Beauty and the Priest - Leo Board Member Tamara Holder and Francis Cardinal George

 Great souls by instinct to each other turn,
Demand alliance, and in friendship burn;
A sudden friendship, while with stretched-out rays
They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze.
Polished in courts, and hardened in the field,
Renowned for conquest, and in council skilled,
Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood
Of mounting spirits, and fermenting blood:
Lodged in the soul, with virtue overruled,
Inflamed by reason, and by reason cooled,
In hours of peace content to be unknown.
And only in the field of battle shown:
To souls like these, in mutual friendship joined,
Heaven dares intrust the cause of humankind. Joseph Addison The Campain (1704)

I took this photo of Cardinal George and lawyer, advocate, Leo Board member, Fox News Legal Analyst and easy on the eyes tough Jewish Chick, Tamara Holder in 2011 at Leo High School.

Tamara Holder no longer lives in Chicago full-time, because her talents require that she spend more time in the Big Apple, where she works for Fox News and runs a sports analysis site, as well make stand-up comedy appearances.  Tamara continues to offer legal, financial and marketing advice as a member of Leo Advisory Board.  Tamara is Jewish and proudly practices her faith.

In May of 2011, Francis Cardinal George became the first Archbishop of Chicago to visit the young men of Leo High School, since George Cardinal Mundelein blessed the corner stone this school on 79th & Peoria wing of the school in 1926.

Our Advisory board consisted of Irish and African American males blessed by God with talents and faces for radio, until Tamara accepted Leo President Dan McGrath and Board Chairman Bob Sheehy's challenge to serve.  Immediately our Board's looks improved.

Tamara meets Cardinal George:  in the backdground from the left Big Shoulder Fund Tom Zbierski, Advisory Board Chair Bob Sheehy and Leo Hall of Fame Alumnus and Teacher Bill Hession.

Cardinal George and Tamara took to one another immediately - both are very smart, honest and good-hearted persons.  Joseph Addison had it right - great souls by instinct to each other turm.

These pictures make me smile at a very sad time.

Mount Carmel's Ted Cachey - Lights up a Night of Stars!

Last night's Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame at Hawthorne Race track was a lesson in courage, conviction and commitment. Leo High School had several tables purchased by Leo and Purdue football great Bob Sheehy and Boxing Coach and one of the Directors of the Sports Hall of Fame Mike Joyce. Patti Bidwill, of the Bidwill Family Foundation and daughter of Sports Legend Stormy Bidwill was Bob Sheehy's guest.

There were iconic names honored - Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Franbk Thomas, John Hannah and Gerry Sullivan, but it was the words from the lesser known names that had the most spiritual impact with their acceptance speeches.

Linda Mastandrea, Paralympic Gold Medal Champion, spoke of path that heroes take with so many other people - we never accomplish things on our own. Blue Island High School Olympian and mentor to so many young athletes Willie May, All American, Indiana University continued on the theme.

However it was Mount Carmel's Ted Cachey who was most poignant. Cachey captained every team he played for from grammar school through University of Michigan. However, Mr. Cachey talked about academics.

A Latin instructor at Mount Carmel understood the young freshman, Cachey's deficencies with English composition and instructed the boy to write - something- every night. The next day, Cachey was to place the essay or pargraph under the priest's office door.

The Carmelite would correct Cachey's grammar, punctuation, spelling and rhetoric, but never assign a grade.

Cachey kept those written lessons and read one last night. It was about Guts- intestinal fortitude - which had been the rubric of athletic education. Guts is a four letter word that must pertain to so much more than a football field, the hardwood, the track, the pool, or the ice. GUTS is perseverence. Cachey told a roomful of great athletes and me about Guts. Work at what you must work at every day, correct your mistakes, do not expect praise for what you are obliged to do and lead a happy life.

Here are the happy people of whom Ted Cachey spoke so well decades ago as a kid at Mount Carmel High School - with a lot of guts.

CHICAGOLAND SPORTS HALL OF FAME

WithTHE NATIONAL MS SOCIETY-ILLINOIS CHAPTERand THE STANDING TALL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION present:

THE 14th ANNUAL INDUCTION AWARDS DINNER-THE HONORABLE RICHARD M. DALEY, Honorary Chairman

HONOREES

Mike Krzyzewski
Ray Meyer College Coach of Year Award
NCAA Champion, Duke University

John Hannah
New England Patriots Lengend will recieve the George Connor Lifetime Achievement Award for invaluable Contributions to the game of football

Doc Rivers (upon availability)
Marquette University, Coach of NBA Boston Celtics 2010

Rocky Wirtz, Chairman, Chicago Blackhawks
Bill Madlock, Chicago Cubs
Ted Cachey, University of Michigan
Ed Maracich, Big Ten Official
Simeon Rice, Univeristy of Illinois, NFL
Jim Corno, Comcast SportsNet
Jerry Vanisi, Chicago Bears & NFL Executive
Emmett Bryant, DePaul University, NBA
Jeremy Roenick, Chicago Blackhawks
Matt Senffner, Providence Catholic HS
Larry Wert, NBCU Chicago
Richard Hazelton, Legendary Thoroughbred Trainer
Nick Rassas, Notre Dame All American
Linda Mastandrea, Paralympic Gold Medal Champion
Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox
Gerry Sullivan, University of Illinois, NFL
Willie May, All American, Indiana University

A few of the Leo High School Halle of Fame Inductees-
John Collins - boxing
Johnny Galvin -football
Babe Baranowski-football
Andy McKenna -Sports Owner
Whitey Cronin- Coaching