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Notre Dame men's basketball coach Mike Brey found another reason to wear a tie.
Brey, who typically wears turtle necks when guiding the Irish on the basketball court, joined Georgetown coach John Thompson III, Penn state coach Ed DeChellis, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to push for a quick approval of health care reform.
"Weddings of my former players and now when I go to Capitol Hill are the only times I put the tie on," Brey said jokingly Wednesday.
Brey's trip to Washington was no laughing matter.
The event, co-sponsored by Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, focused on health care coverage that is affordable, adequate and available; early detection of cancer that will save more lives; and the enactment of heath reform that will improve those touch by cancer.
The coaches were among hundreds of members of Coaches vs. Cancer, which is a group of college basketball coaches who work with the cancer society to raise money for research.
"It was a powerful day and an educational day," Brey said. "You are up there in the middle of the tension and intensity and sense of urgency of health care reform. We were trying to get in there to focus on cancer research and funding, prevention and education and the focus on cancer patients.
"It was very interesting to be there and be behind the scenes, so to speak"
Brey said he met with Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, whose father is a Notre Dame graduate. He said the two talked about Notre Dame and college basketball as Sebelius played in college.
"It was interesting to hear her message," Brey said.
Brey said the coaches split into groups and he went with six Indiana volunteers to meet with top aides of Sen. Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar, and the group met with Indiana congressmen Steve Buyer and Joe Donnelly.
"It was interesting for me to hear our volunteers," Brey said. "They made some very powerful statements, certainly with some of them being cancer survivors, on what we need to keep needing to do on cancer research and funding."
Brey, a member of the Coaches vs. Cancer national board, said part of the trip was to make sure cancer research stays on the front burner because of the progress that is being made.
"Every year at the Final Four, a doctor comes and gives us unbelievable stats, that were better than the year before, on the percentages of people who are surviving," Brey said. "Overall, there can be such prevention. There are such positive signs, you don't want to be lax now, you want to be aggressive to see if you can't beat it all together."
