Earl DiLulio and his battle against cancer

Earl DiLulio and his wife Lois

Cancer is a very devastating disease that totally changes someone's life if they are diagnosed. Earl DiLulio knows first hand just how devastating and hard the battle with cancer is.

Earl Dilulio in his golf club workshop in his garage

Earl DiLulio, 89, of McCandless is a retired driver and salesman for Hostess of 32 years. Nine years before he retired, Earl took up the game of golf at the age of 60. Earl loved the game of golf as much as anything in the world, he and three of his co-workers played five days a week for most of his life, and then moved down to three days a week Two years after Earl began playing the game of golf, he also started up a little business making his own golf clubs out of a little workshop in his garage. It started by him making clubs for himself, until his friends saw them and wanted clubs made by him of their own. Life was good for Earl. He was retired, playing golf five days a week, and had his own golf club making business. So in 1993 at the age of 69 when Earl learned that he had prostate cancer, it was completely devastating. "My wife and I went out to the car and just cried, we were in shock," Earl said when asked what his reaction was to the news that he had prostate cancer.

Earl decided to receive cryosurgery to treat his cancer, at them time cryosurgery was an experimental treatment, but he thought it was his best option. Because the cryosurgery was an experimental treatment it was not covered by insurance and he had to pay $3000 out of pocket. During the cancer treatment, Earl had very high spirits and  a fighting attitude and was ready to beat the disease.


 It didn't take long for Earl to get back out on the course and continue playing the game that he loved so dearly. "I was in the hospital for one day and was able to get back out on the course in seven days. I felt great and was able to do what I wanted for the next four years," Earl said.

Four years later in 1997 Earl got the worst news of all, the prostate cancer had come back. The cancer had come back to the surrounding areas of the prostate, which was not hit by the cryosurgery. Cryosurgery is only able to be done to a patient once, so this time Earl had to go through radiation. Radiation therapy was tough, it was five days a week and in all there were 37 radiation treatment sessions. Earl showed truly how emotionally and physically strong he was with this. Once radiation was finished, it took Earl a few weeks to get his strength back and get back to playing the game he loved. After that he began golfing everyday again up until 2008 when he faced another tough obstacle.

In 2008, Earl began to lose his eyesight. He was diagnosed with macular degeneration and glaucoma. It is very rare for somebody to have both. It ultimately ended his golfing and golf club making career.



Today, Earl's right eye is completely destroyed. The blood vessels in the back of his retina ruptured and there is no cure for it. When that happens you go blind. Even with dealing with cancer twice in his life, losing his eye sight is the most devastating obstacle Earl has faced in his life. "There are so many things I can no longer do," he said. 

Golf clubs made by Earl, still in his workshop today

Golf club parts still in Earl's workshop today ready to be used

To this day, Earl believes he is fortunate because he has never experienced feelings of depression with all of the obstacles he has had to face in his life. "I'm sort of a happy-go-lucky guy. I don't let anything get me down," he said. "My wife has been extremely supportive. I have an up-beat attitude. I had cancer, but I knew I was going to beat it," he said.

Web Biography Proposal

I am going to do my web biography assignment on a man from McCandless Township in PA named Earl DiLulio. He is currently 89 years old. 20 years ago he golfed everyday. Golfing was his passion, until he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was not able to play anymore. I don't have all the information on the details yet of the entire process, but he made a full recovery, and was able to get back into the game of golf. There was a write-up about everything that he went through in the paper. After cancer, he even began making golf clubs for people out of a shop his garage. Today, he eye sight is beginning to go, so he is unable to play or make golf clubs anymore, but the golf club shop is still in his garage. He is still a very active and healthy man who jogs, maintains his garden, and even still mows his lawn and shovels snow.  For the assignment I will be able to get interviews from him, telling me about everything he went through and what it was like. I will be able to get pictures of the golf club shop, the newspaper article, and some of the man himself.

A Recent History of Slippery Rock University Baseball

A Walk Down Memory Lane: Slippery Rock Baseball

Slippery Rock University Baseball makes a name for itself by its strong year-in and year-out Win/Loss record, its "pro-like" stadium, and former alum and current St. Louis Cardinal's first baseman, Matt Adams. This Meograph timeline gives you a look at the big moments of the past 15+ years in Slippery Rock Baseball including the hiring of current head coach Jeff Messer, the opening of Jack Critchfield Park, and the MLB debut of alum Matt Adams.

The History of Slippery Rock Baseball Proposal

Slippery Rock University Baseball has always had a tradition of being one of the best D2 programs in the country, and it is now getting some national recognition from what alumni Matt Adams has been able to do with the St. Louis Cardinals.

For my Meograph Mapping/Timeline project, I will be exploring the history of Slippery Rock Baseball. This has newsworthiness for Slippery Rock students, alumni, community members, or baseball fans in general.

I will be able to meet the mapping element to this assignment in two ways.

1. The Rock have called three different fields their home over the past 60 years. I will be able to map the location of those fields.
2. I will be able to map the locations of travel for a typical Slippery Rock  Baseball season, showing all the places that the teams goes throughout the year and the hours of bus time they rack up.

I will be able to meet the timeline element to this assignment by laying out dates where something significant happened in Slippery Rock Baseball.

Ex) When a new head coach was chosen, when The Rock won the national championship, when Jack Critchfield was built, when Matt Adams was drafted and debuted in the MLB, etc...

Some other things that I will incorporate into this project will be pictures of the old and current fields, pictures of games, and pictures of players. I will also be able to get player interviews asking them what it means to them to play baseball for Slippery Rock and to play at one of the best fields in the Northeast. 

Mr. & Mrs. SRU Bodybuilding Competition

Sunday, April 7th from 2 to 5pm, Slippery Rock University students filled the Aebersold Recreation Center (ARC) to see their fellow classmates compete in the annual bodybuilding, physique, and bikini show competition, Mr. and Mrs. SRU. The competition is organized by the SRU bodybuilding and fitness club. Tickets were $8 for SRU students and $10 for non-students. All proceeds go to the SRU bodybuilding and fitness club.

SRU student Nick Fisher views the promotional poster
 for the Mr. and Mrs. SRU competition

Mr. and Mrs. SRU is an open competition, this allows not only SRU students to compete, but students from other institutions as well. There was a very good crowd at the show this year. As each contestant walked out on the stage, the spectators roared with applause.

There are four divisions that the contestants can compete in. Men's bodybuilding, Women's figure, Women's bikini, and new this year, Men's Physique. There is also an award for "most entertaining." Contestants come out one at a time to a song of their choice and show the judges and crowd what they got. Some contestants choose to be entertaining, as they dance around on stage, while others keep it traditional and just flex for the crowd. Before coming out to the stage, the contestants name, hometown, and major are announced. Then they announce what that contestant plans to eat after the competition is over, because of the strict diets they have to be on to look like they do. The most popular choices were anything that contained chocolate, or a Primanti Brothers sandwich. The contestants are judged at a pre-show beginning at 10 am the day of the competition, so by the time they show off to their classmates, the competition has already been judged. 

There is a packed house at the competition,
forcing some fans to stand in the back to watch

The contestants are judged on a number of different components. Some of these are body shape, muscle tone, stage presence, swimsuit, and symmetry. For a more in-depth, detailed overview of the judging, click here.

Before entering the basketball courts (where the competition is held), there were a few tables set up selling SRU bodybuilding and fitness club apparel as well as informational tables regarding fitness and health. So not only is it a fun competition to see your fellow classmates show themselves off, but it is also a place to learn something about health and physical fitness.

Men's Bodybuilding Lightweight Division flexes for the crowd

After each contestant in each category did his or her routine on stage for everybody, they were all called back out on stage and did a series of flexes to leave a final impression on the crowd.

Slippery Rock Student Josh McIntire does his routine to the song "Snapbacks and Tattoos" by Tyga.

There are many different reasons that one would attend the Mr. and Mrs. SRU bodybuilding competition. Anywhere from supporting your friends, wanting to attend a school event, or just because your a fitness enthusiast. Senior physical education major Nick Fisher attended for all of those reasons. 

Overall, the 2013 Mr. and Mrs. SRU show was very entertaining and made for a good social event for Slippery Rock University students. The competitors got to show off all of their hard work and dedication over the past few months to their fellow classmates, and have a lot of fun while doing so.


Slippery Rock Baseball Spring Trip 2013

Wednesday, March 13th the Slippery Rock University Baseball Team departed for their annual spring trip to Florida to play in the RussMatt Invitational. The trip started off slow with the Rock losing 2 of their first 3 games, but ended on a high note as the Rock were able to run off 4 straight including a victory over undefeated division-1 Dartmouth College. Sophomore pitchers Anton Constantino and Kyle Schneider have the recap of the trip for you all. Be sure to click on the links throughout the video for a more in-depth look at the Rock's spring trip.

Slippery Rock University Baseball: Behind the Scenes