Page 10 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 1 Fall 2012

10
ATHLETICS
Long after professional dreams have
faded and college game jerseys have been
returned, the adrenaline still flows.
There’s only so much recreational golf
one can play. For many St. Paul’s graduates,
withdrawal from competitive athletics
would be akin to completely losing the
SPS lingo from their adult vernacular. It
just wouldn’t feel right.
The School certainly has produced its
share of wondrous athletes, including
Hobey Baker of the Form of 1909, pro
hockey players Don Sweeney ’84 and Jeff
Halpern ’94, and the late three-sport star
Sarah Devens ’92. Still, there remain
countless folks who balance the rigors
of career, family, and free time with an
undying passion for sport and its rewards.
Their stories come in all shapes and shades
of seriousness.
Austen Earl ’97, who as a Sixth Former
received the Gordon Medal for best male
SPS athlete, was an accomplished runner,
basketball player, and rower at SPS, who
continued to row at Brown. A competitive
type, Earl was looking for an outlet in
Hollywood, where he’s lived post-college
as a writer. He found a basketball league
where he could satisfy his passion for the
game, but encountered more than quips
in the lane.
“I used to play in a comedy basketball
league until an elbow knocked out my
two front teeth,” says Earl, a writer for
the NBC comedy Up All Night, who now
plays tennis and runs trails to stay fit.
Earl’s formmate and fellow Angeleno
David Walton, an actor who has enjoyed
a number of different roles in recent
years, plays in a highly competitive
L.A.-area ice hockey league. Three-sport
SPS athletes Alyson Grant Jones ’95 and
brother Tyler Grant ’94 grew up skating
at White Park in Concord. Alyson con-
tinued hockey at Brown while Tyler laced
up his skates for Holy Cross. Jones can
attest to one of the more common dan-
gers of adult sports participation –
playing against the middle-aged guy
who either embraces beer league softball
with the determination reserved for the
American League Championship Series
or is simply trying to wipe away the mem-
ories of high school athletic mediocrity
on a city-owned field at the end of a long
day at the office.
“I played in the Sony and Disney soft-
ball leagues for a while but stopped when
I was expecting a child,” says Jones, who
is married, has a toddler, and works as
vice president for creative advertising
at the Walt Disney Company. “I loved
playing co-ed ball because the men rip
the ground balls at you in the infield. But
then all these lame guys started taking it
way too seriously.”
Tyler Grant, who works for an L.A.-
based tech company, remains the poster
child for adult league sports. For him,
baseball and ice hockey have been, among
other things, a connection to his beloved
New England.
“There are a number of reasons why
I still play: the thrill of competition, the
camaraderie in the locker room, and the
health benefits,” says Grant. “It also pro-
vides extra motivation to stay in shape.
Perhaps most important is that playing
helps me stay young in spirit and live a
balanced, well-rounded life.”
Grant played in a 25-and-over wood-
bat baseball league for a number of years
and calls his squad’s Los Angeles City
Championship one of the great thrills of
his adult life. Still, ice hockey remains
the staple in his routine, the rink an ideal
escape from the Southern California heat.
“Reeve Schley ’93 plays in the same
league,” Grant explains. “We were on the
same team for years, but I got sick of
FOR MANY ALUMNI, SPORTS ARE A WAY OF LIFE.
HERE THEY TELL US WHY THEY STILL PARTICIPATE.
by Will McCulloch ’95
Greg Fowlkes ’87 (in white)
competes for Rapha Racing
weekend athl