Sun., Dec. 6th:

TIM KAVANAGH

Tim Kavanagh works full time at WCAX-TV and is also the owner of SAMSON Productions, an entertainment company located in Burlington, VT. Kavanagh has worked professionally in numerous stage productions, film, TV and improv comedy. Kavanagh is also recognized on a larger stage for his involvement in events like winning the National contest for “The Simpsons Movie” world premiere. Kavanagh, who played Homer Simpson, also co-wrote and directed the winning video in which he is seen running through town chasing a giant doughnut made from an inner tube. Twentieth Century Fox invited Tim to be the Master of Ceremonies for the world premier of the film. Kavanagh created hosted and was the Executive Producer of Late Night Saturday which aired for three seasons on WCAX-TV and highlighted local and national guests, musical guests and comedy skits. The show received numerous international awards during its 100 episode run and was written up in national publications. Tim lives in Burlington with his wife Sherry and their three sons.

R U S T Y D E W E E S
HEIGHT: 6'4" HAIR: RED WEIGHT: 195 EYES: BLUE

Rusty DeWees: Entertainer, comedic artist, actor, producer, writer, musician, master of duct tape…and the Logger of course! Rusty does it all and keeps his fans and audiences laughing, as he puts it, "till their backs get better." Rusty grew up in Stowe, Vermont where he was actively involved in theatre throughout high school and college. As a young adult, he performed with the award winning Vermont Repertory Theatre, before moving to New York City where he trained at the George Loris Actors Theatre School and the Lee Strasberg Institute. This professional training was followed by scores of notable roles off-Broadway, and in television, film, and national commercials. Missing his home state, Rusty moved back to Vermont where he continued his acting career and developed the Logger character. An eclectic and innovative act, THE LOGGER one-man comedy show is best described as "Blue Collar Comedy" meets "Prairie Home Companion", and has been steadily selling out theatres, large and small, throughout New England ever since it hit the stage in 1998. The success of the live act has spawned three Logger DVDs, two CDs, five calendars, Logger apparel (duct tape wallets and Logger thongs included), and Scrawlins, a compilation of Rusty's columns for syndicated and regional newspapers. Rusty also writes, voices, directs, and produces radio and television spots for various companies throughout New England, and has always, throughout his career, donated his time to promote positive lifestyle choices among high school age kids.
TRAINING: Lee Strasberg Institute, New York City; Goerge Loris Actors Theatre School, New York City; Stage Combat; Peter Hock Boxing; Mark Breland
SPECIAL SKILLS: Drums, Juggling, Basketball, Skiing, Skating, Motorcycling, Drivers License, Weight Lifting, Stone Masonry, Logging, Boxing, Stage Combat, Roller Blading, stock car racing, motocycling - road/dirt
DIALECTS: Southern, French Canadian, Irish, New England, Vermonter
FILM
New Port South
Radical Jack
Mud Season
Injest
Icebreaker
Black Dog
A Stranger in the Kingdom
Pressure Point
Devils Own
Letters to My Mother’s Early Lovers
Diamond Run
Where the River Flows North
Ethan Frome
TELEVISION
All My Children
Law & Order
The Guiding Light
Saturday Night Live
Law & Order
Cosby Mysteries
As the World Turns
One Life to Live
THEATRE
OFF OFF BROADWAY
Sunshine
Oh Pioneers
The Foreigner
BOSTON
The Logger
REGIONAL
The Logger
Of Mice and Men
Terranova
Uncle Vanya
True West
Judevine
Buried Child

BRIAN HOAR (6 Time ACT Champion)

http://autoracing.suite101.com/article.cfm/brian_hoar_wins_2009_act_late_model_tour_title

JEFF STROHM

During a college-coaching career that began in 1989, Strohm, 42, has served as an assistant at Northern Illinois, Utah, Marquette and Western Kentucky, reaching NCAA Final Fours with both the Utes and the Warriors. He was one of the finalists in the University of Vermont’s 2003 search for a coach to replace Tom Brennan. “Jeff has a track record in all the areas that Frost Heaves basketball has become known for, from the recruitment of young men who are winners on and off the court, to the development of their potential once they sign on,” said team founder Alexander Wolff. “He’s helped to recruit and bring along five NBA first-round picks and, in Dwayne Wade, an MVP and Olympic gold medalist. He has fresh connections throughout the basketball world as well as a passion for teaching the game. From his associations with people like [former Utah coach and U.S. national team assistant] Rick Majerus, Frost Heaves fans can expect him to adapt quickly to the pro game. “More than that, Jeff understands how basketball and the Frost Heaves fit into the Green Mountain State,” added Wolff, who last month ceded management of the team to an investment group based in Central Vermont. “He grew up on a farm in Illinois, and as a Vermonter by marriage knows how important it is to ensure that the team continues to be part of life in Vermont during the winter.” Strohm is married to former Oxbow (Vt.) High School and Vanderbilt standout Jade Huntington, herself a former head coach at Colorado State. She played in four Vermont state title games at the Barre Auditorium, winning three. On accepting the Head Coach position, Strohm states, “My family and I are humbled and honored to be selected to serve the wonderful people of Vermont as The New Head Coach of The Vermont Frost Heaves. It is with tremendous enthusiasm, energy and excitement we accept this position. Vermont Basketball has produced so many great lasting memories over the years for my wife, her family and the great basketball fans in Vermont. We look forward to helping create many more of these memories in the years ahead for Vermont and its great Frost Heave fans”. Strohm, who holds a B.S. and M.S. in Education from Eastern Illinois, has organized, directed or participated in more than 100 basketball camps and will oversee the Frost Heaves’ Have-A-Ball Kids Camps and Basketball Academy. Strohm lives in Bradford, Vt., with his wife Jade and their daughters Sydney, Jordin and Rylee.

DOUG LEWIS

Ski Racing History

Doug began bombing down Vermont’s mountains at age three and ski racing at age eight. He enrolled at the Green Mountain Valley School Ski Academy in 1978, and won his first title at the Junior Olympics in 1980. The following year, at age seventeen, he jumped to the international level and competed in his first World Cup at Aspen.

Doug joined the USST in 1981 and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia and the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada. Doug’s greatest moment came at the 1985 World Championships when he won the bronze medal in the Downhill. Doug also collected two U.S. National Downhill Championships in 1986 and 1987.

Post Olympics

After retiring from the U.S. Ski Team in 1988, Doug graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Vermont with a degree in Small Business Management. And although his World Cup racing days were over, he jumped at the chance to again strap on a pair of Downhill racing skis to compete in the Jeep King of the Mountain Pro Downhill Series. In 1994 Doug had the honor of winning the inaugural Jeep King of the Mountain Downhill race against eleven other Olympic and World Championship medalists. He raced in this series until 1998 and continues to race in other Legend and Celebrity events.

Airtime & Adrenaline

Two things Doug loves? Big air and a big adrenaline rush! Since retiring, Doug has…

Won the longest Airtime award during the Legend’s Downhill, jumping 178 feet in the middle of a race.

Out-jumped 20 Olympians in Battery Park in New York City off a 60-foot ski jump.

Gap-jumped 50’ over a John Deere tractor on Bragg Hill Rd in the Mad River Valley.

Skied the 1992, 1994, and 2002 Olympic Downhill courses with a video camera strapped to his back for TV.

Skied through the glades in Killington shooting an Uzi at another stunt-skier for the movie, “Icebreakers”.

Appeared in four Warren Miller Films

Today, Doug is actively involved in every level of the ski industry as a broadcaster, TV host, ski celebrity, motivational speaker, product consultant, spokesperson, journalist, coach and trainer. He served four years on the USOC’s Athlete’s Advisory Council and currently serves on the Boards of the Vermont Ski Museum and Green Mountain Valley School.

During the Winter season, Doug works as a sports broadcaster, TV host, ski celebrity at corporate events, ski tester for SKI Magazine, and coaches athletes ages 8-80!

In the Summer, Doug, along with his wife Kelley, runs ELITEAM Conditioning Camps in Vermont. In its 17th year, ELITEAM concentrates on educating young athletes on the importance of Sports Physiology, Sports Psychology, and Sports Nutrition. ELITEAM also offers Corporate and Group Team-Building, Leadership, and Risk-Taking programs.

Sunday, Dec. 6th on WDeV FM and AM

Tim Kavanagh and Rusty "The Logger" Dewees
Brian Hoar and Rick Paya
Jeff Strohm (Vermont Frost Heaves)
Doug Lewis (ELITEAM)

Thank you!

Jim Morris, Buster Olney, Fouad Faris, Austin Ainge & Gary Lapergola (www.theperfectrelease.net) ... AWESOME!

Thank you for joining my sports rant and talk show last night!

THIS coming Sun., Nov. 29th:

JIM MORRIS ("The Rookie")

Imagine growing up as a nomadic, lonely kid with your parents fighting and struggling to make ends meet. In the midst of all this misery, you have a dream to escape and make something of your life, perhaps becoming a baseball player. A major league baseball player.

This was the dream of Jim Morris.

But like so many of us, Jim's dreams were derailed by a lack of preparedness for the rigors of life. He didn't appreciate it when good things happened, because things had always been bad when he was a kid. He was angry and bitter because of his upbringing, mainly the relationship he had with his dad, who was alternately remote and cruel. Jim's mom, however well-intentioned, was having too many problems with her marriage to Jim's father to really be the type of mom that she's become today. Instead, Jim's saving grace as a kid was two-fold : his love for baseball and his grandpa Earnest, who ran a clothing store in Brownwood, TX. People would come from miles around to buy suits from Earnest, including people like Gene Autry. Earnest taught Jim some of the most important life lessons ever. He taught Jim one simple thing: "remember who you are." To Jim, that meant never do anything in public that would embarrass yourself. Jim would make friends by playing baseball.

It took Jim a long time to learn that lesson and make it part of his life. He had athletic talent growing up, but he was too immature to implement Earnest's lessons. When Earnest passed away from Lou Gehrigs disease when Jim was in junior college, it left a divesting hole in his life. Jim couldn't get away from home soon enough and signed a pro baseball contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. After a series of injuries, he retired from minor league baseball at the age of 24, got married, got his college degree at the age of 29, and raised a family. Along the way, he also played football and was an all-American punter, leading the nation's small colleges in punting one year. He probably worked every low-paying job there was trying to make ends meet, from convenience stores to working in a college dormitory. Eventually, he later became a high school science teacher and a baseball coach in the small Texas town of Big Lake. Basically, Jim and his family had had a tough go of it and were having trouble surviving financially. The bill collectors were always at the door and the stresses on their marriage were evident.

At the age of 35, Jim was lecturing his demoralized high school baseball team about pursuing their dreams and about becoming winners. Quite frankly, Jim felt like he'd done everything backwards in his life to that point, but in trying to motivate his team and give back something to others, he got something back from his students: they challenged him to pursue his dreams about baseball. They saw how hard he threw the baseball and really thought he had a chance, but he had no idea how hard he threw the baseball.

A bet was born: if his high school team won the District Championship, something they had never done, then he would try out for a major league baseball team. Miraculously, the small town team came from behind and beat the best team in the area to win the District Championship. Jim then went to an open tryout, where he changed diapers and then went out and threw 12 consecutive pitches at 98 mph to the amazement of scouts in attendance. People at the age of 35 aren't supposed to throw 98 mph. After some heated discussion with his family, Jim signed a pro contract to play baseball at the age of 35.

Over the next three months, Jim got his body in shape and started playing baseball with kids 10 to 18 years younger. He was known as "the old guy" or "old man river." His teammates were amazed by this guy who basically showed up at a tryout and threw harder than any of them. Jim was suddenly in Double-A, higher and closer to the big leagues than he was when he quit 11 years before. His arm was holding up too. Then he got called up to Triple A and agents and Hollywood came calling. On September 17, 1999, Jim Morris, age 35, was called to up the big leagues by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

In front of family and friends, including his high school players, Jim was called up to the big leagues back in Texas. After visiting with his family down in the bullpen before the game, Jim was called into the game to face all-star Royce Clayton. As Jim ran out onto the big league field at Arlington, every memory he had experienced getting to this place flashed in his mind. The manager, Larry Rothschild, came out to talk to Jim, and the camera was on them and being projected up on the big jumbotron and he was smiling and laughing. Later that evening his wife asked him "What did Larry say to you? You were laughing." Jim replied "I have no idea what that man said to me!"

Jim then proceeded to strike out Royce Clayton with a 98 mph fastball in his first big league appearance. That night, as Jim sat in his hotel room with his wife and kids eating pizza, the whole country was talking about this 35 year old high school science teacher who made a bet with his high school kids that led to a try out and eventually to the big leagues 3 months later.

Five days later, Jim Morris' life story rights had been purchased by Disney and "the Rookie" went into Production shortly thereafter, starring Dennis Quaid. Jim Morris not only served as a consultant to the film, but he also co-authored a book entitled "the Oldest Rookie," which was published in 2001 by Little Brown and Company.

Jim retired again from baseball in winter 2001 and his life story was filmed in the spring of 2001 near Austin, Texas. Jim's teammate in pro baseball back in the 80's, Mark Ciardi, was one of the producers, and when "The Rookie" premiered in New York City in March, 2002 after a whirlwind publicity tour, the film opened to critical acclaim. Eventually, "The Rookie" would earn in excess of 150 million dollars worldwide. "The Rookie" has also been rated one of the greatest baseball movies ever and it won the first annual ESPY for Best Sports Film of the Year.

Today, Jim lives with his family near San Antonio and travels the country as America's foremost inspirational and motivational speaker. His story has become an inspiration to anyone interested in living their dreams. Incredibly, Jim receives fan mail from places as far away as India. He has spoken hundreds of times throughout the country and in Mexico and Canada too. He also gives baseball lessons to kids.

BUSTER OLNEY (ESPN)

Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

FOUAD FARIS (FCA-NE)

Fouad Faris has been the New England Regional Director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes since 1999. Prior to assuming his current role, he was FCA Area Director of Upstate South Carolina. He has been on staff with FCA for a total of 23 years.

Of Palestinian descent, Fouad was born in Israel and immigrated to the United States in 1970 with his family. He received his BA Degree from Austin College where he played on a NAIA Division II National Championship football team and was a four-year letterman. He received his MA in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Fouad serves as chapel leader for a number of area sports teams, including the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) and the Manchester Monarchs (AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings). He is a frequent speaker at churches, retreats, men’s and youth groups and of course, high school and college campuses and NFL chapels. He is married to Karen and is the proud father of Daniel. The Faris’ live in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

AUSTIN AINGE (Maine Red Claws)

Prior to joining the Red Claws, Austin Ainge was a scout with the Boston Celtics, where among his duties he was charged with working with Celtics rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker while they were on assignment with Utah of the NBA Development League.

Prior to joining the Celtics, Ainge served a stint as an assistant coach for Southern Utah University where he was responsible for perimeter players, recruiting, player development, video breakdown, and developing game plans.

Ainge had a successful playing career at Brigham Young University, where he was a two-year captain, leading BYU to two Mountain West Conference championships, three NCAA tournaments and one NIT appearances. Before playing at BYU, Ainge put his basketball career on hold and served a two-year mission in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The son of Celtics' legend Danny Ainge, Ainge and his wife Crystal have two sons, Andre and Finley.

GARY LAPERGOLA (The Perfect Release)

"My bio goes something like this. I was stricken with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 45, diagnosed on my 45th birthday. I started a basketball training business 18 years ago and am still very active. My belief is that exercise is a key to slowing down the disease. Also I ride a tandem bike with curing results. Briefly I am writing a novel; and recently launched a basketball shooting invention."