Farewell to The Athlete

Home of letter jackets and spirit wear since 1978, owners celebrate a long run heading into the final day for the Lafayette Square mainstay. Plus, some final entries in your BiL Holiday Playlist.

Dave Bangert

Dec 23, 2024

Support for this edition of Based in Lafayette comes from Purdue Convocations. Late to the party? Give the unique gift of a live performance! Shop for last-minute holiday gifts on our biggest spring shows, including Hadestown, TEDxPurdueU: Parallax, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300” by Baroque chamber ensemble Les Arts Florissants. SHOP LAST MINUTE GIFTS

Today’s lead story is a slice of Lafayette from friend and Based in Lafayette correspondent Ken Thompson.

FAREWELL TO THE ATHLETE

By Ken Thompson / For Based in Lafayette

Tuesday marks the end of a retail era in Lafayette.

The Athlete, a Lafayette Square staple for 46 years, is closing following the sale by owners Joe and Janelle CasaSanta to BSN Sports, an online sporting goods company.

Founded by the late Dick Robinson and Lon Heide in 1978, The Athlete – where generations of high school athletes got prized letter jackets and teams of all ages picked up uniforms and spirit wear – has outlived local competitors such as The Sportsman and Decker’s while serving more than 120 schools in an area that spans from Lafayette to Winamac to Merrillville.

Even as reversible jerseys were being prepared in the shop for elementary basketball teams Monday morning, Joe CasaSanta reflected on his tenure with The Athlete and his future with BSN Sports. Questions and answers are lightly edited for brevity.

Question: Could you tell me a little bit about the history of The Athlete?

Joe CasaSanta: They started out where the driver’s school (Road Star Driving School at 2158 S. 22nd St.) is now. Lon and Dick had The Athlete for 10 years, then Bob and Marilyn Metzger – who I worked for – owned The Athlete for 14 years. Janelle and I have done the last 21. It’s been wonderful.

Question: What finally led to the decision to sell?

Joe CasaSanta: There’s a sporting goods organization called BSN Sports (bsnsports.com), the largest sporting goods and equipment distributor in the country. After probably three years of back and forth talks, they finally asked Janelle and I if they could acquire our store. We said yes in September and we signed off on everything on the 19th of November.

BSN Sports does not have a retail presence. They have sales professionals who call on any type of institutions. Last year I think they had $2.4 billion in sales. A couple of years ago they invited Janelle and me to their office in Indianapolis. They showed us a map of the state of Indiana. On that map, they had red dots everywhere except for central Indiana, where Lafayette is and 60 miles around Lafayette. They told us, “That’s you guys. We cannot get into that area because of you guys.” When I first heard that I thought that’s a reflection on Lon Heide. That’s a reflection on Bob and Marilyn Metzger and obviously a reflection on Janelle and I and our co-workers. Years of building relationships. What BSN Sports did for Janelle and our family will never be forgotten. They took care of us.

Question: Was it a matter of the right offer at the right time?

Joe CasaSanta: I would say yes. That’s a good analogy. We went back and forth for three years. Once it sank in with both of us, this was the right thing to do. People have asked us, “Are you sad?” Our answer is we’re not sad because this is the right thing to do. Not only was this the right thing to do, we know that our children and the two of us will be comfortable for the rest of our lives. We’re just so grateful for the opportunity. The days are gone when somebody purchases a business like ours and then turns around and works 60 to 65 hours a week for the next 10 to 15 years. In all of our hard work, we joke that we created a monster. The last 12 years our business has mushroomed. This was one of those things it was a double-edged sword. Sure, you want to have a business and you want to keep the lights on, but holy smokes all of a sudden in the spring you’re working eight days a week. It was fun. Sure, it takes time, but we’re not digging a ditch.

My co-workers, Mike DeBoy and Jen Baker, are going to work for BSN. We’ve got 20 people on our payroll, and nobody got laid off. Our screen printing department, they’re all going to keep on working. They’ll not only work on their own but be a contract printer for BSN. Our embroidery department, same thing. Sewing is a lost art. We provided a great service in our community when we would not only sell a letter jacket but maybe somebody earned an all-conference patch or their team won a sectional. They would bring in their patches and for $5 we would sew them on their jackets.

Question: Just for clarification, let’s say I’m a senior at Lafayette Jeff and I won an all-conference honor. How would I go to you since there’s no more retail presence?

Joe CasaSanta: The week of Jan. 6 when everybody goes back to school, we’re going to have some store hours with my co-workers who are in our embroidery and decoration department. We may have a couple days a week where from 12 to 5 (p.m.) you can come in and drop a jacket off. There will be communication on that.

Question: You mentioned all the hours your staff put in. Could you give us an idea of what you do, because there’s a lot more to The Athlete than just selling equipment and scorebooks?

Joe CasaSanta: (Laughs) It’s mind-blowing. We’re all used to having six plates in the air. Somebody can come in and they might order reversible jerseys for their son or daughter’s AAU team. You’ve got to decorate them and put the numbers on. One thing we do a lot of is called online stores. If you’ve got a kid on the swim team and they want to get some gear, we’ll make a store online. The parents place the order and then when the (retail) store closes, that’s when we decorate the items. That’s when we pack the items. It’s customer-service driven. I personally feel that over the years what has made The Athlete so successful is because of the different avenues we took to serve our customers.

Lon and Dick started it. Bob and Marilyn kept it going. And that was our fear. We didn’t want to let down Bob and Marilyn. We didn’t want to let down Lon. That was always our No. 1 goal, to keep the tradition of The Athlete going. We probably did things that most people don’t, but it certainly brought us repeat business.

Question: I can remember growing up in Lafayette and you had The Athlete, The Sportsman, the department stores all selling sporting goods …

Joe CasaSanta: You had Decker’s. That’s some of our greatest pride is when people will come in and say, “You know my dad brought me in here and I got my first ball glove here. I got my letter jacket here.” Now they’re bringing their kids in or their grandkids. That is such a sense of pride for us, to see the generations coming in is wonderful. We’ve been lucky. We’ve worked with a lot of great people. It’s been a lot of fun.

Question: How many schools do you service?

Joe CasaSanta: We were always between 100 and 120 schools statewide. We’d go from basically Winamac to Martinsville. A lot of that was relationships. Maybe a coach would be at West Lafayette High School and he would get the job at Winamac. Maybe the coach at Lafayette Jeff would get the job at Martinsville. They would get to their place but they knew The Athlete would always take care of them. We would get them their order on time.

We’ve always said people want quality, service and price. We always did that. There are many mornings when any one of us would be in our vehicles at 7 a.m. and maybe we’re driving to Winamac or Martinsville to get them their stuff. It’s just what you do.

Question: Was it difficult telling your staff that you were selling The Athlete?

Joe CasaSanta: No, it wasn’t. It goes back to relationships. They know Janelle and I. They know our family. They know what we’ve put into it. To a person, they’re happy for Janelle and me. Mike, Jen and I will continue working for BSN and still selling sporting goods in this community. I think things will be different, but it will be a great learning curve for everybody. We’ll make it work. I don’t think people will miss a beat.

Question: What memories are you going to take away when you close the doors?

Joe CasaSanta: (Laughs) Our best memories are seeing the faces of kids and parents when they get that award jacket. I don’t care if it’s in music, band, athletics … kids work hard to earn those jackets. It’s an emotional purchase for Mom and Dad or Grandma. Just to see that sense of pride. … Janelle and I have said this many times in our 21 years … I wish we would have taken a picture of every young person with their brand new letter jacket and put it on our wall. We’ll do a set of uniforms and maybe a team will win the sectional or go to the state finals in them. We’re so lucky to have co-workers we have and we’ve had really good retention. The Wayne Hails of the world and Bob, Marilyn and Lon, to be associated with them was a sense of pride. Owning The Athlete, working for The Athlete was great.

I believe this in my heart: None of our success would have happened without the vision of Lon Heide and Dick Robinson. Without Bob and Marilyn taking the torch. We took the torch and made it a little bit brighter, a little bit bigger. We had our niche. When Dick’s Sporting Goods moved in, it was wonderful for us. It forced Janelle and I to figure out what our lane is. Our lane is dealing with youth leagues, high school and middle school sports and all the spirit wear that goes with it. Nobody is going to compete with Dick’s. We’re not competing with Dick’s. We just want to stay out of their way and do our thing. We laugh about it now, but in 2008 we figured out we were recession-proof. COVID came through, and we found out we were COVID-proof. We’ve kept on doing our thing, and it’s been wonderful for us.

Question: What’s next for you and Janelle?

Joe CasaSanta: I’m going to work for BSN Sports. I’ve got schools in the area and organizations I work with. I’ll be doing a lot of the same things I’m doing now, but I’m not going to have to be worried about payroll or keeping the lights on or taking the trash out. Janelle is going to focus on Janelle. For the last 21 years she’s raised our children, been our support and backbone at the store. I was the one who was out doing the fun stuff and she was working too much. Now she’s going to enjoy her life. I think everybody’s happy for Janelle.

Need a stocking stuffer? If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for that hard to buy for someone, consider a gift of local news. Through December, every annual gift subscription comes with a gift for you, too, from our friends at Smittybread. Details below.

THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …

Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Baird opened a story about the start of a new coaching era for the Boilermakers this way: “Purdue football did not lack top-end talent as it plummeted to the bottom of power conference teams this past season. If you don’t believe me, go ask Playoff teams Oregon, Texas and Clemson and a handful of bowl-bound teams as well. They’ve gladly snatched up those players who exited the Boilermakers program via the NCAA transfer portal. The Ryan Walters era will be remembered most for that staff’s inability to take that talent and point it in the right direction in almost any facet of the game. A first-time head coach made critical errors setting up his staff. The results spoke for themselves.” Read the rest of Baird’s report here: “Barry Odom's first Purdue football staff set up to avoid Ryan Walters' biggest downfall.”
The New York Times did a feature on a Dec. 23 church trend call Christmas Adam – as in Adam came before Eve, hence Christmas Eve eve becomes Christmas Adam – that featured Innovation Church just south of Lafayette. Here it is, via NYT reporter Elizabeth Dias: “Behold! ‘Christmas Adam’ is born.”
The Annual Community Christmas Day Dinner the Friends of Downtown puts on at Lafayette Jefferson High School will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 25, at the south entrance to the school, 1801 S. 18th St.

WE WISH YOU A MERRY PLAYLIST

Thanks to everyone who chipped in over the past month to the Based in Lafayette Holiday/Seasonal Playlist. Our advice: Put these 10 hours on shuffle.

Today’s picks come from …

RG Skadberg

From RG Skadberg, an attorney and former DJ, including stints at WAZY: “Over the 20 years I spent in radio, I played thousands Christmas songs. I think there are only, actually, 27 different songs, but thousands of different versions. Here are three that stand out for me.”

“Oh, Holy Night,” Kerrie Roberts – Originally released on “The Essentials Christmas Collection” in 2010. My absolute favorite song that can take me to a dozen completely different memories, at different times of my life, in a chorus. Kerrie’s version cuts through over production with a voice that is as stunning is as it is effortless – like the strings accompanying her. It could be on repeat for hours, and I will still get chills and tears.

“A Christmas Rose,” Lafayette Jefferson High School Choral Ensemble (1983-ish) – Delta Records approached choir directors Gary and Jean Branson in 1983 about recording a Christmas album. Their (our) annual Christmas shows would sell out three or four shows a season. While the album does include our eight-plus part version of “Oh, Holy Night,” “A Christmas Rose” is the standout song for me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it anywhere else. On an aside, when we moved my mom out of her home of 50 years, I found a handful of unopen, never-played albums she must have felt obligated to buy. Still have them if anyone is interested.

“Linus and Lucy,” Vince Guaraldi Trio – The quintessential Peanuts song that we all grew up with. Featured in one of the anchor Christmas specials we anticipated every year. The complexity of the music on paper is beyond intimidating. The simplicity of three jazz musicians delivering such an upbeat and joy-filled song lifts me up and takes me to a happy place every time.

Brian Garrity

Brian Garrity is corporate support manager for WBAA/WFYI.

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” Celtic Women – My favorite.

“Oh Holy Night,” Andy Williams – My mom’s favorite.

“Jingle Bells,” Frank Sinatra – It’s just fun twist on a classic.

Rich Hogan

Rich Hogan is a professor emeritus of sociology at Purdue.

“Spirit of Christmas,” Ray Charles – This is a charming holiday wish from one of the great ones.

“Baby It's Cold Outside,” Ella Fitzgerald – This is a somewhat naughty song be a grand lady of the jazz worlds.

“Backdoor Santa,” B.B. King – Talk about naughty. He was the King.

Catherine Grossman

Catherine Grossman lives in West Lafayette.

“Christmas in Hollis,” Run DMC – One of my first teaching jobs in 1987 was with adjudicated youth in a high school, and it was there I first heard rap. The backstory of the origins of rap made me like it even more.

“Santa Claus is Comin' To Town,” The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Love all the jazzy holiday songs.

“Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” Jon Batiste – I walked many a snowstorm in Michigan in my youth, and this song is always associated with romance.

Your turn: What’s on your list?

What three songs are going into your holiday/seasonal playlist this year? If you’re game to share, here’s all we need:

Three songs and the artists.
One or two sentences about why you chose each one – could be a memory or a short history or review about why that track belongs in your mix and why you’d recommend it to others.
A little bit about you to let readers know who’s making the picks.

Send to: davebangert1@gmail.com

Thanks, again, for support from Purdue Convocations, offering deals for last-minute holiday gifts on the biggest spring shows, including Hadestown, TEDxPurdueU: Parallax, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300” by Baroque chamber ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Get tickets and more details here.