People that inspire me - Jim Wise

There are 38 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #13 of 50 – Jim Wise

Jim Wise is my older brother.

Jim in the middle

I have two brothers that are 8 and 9 years older than me so being the youngest was not always easy.  And my older brothers did the normal things to me that siblings would do in terms of picking on me and giving me a hard time but as I grew up Jim started to pick on me less and support me more.  And to this day I don’t have anyone that is as supportive as him.

To be around Jim is to be constantly laughing and entertained.  He has a very outgoing personality and is usually the center of attention whenever we have a family get together.  He can take an everyday, ordinary story and turn it into a standup comedy routine.  He is one of those people you just like to be around because you know something funny or memorable will happen.

Our family has always been into all kinds of motorsports and Jim was no different.  While I was more into the go-kart type racing he was more into motorcycles.  I can remember watching both of my brothers at a young age riding around our farm on their motorbikes and wanting to follow their footsteps in some fashion.  Eventually Jim would drag race Harley Davidson’s and win several races and trophies. 

As I got into high school and more into team sports, Jim would often show up and be one of my biggest fans.  I didn’t tell him at the time but it really meant a lot to see him take time from his busy schedule to travel to one of my games or meets.

At a young age he began working construction and has worked his way up the ranks through his company for the past 30+ years.  He is an extremely hard working and dedicated professional and his fingerprints are on building projects all over state of Ohio and city of Cincinnati.  I imagine when he retires he will have a great sense of pride in all that he has accomplished in his work life.

More about Jim below but first …

I asked Jim seven questions, here are his responses …

Question 1:  What advice I would I give the 15-year-old version of yourself?

Jim: 1) Listen to your parents they know what is best for you! 2) Be careful on who you pick as friends because they can have a big influence on some of the decisions you might chose to make. 3) Do not let people influence you to make bad decisions 4) Stay in school, go to college so you don’t have to work manual labor (Like I have for 30 years).

Question 2:  If money was no option, what would you do for the rest of your life?

Jim:  I would spend the money helping the less fortunate, so they could have a better life. I would also make sure that my mother could go anywhere and have anything that her heart desired even though she could do that on her own. But Hey, I love my mom! I would also provide the money to build the world’s largest dog shelter and pay the staff a good wage to run / operate it. Then my wife and I could then travel the world helping people, and rescuing dogs.

Question 3:  What is your favorite non-work thing to do?

Jim:  After 30 years of hard work my favorite thing to do is take it easy, besides that I like to travel to Florida when I’m off in the winter to spend time with my mother and wonderful family Debbie, Rocky, John and Colton!

Question 4:  If your life was a movie, what would the title be and who would play you?

Jim:  The Wild Adventures of Jimmy Wise. I would pick Evel Knievel to play me.

Question 5:  What one thing would you change about society?

Jim:  I would like to change how society judges people when they don’t know the whole story or have walked in that person’s shoes.

Question 6:  Who inspires you and why?

Jim:  My younger brother John Wise. From a young age, John exceled at anything he did. He started racing go go-karts, and became the Jeff Gordon of go-kart racing winning many races. As you might already know many of the kids he raced against went on to become NASCAR and IndyCar drivers. My Brother went on to win the 1992 400m state championship in the state of Ohio. He then went to Kent State University on a track scholarship where he graduated with a degree in business management. John was also named to the all-Mid-American Conference team as a sprinter in 1997-1998. John also was part of the MAC Championship and the 4x100m relay team. After college John joined the Kent State staff serving under current Shockers coach Steve Rainbolt for five seasons. John later returned to Eastern Brown for three seasons as the head coach and won the Conference Coach of the Year five times in track and twice in cross country. John later moved to Kansas to become a Track coach for the Wichita State Shockers and in 2011, he was promoted to Assistant Director of Track and Field that goes along with his coaching and recruiting roles. My brother is someone who loves what he does for a living. He goes to work every day and does what he loves. John could have any job he chooses, yet he loves coaching and teaching these young adults how to become better athletes and outstanding young adults. Therefore, he inspires me! I’m so proud to call him my brother! When people ask me who he is I love to tell them this story. I’m so proud of you John!

Question 7:  What makes you laugh?

Jim:  Facebook! Funnier than Monty Python and Benny Hill!

Final thoughts … Why is Jim Wise inspirational to me?

I’m realizing it’s impossible to accurately describe Jim on paper.  If you really want to know about Jim, you have to experience being with and around him.

But what I can definitely say with all sincerity is that Jim has one of the biggest hearts a human being was ever given.  You can read some of that above in his answers but something that isn’t mentioned is how he took in our nephew Colton and, along with his wife Debbie, has helped raise him into young adulthood.  This wasn’t something Jim signed up for but it was a responsibility he took as seriously as anything he’s ever done in life.

 

Our nephew Colton is now in college and one of the smartest young people you could ever meet.  While Jim may not have gone to college or earned a master’s degree, he is a graduate of the school of hard knocks and made sure Colton had everything he needed to start a successful life of his own.  I’m not sure I could’ve done the same thing as Jim and Debbie because I’m probably much too selfish with my own life.  We’re all lucky to have people like Jim in our world.

You don’t choose your siblings.  Sometimes your brother or sister is the closest person to you in your life and sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.  I think my relationship with my brother Jimmy has had a little bit of everything and I feel extremely lucky for that.  Life isn’t perfect and neither are all the people in it.  Jim has made mistakes like all of us have, but unlike some people he has never blamed anyone else for his lot in life and has always continued to strive and work hard to make it better for him and the people around him.  Sometimes we are inspired by professional athletes, leaders in the business world or successful academic types but more often than not there are people like my brother Jim who does the real heavy lifting in life so the rest of us can live a little easier.

Thank you Jim for being a great example for Colton and for being the best big brother a little spoiled punk like me could ever have!

People that inspire me - Korey Torgerson

There are 39 weeks left in the year and once a week I will write about someone in my life that is inspiring or motivating to me.  Hopefully others will read it and gain a little bit of inspiration in their life as well.  There is no particular order to these writings, just a bunch of people I am fortunate enough to know.  So without further ado ….

Inspirational person #12 of 50 – Korey Torgerson

Korey Torgerson is an Associate Athletic Director at Wichita State in charge of NCAA Compliance.  To most coaches, the words NCAA compliance are like nails on a chalkboard and the people in charge of it are generally looked at like Toby Flenderson in the tv show The Office.

But the big difference between Korey Torgerson and Toby Flenderson is that Korey is universally respected, well-liked and much needed in our athletic department.

There are many people behind the scenes that do work that the rest of us coaches dare not try.  They cover our butts by making sure we aren’t breaking NCAA rules and make sure we know what’s going on in the world outside of the track or field.  They are critical to our success and if you’re lucky enough to have a guy like Korey in your corner then you can really focus on what you love … coaching and working with young people.

Did you know Korey was a college tennis player and eventually a women’s basketball coach at Bethany College?  Did you know his wife, Deana, was an All-American Javelin thrower for the Shocker Track & Field team and her photo adorns the North end of Cessna Stadium?  Did you know that the amount of paper he’s printed out for me to go through in my 11 years at WSU is equal to a forest the size of Greenland?

More about Korey below but first …

I asked Korey five questions, here are his responses …

​Question 1:  If your life was a movie, what would the title be and who would play you?

Korey:  If my life was a movie, the title would probably be "Under the Radar."  In my role as Associate Athletic Director/Compliance, I try to stay "under the radar" and behind the scenes.  Compliance work is not "in your face" work.  A lot of compliance work is done behind the scenes and I enjoy being a behind the scenes person.  I have never craved the spotlight.  The majority of time compliance is in the spotlight, it is usually not positive news.  Former WSU AD Eric Sexton also called me "Radar" after the character in M.A.S.H. because I would hand him pieces of paper and just ask him to sign it...like Radar.  I would have the talented Justin Timberlake play my part.

Question 2:  If money was no option, what would you do with the rest of your life?

Korey:  I could win the lottery tomorrow and not make any drastic changes to my daily life.  I would buy a little bigger house to give all of us more room.  I believe I would continue to work because I would get bored if I didn't work.  I have kids in 2nd, 5th and 7th grade.  It would be hard to do a lot of traveling with them in school.  I would play more golf, work out more often, travel and do more volunteer work.  I would also give away money to organizations for whom I have a passion!

Question 3:  What would you like to change about today’s society?

Korey:  Our society needs to become more fact-oriented and less spin-oriented.  Our society also needs to be more about substance than show.  We need to be more tolerant.  We need to spend more time in the other person's shoes and understand their perspective before we close our minds to their ideas and beliefs.

Question 4: What have you yet to accomplish that you’d very much like to happen?

Korey:  When I started working in athletics, I said I wanted to be a small part in a team winning a National Championship.  The Shockers came close in 2013 when the men's basketball team went to the Final Four.  I like working at a smaller school because I think we appreciate the "small" victories.  Our coaches, administrators, and student-athletes work hard to accomplish big things...with fewer resources.  We will continue work hard and push ourselves as far as we can go.

Question 5:  Who/What inspires you?

Korey:  People inspire me, especially the people who dream about bigger things and do not limit themselves.  It is inspiring to see people struggle but continue to persevere until they find success.  I see it all the time in student-athletes.  The adjustment from high school athletics to college athletics is a jump for many student-athletes.  They will often struggle for the first year or two and then you often see a light bulb turn on toward the end of their sophomore year.  Because of their hard work, good attitude, attention to detail and ability to receive coaching, they find success. I believe that when we don't find success, it is often because we get in our own way.  I am around and talk to people on a daily basis that inspire me, including Deana and my kids!

Final thoughts … Why is Korey Torgerson inspirational to me?

Every few weeks we have a department coaches’ meeting and Korey will stand up to give us updates on NCAA rules or quiz us to make sure we are staying on top of things.  He endures Coach Rainbolt and Chris Lamb’s endless questions about the most inane topics imaginable with a smile and a serious reply every time.  If he doesn’t know the answer he’ll say so and go find it.  And he always does it with the best interest of the coaches at heart.

My previous stop in Division I athletics did not have someone as easy to work with in the NCAA compliance department as Korey.  In fact it seemed, often, as if we were working against each other.  I know this is more common than not at universities across the nation and those of us at Wichita State need to know how lucky we are to have Korey on our side.

Korey is one of the first administrators I ever saw drive all the way to Northern Iowa to watch our team compete in the MVC Championships.  And he did it multiple times.  That meant a lot to me, our staff and the kids on our team to see him there.  And he wasn’t just there to make an appearance – he was emotionally invested in our kids and keeping track of every event hoping we could pull out a victory.  He didn’t get a bonus for that or even recognition within the department.  He did it because he’s a great guy and cares about the track and field program.  That’s who Korey Torgerson is.

Too often we take the people around us for granted.  And often those people don’t let us know because they are humble don’t want to make us feel bad.  Korey is one of the true “good guys” in the world of college athletics that I’m sure much of the athletic department takes for granted.  We in the track and field program truly know how valuable he is to what we do on a daily basis.  Thank you Korey for being a true professional as well as being a great friend.  Hopefully this will give you a tiny bit of the recognition you undoubtedly deserve.  Go Shocks!