The Trojan Club of San Gabriel Valley hosted its annual dinner to start the new year this past Wednesday with special guest speakers Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times, Mike Nyeholt of Swim With Mike, and former Trojan athletes Lindsey Parker, Daylon McCutcheon, and Matt Spanos.
Swim With Mike’s Mike Nyeholt on Swim-A-Thon’s Success
The evening was kicked off by the namesake of Swim With Mike, Mike Nyeholt. The three-time All-American Trojan swimmer explained how the fund raising swim-a-thon was created by his good friend and fellow Trojan All-American swimmer Ron Orr (current USC Associate Athletic Director of Development), shortly after a motorcycle accident in 1981 left Nyholt paralyzed from the chest down. Initially called “Swim For Mike,” the swim-a-thon’s first event on March 7, 1981 raised $58,000 to purchase a specially equipped van for Nyeholt. Nyeholt suggested the excess funds be used to create the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund at USC, the first of its kind in the country. Once Mike was able to swim again, “Swim For Mike” was changed to “Swim With Mike.”
Since its inception, the swim-a-thon has raised over $7.5 million to assist physically challenged athletes across the country. There are 27 current recipients, including 12 at USC. “I’ve gained a lot through this experience,” Nyeholt commented at the dinner. “Mostly through the scholarship recipients.” Last year’s event raised $1.2 million. “We’re trying to beat that number this year,” Nyeholt said. For more information on the Swim With Mike fund-raiser, visit www.swimwithmike.org.
“Where Are They Now?” Daylon McCutcheon
In the annual “Where Are They Now” series, former Trojan four-year starting cornerback Daylon McCutcheon took the stage next, introduced by his doctor, Darrick Sahara. The 7-year Cleveland Browns starter recalled how he ended up playing cornerback at USC when he was a star running back for Bishop Amat: “I told Coach Robinson I wanted playing time.” McCutcheon did get to display his skills running with the ball at the 1996 Rose Bowl game in a 53-yard touchdown run against Northwestern.
McCutcheon (photo, with wife Shawna) is also well known for returning to USC to get his degree, as a Mother’s Day present for his mom in 2006: “My mom thought she was getting an NFL Mother of the Year Award. She gets picked up by a limo, along with my family. And when they pulled up to me, I was standing there in my cap and gown.” On the process it took to come back to school, McCutcheon lightheartedly related, “When I left USC, I promised my mom -- Well actually, she told me -- I’d finish.” McCutcheon continued on about how important his mother was to him, and how he plans to start a single mother’s foundation in her honor, “because she was a single mother who raised me, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for her.” Since leaving the Browns, McCutcheon has returned to his high school and is the current defensive backs coach for the Bishop Amat Memorial High School Lancers.
Jess Hill Memorial Award: Lindsey Parker
The Club’s President Sean Kennally then presented the Jess Hill Memorial Award to former Trojan women’s soccer player Lindsey Parker. The award is annually presented to a USC athlete who excels in both academics and athletics. Parker was on the Dean’s List all 8 semesters at USC, and graduated in May 2007 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a 3.92 GPA. The former Trojan captain who played defender shared that she grew up “the eleventh in my family to go to USC.” She said she would have attended USC whether she played soccer or not. When she was offered the soccer scholarship, the related that, “it took me all of 12 hours to accept!”
“I could not be more proud of the girls,” Parker said of the NCAA Championship the USC Women’s Soccer Team recently won, just one season after Parker graduated. Parker praised Coach Ali Khosroshahin for turning the program around in one year, and also told the audience, “If you get the chance, please go to the soccer games. We can always use fans!” Parker is currently a first year student at the University of San Diego Law School. When asked how she was enjoying that experience, Parker replied that the experience she had playing soccer for USC, including working hard and being very disciplined, has helped her adjust to the demands of law school.
Matt Spanos Talks NFL Draft
Parker was followed by former Trojan center Matt Spanos. Spanos is currently training for the NFL draft and combine. He told the crowd that his tricep is currently “at 90%” and that “I’ve felt the best I have in a long time.” He mentioned that while he has had his share of ups and downs, “I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything.”
When asked how it was like to go up against Sedrick Ellis in practice, Spanos joked, “Going against Sed was probably the worst part!” He later added that, “Sed helped me improve my game a lot.” He mentioned that the toughest defense he believes the Trojans faced this year was Oregon State.
Gary Klein Talks About Covering the Trojans
Los Angeles Times Trojan beat writer Gary Klein was the keynote speaker. He opened by announcing the verbal commit of Matt Barkley to USC. He said that people come up to him and ask him what he does after football season ends. Klein replies that there are always stories, from recruiting season to coaching carousel speculation, who is leaving to go pro early, the upcoming quarterback controversy with Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain.
Klein joked about being at USC at 6:00 a.m. for the morning off-season workouts. He gave an overview of the USC recruits. He called recruiting “a completely different animal,” and said how he wouldn’t be surprised if USC had silent commits (who may be keeping things under of wraps for various reasons, including being from out of state). He also brought up an interesting statistic regarding how USC’s NFL Draft numbers have skyrocketed in recent years: While there were three players from McCutcheon’s Trojan class who were drafted in the NFL, the class Spanos entered USC with (2003) figures to have 19 players drafted when all is said and done.
Klein was asked a number of questions. “As a beat writer, I can’t have an opinion,” Klein replied to an attendee who complimented him for staying neutral in his articles. “We have columnists who get paid to give their opinions,” he added. He also said that the other beat writers have helped him become a better beat writer. When asked when he knew Carroll would be one of the great coaches at USC, he responded that it became clear to him that “at the end of the 2002 season, USC had found a system that was working.” He shared a funny story about how he grew up reading the Los Angeles Times’ great sportswriters, and one day during the earlier part of his career at the Times, basketball writer Mark Heisler showed up with an elderly looking man who Klein thought was Heisler’s father. “It turned out it was Jim Murray!” Klein commented that with Norm Chow’s return to Los Angeles to coach at UCLA, “we all win as college football fans.”
The Club had a silent auction that night and the money raised will go towards helping to purchase national championship rings for the 2007 USC Women’s Soccer Team.
Thanks to Sean Kennally for putting on the event.
Spanos, Parker, Kennally, McCutcheon, Klein
