Carrier Classic

The story of Crabbe Family

Corporal Justin Crabbe will never forget August 26^th 2011. That was the day an IED blast caused him to lose both legs. He had an injury and continued his recovery in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland with his father Cliff, mother Maureen and sister Jenn right by his side.

After 13 weeks the orders ended and Justin became out-patient. His father was able to stay with him in the a wounded warriors  barracks, but his mom and sister were left with no place to stay, yet determent to stay close to Justin. 

And then they learned about the Fisher House Foundation, and were given a”home away home” in a 20-suite comfort home; just walking distance away from Justin. 

The whole family got a chance to be there for Justin’s medical appointments and treatments, barbeques and family holidays – and got a chance to see Justin’s incredible progress.

After few months, dad and sister had to return home to California and mum became his non-medical attendant, where she has continued to support Justin throughout long hours of walking the track, climbing stairs, climbing up and down an incline ramp. 

The hard work paid off and Justin is now able to walk with no cane. He’s coming back home to California for good on November 17th!

The Crabbe family continues to remember and be grateful for all the support they got; especially being able to stay in Fisher House close to Justin.

The Celebrity Fans

The participating universities haven’t only produced numerous excellent basketball players, but also schooled some very famous people from the world of entertainment. 

See which celebrities will be cheering for their former university teams! 

Ohio State University was attended by comedian and actor Richard Lewis, who is especially known for his roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Robin Hood; Men in Tights and Anything but Love. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1969 with a degree in marketing and communications.  

The Buckeyes also have alumnus with Emmy awards. One among them is actress Patricia Heaton, famous for portraying Debra Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. This former Buckeye graduated in 1980 with a BA in Theater. 

                    Richard Lewis                                  Patricia Heaton

Also Notre Dame has a fare share of popular culture celebrities. Remember Norm from Cheers? Actor George Wendt attended Notre Dame, but never graduated. Another one of the famous Fighting Irish is Regis Philbin. The host of Live! with Regis and Kelly graduated in 1953 with a sociology degree.

                   George Wendt                                     Regis Philbin

And famous Marquette fans?

Danny Pudi, actor and comedian, best known for his role as Abed Nadir on the series Community, graduated with a degree in Communication and Theatre in 2001.  Also Kevin Farley, accomplished actor, writer, comedian and director, whom you might remember from films The Straight Story, Beverly Hills Ninja and the Waterboy graduated from Marquette,  majoring in business, in 1998.  

 

The real reason for the Carrier Classic

We’ve been doing our best to get you prepared for the Carrier Classic game by providing you with all kinds of information about  the competing teams. 

But now it’s time to get you better acquainted with the reasons for our efforts. The Carrier Classic game is a fun event designed to honor and entertain, but one of its most important goals is raising money for our veterans.  And this year we’ve teamed up with the Fisher House Foundation.

Here are the reasons we’re amazed by this organization: 

Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

The Fisher House in Stratton

No family pays to stay at any of the houses, and the Fisher House Foundation uses donations to reimburse the individual Fisher Houses operated by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. 

The stats of 57 Fisher Houses all over the United States and Germany are remarkable. Since their beginning in 1990 they have: 

• Been “a home away from home”  for nearly 160,000 families
• Offered over 4 million lodging days 
• Saved families more than $192 million in lodging and transportation cost

But that’s not all; The Fisher House Foundation also administers and sponsors other programs; such as  Scholarships for Military Children, the Hero Miles program and the Newman’s Own Award. 

Click here to find out more about this amazing organization and how you can help support it.

Marquette and Buckeyes NBA players

Both  Ohio State University and Marquette University  have a long history of raising exceptional basketball players. Check out which former Marquettes and Buckeyes are now playing in the NBA. 

Since 1948 over 50 Marquette players have been selected in NBA Draft. In the 2012 Draft two Golden Eagles were drafted: Jae Crowder was selected by the Dallas Mavericks and Darius Johnson-Odom  has become a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

In the 2012-13 season there were 5 other Marquette Alumni playing on the NBA courts:

• Steve Novak is forward for New York Knicks
• Dwyne Wade plays for the Miami Heat
• Wesley Matthews is in the Portland Trail Blazers
• Jimmy Butler is a member of the Chicago Bulls 
• Lazar Hayward hoops for  the  Tulsa 66er

Ohio State’s track record is no less impressive. Since 1947, 49 of their basketball players have been drafted. In last draft Jared Sullinger was picked by the Boston Celtics.

He joined 5 other former Buckeyes currently playing in the NBA:

• Mike Conley is in the Memphis Grizzlies
• Daequan Cook plays for the Houston Rockets
• Kosta Koufos is center for the Denver Nuggets
• Byron Mullens is member of the Charlotte Bobcats
• Evan Turner hoops for the Philadelphia 76ers

Start preparing for The Game

With the Carrier Classic game just one week away, it’s time to start your game preparations. 

We gathered the music and the lyrics of the fight songs of all participating teams, so you can start rehearsing for the perfect sing-along with your favorite Carrier Classic team.

The Ranking of the Universities

We left the traditional comparisons of the universities like tuition, grades and national rankings behind and prepared a bit more informal match-up of the competing universities.

Number of Students that will cheer for their team in the Carrier Classic: 

1. Ohio State:  56,867 
2. Notre Dame: 12,004
3. Marquette:  11,749 

Team travel distance to the 2012 Carrier Classic: 

1. Marquette: 1,002 miles from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2. Notre Dame: 867 miles from South Bend, Indiana
3. Ohio State: 640 miles from Columbus, Ohio

   

The biggest playground:

1. Ohio State University: 1,764 acres 
2. Notre Dame University: 1,250 acres 
3. Marquette University: 93 acres

   

When male students were first able to meet girls in class: 

1. Ohio State University: in 1879
2. Marquette University: in 1909
3. Notre Dame: in 1972

   

1. Ohio State: 465,000 
2. Notre Dame: approximately 120,000 
3. Marquette:  over 100,000 

   

What happened to the best players of the 2011 Carrier Classic?

We followed up with what happened to the best players of last year’s Carrier Classic game. 

The game’s best player Harrison Barnes from North Carolina, who scored 17 points at the Carrier Classic game, was drafted by The Golden State Warriors.

His teammate John Henson, who added 12 points to the final Tar Heels score, is now a member of The Milwaukee Bucks.

Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne, who scored 10 points for Michigan State, continue to play for the Spartans in the 2012-2013 season. 

The Coaches of Women’s teams

See who’ll be be leading the Women’s teams on the first ever Carrier Classic women game.   

Muffet McGraw 

Position: Head Coach

Alma Mater: Saint Joseph’s (1977)

Experience: 31th year (26th at Notre Dame)

Coaching Stats:  

• Lehigh, 5 seasons, 88 – 41
• Notre Dame, 25 Seasons, 591-215
• Total overall career record:  679-256

Coaching Highlights: 

• 4 Final Fours (1997, 2001, 2011 and 2012) 
• made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 6 out of the last 11 seasons
• has had 20-win seasons in 13 out of the past 14 seasons
• led the Irish to 14 NCAA tournament appearances including a current streak of 12 straight. 
• compiled 50 wins over ranked opponents, including 40 over the last 8 seasons. 
• one of only six coaches in the 125-year history of Fighting Irish athletics to win 500 games at Notre Dame
• a perfect 100-percent graduation rate for all players entering the program since 1987
• finished in the Top 3 of the Big East in 9 out of the 11 seasons they have been in the league
• gotten 11 consecutive Top 20 ranked recruiting classes
• the 27th coach in NCAA history to win over 500 career games, and is currently 25th on the all-time NCAAWB wins list with 644 victories
• awarded the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award in 2001

Jim Foster

Position: Head Coach

Alma Mater: Temple (1980)

Experience: 35th Year (11th season at Ohio State)

Coaching Stats:  

• Ohio State, 10 seasons, 261 – 69
• Vanderbilt, 11 seasons,  256 – 99
• St. Joseph’s, 13 seasons, 248 – 126
• Total overall career record:  765 - 294

Coaching Highlights 

• 27 postseason appearances (26 NCAA tournaments), including 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments
• his is the eighth-winningest active coach in Division I and is just the second collegiate coach - men’s or women’s at any level - to win at least 200 games at three different schools
• helped the Buckeyes qualify for a school-record 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments and rank in the national Top 10 in five of the last the last seven seasons
• a four-time Big Ten coach of the year (2005-07, ‘09)
• led the Buckeyes to a record-setting sixth consecutive Big Ten regular season title 
• a second straight tournament title in 2010 while setting a program record with 31 wins
• during the last eight seasons, Ohio State has the ninth-most wins (218) in Division I women’s college basketball and is one of eight schools to win at least 20 games over the last 10 years

Buckeyes vs. Golden Eagles

Meet both teams that will take the stage on this year’s Carrier Classic Men’s game. 

Ohio State Buckeyes: 114th season

• Head Coach: Thad Matta

Stats for 2011– 2012 season:

• Points per game: 74.7
• Scoring margin: +14.9

Who to watch:

• Deshaun Thomas (avg. 15.9 points/game), named to the 2012-13 Preseason All-American

Highlights:

Marquette Golden Eagles: 86th season

• Head Coach: Buzz Williams 

Stats for  2011– 2012 season:

• Points per game: 75.4
• Scoring margin: +9.4

Who to watch:

• Jake Thomas (avg. 13.6 points/game)

Highlights:

The Battle of #4

Today we are comparing Skylar Diggins from Notre Dame and Tayler Hill from Ohio State.  Not only they are the best players of their teams, they’re both wearing #4. 

Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame)

• #4 
• Position: Guard
• Height: 5’9”
• Class: Sr
• Hometown: South Bend, Indiana
• High School: Washington 

The 2011-2012 stats:

• started all 39 games of the season
• averaged 16.8 points
• played 1201 min

Career Honors: 

• 2012- 2013 “Wade Watch” list for the State Farm Wade Trophy
• 2011 Associated Press All-American (third team)
• 2009 McDonald’s All-American 
• 2009 Indiana Miss Basketball award
• 2009 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year 

Fun facts:

• Teammates call her “Sky”, 
• topped 1,000 points in her first two seasons
• has 275.000 Twitter followers 

Tayler Hill (Ohio State)

• #4 
• Position: Guard
• Height: 5’10”
• Class: Sr
• Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
• High School: South

The 2011-2012 stats:

• started all 32 games of the season
• averaged 20.4 points
• played 1175 min

Career Honors: 

• 2012 – 13 The Big Ten media and coaches Preseason Player of the year 
• 2012 – 13 “Wade Watch” list for the State Farm Wade Trophy
• 2011- 12 WBCA All-America Honorable Mention
• 2010 – 11 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten 
• 2009 – 10 Big Ten freshman of the week

Fun facts:

• has six siblings
• enjoys writing poems
• cousin Devon George plays in the NBA (Dallas Mavericks) 
• in high school spent one day a week volunteering at a local Children’s Hospital