Anyone familiar with Curt Severson?? Found this article on the web, old but interesting I think. Especially when there isn't jack going on in the sports world.
JackMD: I'm surprised no one has come forward with the family tree of Mr. Severson. When I travel, it seems Midwesterners generally, but South Dakotans in particular, have their antennae up, sub-conciously looking for someone from "home". When they have a strike, they play: "Hey, do you know....?" That question invariably leads to the exclamation: "Man, what a small world!"
I just checked my SDSU Alumni cd for Mr. Severson and he graduated from SDSU in 1940, one year before I was born. We can't accuse him of not forgetting his roots and how his degree from SDSU managed him to suceed in the sales field. The Dirctory says he lives in Gainsville and is a retired Sales Manager.
I think those younger alums who post on here know that feeling we get when you are out of South Dakota and you are in an area, where they will ask "Where is Brookings? How many students do they have at SDSU?"
There is always the follow up comment, " I went to the Black Hills a zillion years ago, or I saw the Corn Palace in Mitchell".
I think this unknown image that SDSU has really makes an excellent case for moving up to D1.
In Chicago, I used to tell the unfamilar SDSU people about all the NFL players from SDSU. Most people follow the NFL and know names like Retzlaff, Eggers, Langer and Rasumessen. Now only those living under a rock would not know the name of Adam Vinitari.
This out of state promotion like Mr. Severson started can only help SDSU. I glad he got all those Gainsville folks following the Jackrabbits.
I made more trips to McCormick Place in Chicago to write the CPA exam than I care to admit. Since I lived in the Northwest suburbs, I took a commuter train into the Loop. I happen to be wearing a SDSU jacket one of those many exam days. It was a jacket that has the name on the back. When I got off the train, a lady came up to me and said" When I saw the logo on your jacket I about had an heart-attack." She went on to tell me that she was a SDSU alum and from Highmore SD. I always remember that incident, and have since been a promotor by wearing SDSU stuff.
We can always help out in these situations and should not be ashamed to admit that we hail from the land of flax and Maize and are graduates of SDSU.
Last summer, while spending a week in Washington DC (my son was interning with SDSU Alum Sen. Tom Daschle), I was going down an escalator to one of the underground Metro stations and saw a "Hate State" shirt on a college-aged kid in front of me. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned and I could see "Augustana College" on the front of the shirt.
I had a good laugh. It's all about getting your name out there!!
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