Posted by The FatGuy in 
UC’s Gilyard is first class
Dan Hoard: It might be the most famous embrace since Bill Clinton hugged a black beret-wearing Monica Lewinsky on a “rope line” in 1996.
When Mardy Gilyard crashed into the Nippert Stadium stands against USF on October 30th and barreled into 7-year-old Garrett Monroe, the UC wide receiver became a national hero for caring enough to remove his helmet, give the youngster a huge hug, and make sure that Garrett wasn’t injured before returning to the field.
“I hit that him so hard that you could actually see his face paint on my jersey,” Gilyard said. “I felt extremely bad and I would have felt even worse if he hadn’t given me a high five after I hugged him.”
The video of Gilyard’s kind gesture has been viewed more than 280,000 times on YouTube.
I only wish there was watch footage of something I saw Gilyard do on the Bearcats recent trip to Hawaii.
Two days before the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the entire UC football team went on a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial – ground zero for the start of World War II for the United States and the final resting place for many of the battleship’s 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941.
If you were touched by Gilyard’s goodness when he hugged the kid, you would have been bowled over by the respect he showed an elderly man.
88-year-old Ed Borucki is one of roughly 30 living survivors of the Pearl Harbor attacks and was at the memorial that day to share his story. Gilyard not only listened intently – he told Borucki he was in awe of him, posed for a picture, and even asked for an autograph.
“It meant so much because I have family members that have gone to war,” a beaming Gilyard told me after the encounter. “My father was in the Army, my stepfather was in the service, and for me to meet someone who fought in World War II was really humbling. I’m proud to be an American, so to be in the presence of Mr. Edward B. – I don’t want to say his last name wrong – I was star-struck. His group actually shot down Japanese fighter planes. Knowing that he had first-hand experience with that was amazing. I never thought I’d get to meet someone like that.”
Borucki was on the USS Helena that was docked in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on the morning of the attacks. When a warning sounded Borucki went to his battle station, an act that saved his life when a torpedo hit the ship killing 33 of his shipmates.
Due to the lack of communication at the time, Borucki was assumed dead and his obituary even appeared in the newspaper.
“They thought he was dead, but he swam across the water to safety,” Gilyard said. “I shook his hand and kept telling him ‘thank you’ over and over again. He said, ‘you don’t have to thank me so many times son.’ And I said, ‘you just don’t understand how much this means to me.’ Stuff like that really touches me. I can’t speak for the rest of my teammates, but for me personally, it really touched my heart.”
Gilyard’s remarkable road to stardom at Cincinnati is well-known. Two years ago he had his scholarship revoked after flunking out. In order to return to the team, Mardy worked four jobs to pay off roughly $10,000 in tuition debt, and often slept in his car.
Perhaps that explains why he seems to savor every aspect of being a Bearcat.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” Gilyard said. “If I could tell other college football players anything I’d tell them ‘don’t leave school early. Enjoy your experiences because you won’t have anything like this after college.’ This is a once-in-lifetime shot and I’m enjoying it. I thank God every day for how he blesses us. For the team to be so successful – number one in school history in wins and headed to a great bowl. I mean, we’ve been blessed.”
One day after meeting NAVY Yeoman 2nd Class Edward Borucki, Gilyard scored the game-winning touchdown in the Bearcats thrilling comeback win over Hawaii, catching a pass from Dustin Grutza near the sideline before breaking a tackle and racing 69 yards to the end zone with 4:42 to go.
It was another highlight that’s sure to get a bunch of views on YouTube.
But it wasn’t the most impressive thing Mardy did in Hawaii.
I’d love to hear from you. You can e-mail your questions and comments to dhoard@pawsox.com.
Enjoy this week’s photo of the handsome lad as he prepares to hit daddy with a snowball.
(This story originally appeared in the December 20th edition of Bearcat Sports Digest)
Source:
http://gobearcats.cstv.com/ot/dan-hoard-column.html
Bubba Caldwell already putting up Chud like #’s!!!
The game isn’t even over, yet Bubba Caldwell (Ocho – Seven) has 5 catches for a very Chud like 34 yards!…yes, he’s the leader in receptions and yards!…He’s also kicked in 49 yards rushing on just 4 carries!….That’s 83 yards of offense for your reSURGE’nt Bungles!
The announcers in this game are Jokes!….They act like the first 13 games don’t even count, and this play against Cleveland and KC translates into a 2009 Super Bowl run….snake oil baby!
How can they say that and not choke on their own regurging vomit? Its like they’ve been in a coma for 18 years.
Good finish, but this only means the brass will stick with the status-quo (AGAIN!) and we’ll have 7-8 months of “feeling good” because THIS time, they CAN’T SUCK!…..oh, NASTY,…my reGURGED puke……yak!
On a sidenote, its refreshing to hear/see that “Ced-Ben” (Cedric Benson) has let it be known that the Bengals are in the “running” for his services next year!….yeah, if he doesn’t get any offers from anyone BETTER! The Bengles pull his ass back “IN-thru-the-OUT-door” and give him the chance no one else would, but he’s gonna use them as leverage in his now assured off-season lottery. Here’s hoping he gets little take on his “break” (given to him by the Bungles) and he “HAS” to return. For one, ’cause he’s as good as we’ll get here, and 2, so that he is RE-introduced to the GOOD fortune he was afforded by the frugal Front Office of the Bungles.
In a related bit of news, TJ (AKA, the Town CRY(er) Baby) has left HIS contract status up to this very clever cliche: “The ball is in their court”….NICE!….way to shirk ANY responsibility for what happens. “If the Benglas offer something “fair”, I’ll consider it”!….DAMN!, Teej!,….how sporting! That some of that Iranian logic on “fair”, is it?. More and more, these players make it tUFf to support them in any capacity at all. Yes, yes, its a business, and this is the get-all-you-can World,..still sux! They talk loyalty when their careers are close to being over, but its “F”‘em at ever corner right up until that time. In my opinion, this team will NOT benefit from him coming back,…he’s already gotten too much Chud in him, and there’s that cry-baby whine act he’s made his trademark….9 years?…yeah, its move on time “Teej”! Anything he’s got left from this point on, will be on over-payment. His best years are behind him, and his production after MAYBE one year will be barely noticable. Since there’s no WAY he’ll take a one-year deal,….ya gotta go another direction. Spend it, SOP,…just spend it somewhere else!
POINsettia Bowl
What a game!, 17-16 TCU wins!
….and for those of you who didn’t get to see even 3 minutes of this one, it was played in San Diego, and Sponsored by the San Diego credit Union,….CHRIST!,…you nearly are forced to turn the games off, what with the mindless re-direction from the game, to hear who the sponsor is here.
There has GOT to be a better way to get your message across, other than repeating the same stupid crap commercial over-and over and over……
In between shameless spots, the Broncos and Frogs put on a great little game, as expected. I was pulling for Boise St (even though I took TCU on the Bowl Sheet) because the last time they went undefeated, UFlorida won the National Title……yeah, whatever!
It was good to hear Lou Holtz lisp through this game,….gawd, Mark May is a genius or really really lucky. He either worked it out so that he could be paired with Slurrin’ Lou, or he was lucky to get the call, but however it worked out, MAY is the benificiary (by comparison) of being teamed with this troll. Lou, has a few moments where he sounds like a former Coach, but far too often he’s spitting (literally) out crap in such a mumbled manner, you find yourself PRAYING for a few minutes reprieve with a Bobcat Golthwait voice over. Yeah, its THAT bad!
Lou, its past time, man…..your silly ass 1930 catch phrases and references to your wife are cute, but not here. We all get it, you are old school, and that’s great, but everything in Football isn’t solved by stupid cliches and your unconnected rant-memories. Your support for all things College Football is admirable, but its time,….its past time. Hopefully ESPN won’t pull some ass-hat of the likes of Warren Sapp, Michael Strahan or find some uber annoying off-spring of Chris Berman, to fill the “void”. Find some OTHER former coach (Davie has been GREAT!) or an actual journalist to fill his spot….how refreshing would THAT be?!?!?!? (Call me, I have an interest, and would fill my panel with TDawg and JET23……we’d kill it!)
Anyway, great game last night, right to the end. Boise State’s owesome “O” was stiffled, and TCU finally made all those yards the RB’s were getting (and QB runs/scrambles) count, in the 4th QTR. These two (top 12) teams should have been in a “bigger” Bowl, but that’s another story.
Many suspected this would be one of the better Bowl games of the season, and certainly it was that. Calling these guys “mid-majors just doesn’t seem to fit anymore. I think a large part of their success is via their conferences, but they could both move to the PAC10 and make it a much better conference, while opening doors for themselves. Just a thought, 12 teams?…maybe have you a little Conf, Champ game?….nnaahhh, you’re right, its going so well for you with just ONE REALLY good team, why mess it up by adding these two?!?!!??!….