GBI Magazine

Gold and Black Illustrated Vol28, Digital1

Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/865278

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 20 of 74

GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1 21 felt a buzz. He thinks that'll carry into Lucas Oil Stadium, too, giving it a unique vibe. "It's going to be fun," Greg said. "All our friends and family are going to be at the game. Only our family is prob- ably rooting (for us) — maybe a few friends — they're rooting for the other team this game. But they want us to do well. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. We always love playing in front of our — those — fans and those people. "It's going to be just like a family reunion." Though Jeff publicly hasn't said much about the emo- tions he'll have entering the game, there's little doubt his pulse will be revved up. He'll be coaching against Bobby Petrino, a mentor whom he coached alongside at Louisville while Brian was the quarterback. Lucas Oil Stadium likely will be packed with fans who know him, personally or by reputation. And he knows this will be a prime opportunity to showcase his new program — and what it's about — in front of that group. "I think we've got a lot of supporters for our family and they understand what we've been able to do at the Uni- versity of Louisville, and we take a lot of pride — we're University of Louisville fans — but, without question, I think we can convert some," Jeff said at a fan event in southern Indiana, just north of Louisville, earlier this summer. "I think we'll get a very good backing from the area. I think they'll be into the games. While they might not cheer for us as much as I would like the first game, you never know what could happen." An excited utterance. A shy smile after a masterfully executed trick play. A quick pop out of the seat after a big hit. It's the Brohms, after all. And Louisville folks can't not root for them. "The Brohm family in Louisville means great athletes, smart people and good people," said McGrath, the family friend who grew up with Oscar, has four season tickets for Louisville and is a Kentucky grad. "Not only were they great athletes, but they're of the finest quality people. People you'd love to have your kid coached by or be like. When people around here talk about the Brohms, they say, 'Man, they were great athletes, but they were better people.' " j For Your Consideration Brohm daughter may be family's best athlete O scar Brohm was nervous. As a sixth-grader, daughter Kim came to him and declared she wanted to play football in a local Catholic league. It was tackle. With boys. She'd played "touch" football at recess in middle school with the boys all the time. Apparently, she was ready for the next step. Oscar didn't want her to play, but he didn't necessarily tell her that either. Fortunately, not just for him, she changed her mind. "Word got around, she had said something to some- body and the guy who ran the league goes, 'You're not going to do that to me, are you?'" said Oscar, with a smile. Kim's plate was plenty full without football. And though they may not have been the same sports her brothers played, she made just as much of an impression. "Kim might be the best athlete in the group," said longtime sports reporter Rick Bozich, who got to know the family well while covering the Louisville sports scene. Ditto, says family friend Shawn Freib- ert, who grew up with Kim's older broth- ers Jeff and Greg and is now Jeff's agent. "(Kim) might have been as athletic as any of them," Freibert said. Not only was she a three-sport athlete in high school at Mercy, an all-girls Catholic school in Louisville — play- ing either small forward or post in basketball, as a middle hitter in volleyball and middle infielder in softball — she

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of GBI Magazine - Gold and Black Illustrated Vol28, Digital1