The Inspiring Randy Livingston

by: Erin O'Brien '98

Director of Communications

I believe that I have the greatest job at Newman. I walk around this campus each and every day searching (and I don’t have to look for long) for good news to tell our community. My days are full of surprises, and so I keep my camera ready. Who can pass up following the Greenie House kids on an expedition across campus looking for sticks to build houses because they are reading the Big Bad Wolf’s version of The Three Little Pigs (he had a cold, by the way)? Why wouldn’t I go listen in as two alumni currently serving their dermatology residencies talk to the 1st grade about sun safety? Miss the chance to get a picture of a 7th grader throwing a pie at middle school student dean Michael Riemer in support of the Haitian Relief efforts – not a chance. Snapping candid photos of seniors enjoying a fall afternoon on the senior patio instantly tugs at my own memories of a long ago fall in 1997. Every once in a while, more often than I would like to admit, I have a true Newman moment. I had one last Thursday.

Varsity basketball coach Kemper Todd poked his head in my office and mentioned that Randy Livingston ’93 would be dropping by practice that afternoon to talk to the current players. He thought it might be a nice photo opportunity. I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime, for me at least. I told everyone I crossed paths with that day. I was literally counting down the minutes until 5:00 p.m. I walked over to the hot, Tuohy gym, and watched the boys finish up practice. Coach Todd called them together and introduced Randy to them.

Rewind 17 years. I was in the 7th grade. We all got on buses and headed for the State Championship basketball game in Baton Rouge. We watched our team fight for the state title. I remember thinking to myself for the first time, “I go to school with famous people.” Randy was the best high school player in the nation that year. He was our very own Michael Jordan. So you can imagine how we felt when he fouled out of the last game of his last season at Newman. Mr. Graf, who was Coach Fitz’s assistant coach then, told me that Randy huddled the team together and said to them, “Just do what you do every day in practice and we can win this game.” And we did. Randy cheered them on from the bench. Together, the team earned Newman another state championship banner to hang in the Palaestra.

Standing there in the Tuohy last Thursday, I looked at the faces of our current basketball players and I wondered if they knew how legendary Randy is to most of us who were here then. Randy said something to them that removed that question from my mind, because it showed how humble he is despite his great talent. He said, “Teams with the most talent rarely win championships. Teams that work together, practice together, and live and breathe their sport together, win championships. I ate lunch with those guys every day.” He said his time playing for Newman was the greatest time in his basketball career. He encouraged them by saying they had to make up their minds to win and they had to do it together. He didn’t sit on the bench and sulk after he fouled out, he became the team’s loudest cheerleader.

Hearing Randy talk about that game first-hand, and watching him share his own memories was nothing short of inspiring. I think I talked about it all day Friday with colleagues, students, and my friends that rode with me to that game. It was a true Newman moment, and I consider myself very lucky.