How Much Would You Pay to Spend Time With Bob Cousy?
Apr 22, 2022 8:38:23 GMT -5
rgs318 and A Clock Tower Purple like this
Post by HCFC45 on Apr 22, 2022 8:38:23 GMT -5
From today's Telegram:
What a great idea and for 2 good causes!!!
What would you pay for a day with Celtics and Holy Cross legend Bob Cousy? What you need to know
Bill DoyleCorrespondent
WORCESTER — How much would you be willing to pay to visit one of the greatest basketball players of all time at his home, receive an autographed lithograph of him and pose with him alongside a statue of him?
Bob Cousy hopes someone would pay a great deal and he has arranged to donate the entire sum to the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass. & Metrowest.
Cousy, 93, has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for more than 70 years, was instrumental in the founding of the Worcester chapter in 1963 and served as a Big Brother to three young Worcester men.
The Holy Cross and Celtics legend isn’t as mobile as he once was, but he wants to give back to the community while he’s still healthy enough to do so.
So he approached Big Brothers Big Sisters with his idea of holding a meet and greet at his home on Salisbury Street as a fundraiser, and the organization hired Lelands Sports Memorabilia and Sports Card Auctions of Matawan, New Jersey, to handle the auction.
“We are just so thrilled. He is our favorite Big,” Big Brothers Big Sisters CEO Connie Askin said. “He’s just a social justice warrior and such a good friend of the agency.”
The online auction will be conducted at lelands.com from May 22 to June 11, according to Patrick Stephan, a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters board of directors.
The visit with Cousy at his home in Worcester will be arranged shortly afterward. Prior to May 22, people can register, but not bid, at www.lelands.com.
Stephan said the minimum bid will be $20,000 with a buyer’s premium of 20% added for a total of $24,000.
“I’m hoping for much more,” Askin said. “It’s such a unique opportunity.”
Lelands auctioned the ball of Tom Brady’s last touchdown pass for more than $500,000, but voided the sale when he came out of retirement.
Cousy will receive nothing but the satisfaction of helping Big Brothers Big Sisters.
'You have my gratitude': Cousy honored to be a part of city's renovated basketball courts
At Holy Cross, Cousy was a freshman guard on the 1947 NCAA championship team and a three-time All-American. With the Celtics, he won six NBA championships and was voted NBA MVP in 1957. He defined the point guard position and is one of only four players who have been named to all four NBA anniversary teams, for the 25th, 35th, 50th and 75th anniversaries.
“We can sell it as a few moments with a living legend at the tail end of his life for a good cause,” Cousy said.
Ultimate meet and greet
The auction winners will receive a meet and greet package that Cousy developed. Up to five people will spend about 90 minutes with him at his home on Salisbury Street and he’ll answer any sports questions they have.
They’ll also receive a framed copy of a Cousy lithograph by John Boyd Martin, one of the most accomplished portrait artists in the country. The original lithograph has hung in Cousy’s home for several decades.
The winning package will also include a copy of “The Last Pass, Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End” by Gary M. Pomerantz. Cousy will sign the book and a deck of his basketball cards that cover his playing days “from womb to tomb,” as he said.
Cousy will pose with the auction winners at his home with his Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the top point guard in college basketball each year. They will also have the option of wearing Cousy’s 2019 Presidential Medal of Freedom while posing for the photo.
After the visit at Cousy’s home, the auction winners will have their choice of posing with him alongside his statue in front of the Luth Athletic Complex at Holy Cross or his statue in front of the DCU Center.
As Cousy pointed out, lots of people take photos in front of statues, but very seldom with the living model for the statue alongside.
A Big Brother Big Sister photographer will take photos.
Bob Cousy is helping give back to the city he loves and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass. & Metrowest by taking part in a fundraiser for the organization.
“I think it’s a unique package,” Cousy said.
Askin said the fundraiser is much needed.
“We are rebuilding,” Askin said. “COVID really wiped us out in terms of our ability to hold programs with colleges and corporations.”
During the depths of the pandemic, the number of children that Big Brothers Big Sisters were able to place with mentors plummeted 70% although placements have rebounded in the last few months, Askin said.
“Boy, the need is just bigger than ever,” Askin said. “People feel so disconnected, they feel Zoomed out so this is really a great injection of energy as well as money into the organization. We want to use this also to promote being a Big.”
The money will help hire staff and put systems in place for the fall.
On May 23, Big Brothers Big Sisters is scheduled to move from the Denholm Building on Main Street to 18 Chestnut St., the former home of Unum and Paul Revere Life Insurance. Askin said a dedicated “Bob Cousy Corner” in the office will feature a lithograph and photos of the basketball legend and photos of other sports organizations, such as the WooSox, that support the organization.
Cousy has spoken with the Nativity School of Worcester about holding another meet and greet at his home to benefit the tuition-free, independent Jesuit middle school for boys living in Worcester’s vulnerable neighborhoods.
Tom McKenney, president of the Nativity School, said he would like to hold the meet and greet as soon as the coming school year, as long as donors can be found.
Cousy has been involved with the school since it was founded in 2003 by Holy Cross, a Jesuit college.
Cousy said he feels a bond with the school because he grew up in a vulnerable neighborhood in New York City.
NBA and Holy Cross basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy grew up in New York City, but settled in Worcester.
“I don’t want to come out of this looking like I’m doing the city a favor,” he said. “I’m just giving a payback to the city and it’s for two good causes.”
Cousy retired as a player in 1963 and stopped broadcasting Celtics more than 20 years ago, but he still receives about 20 letters a day from autograph seekers, some from as far away as South Korea, Taiwan and Hungary. Many ask him questions about his career and the NBA.
Non-personalized autographed items can be sold so Cousy has fans seeking them send him $125 checks made out to Big Brothers Big Sisters, and he raises close to $1,000 a month for the organization. He keeps none of the money for himself.
Cousy patterned this fundraiser after one that was held in 1994 when the basketball movie “Blue Chips” premiered in Worcester. Cousy had a small role as an athletic director in the movie and he helped raise $460,000 for nonprofits in the community by knocking on corporate doors.
Prior to a gala at Mechanics Hall and the viewing of the movie, two people who had paid $25,000 met with Cousy and “Blue Chips” director William Friedkin at Cousy’s home for a cocktail party.
Friedkin had won an Academy Award for Best Director for "The French Connection" in 1971.
Cousy has often credited the Jesuits at Holy Cross with teaching him to help others and the city of Worcester with providing him an escape from the hectic lifestyle of Boston. This auction is his latest way to say thanks.
“It’s all part of how I feel about the city and my lifelong concerns for inner-city kids,” he said.
Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on Twitter@BillDoyle15
What a great idea and for 2 good causes!!!
What would you pay for a day with Celtics and Holy Cross legend Bob Cousy? What you need to know
Bill DoyleCorrespondent
WORCESTER — How much would you be willing to pay to visit one of the greatest basketball players of all time at his home, receive an autographed lithograph of him and pose with him alongside a statue of him?
Bob Cousy hopes someone would pay a great deal and he has arranged to donate the entire sum to the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass. & Metrowest.
Cousy, 93, has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for more than 70 years, was instrumental in the founding of the Worcester chapter in 1963 and served as a Big Brother to three young Worcester men.
The Holy Cross and Celtics legend isn’t as mobile as he once was, but he wants to give back to the community while he’s still healthy enough to do so.
So he approached Big Brothers Big Sisters with his idea of holding a meet and greet at his home on Salisbury Street as a fundraiser, and the organization hired Lelands Sports Memorabilia and Sports Card Auctions of Matawan, New Jersey, to handle the auction.
“We are just so thrilled. He is our favorite Big,” Big Brothers Big Sisters CEO Connie Askin said. “He’s just a social justice warrior and such a good friend of the agency.”
The online auction will be conducted at lelands.com from May 22 to June 11, according to Patrick Stephan, a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters board of directors.
The visit with Cousy at his home in Worcester will be arranged shortly afterward. Prior to May 22, people can register, but not bid, at www.lelands.com.
Stephan said the minimum bid will be $20,000 with a buyer’s premium of 20% added for a total of $24,000.
“I’m hoping for much more,” Askin said. “It’s such a unique opportunity.”
Lelands auctioned the ball of Tom Brady’s last touchdown pass for more than $500,000, but voided the sale when he came out of retirement.
Cousy will receive nothing but the satisfaction of helping Big Brothers Big Sisters.
'You have my gratitude': Cousy honored to be a part of city's renovated basketball courts
At Holy Cross, Cousy was a freshman guard on the 1947 NCAA championship team and a three-time All-American. With the Celtics, he won six NBA championships and was voted NBA MVP in 1957. He defined the point guard position and is one of only four players who have been named to all four NBA anniversary teams, for the 25th, 35th, 50th and 75th anniversaries.
“We can sell it as a few moments with a living legend at the tail end of his life for a good cause,” Cousy said.
Ultimate meet and greet
The auction winners will receive a meet and greet package that Cousy developed. Up to five people will spend about 90 minutes with him at his home on Salisbury Street and he’ll answer any sports questions they have.
They’ll also receive a framed copy of a Cousy lithograph by John Boyd Martin, one of the most accomplished portrait artists in the country. The original lithograph has hung in Cousy’s home for several decades.
The winning package will also include a copy of “The Last Pass, Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End” by Gary M. Pomerantz. Cousy will sign the book and a deck of his basketball cards that cover his playing days “from womb to tomb,” as he said.
Cousy will pose with the auction winners at his home with his Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the top point guard in college basketball each year. They will also have the option of wearing Cousy’s 2019 Presidential Medal of Freedom while posing for the photo.
After the visit at Cousy’s home, the auction winners will have their choice of posing with him alongside his statue in front of the Luth Athletic Complex at Holy Cross or his statue in front of the DCU Center.
As Cousy pointed out, lots of people take photos in front of statues, but very seldom with the living model for the statue alongside.
A Big Brother Big Sister photographer will take photos.
Bob Cousy is helping give back to the city he loves and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass. & Metrowest by taking part in a fundraiser for the organization.
“I think it’s a unique package,” Cousy said.
Askin said the fundraiser is much needed.
“We are rebuilding,” Askin said. “COVID really wiped us out in terms of our ability to hold programs with colleges and corporations.”
During the depths of the pandemic, the number of children that Big Brothers Big Sisters were able to place with mentors plummeted 70% although placements have rebounded in the last few months, Askin said.
“Boy, the need is just bigger than ever,” Askin said. “People feel so disconnected, they feel Zoomed out so this is really a great injection of energy as well as money into the organization. We want to use this also to promote being a Big.”
The money will help hire staff and put systems in place for the fall.
On May 23, Big Brothers Big Sisters is scheduled to move from the Denholm Building on Main Street to 18 Chestnut St., the former home of Unum and Paul Revere Life Insurance. Askin said a dedicated “Bob Cousy Corner” in the office will feature a lithograph and photos of the basketball legend and photos of other sports organizations, such as the WooSox, that support the organization.
Cousy has spoken with the Nativity School of Worcester about holding another meet and greet at his home to benefit the tuition-free, independent Jesuit middle school for boys living in Worcester’s vulnerable neighborhoods.
Tom McKenney, president of the Nativity School, said he would like to hold the meet and greet as soon as the coming school year, as long as donors can be found.
Cousy has been involved with the school since it was founded in 2003 by Holy Cross, a Jesuit college.
Cousy said he feels a bond with the school because he grew up in a vulnerable neighborhood in New York City.
NBA and Holy Cross basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy grew up in New York City, but settled in Worcester.
“I don’t want to come out of this looking like I’m doing the city a favor,” he said. “I’m just giving a payback to the city and it’s for two good causes.”
Cousy retired as a player in 1963 and stopped broadcasting Celtics more than 20 years ago, but he still receives about 20 letters a day from autograph seekers, some from as far away as South Korea, Taiwan and Hungary. Many ask him questions about his career and the NBA.
Non-personalized autographed items can be sold so Cousy has fans seeking them send him $125 checks made out to Big Brothers Big Sisters, and he raises close to $1,000 a month for the organization. He keeps none of the money for himself.
Cousy patterned this fundraiser after one that was held in 1994 when the basketball movie “Blue Chips” premiered in Worcester. Cousy had a small role as an athletic director in the movie and he helped raise $460,000 for nonprofits in the community by knocking on corporate doors.
Prior to a gala at Mechanics Hall and the viewing of the movie, two people who had paid $25,000 met with Cousy and “Blue Chips” director William Friedkin at Cousy’s home for a cocktail party.
Friedkin had won an Academy Award for Best Director for "The French Connection" in 1971.
Cousy has often credited the Jesuits at Holy Cross with teaching him to help others and the city of Worcester with providing him an escape from the hectic lifestyle of Boston. This auction is his latest way to say thanks.
“It’s all part of how I feel about the city and my lifelong concerns for inner-city kids,” he said.
Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on Twitter@BillDoyle15
