of Assumption College student-athletes, who opportunely had to pass by the school’s sports information headquarters to get to the nearby locker rooms, took Morris up on the obvious invitation.
“You’d always see him in there and stop and say hello, joke around or he’d tell you a story,” Assumption senior basketball player Mike Baldarelli said.
“It’s going to be different.”
Morris, known as “Merc” in his Assumption family, died last night in his Worcester home. He was 60.
Morris, who grew up in Shrewsbury, graduated from St. John’s High in 1968 and from Assumption in 1972. He was a statistician for the men’s basketball team during his four years as a student at Assumption. Legendary Assumption basketball coach and athletic director Andy Laska hired Morris to join the athletic department after graduation and soon promoted him to sports information director, a position he held for almost 40 years.
“That was one of the best moves I ever made,” Laska said fondly. “He was the ideal SID. He did so much for the school. No one did more to publicize the school or the athletes than Steve.”
Morris had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Assumption, a zeal for statistics, a knack for storytelling, a passion for sports and most of all a love for all the kids, almost four decades worth, who came in and out of that door.
“He had tremendous personal relationships with our student-athletes,” men’s basketball coach Serge DeBari said. “He remained constantly in contact with players from the past; not just basketball, he loved every Assumption athletic team and he reveled in their success.”
Morris, who had some health concerns in recent years, began experiencing flu-like symptoms about two weeks ago and had been out of work. A number of people who attended the men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader against Bentley on Jan. 15 at Laska Gym became a bit alarmed when they didn’t see Morris in his usual spot at the scorer’s table.
“He was a fixture at Assumption,” said Tim Connolly, a 1977 Assumption graduate who worked with Morris on the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame committee. “No matter what time of day, if you were on campus you’d see his van with the ‘MERC72’ license plate in his parking spot next to Laska Gym.”
No one, Laska said, spent more time in Laska Gym than Morris.
“He practically lived there,” Laska said.
Connolly, the communications director for the Worcester District Attorney’s Office and a former Telegram & Gazette reporter, was one of many Assumption students to work in Morris’ office, honing his writing and marketing skills.
“He gave me some valuable advice,” Connolly said.
Morris helped a number of others in their careers as well.
In later years, Morris gave new work-study students an added responsibility – dusting his collection of about 700 mugs from colleges, universities and sports teams that lined the shelves of his office.
Jim Mullen, Assumption’s assistant athletic director of operations and one of Morris’ best friends, said at one point Morris had all the mugs inventoried and arranged alphabetically.
The closet of Morris’ office is filled with boxes of old scorebooks, some dating back to the 1950s. Statistics and other information are now, of course, just a click away, but sometimes it was faster just to ask Merc.
“When I played there, it was before the Internet, before all the instant access,” said Assumption Hall of Famer Ann McInerney ’89. “But Merc always knew. He always knew everything, he always remembered everything. He was a wealth of knowledge and a great supporter of student-athletes. What he did wasn’t his job, it was his passion.”
Morris was a Red Sox and Patriots season-ticket holder. He, Mullen and Fr. Ed Chalmers, pastor at St. Stephen’s Church in Worcester and one of Morris’ closest friends, were a longtime traveling trio to the old Foxboro Stadium.
Iconic Assumption basketball coach Joe O’Brien gave Morris his nickname, after Miami Dolphins running back Mercury Morris, one day in physical education class.
It stuck.
Morris was well-respected among sports information directors across the country and served as a mentor to many in the profession.
“We’d be at dinners, conventions, and everyone would gravitate to him,” Mass. Maritime and former Nichols SID Jim Seavey said. “No one in this business did more for student-athletes than Merc. As good an SID he was, he was a better person. The world is a much sadder place today.”
At Morris’ request, there are no formal funeral arrangements. Assumption director of athletics Ted Paulauskas said an on-campus memorial service will be held, likely in March.
“It will be a celebration,” Paulauskas said. “This was a person who was 100 percent invested his entire adult life in Assumption. He lived and breathed it. You go through the athletic experience and sometimes teams are good and sometimes they’re not so good. He always found a way to see something positive – a big hit in a losing baseball game, a great steal when a basketball team got thumped. He was always positive.”
Morris missed those Bentley games, but he quickly received word that the men’s team upset the nationally-ranked Falcons, 77-64.
“He was elated,” DeBari said. “If there was one thing about Merc, it was he wanted us to win real bad. He was our biggest fan and that was never, ever in doubt.”
OTHERS REMEMBERING STEVE MORRIS:
“Steve demonstrated his loyalty and commitment to the college and student athletes in countless ways. As Steve chronicled the intercollegiate events through the decades, he also developed an encyclopedic memory of students’ accomplishments. He kept in touch with many of the former athletes because of his personal interest in their lives. He shall be deeply missed.”
- Assumption College President Dr. Francesco Cesareo
"Steve epitomized everything the Northeast-10 and Division II strives to be about. He cared deeply for Assumption's student athletes and was committed to documenting and telling the stories of their many notable successes. During his long tenure in this league, he mentored many young professionals and set them on a path to becoming excellent contributors to the athletics communication profession. For this and his many other contributions to the storied history of the NE10, he will be missed.
- Julie Ruppert, Commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference
“Steve
WAS Assumption College, from his student days to his days as the Assistant AD and sports information director. He was a mentor to me in my early days in the profession, and he was truly ahead of the curve. ‘Merc’ attended many CoSIDA conventions and provided his expertise to rookies and veterans alike. He was a wonderful person who was always there for you, personally and professionally. One of the highlights of my career was when he drove me to Kansas City for a CoSIDA convention, stopping at any college along the way, and chatting about the profession he loved so dearly. Our thoughts are with everyone at Assumption College and with the Northeast 10 Conference.”
- Eric McDowell, Assistant AD, Sports Information, Union College (NY)
Chair of the CoSIDA College Division Management Advisory Committee (CDMAC)
“Steve taught all of us in this profession a very valuable lesson—the importance of living and laughing and not taking the day-to-day business so seriously. It was never about games, or media guides, or press releases or websites—with Steve, it was always about people, and the people he cared about so deeply were the student-athletes that he saw grow into young men and women over the last four decades. The impact that he made on their lives is what our profession is truly about, and the impact that he made on his colleagues in the profession will be his lasting legacy. We are all better people for having Steve in our lives.”
- Jim Seavey, Director of Sports Information & Compliance, Massachusetts Maritime
Academy
“Assumption College, as it turns out, was his family. Merc was unforgettable. He was fun, warm-hearted, gregarious person who would in one second bust your chops or playfully jab you, and the next, he would being going overboard to help you out. Merc was the elder statesman of the league, and a central figure in sports in [Worcester]. He was known for putting out extensive, informative media guides ... I can't imagine the [press/media] table at Assumption without him. He would always hold court and shake hands with everyone. Officials would greet him, fans, and players, like he was the mayor.”
- Chris Granozio, longtime friend and Le Moyne College (NY) sports broadcaster