Blue and Gold Illustrated

UNDER THE DOME Five Questions With … ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RUSSELL DORN Russell Dorn has worked in the Notre Dame athletic department since 2011. He came to South Bend after serving in a graduate assistant position at Georgia State, where he earned his masters in sports administration. BGI: What are some of the basic aspects of your job? Dorn: "My responsibilities include a lot of different things; I like to say I wear a lot of different hats. I handle stats for the teams, and I'm the primary writer or recap guy. I handle a lot of the official media for those teams, like pairing photos with stories; handle any interview requests that come in. A lot goes into it. "One of the great things about this job is there rarely is an average day; almost every one is different. Some days I'll be in front of the computer doing some writing, going through photos, doing social media, and stopping by practice to see the players and coaches. Other days it's traveling before games." BGI: What's the coolest sporting event you've witnessed in your time at Notre Dame? Dorn: "Oh, there are so many. I could name a few for several different sports. I'd probably go with the home basketball game versus Louisville in 2013 that went into multiple overtimes. "Louisville led almost the entire game in regulation, but Jerian Grant scored several points in the final minute to force the first of what would become a few overtime periods. … Eventually, Notre Dame won 104‑101 in the fifth overtime. It was just such a cool experience, you almost started watching it as a fan." BGI: What are some of the challenges with your position? Dorn: "It's certainly difficult to balance and juggle everything we have to juggle. Sometimes you're working with two, three or four sports that all need to be treated as equally as possible. Sometimes one team is in‑season while another is out, which helps a little bit." BGI: What's the best part about working for Notre Dame? Dorn: "You never know when someone that you see in the history books or you see on television is just going to make an appearance, which is so cool. "You come into work one day, and all of a sudden you're asked to say follow around ESPN's College GameDay and help them with their needs. … But really, Notre Dame's history and tradition is probably second to none, so it's a real treat to come to work every day at a university like this." BGI: Can you tell us a story about baseball coach Mik Aoki? Dorn: "My best Mik story would be how he got in a dunking tank after a weekend series last season to raise money for his old player Pete Frates in his battle against ALS. Frates played at Boston College from 2004‑07, and when Mik started with the program there, Frates was his first captain. "MLB Hall of Famer Craig Biggio also dunked his son, Conor, who started for the Irish. We had just lost that game but everyone put that aside because it helped raise money for a great cause. Mik respects Pete and his fight so much, the cause is his passion." — Jordan Wells DORN

• Cover