By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – It was just three days before Father’s Day, so it was an appropriate time for Ray Wittersheim to pay tribute to his Dad.
In fact, if there was a theme for the 70th Annual Norfolk Sports Club Jamboree, held in Chartway Arena’s Big Blue Room, it was the importance of fathers.
His father, Herbert (Herb) E. Wittersheim, founded Diesel Injection Sales & Service Inc. on Union Street in Norfolk and built it into a business that employed more than 300 people. A World War II veteran, his Dad had a tough life – he was preceded in death by his wife, a son, a daughter and two brothers.
He maintained a positive attitude and believed in giving back to his community. He was a member of the Norfolk Kiwanis Club for more than five decades, a group that shelters and feeds the homeless, builds playgrounds, and mentors disadvantaged youth.
But his real passion was sports. He was a long-time member of the Norfolk Sports Club and supported every professional sports team in the area.
“Whenever the Tidewater Tides had a home game, your attendance wasn’t optional. It was expected,” Ray Wittersheim said.
Herb was a faithful Tides fan until his death in 2010.
Ray has carried on the family tradition in a big way. He’s been an active member of the Norfolk Sports Club for 24 years, was a fan of the Norfolk Neptunes football team and Virginia Squires of the old ABA as a youngster, and the Tides and Washington Redskins/Commanders as an adult.
And since ODU began playing football in 2009, he hasn’t missed many games, and by that, I mean in every sport the Monarchs play.
As he was introduced, several people in the crowd of about 300 people shouted “ooh, ooh, ooh,” trying to imitate the deep, loud cheer Wittersheim belts out at every ODU home game.
“Ray is everywhere,” said Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics. “Yes, he’s at every football and men’s and women’s basketball game. But you see him at soccer games, tennis matches, lacrosse games, any sport that ODU plays. Win or lose, he’s there. Supporting the kids. He cares about our student-athletes. And very quietly, he has been one of our most generous donors.”
The sports club presented Wittersheim with the Tom Fergusson Memorial Award as the Metropolitan Sports Person of the Year on a night when emotions ran high, and ODU won the lion’s share of awards.
Wittersheim choked up briefly as he talked about his father and his wife, Carolyn.
Selig spoke emotionally about his family after being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor the sports club rarely hands out.
ODU Football Head Coach Ricky Rahne fought back tears when talking about his wife, Jen, and sons, Jake and Ryder, after receiving the J. Roy Rodman Memorial Award as Virginia’s Outstanding Collegiate Coach.
Rahne said it took a long time for him to admit that although he loves his wife and children more than anything, his life is defined by being a coach.
“My family, we are a football family,” he said. “Landmarks in our life are marked by games. Jake will forever be a Liberty Bowl baby. My two boys spent the first decade of their lives convinced that Santa Claus only came to bowl hotels.
“While some people may think it’s sad how football has affected my family, those people have certainly never been a football coach. My sons are blessed enough to have their heroes come over for dinner. When Trace McSorley played his last game at (Penn State’s) Beaver Stadium, my son was blessed enough to walk the field with him.
“Those three minutes still bring tears to my eyes.”
Virginia Head Football Coach Tony Elliott, the jamboree’s main speaker, spoke emotionally about his childhood. Elliott lost his mother at an early age in a car wreck and then lived for a time with his abusive father. An Aunt finally took him in and the lessons he learned, he said, saved his life.
He teared up talking about her.
Eliott then turned to Rahne and said: “I appreciate you, brother, for putting things in perspective and for doing things here at ODU the right way.”
Fatherhood, indeed, was the theme of the night.
Lex Selig, Wood Selig’s oldest son, introduced his father and praised him for the lessons he provided all three of his children, including daughter, Julianna and son, Nick, who is a Navy pilot. Nick could not attend but sent a moving statement read by Lex.
“The far greatest achievement of your life is not something found in a news article or on a stat sheet,” he said. “It’s not shown on a Jumbotron. It’s not something you can buy.
“That achievement is your success as a father, as a role model. I am incredibly fortunate to have such a great man to look up to and learn from. You taught all of us how to lead and to work hard and how to build relationships. I would not be who I am today without you.”
Wittersheim said his father instilled a love of sports in him.
“As a kid in the 1960s, I remember parking just a few blocks away from here and heading to Foreman Field to cheer on the Norfolk Neptunes,” he said.
Rich Slobodnik, a linebacker for the Neptunes, was a cousin, “and as a young kid, I remember going into the locker room with him after a game and sitting on the bench. I remember it like it happened today.”
He went to Frederick Military Academy with the sons of Al Bianchi, the Squires’ long-time coach, he was able to meet players such as Charlie Scott, George Gervin and Julius Erving.
He attended Virginia Tech a year out of high school but then came home to accept an apprenticeship at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock.
“I landed a job at an establishment called Friar Tucks,” he said of a bar once located near to the site where Chartway Arena sits. “I was the weekend bouncer. That actually started my involvement with and my love for Old Dominion.”
He bought into ODU athletics in a big way while listening to Bobby Wilder, ODU’s first head football coach, give speeches around the area.
“He basically gave the same speech wherever,” he said. “He said our kids need to have a positive mental attitude on the field and in life, and, he said, they need to bring the juice.”
So, at ODU’s first game, against Chowan in 2009, he held up an empty orange juice container as the players entered Foreman Field.
“You should have seen the look on the kids’ faces,” he said. “They didn’t know if I was some random individual that was lost looking for Vodka, but they soon caught on.”
Linebacker Craig Wilkins, a member of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, was the first to call Wittersheim “Juice Man,” and the nickname stuck.
Juice Man remains in touch with athletes long after they have left ODU.
“When I’m doing the Juice Man thing, I’ve always felt if I could make a difference in a single athlete’s life, then I’ve done a good thing,” he said.
Jena Virga, who heads the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, quoted Rahne when she introduced Wittersheim.
“Ray is the most positive and selfless supporter of ODU football that I have ever encountered,” Rahne told her. “His passion for ODU is unmatched.
“I’m glad he’s on our side, bringing the juice.”
“He is 100 percent heart. He is caring, encouraging and supportive,” added Volleyball Head Coach Fred Chao.
“Spend five minutes with the Juice Man, and your world is a better place,”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE