Since Northwestern’s announcement of Medill graduate and ESPN.com senior writer J.A. Adande’s selection as the 2012 Homecoming Grand Marshal, the excitement has been noticeable on Northwestern’s campus.
But Los Angeles Lakers star shooting guard Kobe Bryant was not quite as impressed when he heard the news about the NBA reporter at the team practice Adande (Medill '92) was covering.
“Kobe said, ‘They must not have very many options,’” Adande said with a laugh.
But Adande said Bryant quickly cracked a smile and came back out of the locker room to congratulate the former Los Angeles Times reporter and ESPN “Around the Horn” panelist on the honor.
Adande first knew he would be involved at Homecoming in some way over the summer, when he participated in an email exchange with the Northwestern University Homecoming Committee. However, he said he did not know until last week what his role in the festivities would entail.
“They confirmed about a week ago, and then I just had to hold my tongue,” Adande said. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought they were calling to ask me to be on a panel or something. I was stunned.”
The prominence of the last two Grand Marshals - Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers (Comm '96) and Law & Order’s Stephanie March (Comm '96) - only adds to Adande’s excitement about the opportunity.
But Adande's trip to Evanston later this month won't be anything unusual for the sportswriter.
“If I have any time when I’m in Chicago, I try to stop by and check out campus,” he said.
Adande typically makes it to at least one Northwestern football game per year. But even with his frequent visits to the Evanston area, Adande looks forward to seeing a Homecoming event that he says is promoted much more heavily than the ones that took place when he was a student.
“Homecoming was not as big of a deal back then,” he said.
While it may have been downplayed during his time at Northwestern, this year’s event will be a weeklong extravaganza. Over the course of the week, the celebration will include a bonfire, athletic field day, late night at Deering, royalty talent show and a student/alumni mixer. The main events of the week are the parade, pep rally and football game against Iowa, three events in which Adande will have a crucial role.
A lot has changed since Adande attended Northwestern, especially the competitiveness of the football program. The team finished with a 3-8 record his senior year, a far cry from the stellar performance so far of this year's 5-0 Wildcats.
“Hopefully they stay undefeated,” he said. “I’ve been to three [Northwestern] bowl games, and I’ve seen some big games. But the Homecoming game always meant a little something extra.”
Before Adande arrives in Evanston to lead the Homecoming festivities and cheer on the newly ranked ‘Cats against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the team must make it through a stretch of tough games, including this coming weekend’s matchup with Penn State and a Family Weekend battle with Nebraska.
Even with the tough schedule, Adande feels good about his team’s chances, at least for now. He picked Northwestern to go into Beaver Stadium and beat the Nittany Lions in front of the more than 100,000 Penn State faithful sure to be in attendance.
“If there was ever a time to beat Penn State, it is now,” he said. “It is not going to be as high-scoring as last week, but I think Northwestern takes it.”
Northwestern's Homecoming game is Oct. 27. While Adande hopes the 'Cats will stay undefeated on the field, he's willing to make sacrifices to his own competitive record on ESPN for his alma mater.
“Being recognized by my school like this is a great honor,” he said. “I would be willing to take early exits on Around the Horn for the rest of the year.”