Photo: CSNChicago.com

We’re excited to announce Pat Boyle of Comcast Sports Chicago will be emceeing SpartyBall 2012.

Pat is a true professional who spent some time at ESPN prior to landing at Comcast Chicago. He’s one of Chicago’s most well-known sports anchors in Chicago. Come out to meet Pat at SpartyBal

One thing that Mateen and Robaire have in common is that they are among the many Spartan sports stars who came to East Lansing from the city of Flint. And while their collective nickname, the Flintstones, is borrowed from a cartoon, their athletic prowess was no laughing matter to MSU’s Big 10 opponents.

Cleaves’ decision to enroll at Michigan State in 1996 was a huge coup for Tom Izzo, who had become head basketball coach only a year earlier,  and it sparked an almost immediate role reversal, with MSU beginning a long period of state basketball dominance over arch-rival Michigan. A point guard who was a three-time team captain and three-time all-American, Cleaves led the Spartans to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1998, the Final Four in 1999, and the team’s second national championship ever with an 89-76 victory over Florida in 2000.

It was Cleaves’ play after enduring a serious injury in the championship game that made him a fixture in the Spartans’ pantheon of sports heroes. He suffered a severe ankle sprain when he was undercut by a Florida player with about 16 minutes left in the game, but came back on the court just four minutes later and led his team to a strong finish. No MSU fan around for that game will ever forget Mateen’s mid-court victory dance in the game’s waning seconds.

After setting the all-time MSU and Big 10 career record for assists, Cleaves played in the NBA  and other professional leagues until 2008. He is now a television sports analyst.

Smith was a classmate of Cleaves at Flint Northern High School and was a standout defensive end on the 1999-2000 Spartan football team that went 9-2 during the regular season and then defeated Florida 37-34 in the Citrus Bowl. His fierce play on the defensive line resulted in 22 career sacks and 48 tackles for lost yardage while wearing green and white.

Since leaving East Lansing, Smith built one of the most enduring NFL careers among Spartan football alumni. He played four seasons with the Tennessee Titans, two years for the Houston Texans, one more with Tennessee and four years with the Cleveland Browns. Among his impressive NFL stats are 21 career quarterback sacks.

The food you want. Whenever. Wherever. GrubHub has transformed the way Spartans in over 75 cities think about food. But did you know GrubHub co-founder Matt Maloney is a Spartan himself? 

Matt Maloney is the co-founder and CEO of GrubHub.com. Before conjuring up plans with his good friend Mike Evans to take over the online delivery world, Matt majored in physiology at Michigan State University. But as the Internet was emerging, he dreamt of becoming a “ World Wide Web-master” and decided to turn on, boot up and jack in. Switching gears, he picked up a master’s in computer science at University of Chicago and jumped headfirst into building major Internet websites. Matt worked at Chicago-based Classified Ventures as a software engineer creating online solutions for Apartments.com. In 2004, Matt and Mike founded GrubHub.com. Recently, Matt was the entrepreneur in residence at the Illinois Institute of Technology and completed his MBA at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

We are pleased to honor Matt as a member of the Executive Host Committee for SpartyBall 2012. To learn more about the other hosts, visit the Executive Host page.

And don’t forget to buy your tickets to hang out with Matt, our other hosts, and 300 Spartans at the River East Art Center on February 25 for SpartyBall 2012!

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The Hotel Palomar is located at the corner of State St. and Illinois, just a few short blocks from the River East Art Center and SpartyBall 2012.  The Palomar features luxurious, modern rooms and is the home of Sable Restaurant and Top Chef Season 9 Contestant Heather Terhune.

Don’t miss out on the best Spartan event in Chicago. See you at SpartyBall!

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As an undergrad, Roger played catcher for the Spartan baseball team. His dual passions for America’s Pastime and Michigan State University are the driving force behind his efforts to create a baseball scholarship gift with MSU. In addition to their charitable gifts to the University, Mary Anne and Roger have been extremely active locally, through their support of SpartyBall, the Chicago Spartan Charity Golf Outing and college recruitment fairs across the Chicagoland area.

After a successful career in the medical device industry, Roger is the Director/Owner of HandMRecruiting, a firm that specializes in physician recruitment. Mary Anne runs a flourishing interior design business, Robins Egg Blue, and was an Education and Interior Design double major at Michigan State. Neither have any intentions on slowing down or retiring anytime soon. Roger and Mary Anne have three children and three grandchildren. Their son, Roger Jr., owns Socca Restaurant near Clark and Belmont.

Please join us in congratulating Roger and Mary Anne as part of the 7th Annual SpartyBall in the Windy City at the River East Art Center.

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased through events.org.

“You don’t have to have vision to be visionary.”

Aaron Scheidies is a 29 year old that has overcome more in his short life than many conquer in a lifespan. Born with a hereditary eye condition that slowly deteriorates his central vision, Aaron now has 20% of the vision of a fully sighted person. After battling through hard times in his early teens, Aaron found the sport of triathlon and turned his life around. Beginning with sprint triathlon and continuing up the triathlon pyramid, Aaron is now a seven-time triathlon World Champion and eight-time National Champion, having traveled around the globe competing in over nearly 200 triathlons.

Just as he is a multi-dimensional athlete, he also excels in all aspects of life. At Michigan State University Aaron had a perfect 4.0 GPA, was the president of the MSU Triathlon Club, volunteered over 100 hours helping other students with disabilities and was inducted into the Athletes with Disability Hall of Fame.
He graduated with a BS in Kinesiology from MSU and in July 2008 completed his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Washington going on to work as a therapist for Rehab Care.

There is courage in all of us. How will you use yours?

Spartans Will.

We will announce our 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award on Dec. 12, 2011. Stay tuned for the announcement!

The purpose of the Distinguished Alumni Award is to recognize the achievements of Michigan State Alumni who serve the Metro Chicago community, increase the awareness in the local community of Michigan State University alumni and their accomplishments and promote the Michigan State University Alumni Club of Metro Chicago and its activities. The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to alumni who have made outstanding contributions in their chosen fields, service in local community affairs or support in the advancement of Michigan State University. The Distinguished Alumni must be graduates of a degree program of Michigan State University. The award recipients will represent diverse fields of accomplishment, and representation of all the colleges will be considered as part of the selection process.

Learn More.

Prepare for an unparalleled evening of festivity and enjoyment. February 25, 2012 at the River East Art Center. Buy tickets today.