Gina Carano
MMA Fighter and Action Star
From pioneering women’s MMA to blazing a trail in movies, Gina Carano is one of Hollywood’s most unique rising stars. Carano began her training with Muay Thai to competitive MMA, where she competed in Strikeforce and EliteXC. Her popularity led to her being called the “Face of Women’s MMA”. She was the fastest-rising search on Google, third-most-searched person on Yahoo and ranked 5th on a list of the “Top 10 Influential Women” of 2008. In August 2009, Carano fought Cris Cyborg in Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, the first time two women headlined a major MMA event and at the time was the highest rated fight in Showtime history. Carano compiled a competitive record of 12–1–1 in Muay Thai and a 7–1 in women’s MMA.
Outside the ring, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring fighters in the 2007 Oxygen reality series Fight Girls. She performed as ‘Crush’ in the revamped television series American Gladiators before her breakout performance in Steven Soderbergh’s film Haywire, holding her own against the likes of Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas.
Carano’s authenticity to making the action look real earned her performance a Critics Choice Award Nomination for Best Actress in an action film. Hot on the heels came a role in the worldwide hit Fast and Furious 6 for Universal Pictures opposite Dwayne Johnson furthering her appeal as an Action Star. Next up, she co-starred alongside Robert DeNiro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Dave Bautista in Lionsgate’s film Heist followed by the role of ‘Angel Dust’ in the smash hit Marvel/Fox film Deadpool opposite Ryan Reynolds based on the popular comic book. Released on Valentines Day 2016, the film grossed over $870 Million dollars at the Box Office. Carano will next be seen in the film Daughter of Wolf, starring opposite Richard Dreyfuss. She also recently wrapped production in the dark comedy Madness in the Method, which is Jason Mewes directorial debut. The ensemble star cast also features Mewes pal and long time collaborator Kevin Smith.
Continuing to boost her resume, Carano became the first recipient of ActionFest’s Chuck Norris (Best Female Action Star) Award, given to the female action star of the year and received the Artemis Action Warrior Award for her contributions to the female action genre and women’s MMA. The award was presented to her by Action legend Zoe Bell.
Carano was born in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Dana Joy and professional football player Glenn Carano who played for the Dallas Cowboys and was the backup quarterback to Roger Staubach.
Rocco B. Commisso
Soccer, Mediacom CEO
Rocco Commisso is one of the most successful Italian immigrant entrepreneurs in America’s history. A member of the prestigious Forbes 400, his illustrious career in cable television spans 40 years. He is the Chairman and CEO of Mediacom Communications, which he founded in 1995 and today is the nation’s 5th largest cable television company, with operations in 22 states, 4,600 employees and annual revenues of over $1.9 billion.
Born in Calabria, Italy, Commisso immigrated to America at the age of 12. He attended Columbia University, earning both a BS in Industrial Engineering and a MBA from the Graduate Business School, where he was elected president of the student body and was the recipient of the prestigious Business School Service Award.
Commisso played soccer for Columbia from 1967-1970. He was a member of an undefeated freshman squad and served as Co-Captain of the 1970 team that made Columbia’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Playoffs. He also holds the distinction of scoring the first two NCAA tournament goals in program history. A three-time All-Ivy Honoree, Commisso earned an invitation to the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team trials.
Over his 40 years as an alumni supporter of Columbia soccer, the men’s program has been among the most successful in the Ivy League and among all major sports at the university. In the mid-1970’s, he co-founded Friends of Columbia Soccer, serving as its Chairman from 1978-1986, during which time Columbia won a record 8 straight Ivy Championships and became the only Ivy school ever to compete in the NCAA Championship Final game.
In 2004, the school’s newspaper, the Daily Spectator, listed Commisso among Columbia’s 250 greatest undergraduate alumni of all time. For years, Columbia has awarded an annual Men’s Soccer Prize in his name. The university recognized his contributions by naming its soccer venue the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium in 2013 and inducting him into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. He was similarly recognized at the 2015 NYC Soccer Gala for his lifetime dedication to the game of soccer.
In January 2017, Commisso purchased a majority ownership stake in the New York Cosmos and became the club’s Chairman. The Cosmos are the most recognized American soccer brand in the world. Since beginning play at Yankee Stadium in 1971, the iconic club has won a record total of 8 professional soccer championships and brought some of the biggest stars in international soccer to the USA including Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto, and more recently, Raúl and Marcos Senna.
In addition to providing major support for the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Columbia, Commisso’s philanthropic generosity has benefited numerous charitable organizations including Life’s WORC & the Family Center for Autism and Street Soccer USA. Through Mediacom’s World Class Scholars Program, September 11th Memorial Scholarship Fund and Entrepreneur of Tomorrow Award, Commisso has provided college scholarships to more than 1,700 students nationwide. In 2014, he established the Rocco B. Commisso American Dream Fund at his high school in the Bronx – Mount Saint Michael Academy – to ensure that the school can continue to recruit and educate deserving young men for generations to come.
Commisso serves on the board of directors for C-SPAN and Cyndx Networks, and previously served on the boards of CableLabs, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the National Italian American Foundation. He is a past recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Foreign Policy Association Medal, the Gruppo Esponenti Italiani Friendship Award, the NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership, the cable industry’s highest honor. He has been inducted into the Cable Center, Broadcasting & Cable, and SUNY New Paltz Business School Halls of Fame.
Joe Girardi
Baseball
In 10 seasons as the Yankees’ manager, Joe Girardi guided New York to six Postseason appearances and a World Series Championship in 2009. Girardi managed the Florida Marlins in 2006, winning the NL Manager of the Year Award in his managerial debut.
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Chicagoland native Girardi attended college at Northwestern University in Evanston. He played for the Northwestern Wildcats baseball team and earned All-America distinction, capturing third-team honors in 1985. Girardi, a three-time All Big-Ten catcher and three-time Academic All-American is among NU’s all-time career leaders in many offensive categories.
Girardi began his 15-year catching career with the Chicago Cubs (1989-92 and 2000-02) before joining the Colorado Rockies (1993-95), Yankees (1996-99) and St. Louis Cardinals (2003). With the Yankees, Girardi caught Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners on May 14, 1996 and David Cone’s perfect game against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999. Girardi was named to the All-Star team in 2000.
Prior to his managerial career, Girardi was part of ESPN Radio’s coverage of the 2003 NL Division Series, later serving as an analyst with the YES Network in 2004 and 2007, and worked with FOX Sports throughout the 2007 regular season and Postseason.
Joe Girardi, the 11-year Major League manager, is currently a studio analyst appearing across MLB Network’s programming, including the Emmy Award-winning flagship studio show MLB Tonight. Girardi joined MLB Network in February 2018.
Gene Pingatore
Basketball Coaching Legend
Gene Pingatore was born and raised in Cicero, Illinois, the son of Annette and Frank Pingatore. While at St. Mel’s High School, Gene was an Honors student and three year varsity letter winner in basketball and a member of the 1954 City Championship Team. Upon graduation from high school, Gene received an athletic scholarship to play basketball at Loyola University of Los Angeles. A three year varsity letter winner, he captained the Loyola team in his senior year.
In 1960, he began a coaching and teaching career at the newly built St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois. He served as an assistant basketball coach and social studies teacher until 1970. In 1970, Gene became Assistant Principal and varsity basketball coach at St. Joseph. From 1970 until the present, he has held various positions. Currently, Gene works in the Development Office as Alumni Director and is in his 50th year as head basketball coach, during that time he has had the good fortune to coach many notable players, such as NBA great, Isiah Thomas.
His Charger teams have captured 27 East Suburban Catholic Conference Championships, 2 Catholic League North titles, 9 prestigious Proviso West Holiday Tournament Championships, 34 state regional titles, 13 state sectional titles & qualified for Elite Eight Tournament (7) times, capturing the Class AA State Championship in 1999. In 2015 his team qualified for the Final Four in Peoria and won the 3A State title. Gene became the all time win leader in the State of Illinois on January 16, 2009 with his 827th win. His record to date is 1,021 wins and 365 losses.
Gene received District Coach of the Year honors from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association 13 times. In 1999 he was the IBCA Coach of the Year for the State of Illinois and Student Sports Magazine National Coach of the Year. Gene was honored as Coach of the Year in the East Suburban Catholic Conference 14 times, recipient of the LaSallian Award by the Christian Brothers & is an inductee in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, St. Joseph High School Sports Hall of Fame, Catholic League Hall of Fame, Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, East Suburban Catholic Hall of Fame and Sports Faith International Hall of Fame.
In 2005, he received the Ellie Hasan Award from the Central Officials Association of officials. In the spring of 2008 Gene was honored by the Illinois State Crime Commission/Police Athletic League of Illinois as Educator of the Year at their 12th Annual Awards Dinner. In June of 2009, he was the recipient of the Ray Meyer Award at Ed Kelly’s Giant Award Dinner. Most recently Gene was presented with the De La Salle Award for Service and Leadership in the Community from Lewis University April, 2010. In 2011 he was named the Coach of the West for the McDonald All American Game in Chicago. In 2016 the COA honored him as Coach of the Year. In 2018 Gene received the Morgan Wooten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Also in June 2018 the NHSACA inducted him in their Hall of Fame.
Gene, a 62 year resident of Westchester, has one daughter, Lisa and three grandchildren, Erin, Kelli and Jack and a longtime partner Jill Oakley.
