I find the story of Jay Ramsdell to be particularly inspiring.  Not only did he help to bring the Columbus Horizon to the CBA, he was also the youngest person ever to be named the commissioner of a professional sports league.  Wish I could have met him.

Homage is going to be coming out with a vintage Horizon tee.  25% of the proceeds will go to the Jay Ramsdell scholarship fund established by his family in Maine.  More details to come…

From Wikipedia:

As a ninth-grade student in 1978, Ramsdell interviewed the owner of the Maine Lumberjacks for an article in his high school newspaper. The owner was so impressed, he invited Jay to “help out” the team on Opening Night. That night Jay was assigned to the scorer’s table, and by the end of the game he was the Statistical Crew Chief. Within a week, Jay had assumed the role of the team’s Director of Public Relations.

Ramsdell remained with the ‘Jacks until his high school graduation in 1982 when he was hired by the CBA’s league office as an Administrative Assistant. Within a year, he was the league’s Director of Operations, and became the league’s Deputy Commissioner before he turned 21.

He returned to Bangor, Maine, to serve as the General Manager for the Maine Windjammers in 1985/86. After that franchise folded after one season, Ramsdell returned to the CBA front office and his post as Deputy Commissioner.

With the resignation of Commissioner Mike Storen in 1988, Jay Ramsdell became the youngest Commissioner in the history of professional sports when he assumed the position at the age of 24.

Ramsdell was on his way from the league headquarters in Denver to the player draft in Columbus, Ohio, on July 19, 1989 when his flight crashed after losing all hydraulics. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board the flight, Jay was among the 112 passengers who lost their lives in the crash.

In 1989, the CBA league championship trophy was named the Jay Ramsdell Trophy to honor his memory.