Blue Devil Alumni Spotlight: Jim Shore

Name – Jim Shore
Sport – Football
Years Played – 71, 73, 74
Hometown (High School) – Antioch, IL
Currently Reside – Antioch, IL

Why did you choose to be a collegiate student-athlete at UW-Stout?
I was at a community college out of high school and a professor, ex-Stout student Jim Suksi, asked if I wanted to continue playing football.  I thought that sounded like a good idea so he brought me on a visit to the Stout campus where I met the coach, Sten Pierce. Suksi's wife worked for Sten Pierce in the athletic department when they went to school.  It was a good fit because I had some experience in one of Stout's majors.

What is the greatest lesson you learned and what did you like most about competing in collegiate athletics? 
When I look back on my time as a student-athlete at Stout, there have been a lot of great lessons that I have learned.  Life lessons like team work, time management and building my self-esteem.  Coach Pierce made me talk in front of a large crowd on the spot once and it taught me to go with the flow and be confident when delivering to people you didn't know. I had to use that a lot in my job at Sherwin-Williams during technical meetings.

Who was the most influential person in your athletic career?
Coach Sten Pierce believed in me when other coaches would not give him the light of day. I could always go in and talk with him. I see him as a father figure who helped me grow as a human being.

What is your most memorable or favorite sports moment at UW-Stout? 
It was an honor to be voted by teammates the MVP and captain in 1974.  That year I also made the WSUC all-conference team.  I also had a great game that year against Superior and was named the defensive player of the week.  These are a couple memories that I will always remember.

How did your teammates describe you as a person and a student-athlete?  
I think my teammates would say that I was outspoken but a good friend that would be there for them for anything.  Even to this day I like to stay in touch with them.

Are you in contact with any former Blue Devil student-athletes? (If so, who?)
I do all I can to stay connected with my former teammates.  Throughout the years I have seen Steve Dobner, Jack Voigt, Lang Ware, Jeff Annis, Ed Cody, Chuck Caverly, Fred Vondra, John Osmanski, Brian Coe, Al Needham, Terry Ottman, and Steve Fedie.  I reach them through phone calls and emails.  I do all I can to get them back to homecoming every year.  It doesn't work out for everybody every year, but we do get a good number of people.
 
Outside of athletics, what other activities were you involved in at UW-Stout?
I competed in intramurals, was part of the S club, and kept stats for the swim team.

Give us a brief synopsis of your life since graduating from UW-Stout, include job and family.
Since leaving Stout, I managed a collision center for General Motors for 16 years.  From there I spent the rest of my career with Sherwin-Williams.  I was a technical rep for one year, distribution sales rep between Milwaukee and Chicago for 16 years, and finished my career as a regional sales manager for the final five years.  I have been retired for almost two years now.  I have two girls Jessica and Bethany. I have been married to Danielle for the past 12 years.

Throughout my youngest daughter's life, I was her AAU basketball coach and watched her as she competed in track and field at Lawrence for track and field. She later went to graduate school at Madison.  My older daughter graduated from Loyola in Chicago and has her Ph.D. in nursing.  I have love being a parent as it has brought a lot of joy into my life.