John "Jack" Grinold '57. Photo: Northeastern University.
John “Jack” Grinold ’57 has been inducted into the Beanpot Tournament Hall of Fame as its 53rd member.
The Beanpot Tournament is Boston’s 60-year-old ice hockey tournament, which pits Boston College, Harvard University, Boston University and Northeastern University against each other in the quest for the Beanpot trophy (a replica of a pot for cooking beans).
Grinold has been the associate athletic director for communications at Northeastern University for more than 50 years and is the secretary of the annual Beanpot tournament.
“Jack has the biggest picture of our Beanpot,” TD Garden Vice President of Events Steve Nazro said. “He sees the event in the context of Boston sports, and what it means to the complete fabric of college athletics … He is the soul of the Beanpot.”
Grinold has garnered numerous accolades over his career, including being honored by Northeastern as one of the 100 people responsible for the university’s growth and success. In 2003, Grinold was inducted to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2009 to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2008, Grinold and his wife, Cathy, established a $1 million endowment at Northeastern for men’s rowing. Grinold’s comments are included in the tribute video, “Sid Watson: The Legacy of a Coach.”
2 thoughts on “Jack Grinold ’57 Honored as the ‘Soul of the Beanpot’”
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Jack Grinold is a good man. As an Orient editor, I remember being under deadline pressure to complete an article about Sid Watson to recognize a milestone in his career (20th year? 200th victory?). I had a picture of Johnny Unitas (Watson’s roommate with the Pittsburgh Steelers during training camp – Watson made the team, while Unitas was cut and later hooked on with the Baltimore Colts) and pictures of him behind the Bowdoin bench and coaching practice on the ice. I didn’t have a picture of him as a Northeastern athlete, though. I contacted Jack on a Tuesday, with a Thursday deadline to receive a picture. He came through for me with a picture of “Century Sid†in his football uniform, in an era before FedEx, .pdf attachments to e-mails and Facebook postings. I was so grateful – we had a big hole in the layout, and no good back-up plan.
Hope to see him added to the Bowdoin Hall of Fame!