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<channel>
	<title>City Desk &#187; CUA</title>
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	<link>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk</link>
	<description>D.C. News, Politics, Media, Arts, and More</description>
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		<title>Cardinal&#8217;s Nest Show Showdown Today at D.C. ABRA</title>
		<link>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/25/cardinals-nest-show-showdown-today-at-dc-abra/</link>
		<comments>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/25/cardinals-nest-show-showdown-today-at-dc-abra/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:09:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan J. Reilly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ABC Board/ABRA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brookland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bureaucracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Paper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colleges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Follow That Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food & Drink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cardinal's Nest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic University of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CUA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=18957</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration has ordered Cardinal's Nest owner Darrell Green, a former D.C. police officer, to appear before the board today to answer multiple charges: that he allowed underage drinking; allowed beverages to be sold that were not for consumption inside of the establishment; permitted the sale of back drinks (translation: double-fisting); [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The <strong>D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration</strong> has ordered Cardinal's Nest owner <strong>Darrell Green</strong>, a former D.C. police officer, to appear before the board today to answer multiple charges: that he allowed underage drinking; allowed beverages to be sold that were not for consumption inside of the establishment; permitted the sale of back drinks (translation: double-fisting);  played music too loud; and violated multiple specifications of a voluntary agreement he entered with Brookland residents.  He was also charged with not making that agreement available for inspection.<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-211" title="cardinalsnest" src="http://blogs.cuatower.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cardinalsnest.jpg" alt="cardinalsnest" width="240" height="150" /></p>
<p>Green is scheduled to appear before the board today at 1 p.m. At last check, he was being represented by <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36604">Andrew J. Kline</a>, who Loose Lips reported in December violated nearly a dozen rules of professional conduct, including committing criminal forgery and engaging in behavior “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation," according to <a href="../files/2008/12/1217kline.pdf">a report</a> [PDF] issued by the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Board of Professional Responsibility.</p>
<p><em>Read the full report and other details after the jump.</em><br />
<span id="more-18957"></span></p>
<p><em><strong>City Paper</strong></em> <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=35634">covered the bar last May</a> and their <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=35667">Go-Go music last June</a> after shootings outside the club. There have been several incidents since, including <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2008/11/14/cardinals-nest-fight/">an assault in November</a>. (Find coverage of these incidents over <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/tag/cardinals-nest/">at the Tower</a>, Catholic U.'s student newspaper, where I also work.)</p>
<p>ABRA investigators visited Cardinal's Nest on Aug. 28 in response to a <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2008/11/21/cua-dean-files-complaint-against-cardinal%E2%80%99s-nest/">complaint</a> by an associate dean of students at CUA. That is where they allegedly observed the sale of alcoholic beverages to underage students. The complaint says the investigators "observed several patrons with Xs on their hands drinking from cups of beer in their hands and in some cases holding two cups of beer." They also saw a bartender serve a patron with Xs on his hands.</p>
<p>During an incident in the spring, an investigator saw a male walking away from Cardinal's Nest carrying two white cups with Budweiser/Bud Light advertisements.</p>
<p>The male told the investigator that he had just come from Cardinal's Nest and had been there all night. Asked what he was drinking, the patron told the investigator it was "happy juice."</p>
<p>Darrell Green, the owner of the Cardinal's Nest, has quite a history. The former cop worked in the 4th District for 10 years until he resigned in 2002 under circumstances the police department will not disclose, according to a <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=35634"><em>City Paper</em> article</a>. The article, written after a man was <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2008/09/02/man-killed-near-cardinals-nest/">shot and killed outside the bar</a> says he was not the first victim of violence outside one of Green’s bars. "In May 2004, Rumba Café owner <strong>Boris Canjura </strong>was found unconscious outside of Adams Mill Bar &amp; Grill, his skull fractured, his ribs broken, and his lung punctured."</p>
<p>Green has also been accused of <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=18617">renting out substandard properties</a> and turned himself in after being <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=18818&amp;utm_source=inform&amp;utm_medium=hibox&amp;utm_campaign=InformBox">accused of looting painting, antiques, china, and Oriental rugs</a> from a self-storage unit in Vienna, VA. The charges were later dropped.</p>
<p>He was opposed to the ban on smoking as owner of Adams Mill Bar &amp; Grill, according to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/metro/2007-01-02/2.htm">Washington Post article</a> in early Jan. 2007. He told the <em>Washington Times</em> that his <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2007/feb/26/20070226-100041-6144r/">business fell off as a result of the ban</a> and had to eliminate lunch service.</p>
<p>He also was not a fan of Flexcars and Zipcars taking up public parking spaces outside of his bar in Adams Morgan.</p>
<p>Catholic University administrators have long complained about the bar, which has been open since the fall of 2006. In the spring, Craig Parker <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2008/04/25/univ-offers-legal-help-in-pulling-liquor-license-from-cards-nest-2/">offered legal help and University resources</a> to University residents who wanted to get the bar's liquor license pulled.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/9848651/Cardinals-Nest-Voluntary-Agreement">original voluntary agreement</a> between Cardinal's Nest and Brookland neighbors was signed in Dec. 2006, and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/9848659/Amendment-to-Cardinals-Nest-Voluntary-Agreement">amended</a> in April, 2008.</p>
<p>Read the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/8867479/DC-ABRA-Order-to-Cardinals-Nest">D.C. ABRA Order to Cardinal's Nest</a> for the full details (dates were before rescheduling and delays).</p>
<p>Live coverage starts at 1 p.m.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="550" scrolling="no" src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=0874b319a6/height=550/width=470" width="470">&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=0874b319a6" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=0874b319a6" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Cardinal's Nest Hearing&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</iframe></p>
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		<title>The Evolution of the Yearbook Photo: From Ed Liddy to John Slattery to Now</title>
		<link>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/20/the-evolution-of-the-college-yearbook-photo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/20/the-evolution-of-the-college-yearbook-photo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:08:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan J. Reilly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CUA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ed Liddy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Slattery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[journalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mad Men]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sterling Cooper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yearbook Photos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=18560</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
As I selected my senior yearbook photo via the world wide interwebs this week, I took a minute to think about the difference between the presentation of those images today versus previous generations.
Today, photography companies are offering many ways to make yourself look better. There are options for retouching and removing scars, tan lines, moles, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/03/slattery.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-18562" title="slattery" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/03/slattery.jpg" alt="" width="381" height="484" /></a></p>
<p>As I selected my senior yearbook photo via the world wide interwebs this week, I took a minute to think about the difference between the presentation of those images today versus previous generations.</p>
<p>Today, photography companies are offering many ways to make yourself look better. There are options for retouching and removing scars, tan lines, moles, tattoos, piercings, and stray hairs (just $40 a pose!). Being a poor college student, I'll take my photo with the flaws, thank you very much.</p>
<p>But it got me thinking about the generations of students before me who probably would have paid that money because those yearbook photos were the defining photo of their collegiate career. The artificially posed snapshot in time was the photo that their college friends would remember them by for all eternity.</p>
<p>Those photos sometimes gave us a peek into what a person was actually like at the time the photo was taken.</p>
<p>Take <strong>John Slattery</strong>. Sure, now he's the silver-haired, womanizing, suave Roger Sterling of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency.</p>
<p>But before he was a Mad Man, Slattery was a young adult.</p>
<p><span id="more-18560"></span>Yes, 1984 John Slattery was a beast of a different name. This John popped the collar of his denim jacket two decades before that three-week period in 2005 when it was cool again.  John didn't conform to society's rules on shaving and, based strictly off his expression in this photo from the 1984 Catholic University yearbook, he also got high on a regular basis.</p>
<p>Or what about <strong>Ed Liddy</strong>, the CEO of AIG? There he is, blinded by the sunlight in 1968. No boring pose here, just a quick snapshot by some student photographer who tracked him down outside the library 41 years ago.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/03/liddy.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18561" title="liddy" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/03/liddy-300x281.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="281" /></a></p>
<p>In the 1960s, yearbook portraits were often taken in a unique environment, not in front of a backdrop. The subject of the photograph could wear whatever he or she wanted.</p>
<p>Today, there's a dress code---a suit and tie or blouse covered by a cap and gown for a portrait six months to a year before you actually get your diploma.</p>
<p>That's because big companies like <strong>Jostens</strong> and <strong>Herff Jones</strong> are taking the previously student-run production of a yearbook out of the hands of the students and are <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/brewster/news/x1959839474/Making-memories-Yearbook-run-like-real-world-business">turning it into a big business</a>. They're churning out portraits of seniors like an assembly line using online scheduling tools and order forms.</p>
<p>Small yearbook staffs, already overworked and busy with school on top of the massive responsibility of a yearbook project (and getting little benefit from the large commitment of time and effort), are happy to have the work taken out of their hands. Some companies are better than others and have given students the tools and support they need to complete the yearbooks, but money remains their main motivation.</p>
<p>Some yearbooks, sadly, <a href="http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2008/02/26/News/Yearbook.Meets.Facebook-3233889.shtml">are folding</a>, including one <a href="http://www.livewiredj.net/concordian/pacercms/article.php?id=740">at a college in Minnesota</a>. Other yearbook staffers, are getting lazy and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501962.html">copying and pasting photos</a> from social network sites.</p>
<p>The vast majority of undergraduates don't buy a yearbook until their senior year, and the same seems true at high schools like <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2009/03/02/20090302yearbooks0303.html">this one in Arizona</a>.</p>
<p>It's tough for yearbooks to get students to send in their photos, and tougher to support a staff photographer to photograph events, especially as advertising dollars dwindle. Often yearbooks end up filled with photos of the same groups of friends who were proactive in sending in their photos. The rest get the generic headshot.</p>
<p>But this "Facebook can replace the yearbook" notion is bullshit. Yearbooks aren't meant to be a printed version of self-taken photos of you and your friends, they're meant to chronicle major events that were important to the whole community. It's a rundown of the whole year with a solid visual presentation that will be a keepsake and serve as a historical record for the institution from a student perspective.</p>
<p>Now if only we could find students with the time and motivation to do the work themselves.</p>
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		<title>Shotgun-Wielding Man Robs Catholic U. Student in 7-Eleven Parking Lot</title>
		<link>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/02/16/shotgun-wielding-man-robs-catholic-u-student-in-7-eleven-parking-lot/</link>
		<comments>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/02/16/shotgun-wielding-man-robs-catholic-u-student-in-7-eleven-parking-lot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan J. Reilly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Catholic University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[7-Eleven]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brookland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic University of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CUA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decomposing Head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heights Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shotgun]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=16091</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
View Larger Map
A shotgun-wielding man with a bandanna across his face robbed a Catholic University student in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven early Saturday morning, according to a release from CUA's Department of Public Safety [PDF]. The release describes the suspect as a black male, 21-27 years of age, 5’9’’, 160 lbs., and wearing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=7+Eleven&amp;sll=38.939651,-76.997337&amp;sspn=0.015088,0.027637&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=38.952601,-76.996651&amp;spn=0.028568,0.055275&amp;z=14&amp;iwloc=A&amp;cid=38942153,-77000847,12870101082506567753&amp;output=embed&amp;s=AARTsJr1r0lSmNhcQxEy_Tir7QhkUYXCEw" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small><a style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=7+Eleven&amp;sll=38.939651,-76.997337&amp;sspn=0.015088,0.027637&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=38.952601,-76.996651&amp;spn=0.028568,0.055275&amp;z=14&amp;iwloc=A&amp;cid=38942153,-77000847,12870101082506567753">View Larger Map</a></small></p>
<p>A shotgun-wielding man with a bandanna across his face robbed a Catholic University student in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven early Saturday morning, <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/robbery-02-14-09.pdf">according to a release from </a><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/robbery-02-14-09.pdf">CUA's Department of Public Safety</a> [PDF]. The release describes the suspect as a black male, 21-27 years of age, 5’9’’, 160 lbs., and wearing dark clothing.</p>
<p><span id="more-16091"></span></p>
<p>The parking lot of the 7-Eleven is the same place where a homeless man <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2007/03/09/headless-body-found-by-softball-field/">showed off a decomposing head</a> in a plastic bag and ditched it in a dumpster in March 2007. The homeless man left when bystanders called police.</p>
<p>The head's accompanying human remains along with clothes and a rope <a href="http://www.cuatower.com/2007/03/16/body-found-near-softball-field/">were later found next to the university softball field</a>.</p>
<p>The Heights Center where the head was dumped includes several shops frequented by students, including University Liquors, Domino's Pizza, and Hunan Delight.</p>
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		<title>&#8216;Keeper of the Cage&#8217; for 62 Years Honored by CUA</title>
		<link>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/02/06/keeper-of-the-cage-for-62-years-honored-by-cua/</link>
		<comments>http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/02/06/keeper-of-the-cage-for-62-years-honored-by-cua/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:59:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan J. Reilly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Catholic University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic University of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CUA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Franny Murray]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=15552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
At every home game the Catholic University basketball team has played in the past 62 years, Francis E. “Franny” Murray has been cheering the Cardinals on from the sidelines. But Saturday was not a typical home game for the 86-year-old employee. This time, the long time equipment manager was on the receiving end of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15558" title="franny2" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny2.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="311" /></a></p>
<p>At every home game the Catholic University basketball team has played in the past 62 years, <strong>Francis E. “Franny” Murray</strong> has been cheering the Cardinals on from the sidelines. But Saturday was not a typical home game for the 86-year-old employee. This time, the long time equipment manager was on the receiving end of the cheers as the University named the basketball court in the DuFour Center in his honor.</p>
<p><span id="more-15552"></span></p>
<p>Over 300 people spanning seven decades attended a dinner that night in the university's Pryzbyla Center, where Murray was awarded the President’s Medal, the university’s highest honor, for his service to the school.</p>
<p>Many spoke of Murray’s uncanny ability to remember not only names but also details about each and every player he has come into contact with.</p>
<p>So as a parade of former student athletes, staff members and assorted friends and family greeted the campus legend, there was no need for reintroductions. He knew each one by name. Between the dedication of the court and the dinner in his honor, he was back in the equipment room (“The Cage”) reminiscing with old and new friends.</p>
<p>Soon, point guard <strong>Sean Stolzenthaler</strong> stopped by, fresh off a Cardinal victory on the newly renamed court.</p>
<p>“Franny!” said Stolzenthaler.</p>
<p>“Hi-ya, Sean. Good win,” said Murray.</p>
<p>“All for you, sir,” said Stolzenthaler.</p>
<p>“Some of my friends asked how long Franny had been at Catholic, and I could only say that I don’t know for sure, but I think since dirt was made,” said <strong>Sharon Repass</strong>, the first woman ever inducted into CUA’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.</p>
<p>So what has changed about the University since he started as equipment manager some 62 years ago?</p>
<p>“Not much,” said Murray. “The kids are still the same, and that’s what’s good about the place I think.”</p>
<p>“He feels like one of the guys,” said <strong>Mike Bzozowski</strong>, a sophomore baseball player. “He’s the big man on campus down here at the Duf."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny4.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15561" title="franny4" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny4.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>It's hard to grasp the sheer volume of Murray's legacy -- baseball coach Ross Natoli calculated that Murray worked 18,720 consecutive days at the University. He has seen the University under eight separate presidents (or rectors, before the title was changed in the late 1960s). <em>The Washington Post</em> did a profile piece highlighting his long career in 1988 when he had been at the University for 40 years. Murray has not missed a single home basketball or football game since 1947 even after triple bypass surgery in 1982.</p>
<p>But do not try to get Murray to talk about himself. He kept his remarks at the dinner under 30 seconds and said that he was the world’s worst speaker and if not, the second. He thanked everyone for taking time out of their lives to come and say hello.</p>
<p>Even those organizing the dinner met some initial resistance from Murray.</p>
<p>“Being a very humble man, Franny wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, but he finally gave in,” said <strong>Katie Acuff</strong>, development director.</p>
<p>“After the invitations came out for the dinner, Franny called me up and he said ‘Hey Bob, did you see the price of this ticket for dinner?’ and I said ‘Franny, $130, anyone would come for you! $130 is no problem’,” said <strong>Robert J. Talbot</strong>, who has known Murray for 54 years. “Franny said, ‘I wouldn’t pay $130 for a seat at the last supper’.”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t either,” University President <strong>Rev. David M. O’Connell </strong>quipped from the audience.</p>
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<p>“I think I speak for everyone here when I say that this isn’t about an event for us. It’s not about a plaque, or a reception or a dinner. It’s about having a chance to simply say thank you, Franny. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for your warm embrace you so willingly shared. Thank you for the gentle guidance all these years. Thank you for just being you,” said Acuff.</p>
<p>“He’s the most humble man in the world,” said <strong>Ann Brogioli</strong>, class of 1989. She and some fellow basketball teammates seemed determined make that as difficult as possible, designing t-shirts embroidered with his photo and the caption “The Man, The Myth, The Legend.” Even O’Connell sported one under his clerical clothing.</p>
<p>During World War II, Murray served in New Guinea and the Philippines as a B-25 gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He had enlisted at age 19 and trained as an airplane mechanic, and enrolled at CUA under the G.I. Bill after an honorable discharge. He graduated in 1950 with a degree in English and boxed on the varsity team for four years.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny5.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-15563 alignright" style="margin: 5px;" title="franny5" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny5.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="405" /></a></p>
<p>“Boxing was big at Catholic University in those days, as it was on the east coast,” said Talbot.</p>
<p>Murray says he spend the majority of his time in the ring on his back looking up at the lights and joked that he got knocked down so often that advertisers used to rent out space on the soles of his shoes.</p>
<p>The sport was discontinued in the mid-1950s, as it was at many schools, and the University put more emphasis on basketball.</p>
<p>During his second year at Catholic, he started working in the athletic department in the old gym, now the architecture building, which was originally conceived as a temporary armory for World War I.</p>
<p>“I got married in June of ‘47, so I had to get a job, and I started working in the athletic department,” said Murray. His wife of 58 years, Eileen, died four years ago. He has eight children and seven grandchildren.</p>
<p>Murray’s “Cage” was on the first floor to the right in the old gym. When the department moved into the DuFour Center in 1985, Murray told the Post that they were “going to move this room just as it is.” The Post described the room as the kind of thing you’d find reconstructed at the Museum of American History as an example of American sporting life, circa 1940.</p>
<p>"The cage was like a mall, complete with a laundromat, a CVS, Footlocker, Dick's Sporting Goods, Beer &amp; Wine and Off-Track Betting," said Repass. "Franny provided student athletes with more than a clean uniform. He provided friendship, support and encouragement. He even provided us with iced-down adult beverages concealed conveniently behind a locker after a hard fought game."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15559" title="franny3" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny3.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>He has not always been “Keeper of the Cage.” His career has included stints as a referee, as head of the intramural and sports information operations, a year as acting director, 29 years as athletic trainer and many more in his current role of equipment manager.</p>
<p>“His dedication to our university is pretty remarkable,” said athletic director <strong>Mike Allen</strong>.</p>
<p>But it is not just the length of Murray’s career that is so impressive. It is the way he treats everyone he works with, speakers said at the tribute dinner.</p>
<p>“He makes you feel special and he knows your name, and he knows your friend’s name, and your parents’ names, who you dated, what town you came from, what team you were on, your teammates, your stats, the year you graduated, who you married, and many of our children,” said Repass.</p>
<p>“It was so nice and so comforting to go down to Franny’s office just in between classes to go in and B.S. a little bit,” said Talbot. “It was also a great place to go to complain and whine.” He described complaining to Murray about his teachers and coaches as Frank Sinatra music played in the background and Murray signaled he was listening by offering up the occasional “yeah.” Pretty soon, “Franny says, ‘Heck, you know people in hell want a glass of water’,” said Talbot. “After all these years, you still can’t figure out if he ever agreed with you.”</p>
<p>Talbot also recalled Murray’s well known ability to tape an ankle. Murray had a special tape “that was like cement” and he would spray it all over. “The taping job was fabulous – you never knew how bad you were hurt because you never felt that ankle for the rest of the season,” said Talbot.</p>
<p>“He was very kind and always open, I think he provided a lot of counseling for students,” said <strong>Karl Bailey</strong>, who ran sports medicine at CUA for almost 20 years—from 1982-2002.</p>
<p><strong>Martin Dowd</strong> (brother of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd) has spent nearly 50 years as an athlete and a coach at CUA, and is one of the most successful coaches in CUA history. This spring marks his 50th season as a part of the men’s tennis team--four years as a player and 46 as a coach.</p>
<p>“He’s the only person left at Catholic who still calls me junior, and that’s why I love him,” said Dowd. He suggested that perhaps the court wasn’t big enough and joked of renaming McMahon Hall for Murray. “Ask any student on campus who McMahon Hall is named after [they’ll say] Ed McMahon. If you name it Franny Hall, they’ll sure as heck all know who it was named after.”</p>
<p>Dowd recalled when he first met Franny as a freshman in 1956 after he made the tennis team. "My captain told me to pick up my equipment at the gym. Go up the steps, through the doors, stay to the right, head down the hall to the cage, there's an old guy there named Franny Murray," Dowd said. "Franny was 32!"</p>
<p><strong>Hicabi "Turk" Emekli</strong> was a player and a coach, and started the soccer program. “He was great, we all loved working with Franny,” Emekli said.</p>
<p>Dowd’s wife <strong>Jane</strong> is the former senior associate director of athletics who founded women’s athletics at CUA in the late 60s, said that she would not have been hired without Murray’s approval. When she was interviewing at the age of 23, the director of athletics at the time took her down to the cage, introduced her to Murray and asked him what he thought. Murray glanced up, sized her up, and gave his seal of approval – “She’s okay,” he said. Once she got the thumbs up from Franny, Dowd went on to work in athletics for 47 years. Her husband is still coaching men’s tennis team, and her daughter is coaching the women’s squad.</p>
<p>“There is not one other person in CUA history who could attract a crowd of this many people,” said Dowd. “He’s got a special gift.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny6.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15564" title="franny6" src="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/files/2009/02/franny6.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>Murray also has a great memory. When former lacrosse team captain <strong>Christine Thornton</strong> graduated in 2005, she realized she had forgotten a number of items in her locker and returned to the DuFour Center. She did not know the combination to her locker, but somehow Murray knew if off hand.</p>
<p>Murray reportedly got a little tired at the end of the long day and was taken to the hospital for a checkup, but he was back in “The Cage” this week.</p>
<p>He doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon. “I don’t really have any hobbies, so why should I quit?”</p>
<p>Some of the younger alums stopped to say goodbye to Murray before they left the dinner on Saturday, ready to head out to a bar downtown. “Stay out of trouble,” he told them.</p>
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