Edsall, Baylock Show They Care

by Mike DiMauro

Storrs -- A DECADE HAS NOT YET PASSED SINCE CARL Bond was one of them, one of the parade that passed through the players' lounge and dining hall Thursday night, some with the most disconcerting thought of their lives suddenly occupying their thoughts and their lives:

Tomorrow is about to arrive.

That's why Bond, a former split end for the UConn football team, was happy to share his experiences and expertise with his once and future brethren during the UConn football program's "Career Night," happily dedicated to the total education of the student-athlete.

And so while the blatherers and scribes like to think there's not a centimeter of college sports left uncorrupted, there's nights like this and programs like this that should leave all of us renewed, regenerated and hopeful.

"Hey," Bond was saying, between talking to players about his life since graduation, "I know how lost I was when it was all over and I didn't know what was ahead."

Bond, a pre-Randy Edsall player, never had what he gladly contributed to Thursday night. He was among the several program alumni who returned to campus to chat, recruit, share and advise the players about the rest of their lives.

This was the part of college athletics fans never see.

This was a collection of FBI agents, financial planners, business owners, teachers, coaches, physical therapists and scores of other former players standing there as living proof that after football ends, the rest of your life begins.

It was fascinating to observe the seniors, in shirts and ties, asking the most relevant questions. It was amusing to watch the freshmen, in the sweatshirts and jeans, like tourists through a marketplace, totally unaware that life is going to happen for them sooner than they think.

And the mere idea that Edsall forces them to ponder life beyond football suggests that good coaching isn't merely knowing what to do on third-and-goal from the 5.

The evening is coordinated and produced by the ageless, tireless Andy Baylock, the football program's Director of Alumni and Community Affairs and UConn's former baseball coach of 24 years. Baylock has built an impressive base of former players, all of whom volunteer their time for Career Night.

"I love this," Bond said. "I'd do anything for these guys."

Bond, a 1998 graduate, has quite the interesting life. In addition to playing in the Arena League and substitute teaching and coaching in East Haven, he's played parts in two movies. He's appeared in "Invincible" with Mark Wahlberg and is still filming as Morris Chestnut's stunt double in "The Game Plan," also staring The Rock.

Somehow, it fits that Bond makes movies, given the way UConn play-by-play voice Joe D'Ambrosio used to say, "the pass is complete to Bond ... Carl Bond."

"To this day, even with my students, when I tell them my name is Mr. Bond," Bond said, "I have to say, 'No, my first name isn't James.'"

Bond spent much of the night, however, talking to the players about his new venture in the travel industry. Bond runs "007 Travel," part of the YTB Travel Network, a Web site that allows travel patrons to act as their own travel agents, using Bond's site as a guide.

Career Night has been responsible for networking that has allowed UConn players to land their first post-graduation employment. As former UConn lineman Mike Rembish, an executive at Cintas, said, "Corporations are like sports. They're recruiting winners all the time. It's all about people. If I can find one great kid tonight or one great kid in the next three years, it's worth it."

Mike Harkins, an FBI agent who graduated in 1984, said, "People who play sports, if they're competitive, they're going to do well in business."

It was right about here you wanted to broadcast what Harkins just said on CNN. Imagine: a link between sports and business on a night when an indelible link between sports, education and real life has been established.

Sort of makes you want to throttle all the pay-to-play people with a little more zeal than you wanted to yesterday.

Ah, but we digress.

The larger point of the night was to compliment Edsall and Baylock for giving a damn about their kids beyond what they do for them on the field.

Sports may be about "carpe diem" to an exponential degree. Seizing the day and living in the moment has its place in all our lives, provided that there's equally prudent advice waiting when the moment is over.

Everybody's moment ends.

Tomorrow is coming.

At UConn, they're prepared.

This is the opinion of Day assistant sports editor Mike DiMauro. He may be reached at m.dimauro@theday.com or 701-4391.