{"id":3922,"date":"2024-09-13T15:43:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T15:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3922"},"modified":"2024-12-05T15:19:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T15:19:33","slug":"mike-norrington-a-true-big-dawg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3922","title":{"rendered":"Mike Norrington: A true Big Dawg"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Introducing Saluki Athletics Big Dawg Leadership Society\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SSTt_zPdEPY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Longtime Saluki pledges $30K, joins leadership society<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more than 50 years, Mike Norrington has been a Saluki Athletics season ticket holder. Now, he is one of the first members of the newly minted Big Dawg Leadership Society.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3923\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3923\" style=\"width: 244px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3923\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Norrington, Big Dawg Leadership Society\" width=\"244\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-1.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3923\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Norrington is the first member of the newly established Big Dawg Leadership Society.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The society honors the most resolute supporters among Saluki Nation and offers them unique access and opportunities to enhance the fan experience. Members of the Big Dawg Leadership Society are recognized at various giving levels. Norrington recently made a $30,000 pledge to Saluki Athletics.<\/p>\n<p>A fixture at most Saluki Basketball and Football games, he believes there is no better bang for his buck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the best entertainment in the southern part of the state. You can\u2019t beat it,\u201d Norrington said. \u201cThere\u2019s no chant that brings about more internal stimulation than \u2018S-I-U, S-I-U!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also understands the value donors bring to the athletics department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI give, but it\u2019s a pittance of the whole budget. You can\u2019t run a football team without some big bucks. There are lots of players, lots of travel. That stuff isn\u2019t cheap,\u201d he said. \u201cSIU is a place of higher education. It can\u2019t put all its money in athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Norrington, joining the Big Dawg Leadership Society was the obvious choice.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3924\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3924\" style=\"width: 236px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3924\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-2-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Norrington with Nick Hill\" width=\"236\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Mike-Norrington-2.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3924\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Norrington shakes hands with Saluki Football coach Nick Hill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf someone asks what\u2019s happening that day, and I can say there\u2019s an SIU game, that definitely elevates the day,\u201d he said. \u201cYour long-range commitment isn\u2019t that bad. There are a lot of things in life that cost a lot more. The Big Dawg Leadership Society is just Saluki Athletics saying thank you for guaranteeing it for five years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about the society, email Todd Reeser at toddr@foundation.siu.edu or Kat Martin at <a href=\"mailto:katm@foundation.siu.edu\">katm@foundation.siu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sharing Saluki stories<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Norrington\u2019s Saluki story began in 1965 when he came to SIU as a freshman from Decatur. After working a couple student jobs, he was hired onto the Saluki Patrol, becoming a full-time officer in 1970, working on the SIU police force until 1980.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSIU police were the main people responsible for dignitaries that came to campus. I stood right beside President Jimmy Carter with the Secret Service in 1976. I was assigned as the driver to pick up Elvis Presley that same year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI picked him up at the airport when he got off his Lisa Marie jet and drove the car straight into the SIU Arena. We went with him on stage, and when it was over, we got back in the car and went right back to the airport. It was the coolest thing I have ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also interacted with an SIU legend, President Delyte Morris. After starting his Saluki Patrol job, Norrington remembers meeting President Morris while walking through campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy name tag just said \u2018Norrington, but (Morris) said \u2018Mike, you\u2019re one of our new officers. We appreciate having you on board\u2019 and shook my hand,\u201d Norrington said. \u201cHe knew everyone and had respect for them all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1980, Norrington became the chief of police in Clinton, Illinois, working there for 13 years. He then returned to Carbondale as the director of law enforcement for the southern third of the state. He retired in 2018 after 25 years in that role.<\/p>\n<p>During his decades around SIU and Saluki Athletics, Norrington has seen it all. He has seen the impact winning sports programs have on the university.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen SIU went to the Sweet 16 a couple of times, that\u2019s no joke. People I know around the country were talking about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re into advertising, that\u2019s the way to do it. The Salukis are something people recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime Saluki pledges $30K, joins leadership society By Jeff Wilson For more than 50 years, Mike Norrington has been a Saluki Athletics season ticket holder. Now, he is one of the first members of the newly minted Big Dawg Leadership Society. The society honors the most resolute supporters among Saluki Nation and offers them unique &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3922\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mike Norrington: A true Big Dawg<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,17,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-saluki-athletics","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3922"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3966,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922\/revisions\/3966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}