Gary A. Cavalli : Interview for the Stanford Athletics Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Gary A. Cavalli, who served as Stanford’s sports information director and later associate athletic director from 1974 to 1983, draws on his experiences and journalism training to weave a colorful narrative of Stanford’s sport history. He illuminates the personalities, like Chuck Taylor, Bob Murphy, Joe Ruetz, and Bill Walsh, who shaped Cardinal football, Stanford’s Athletics Department, and the university’s commitment to women’s sports.
- Summary
- Cavalli begins the interview recounting how, as a teenager, his interest in sports shifted from playing to reporting, first at his high school newspaper, The Homestead Epitaph, and then as a freshman in 1968, as an editor of the sports section of The Stanford Daily. Cavalli explains how his familiarity with the players and the Athletics Department’s administrators led to a student job as assistant to then-sports information director Bob Murphy. He gives a play by play account of his responsibilities during football game days, both his PR duties and his stringer work for the San Francisco Chronicle and The Associated Press. He details how, in an era when each city had an independent newspaper and a single football game was broadcast nationwide on Sunday afternoons, he and Murphy would compile game stats, write up the press releases, and promote the team to newspapers and television stations. Beyond their day-to-day work, Cavalli outlines the strategy they implemented to help quarterback Jim Plunkett secure the Heisman trophy in 1970. After graduating, Cavalli moved to the Stanford School of Medicine’s communication department, then returned to the Athletics Department, where, at the age of 25, he became the youngest sports information director in college history. He explains his reasons for these moves, and runs through the changes that each athletic director brought to the department as well as how different football coaches shaped game strategy. He speaks candidly about the alterations the department underwent during his tenure to comply with the new Title IX requirements: adding people to coach and cover the new women’s sport teams, actively promoting women’s game results in press releases, and securing scholarship funding for female athletes. He describes how he reconstructed Stanford’s pre-1960s sports records and the circumstances that led to his promotion to associate athletic director. Throughout the interview, Cavalli recalls details and anecdotes including a stressful confrontation with Jack Christiansen, Walsh’s first speech to his players, Cavalli’s first meeting, as an undergraduate, with then-professor Don Kennedy, and his own father’s post- retirement job working at Encina Gym. He discusses how Stanford’s academic requirements for athletes promote better behavior and future success, and explains how, for better or worse, money, cable coverage, and endorsements has changed the game and institution of college football. Cavalli also touches on his post-Stanford career at his public relations firm, Cavalli and Cribb, how he cofounded the American Basketball League and built the Foster Farms Bowl.
Description
| Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
|---|---|
| Extent | 3 audio files; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | November 10, 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Cavalli, Gary | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Cavalli, Gary | |
| Interviewer | Player, Stephen W. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Cavalli, Gary |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Department of Athletics > 1970s |
| Subject | United States. Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX |
| Subject | College sports |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Gary A. Cavalli has had a distinguished 45-year career in college and professional sports administration and public affairs. Cavalli served for 14 years until his retirement in 2016 as the president of the San Francisco Bowl Game Association, organizers of the post-season college football game played in the Bay Area, known most recently as the Foster Farms Bowl. He previously was the co-founder and president of the American Basketball League, a women’s professional basketball league, and sports information director and associate athletic director at Stanford University, his alma mater, as well as the founder of a highly- successful public relations/advertising firm. |
|---|---|
| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/hd575hm6964 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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