Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/388723
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? the mid-1990s. "I saw it as a perfect fit because of my career in sports, I cared about community and had a legal background to handle the business aspect of it," Mahalic said. His role has many facets, from attempt- ing to bring Major League Baseball to Portland to making Oregon the prime location for track and field. The World Indoor Champion- ships will be coming to Portland in 2016, and the plan is to have the World Out- door Championships there, too, in 2019. The NCAA Track & Field Champion- ships will be held in the state in years to come, the NCAA Basketball Champi- onship is becoming more prominent in that region, the Major League Soccer All-Star Game was recently held there, and the goal is to do the same with the NBA All-Star Game. Meanwhile, grass-roots programs such as All Comers Track Meets have begun for children. "The sports events help the econ- omy, help the quality of life, but we're also involved with helping young kids lead healthy lives through athletics — getting them running, getting them interested in sports so that they have a vitality to themselves that is great for their health and great for social learning as well," Mahalic said. "There is so much variety in what we do that every day is something new and exciting." His days at Notre Dame were similar. FROM QB TO LB The 1970 Michigan Player of the Year while playing quar- terback and leading North Farmington High in Birmingham to the state champi- onship, Mahalic was part of head coach A r a P a r s e g h i a n ' s (1964-74) best bal- anced and most tal- ented recruiting class during his reign. The group was led by quarterback Tom Clements, and running backs Wayne "The Train" Bullock and Eric Penick; wide receiver Pete Demmerle; five fu- ture starters along the offensive line, led by longtime pro Steve Sylvester and Gerry DiNardo; and a defense spear- headed by future first-round pick Mike Fanning at tackle, second-round selec- tion Greg Collins, Mahalic at linebacker and Reggie Barnett at corner. Mahalic played quarterback in 1971 for the ju- Mahalic is nearing his second decade with the Oregon Sports Authority, a non-profit organization charged with bringing major sporting events and teams to the state. PHOTO COURTESY DREW MAHALIC