Arizona Daily Wildcat Online
sections
Front Page
News
Opinions
· Columnists
Sports
· Men's Hoops
Go Wild
Live Culture
Police Beat
Datebook
Comics
Crossword
Special Sections
Photo Spreads
Classifieds
The Wildcat
Letter to the Editor
Wildcat Staff
Search
Archives
Job Openings
Advertising Info
Student Media
Arizona Student Media Info
UATV -
Student TV
 
KAMP -
Student Radio
The Desert Yearbook
Daily Wildcat Staff Alumni

Friends laugh, raise money in honor of former UA athlete


Photo
DJAMILA NOELLE GROSSMAN/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Bar Manager Johnny Dingo pours a drink at Laffs Comedy Club on Broadway Boulevard last night. He wears a Superman T-shirt in remembrance of Brian Corrigan, a comedian and wheelchair athlete known for donning a Superman outfit during his performances at the club. Corrigan, pictured in the foreground, was killed in a car accident Feb. 2.
By Anthony D. Ávila
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Print this

A full crowd came out last night to a local comedy club to honor a former UA athlete who died two months ago in a car accident.

Brian Corrigan, a 36-year-old wheelchair athlete and former UA Wildchair who died Feb. 2, was honored at last night's benefit show at Laffs Comedy Club, 2900 E. Broadway Blvd., where he had recently begun his career performing "sit-down comedy."

Corrigan was driving home at 2:30 a.m. after leaving the comedy club when he was hit and killed by a driver suspected of being drunk, who ran a red light.

The week after his death, Johnny Dingo, a comedian and manager at Laffs, collaborated with big-name comic Rick Overton, who met Corrigan the night before his death, to organize the event, which benefited the Brian Corrigan Memorial Scholarship and the Tucson Lobos, a wheelchair basketball team of which Corrigan was a member.

"We said, 'Let's make something good from something bad,'" Dingo said.

The comedy show was not the first event organized in Corrigan's name, who played for the UA men's wheelchair basketball team from 1990 to 1996, as well as the track, tennis and road racing teams, said Dave Herr-Cardillo, assistant director of Adaptive Athletics.

After Brian's death, Phil Corrigan, Brian's father, worked together with Herr-Cardillo to create a memorial scholarship that would be given to a UA student-athlete who reflected Corrigan's spirit.

"We were looking for a free-spirited person, similar to Brian, who shared a love for sports," Herr-Cardillo said.

At halftime of Lame for a Game April 7, Alana Nichols, an education junior, was awarded the $1,500 Brian Corrigan Memorial Scholarship.

"I was definitely surprised," Nichols said.

Nichols said the most significant part about receiving the award was knowing she was chosen specifically based on certain criteria. More importantly, she said she recognized the work Corrigan's parents are doing in Tucson to speak out against drunk driving.

"After such a terrible, tragic event, they are making such a positive impact on the community, including myself," said Nichols, whose father was also killed by a drunk driver. "So they're not only educating people, but also supporting student wheelchair athletes."

Friends of Corrigan who attended the event at Laffs last night sported Superman T-shirts in honor of one of his comedy routines.

At the end of Corrigan's routine, he would rip off his shirt, revealing a Superman outfit underneath, and "fly" off the stage into the audience, said Pat Hardin, Corrigan's mother who lives in Oracle.

"He would scare the audience half to death," Hardin said.

The fearless cartoon character fit Corrigan's personality because of his knack to perform almost any sport or activity he could, Hardin said.

"He thought he was indestructible," Hardin said. "People would see him in a wheelchair and think, 'He can't do anything.' Well Brian tried just about everything, and had a great time doing it."

Though Corrigan was athletic before the accident, Hardin said he dared to go water skiing, bungee jumping, snowboarding and even talked about scuba diving.

"I think that's why he was inspirational," Hardin said. "He had the courage to try things that most people wouldn't do."



Write a Letter to the Editor
articles
UA trying to ease class shortage
divider
Feminists donate $9,000 to OASIS
divider
Opera Web browser free to UA
divider
Friends laugh, raise money in honor of former UA athlete
divider
Best in the West come to UA for step show
divider
UA student places 8th in rock, paper, scissors tournament
divider
Cutting-edge visualization technology now at UA
divider
Guns in bars decision up to governor
divider
Sigma Alpha Epsilon party cleared by police, MIPS
divider
On the spot!
divider
Fast facts
divider
Police Beat
divider
Datebook
divider
Restaurant and Bar Guide
Housing Guide
Search for:
advanced search Archives

NEWS | SPORTS | OPINIONS | GO WILD
CLASSIFIEDS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT US | SEARCH



Webmaster - webmaster@wildcat.arizona.edu
© Copyright 2005 - The Arizona Daily Wildcat - Arizona Student Media