Men’s Basketball Scrimmage with Boomer and Carton on Nov. 2

Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, co-hosts on WFAN sports talk radio, will coach opposing teams for a November 2 intersquad scrimmage of the Fordham University men's basketball team. Proceeds from the special event will benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation and its fight against cystic fibrosis.

The game is open to the public, and tickets can be purchased at the door. Students are invited to attend for free, and general admission tickets are $10. For $20, spectators can watch the game and attend a post-game meeting with Boomer and Carton, as well as Fordham Basketball Head Coach Tom Pecora.

What: Fordham Men's Basketball Scrimmage with Boomer and Carton
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, at 7 p.m.
Where: Rose Hill Gym, Fordham University Rose Hill Campus - Bronx, N.Y.
Tickets: Purchase at the door (free for students; $10 general admission - game only; $20 - general admission and post-game event)

From the Hollywood Hills to Rose Hill

The basketball team’s 77-73 win over UMass on Saturday had fans seeing stars.

Well, one star in particular.



Sitting courtside at the Rose Hill Gym was indie filmmaker Edward Burns, whose hits include The Brothers McMullen, Sidewalks of New York and Nice Guy Johnny.

Burns, a friend of Head Coach Tom Pecora, brought his son to watch the team in action. The Rams rewarded him by posting their first Atlantic 10 victory in more than two seasons.

He tweeted after the game, “Courtside in the Bronx. Big win for Coach Pec,” and posted a photo he took from his seat.

Burns recently announced that he will star in a new HBO series called 40, which focuses on four friends in their forties whose lives are at varying levels of success.

—Joe McLaughlin

Fordham Track Great to Be Honored at the New York Athletic Club

Fordham track great Tom Courtney (FCRH ’55) will be honored at “Millrose Olympians Night” on Thursday, Jan. 27, at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan.

Courtney, who is among the greatest track athletes Fordham ever produced, will be honored along with eight other Olympic Gold medalists in track & field. All honorees have competed in the Millrose Games, which take place on Friday, Jan. 28, at Madison Square Garden.

While at Fordham, Courtney was on two-mile team, which set the World Record in California in 1954. The next year, he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in his Fordham gear.

After graduating from Fordham, Courtney made the Olympic team and took first-place, winning the gold medal and setting an Olympic record in the 800 meter run at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He also anchored the 4 X 400 relay for a second gold medal.

Courtney went on to set many other world records in 1956 and 1957 before retiring from competition. He later became assistant track coach at Harvard for one year before obtaining his M.B.A. from Harvard Business. Courtney was inducted into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame in 1971.

Fellow alumnus, Norbert Sander, M.D., (FCRH ’64), will host the reception along with officers from the New York Athletic Club. Sander, the 1974 winner of the New York City Marathon, is the architect of a modern initiative that brought running back to life at Manhattan’s 168th Street Armory, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010.

A significant contingent of one of Fordham’s greatest Track & Field squads, Classes 1963-65, will hold a reunion at the 104th edition of the Millrose Games at the Garden on Friday night to celebrate Fordham’s rich history of success in these historic Games.

—Gina Vergel

Up, Up and Away

Known as Mr. Everything, Tad Kornegay, CBA ’05, is a defensive specialist for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. Kornegay, who played defensive back at Fordham, appeared in the CFL All-Star Game last season and was named one of the 50 best players in the league, as his Roughriders captured the Western Division en route to a trip to the Grey Cup, the Super Bowl of the CFL. “Any way I can help my teammates out and the team, I'm going to do it,” said Korengay, seen here trying to block a kick in a game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. “Wherever they put me, I want to be at my best."

Read more about Kornegay’s success in the CFL.

The Flying Ram at Houlihan Park

Brian Kownacki leaps over Iona catcher James Beck to score on Chris Walker's go-ahead hit in the bottom of the eighth inning highlighted a nine-run rally to give Fordham a 12-9 victory over the Iona College Gaels at Houlihan Park. See the full release on Fordham's Athletics page.