World T.E.A.M. Sports at 20 Years October 2013 | Page 3

If you’ve ever heard Ara Parseghian talk, you know that he’s a
person of passion, commitment and involvement. At our high school
sports banquet, he talked about how important it was through sports
to give back and be involved. I actually wrote some of his comments
down, and I don’t think many 14-year-olds are writing things down at
any sports banquet. So, I wrote down a few comments because it was
very, very moving.
At about the same time, I met an individual by the name of Ricky
Prine. Ricky Prine was an individual, a mainstreamed individual who
was born with severe congenital birth defects. He was in a wheelchair.
He could only move his hands and head a little bit. He was as disabled
as you possibly could be physically, but he was as alive as you
possibly could be – mentally and emotionally. Ricky Prine was a very
bright young man. He went to the college prep classes as did I, and I
was lucky enough to be his pusher. I heard that word used earlier
today – I was the pusher of Ricky Prine for four years. While he
couldn’t move his arms or legs, his mind was fertile and he never had
a bad day. He had the best attitude of any individual I’ve ever
encountered. I’ve never met a person who had a more joyous outlook
on life than this severely disabled young man, Ricky Prine. He was
our class valedictorian, went to the prom, and went to every game. He
was as fully engaged in the life of this high school, McHenry
Community High School, as a person could be. He was an inspiration
to absolutely everyone.
A few years later, he died at age 24. I thought to myself there needs
to be a way to help people like the Ricky Prines of the world get better
opportunities. He died at age 24 – he probably should have died at age
six according to his parents, but he did live a lot longer. I just sort of

wrote that down. If I was ever an adult and in a position, I think
maybe it would be a good thing to tell the story of the Ricky Prines of
the world and give individuals like that an opportunity to have more
of an opportunity in life.
Well, I got involved in the insurance business, and I forgot about
Ricky Prine and about doing things. I did like everyone else. I decided
I wanted to make some money, and I was a producer with the
Management Compensation Group in Los Angeles, when MCGLA
was a reasonably successful COLI organization. We are in the
executive benefits business. They were heady days in 1983-1986, and
making money was certainly a lot more interesting than being
involved in community activities.
However, I met a person by the name of Steve Ackerman, who was
one of our junior partners. Steve was involved with California Special
Olympics. He invited me to a Special Olympics summer games at
UCLA. Special Olympics as you might know, has to do with people
with mental retardation – only mental retardation. There may be other
disabilities, but everyone has a mental disability. I went to that, and I
saw how these young people strive with their determination and
bravery. In fact, the motto of Special Olympics is “let me win, but if I
cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” I was actually blown
away by the gentle guilelessness of these individuals and how they
participated with one another.
Over the course of the next year or so, I was able to meet Rafer
Johnson who was the decathlon champion and head of California
Special Olympics, and got involved. But as things turn out, I noticed
that maybe this is true, I don’t want to make any negative comments
about southern California, but things tend to be a little glitzy out there,