Remembering two great interviews

So, I am sitting at my regional office at Indigo Joes with my friend, Jack. And, we got to talking about some of the great sports celebs I got to interview as the sports editor at the Illinois State Vidette. Without a doubt, Bill Veeck, the Baseball Hall of Famer, and Gale Sayers, the Chicago Bears running back, were two of the nicest people I had the pleasure of interviewing. Sayers, at the time, was named as the athletic director at Southern Illinois, the Redbird's biggest rival.

Thirty years later, I haven't forgotten the look of the paper's secretary when she told me that "Mr Sayers had called and he would like me to call him back."

As for Veeck, I thought I would have to leave a message, but I was patched through into him for what turned into a 20-minute interview on the merits of amateur college baseball as opposed to Class A minor league baseball.

As a publicist, I have never forgotten the professionalism of both individuals. I try to help my clients understand the need to respond to questions from journalists.

Hooking up with the Mickster

Fellow ISU Vidette alum, Mick Hubert, the radio voice of the Florida Gators


I am not one of those guys who, unlike my wife, is good at Christmas Cards and staying in touch. However, thanks to my alumni magazine, I am starting to find some old classmates. One old classmate is Mick Hubert, a fellow ISU Vidette and WIGN staffer. I worked with Mick on the radio station, where he and I did a weekly NFL picks show. Sad to say, Mick had a better record that year. From there, he and I worked together on the ISU Vidette. Today, the Mickster is the voice of the Florida Gators, and that's pretty cool because my wife, Jackie is a '74 Florida alum. Somehow, after the basketball season, I will try to drop Mick a line to catch up.

The unique thing about ISU (aka Illinois State) is that so many of my colleagues from the Vidette staff have done well in the communications field, despite the fact that my alma mater didn't have a journalism or true TV school.