I spent last Friday with my colleague Brent Harris and a television production crew from the high definition network HDNet.
HDNet is owned by Mark Cuban, the Indiana University graduate, who owns the Dallas Mavericks (and who has hinted at purchasing the Chicago Cubs).
Many know Cuban for his passionate support of his NBA team. But he’s also been a generous philanthropist and has supported IU in a number of ways. He and HDNet have also been good to Wabash College and DePauw University.
This year, for the fourth time, HDNet will televise the Monon Bell Classic football game to a national television audience. For those who may not realize it, that’s a very big deal.
Schools the size of Wabash do not receive lots of national media attention or coverage. Most sports networks prefer scholarship athletic programs, big names, and big stadiums. Just look at the proliferation of Tuesday and Wednesday night college football games on television.
But Cuban and Executive Producer Darrell Ewalt seem to like traditions in sports and traditional sports rivalries. They’ve televised IU’s Little 500 bike race and have produced the Harvard vs. Yale football game in recent years.
And they like the Monon Bell Classic and the fact that two good colleges separated by 27 miles of Indiana highway knock heads each year with hopes of claiming a 300-pound steam locomotive’s bell.
Of course, all of us at Wabash are excited to welcome Ewalt and his production crew on November 15, and we hope to once again give the network a great game. Trust me when I say that watching a Wabash football game in high definition is really something — almost as good as being there live in person. Almost.
Last Friday, Ewalt sent a crew from Colorado to pre-produce some features that will air during the telecast. They spent some time in Greencastle interviewing my colleague Ken Owen, who has produced mini Monon Bell video features on every game played in the 114-game series.
At Wabash, the crew talked with Brock Graham, the talented student-athlete and co-captain of the football team. I’m never quite sure how to refer to Brock. He’s like a junior, but he’ll finish his studies at Wabash this December and graduate in just five semesters. This IS Brock’s junior year, but he’s eight weeks away from finishing up here.
Brock (left, blocking) really is a remarkable story — an honor student, captain of the football team, campus leader, and someone whose faith is the most important thing in his life.
Many of you will recall that Brock led a group of 21 Wabash students on a spring break mission trip to Botswana last year. His leadership is so inspiring that he simply presented his teammates with the idea and off they went — raising money for their trips and getting necessary passport work and immunizations completed.
Once in Botswana, the group put on a series of youth sports camps in the southern African nation on a Christian mission trip that none of them will soon forget.
Brock hopes to attend seminary school next year and become a youth pastor. It’s nothing short of a true vocational calling.
That story — the Brock Graham story — will air during halftime of HDNet’s telecast of the Monon Bell Classic.
I couldn’t be more thankful to Mark Cuban and Darrell Ewalt for sending producer Bo Vongsakoun, and the crew all the way from Denver to celebrate Brock Graham, Wabash College, DePauw University, and the Monon Bell rivalry.
While Brock Graham is certainly a one-of-a-kind young man, he is in so many ways representative of the type students who live, learn, and thrive at schools like Wabash and DePauw.
And that’s why all of us at Wabash are grateful for HDNet’s commitment to celebrating our fantastic small college football rivalry and the talented young men who play in it.
