Wednesday May 14, 2008

Paws for the Cure

Paws for the Cure

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of sitting in a meeting with Aly Haley, David Spearman and Mike Spearman at Mr. Knickerbocker in Clemson. The Spearmans own Mr. Knickerbocker and they wanted to see how the store and our radio station could help a Tiger in need.

David and Mike designed the t-shirts you saw last night at the game and told us that February day about their plans to help the Pawlowskis. Dan Scott met with the Spearmans later that day and the idea took off.

Last night was the crowning moment and a night I will not soon forget. Clemson assistant athletic director John Seketa was very instrumental in the process. The idea progressed with his involvement.

Clemson coach Jack Leggett went way above board in support of the project and he was incredible in his speech last night in the pre-game ceremony.

Dan Scott, Tom Van Hoy, Bob Mahoney and Don Munson were terrific in the way they promoted it on their game broadcast in recent weeks.

And David and Mike Spearman led the campaign and their devotion to the project was the key ingredient to its success. The Spearmans are huge Clemson supporters and their giving spirit will be remembered forever.

But the real key to the success of the project was you. The Clemson family came together like we all knew we would. Joe Sherman knew it and said it in 'There's Something in These Hills.' John Pawlowski is a member of the Clemson family and the rest of the Clemson family came to show him their incredible support in recent weeks.

I don't know Coach Pawlowski but we share mutual friends including one of his best friends who lives here in town. I was forwarded e-mails from Coach Pawlowski in recent weeks giving us updates on Mary Louise and giving Coach Pawlowski's warmest appreciation for what the Clemson family has done for him and his family.

I guess it would be appropriate in this context to give a short recap of how last night came about and a little history on the subject.

John Pawlowski grew up in New York and was a baseball star in the Binghamton area. He signed to play at Clemson in 1982 for Bill Wilhelm's club. It did not take him long to establish himself as a player as he helped shutout South Carolina with five scoreless innings against the Gamecocks in his first college win as a freshman. He led the Tigers in saves as a sophomore and also had a 7-3 record that season. As a junior he went 9-3 with five complete games and two shutouts. As a Tiger he was 21-12 with a 3.89 ERA.

He was a sixth round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 1985 amateur draft and was a part of the organization until 1991. He played eight years with the White Sox, Angels and Orioles. It took Pawlowski only three seasons to make it to the big leagues with the White Sox.

After his playing days were over Pawlowski returned to Clemson to get his degree and coach at his alma mater. His pitching staff of Kris Benson, Billy Koch and Ken Vining in 1996 is regarded by many as the top rotation in school history. In all, 15 of his pitchers were drafted from his Clemson coaching days.

Pawlowski also spent time at Arizona State as the pitching coach before taking over the head coaching spot at the College of Charleston where he has been very successful.

Things were going great for Pawlowski from a professional standpoint but his family life took on a major shock last year. His 13-year old daughter, Mary Louise Pawlowski, is a terrific athlete in her our sport of volleyball but baseball and volleyball took a backseat when the family got the news concerning her health last year.

Mary Louise had some pain in her rib cage. She thought it was a muscle pull but she also developed a cough so she was sent to the doctors to see what muscles were causing the discomfort. But it wasn't muscles. At first they thought it might have been pneumonia but the news was much worse. Mary Louise had primitive neuroectodermal tumors, or PNET, a rare form of a childhood cancer.

They have been aggressive with their treatments of chemotherapy and surgery and Mary Louise has responded well. The beautiful little girl had also given many a chance to show their beauty as well. Her foundation can be found online at www.mlpfoundation.org. Many have donated by buying mlp wrist bands for $5 each. The College of Charleston community has responded with great support.

In the pre-game last night Coach Leggett joined Coach Pawlowski and his family and presented them a check for $15,000. During the broadcast of the game last night Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy had Mary Louise in the booth for an interview and another $1,600 was raised during the game itself.

You can still be a part of the Clemson drive for Mary Louise at the Mr. Knickerbocker store in Clemson as they will continue to sell the t-shirts. Also you can keep up with her progress and give to her foundation at the website www.mlpfoundation.org.

If you were to watch the news today, you may see people in despair over the economy or a politician talk about how they can save us from these bad times. Home sales are down. The economy is bad. Gas prices rocket upward. In the last week or so we have seen cyclones and tornados. We have seen earthquakes and disasters.

But if we take time we also see the greatness and the kindness of the human spirit. Nothing binds together man like adversity. I read where local people are driving to the tornado sites to help the communities in need. I hear where people give their time and money to help victims of pain and suffering half way around the world.

And last night I saw where the Clemson family reached out to one of its own in John Pawlowski and his family. Joe Sherman was right, there is something about you Clemson people.

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