A Privilege Playing With The Ruffins

The first time I met Dave Holian I was a senior in high school sitting in Mr. Curry’s Journalism class at Oak Park – River Forest High School. Dave was the Sports Editor for the award winning school newspaper “The Trapeze” and had come in to consult with Mr. Curry. He looked over at me in my Cub shirt, pointed with a big grin on his face and proclaimed “They’re everywhere!”

Each morning he would grab the Tribune, turn to page 3 and read Royko. He had his walkman on with a Mo-Town mix tape, eyes closed, head swaying in a less exaggerated Stevie Wonder motion saying “Bring it home Diana!”

After the CFCL had been cooking along for two years it was time to bring in a quality owner so we asked Dave to join us. Twenty-six years later he still hasn’t forgiven me for not asking him to join in our inaugural year.

Once the invitation was offered and accepted, Dave quickly became the humor and light of the CFCL. Virtually every clip of previous drafts on YouTube, in Monroe Doctrines and on various CFCL websites is there because something amusing happened. In the middle of that amusement is Dave making a witty observation or being downright hilarious.

But before you think Dave is just a guy with seltzer water, he’s also a man with an amazing vocabulary. One night we were walking to a restaurant in Forest Park and we passed a bar called the Nut Bush. One comment led to another about whether this was a gay bar. Once this question was posed, two guys came walking in the opposite direction holding hands. Dave then pointed out “That was a perfect schematic representation.” Now in retrospect, that description makes sense and is easy to understand. But at the time I’m just a guy walking down the street when all of a sudden “schematic representation” happens.

He uses that knowledge to teach students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (actual class he teaches – American Politics where he discusses the size of Thomas Jefferson’s hat and the impact it had on the South’s loss in the Civil War), hence the nickname “The Professor”. That professorial demeanor doesn’t preclude him from exuding boyish excitement like when he created his Ruffin logo by taking a picture of the Temptations (led by singer David Ruffin) and superimposed a baseball bat in such a manner that it looks like the Temps are pointing to the bat. “Look! They’re pointing at the bat!” he was heard to exclaim.

Some unique owners in CFCL history even make it into the Constitution. Look at Article IV and you find The Ruffin Privilege. Every year the Ruffins have thrown out the first player to be bid on. Most of the time he was successful in doing so, but even a Northwestern grad has his Ray Lankford moments (See Youtube.com and search ‘Ray Lankford Incident’).

With the retirement of the Copperfields, Dave is the second longest tenured owner and the last remaining owner named Dave (five total in CFCL history). Dave has done all of this from three different states (Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina). He’s also the only owner, other than the Copperfields, to win three CFCL titles.

It’s been a privilege to have the Ruffins in the CFCL for the past 26 years.