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Topic: Coach Groce - Class Act
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97' Bobcat
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97' Bobcat
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Posted: 12/31/2011 5:07 PM
I wanted to share an experience our family had yesterday with the OU athletic department and specifically, Coach Groce.

My wife and I are alums and we have two young kids that we are rearing to be future Bobcats.  We decided to make the trip from Cleveland to see the OU v Kennesaw State game.  Two days before we left, I emailed the athletic department to see if we could take our family on a tour of the Convo and Peden stadium.  With school on break (and with short notice) I thought it was not likely we would get a response to our request.  But to my surprise, an intern in the Sports Ad department contacted us right away to meet with us.

So yesterday, after touring Peden, we came back to the Convo right as the men's team was finishing up their pre-game practice yesterday.  We quietly sat in some seats to watch the final two minutes of practice.  Coach Groce saw us and walked over and introduced himself.  He said that practice was ending in soon and he would be happy to take our family photo with the entire team.  The kids (and me) thought it was really cool, and I was shocked that he would initiate something like that when we clearly were invading a private moment with the team. He talked to us for a couple minutes, and we wished the team good luck. 

We had a great time at the game. After the win, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Coach Groce personally approached the fans after the win to thank them for coming and he again shook our hand as we were in the front row.
Kudos to the Athletic Department for being some accomodating to us, and for Coach Groce for just being a really nice guy.  
Mike Bundt WHIZ
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Mike Bundt WHIZ
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Posted: 12/31/2011 6:40 PM
That's a great story. Thanks for posting it.

Coach Groce is a quality person and I'm glad that he's coaching here at Ohio University.
mcbin
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mcbin
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Posted: 12/31/2011 10:46 PM
+1 good stuff
cc-cat
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Posted: 12/31/2011 11:18 PM
Putting aside Solich's incident, I think we have to great representatives of the University.
Bball Jones
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Bball Jones
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Posted: 1/1/2012 11:34 AM
Not surprised!
PutnamField
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Posted: 1/1/2012 2:11 PM
You can also tell a few things from somebody's spouse, and reliable sources tell me that Allison Groce is a really nice woman.
Alan Swank
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Posted: 1/1/2012 3:23 PM
PutnamField wrote:expand_more
You can also tell a few things from somebody's spouse, and reliable sources tell me that Allison Groce is a really nice woman.


What she has done and what her predecessors failed to do is get involved in the community.  Whether it's entering her chili in the annual Chili Bowl cook off or serving as one of the host homes for the Athens Foundations Key event fundraiser  (host homes were matched with a local chefs to raise over $30,000), she has been very visible since they rolled into Athens.  The same can be said for the other coaches wives too.  This was a very good hire for OU.
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 1/1/2012 4:47 PM
Agree on Groce and Mrs. Groce. Good points, PF and Al. 

Also, I should point out that Mary Hunter was also involved heavily in the community.  And, our Fan-in-Chief's wife, Deborah McDavis, is involved in community activities as is Priscilla Schaus.  Hmm . . . who am I leaving out here?  Who was that guy between Hunter and Groce?   
Last Edited: 1/1/2012 8:36:31 PM by OhioCatFan
Speaker of Truth
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Posted: 1/1/2012 5:23 PM
Good to also see the Sports Ad program involvement, one of OU's best programs.
Mark Lembright '85
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Posted: 1/1/2012 8:18 PM
I know that the "academia types" at Ohio don't want to hear it, but Ohio has a lot of first class people running the Athletic Dept.  Quick story-last year my dad and sister (also Ohio graduates) visited the Ohio Caravan when it stopped in the Montgomery Inn in Cinci.  They got there a little late, saw there were no seats and were about to leave when Jim Schaus saw them leaving.  He immediately got up from his front row seat and gave it and the seat next to him to them as he stood for the rest of the presentations.  I'm sure it was no big deal to Mr. Schaus but it sure meant a lot to my dad and sister.

As I'm sure we've all said before, I am always proud to be an Ohio alumnus but I've never been more so than in the last couple of years.
Last Edited: 1/1/2012 10:26:08 PM by Mark Lembright '85
bornacatfan
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Posted: 1/1/2012 10:50 PM

Must be a little bit of  that Hoosier hospitality we are raised with. Coach, wife and AD all grew up here in the heartland.... I even think a lil bit of it must have rubbed off on oldkatz while he was here.

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