May 19, 2015
TRADITIONS: Chaplain and Champion
The shirt has faded. The glory never will.
When his intramural championship jersey turned from maroon to light red from too many washings, College Chaplain Rev. James Cuddy, O.P. ’98 framed it and hung it on his office wall in the Campus Ministry Center — “so all visitors will be forced to acknowledge it, and if they’re foolish enough, ask about it,” he said.
Father Cuddy played intramural sports throughout his years as a student, but only at the end of his senior year did he win a coveted T-shirt.
It happened when Mark T. Adams ’98, a men’s basketball player, invited Father Cuddy to play on his 5-on-5 basketball team that included two other PC basketball players — Dennis S. Cleary ’99 and Richard J. Cordella ’99 — and the assistant coach, Mike Malone. (Student-athletes, staff, and professors with a gym membership can play intramurals today as well).
“The one unwritten rule on our team was that I wasn’t allowed to shoot the ball,” Father Cuddy said. “I think Mark knew I was comfortable with having an important but very limited role — playing defense, diving for loose balls, and being generally aggressive and annoying.”
The T-shirt was awarded on the court following the championship game in Alumni Hall — a contest decided in the final minutes, with all of Father Cuddy’s points coming off of offensive rebounds. He wore it for at least 15 years.
“These shirts have always been a very big deal,” Father Cuddy said.
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