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Aaron Skirboll

Aaron Skirboll, Author, Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven (July 5, 2011):

First, how did the idea for your book, The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven, come about?

It was one of those stories that just sort of haunted me for years, in that I knew there was something there, although I originally looked at it in terms of a screenplay.

But either way, after so many years, it was too interesting to pass up— you had a drug dealing parrot, a coked up defense attorney at the biggest drug trial in MLB history, and a Bucco reliever, who once ditched the bullpen and finished a game at his dealer’s pad on the North Side.

The story had a little bit of everything; baseball, FBI investigations, reporters breaking the “big” case, courtroom drama, and drugs.

Are you surprised at how seemingly forgotten the 1985 Pirates drug trials seem to be now?

Yeah, that was another reason I was interested in writing it.

At the time I began this project, the Mitchell Report was coming out and all that stuff was going on, and nobody really remembered anything about the cocaine era, particularly outside of Pittsburgh.

Also, from the feedback I’m receiving, a lot of people born around or after this period really had no idea that this occurred on in baseball.

In your opinion, why did then U.S. Attorney J. Alan Johnson decide not to go after the players, give them immunity, and instead focus solely on the dealers – do you think then MLB commissioner Ueberroth had anything to do with the investigators lack of focus on the players?

In talking with Mr. Johnson and the Assistant U.S. Attorney, James Ross, this was just the standard way the Western District of PA handled such cases.

In order to get to the dealers, you had to get somebody to talk. Faced with the choice of going after the supplier or the user, the Govt. chose the former. In this case the people buying the drugs just happened to be millionaire ballplayers.

This made it hard for the public to accept. The rich get a slap on the wrist and the poor get prison. Pampered athlete versus the bartender. It didn’t sit well. But if it was poor man vs. poor man, the argument was that it would have been handled the same way, somebody was going to get away with something.

The problem the seven arrested men had was not with being arrested so much, they understood that they’d broken the law, it was the fact that the ballplayers were all getting off scot free, across the board, and the dealers thought many of these athletes were doing the same thing, which in many cases amounted to being the middleman in transactions— one guy going to pick up drugs for the rest, which the ballplayers certainly did.

It was interesting that right after this case in ’85, the Justice Dept. issued a statement that said it would be much more stringent in regards to immunity for professional athletes in drug cases moving forward. If this case went down today, who knows how it would have played out. As you see with the Clemens case, it’s almost as if the roles have been reversed with McNamee the one getting immunity.

Do you think Ueberroth and players union head Donald Fehr did enough during and after the trial to help prevent further drug usage in MLB? Why/why not?

Ueberroth surely went for it, he pushed for drug testing, which Fehr, who was just coming into his job as Union Chief at the time, wholeheartedly opposed.

It’s hard to say how Fehr’s stance on testing was beneficial to his players, beyond the right to privacy stance adopted at the time. Believe it or not, there was an incredible push for testing in baseball at the time of these trials in Pittsburgh, to some it was almost a foregone conclusion. But Fehr and Co. put a stop to such talk.

It’s interesting that right before Fehr and after Marvin Miller, a guy named Kenneth Moffett was head of the union, and it was said that he was very keen on working out a deal with the owners on the drug problem. Moffett was fired by the players after serving less than a year.

How hard was it to research this subject – did you find many of those involved willing to speak on the subject?

It was tough, but something I enjoyed.

Most of the dealers were more than happy to talk, sort of like “what took you so long, this a story that needs to be told.” Of course many of the people I spoke with also thought their part of the story should have been the sole basis of the book.

Those who investigated this case; FBI agents, U.S. Attorneys were great in describing their roles. As for the players, many were extremely forthcoming, particularly Dave Parker and Lonnie Smith. In fact, it was with the former players who were reported to have not been mixed up with drugs who were tougher to get to talk.

The ones who were accused, sort of took the position, “Yeah, I partied, it was the eighties, for christ’s sake.” But with the so-called “clean” players, a lot of them didn’t want to have anything to do with talking about cocaine.

How has the trial affected the Pirates players involved in terms of their careers and personal lives- short and long term? Did you have the opportunity to speak to any of them before or after the book was written?

The two Pirates players who I think were most affected by the trial and/or cocaine use in general were Rod Scurry and Dave Parker. Scurry, of course, battled addiction, every day he was in the league, basically since the day he became a professional ballplayer to the day he died because of drugs.

I talked extensively with his brother, and he spoke of a guy who’d barely even touched a beer prior to signing with the Bucs as a teenager a week out of high school. Scurry’s story really highlights what was going on in the league in the seventies and early-eighties, how once you get passed everything else, these were just twenty-something year old kids, sometimes younger, thrust into an environment with greenies and cocaine.

Some managed to stay clean, many didn’t? Parker, meanwhile, was the best player in the game at the end of the seventies and this past year was his final year of eligibility to get into the hall. He has a pretty good idea why he wasn’t inducted.

So many fans then seemed to be unfaltering on their support of the Pirates players involved. Why do you suppose that was?

Some were, many weren’t. You had the line of thinking with many fans, when this all came out, that “there’s no way I’m going to pay for some guys drug habit.” Attendance was sparse. Of course it didn’t help that the team was pretty awful.

In your research, did race play much of a part in the investigation’s direction or in the reaction by fans and media?

Not really.

What was the most startling fact to you that you uncovered as you researched the book?

I was amazed at just how prevalent cocaine and amphetamine use was in the league— the stories of guys sleeping in the dugout and bullpen during games, and of course, about Tim Raines sliding headfirst so he wouldn’t bust his coke vial he carried in his back pocket.

But overall, just the fact at how close they were to addressing the drug problem more than twenty-five years ago, with all the same tests the players now go through. Sure, initially the testing would have been for drugs of abuse, but with steroids coming into the league, according to trainers, as early as 1987, it would have been much easier to tweak the system to include different drugs, as happens today, as opposed to getting the union to agree to test at all.

That was where the battle was, not what’s being tested, simply being tested.

While the focus was on the Pirates players, was there any evidence that this trial was endemic of drug usage throughout baseball?

Absolutely, investigators said this could have happened in any city in the league.

Do you have plans for further books on baseball?

I’ve just narrowed the choice for my next book down to three a few days ago. One of them is on baseball. It’s a little nerve-racking to pull that trigger and know that you’re going to be tied down to that particular subject for the next two or three years, so I’m trying to make sure it’s something that’s going to hold my interest like this one did.

Wilfred Santiago

Wilfred Santiago, Author, “21” (August 30, 2011):

Tell us about your work and what attracted you at the start to a graphic novel format?

21 is a graphic novel biography of Roberto Clemente. To tell the story of the baseball legend and humanitarian is to also tell the story of Puerto Rico and Pittsburgh. The graphic novel medium gives me the flexibility and range to tell all of these stories and to appeal to a wide audience.

Where can readers find your catalog of your work?

Readers can go to my website, www.wilfredsantiago.com, for a catalog of work.

Why did you choose Clemente as a subject for a graphic novel?

There were a few people that I considered as potential subjects before narrowing it down to Clemente.

As a subject, he has a compelling story, and he means so much to people whether they grew up on the island or whether they saw him play in Pittsburgh. No where was this more evident than on a recent trip to Pittsburgh when it became clear that Clemente was still alive for many people.

I also enjoyed baseball as a kid and thought it would be fun to capture the action of the game.

How does graphic novel format change the approach to telling a story like this?

The format allowed me to really open up the story so that Clemente’s World Series triumph was also the story of Pittsburgh’s triumph of the underdog, Clemente’s upbringing was also the story of the complex interplay between religion, race, and politics that is Puerto Rican culture.

How long does it normally take you from concept to finished product?

For this particular project, it took around 6 years.

How long does it take you to work on a graphic novel and did this one take longer?

The length of time varies. 21 did take a little longer because it was important to get the details right. As any baseball fan will tell you, the sport is about the nuances, the stats, the details. In addition to the wider audience, it was important to me that baseball fans enjoyed this book.

What surprised you most in your research of Clemente?

That most of the things people associated with him as a legend turned out to be true to life.

What were some of the major issues you attempted to address in the novel and why?

Through Clemente’s experiences, we can also see the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. The complexity of this relationship needed to be addressed because the challenges that Clemente faced off the field were an important part of his story, from institutionalized racism to learning English, to the politics of statehood.

What is your impression of how Clemente was received during his playing days in Pittsburgh and how has that changed now?

During his time in Pittsburgh, it seemed like Clemente had a close relationship to his fans and to the people of Pittsburgh, and that despite what the critics or press might say, for him, it was really about the people, the fans who went to see him, the kindness of people like the Garlands whom he lived with for a period of time, and the kids.

And so, that is what people in Pittsburgh remember of him, in addition to the wicked arm, and why he is beloved.

Have you gotten any feedback or worked with the Clemente family or MLB on the novel?

21 received positive feedback and was well received by the Clemente family which was very important to me.

There’s talk of a Clemente movie. What are your thoughts on how they should approach this?

A successful Clemente movie would have to be like the man himself, accessible and complex.

What other sports graphic novels are you planning?

I am working on a graphic novel about John Brown. Yes, that John Brown. For more information, readers can go to www.captainjohnbrown.com

Ed Monaco Pennsylvania Hall of Fame

First –can you tell readers a bit about the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and about your chapter in specific. How did both get started?

The Washington-Greene chapter was founded in 1986. There was an earlier Washington County Hall of Fame founded in 1971, but it was not affiliated with the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1962. Our membership is open to everyone for a $10.00 annual fee.

Continue reading “Ed Monaco Pennsylvania Hall of Fame”

Trevor Moawad, IMG

Trevor Moawad, IMG Performance Institute (April 20, 2011):

First, can you tell readers how you got started at IMG training players for the combine and NFL?

Actually, combine training got started here in Bradenton. IMG has been here since 1987. Tom Condon and Ken Kramer decided in the late 80’s that they wanted to send their NFL prospects to train before the combine to improve their draft status – it was like Kaplan for the SATs.

Before then athletes just trained at their respective colleges with their strength coaches. Tom figured that training before the combine would help players get drafted higher in the draft. It’s a pretty new thing.

We trained guys like Charlie Batch and Pennington and as success grew for all of these trained players other agents were forced to do the same thing and the facilities sprouted up in many other places.

A lot of the training focus in readers’ minds is on the physical side – can you tell readers how you prepare players for the psychological rigors of the combine and NFL?

The combine gets lots of press for the physical measurements, but the majority of the combine is about the Players’ mental states. We train them specifically and heavily on expanding their awareness. Anxiety comes from what you don’t know, so we make them aware of the process and give them techniques like positive visualization.

The combine is a marathon – not a sprint. Pressure comes when players feel the demands on them exceed the resources they have to survive those demands. We provide them with the strategies they need.

What are some of the strategies teams use to test players psychological makeup?

Well, here’s a good example. One NFL team I know will make the whole interview room dark except for one light behind the coach who stands in the middle of the room, in front of the player who is seated. The coach is silhouetted by the light and he and everyone surrounding the player will shoot questions at the player as he sits in the dark.

Typically, coaches will have every mistake a player has made over their college career in front of them during interviews and will ask the player to explain their mistakes and dissect their playbooks.

What are some of your best memories to date in the combine training process?

A good time was watching Heath Miller, Alex Smith and Chris Spencer singing Jimmy Buffet songs at karaoke with Miller playing guitar. It was a classic moment. Miller was a special guy. A real great character guy.

Guys develop fellowships here. And another great memory is of Boston College’s Mark Herzlich who is training here. Watching him after his battles with cancer was a privilege. He inspired and motivated everyone – here’s A guy that was minutes from losing a leg and not playing football.

I hope teams are smart enough to draft him early. He’d be a perfect fit in Pittsburgh with his attitude.

Other fun memories are the cross-disciplinary trainings – Brees playing tennis with Maria Sharapova. Eli Manning playing soccer with Freddy Adu.

And there was no better guy than Byron Leftwich. He’s a world class character – great with young athletes and helping out in training them. His appreciation for our help in getting him drafted #7 was sincere and generous.

How has the NFL changed over the years?

Players need to be more well-rounded – especially in Goodell’s NFL. They have to be intelligent and good citizens.

Miller and Batch have been here and were great citizens, Teams are not looking for perfect people- in fact, some teams like players that made mistakes early in their careers – as long as they proved they learned from them.

Matt Jones is a good example. No one touched him after a 70+ catch season. With Goodell more willing to suspend players, teams are more at risk.

Draft mistakes don’t just affect the players – front office staff and coaches lose jobs because of bad picks. Look at Beathard…. So drafting players that are suspension risks are greater risks for teams now.

How do you work with players on character issues?

We now have more ways to indicate and predict whether players are red flag characters. Our Combine 360 Tools test players in all aspects to flush out all weaknesses and improve players on all levels.

Some players may resist tests – but they are outliers. They know that check-in here at 6:30 am means being there at 6:30.

What are the biggest misperceptions players carry into the process?

Players don’t always realize that you can improve dramatically by improving technique. The science behind the whole process like vision training and improvisational games make a big difference. The amount of areas they can train in and how much they can improve surprises players.

We sent 18 guys to the combine – it’s like training them for the Navy Seals. We’re teaching them to be good
pros – not just improve their combine performances.

That’s an important distinction – how do you train them to be better NFL players – not just improve for the combine?

We get players ready for the NFL.

As an athlete, there are specific physical attributes the combine measures – speed, power, acceleration, etc.

But we show them – educate them – on how it all relates and applies. What are the common denominators of successful players? That’s more than just tests and getting players ready for the combine. We have lots of former players that help as well. We show them videos of what’s worked and hasn’t, teach them to have a plan, to be good characters. It’s not just about physical tests.

It’s also about perspective. Martin Grammatica once said to me that he wished every player would be forced to take one year off to appreciate the game and what it takes to succeed.

How do you teach attributes that to some seem like intrinsic values?

But they aren’t intrinsic. You can educate and instill values. Showing up on time and being positive are choices players make. We teach them techniques to help them do so. These can be taught.

Lot’s of players come from tough backgrounds – single mothers and the rest of it. But that’s not an excuse not to do the right thing. A lot of what we teach is about cause and effect. Of physical training decisions and social decisions. It’s all about educating them on the big picture.

How do you help players after they get drafted?

We stay connected to many players by phone, text etc. We’ll provide meals for some, send mental coaches to them for 2-3 games a year, send strength coaches to them during the season as well.

With the lockout, more players will visit us in the offseason. I’m expecting that players get more flexibility in the new CBA to do what they want in the offseason and train where they want to. The OTAs are not really voluntary – the players won’t be stuck at the team facilities in the new agreement where they have just 3 or so strength coaches for 85 players.

The lockout is worrisome because most players won’t come out to facilities like ours during the lockout and won’t stay in good enough shape or stay out of trouble.

It’s no coincidence that 1982 and 1987 were the two years in the NFL that had the highest % of injuries – they were lockout seasons.

What would surprise readers most about the combine and training process?

Really, the level of analysis – how thorough it is. Background checks are very detailed – high school coaches and friends are interviewed.

Also, just the intensity of the psychological tests and the importance of vision testing and anxiety measurement.

Any last thoughts for readers?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Really. I remember spending time with Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace. Not everyone liked Wallace but I thought, what a great kid. I’m not surprised at his success.

Some guys are just late bloomers. Colleges don’t usually have time to develop talent like we can and the NFL staffs can. Good coaching and training can help being out that talent with focused attention these guys don’t get in college.

Chad Millman

Chad Millman, Author, The Ones Who Hit the Hardest (July 28, 2011):

First, what made you decide to write on this subject – especially with this unique angle?

I was born in the early 70s and by the time I was really becoming a fan the only teams I saw with any consistency on TV — outside of the Bears because I grew up in Chicago — were the Steelers and the Cowboys. They were in nearly every Super Bowl that decade, including playing each other twice. And those games were so epic; no one was neutral about those teams.

When I started the project my wife, who is not much of a sports fan said to me, “oh man, I loved the cowboys.” it was a story and a decade that had always resonated with me as a fan, so it seemed like a natural subject to tackle.

You focused a good deal of the book on the economic hardships of Pittsburgh during the 70’s. How much of the city’s issues really caught the players’ attention and inspired the team do you think, or was it merely a backdrop?

I think it was very important to them. Especially when they were going through their own labor struggles before they won that first Super Bowl.

Rocky Bleier tells a great story of getting hammered by fans for being the face of the NFL strike. He had been a war hero and come back and he was in this union town getting blasted for not wanting to play a game when so many steel workers were losing their jobs. That affected him, and all the guys a lot.

They weren’t rich and most of them were living in Pittsburgh full time—many of them still do. So it wasn’t just a place they rented in for six months of the year. They were part of the city.

What were some of the most interesting facts/stories you uncovered in your research?

The three most interesting characters to me were Chuck Noll, Joe Greene and Franco Harris. I knew them so superficially before this project. But each one had so many quirks to their personality.

Noll wasn’t as rigid as I originally thought he was. He didn’t care if players caroused or had facial hair or showed personality. He just cared that whatever they did did not impact the team.

Greene was so driven by fear of failure that every little slight, even long after he was a hall of famer, Sent him into a fit that was manifested by brilliant play. And Franco was the thinking man’s running back. He couldn’t just do what the coach said, he had to know why first.

In doing your research, what were the biggest differences between Coach’s Noll and Landry in terms of how they coached and managed players and personalities?

Noll seemed to care a lot more about his players. He also seemed less concerned with the glory of winning.

I don’t mean he didn’t want to win. I just don’t think it consumed him the way it did Landry. Partially that was because Landry had so many tough losses before finally getting over the hump. Whereas Noll’s team won the big games the first time they played in them.

But, like I wrote above, Noll did not feel the need to control everything his players did. In fact, for better and worse, he tended to look the other way if there were things he didn’t want to know, like steroid use on the team.

What were the main steps Chuck Noll and Rooney took that had the greatest impact on turning The Steelers around?

Having patience and focusing on the draft.

The Steelers had a history of giving away draft picks to try and win immediately with veterans. It meant coaches had old players with bad habits. Noll decided he didn’t want anyone who could disrupt what he was trying to teach, so he took young players and made them learn his style of football.

Malcontents were shipped out and replaced with more young players. All they knew was the Noll way, so they didn’t have any bad habits. It helped that he and his scouting depo were as good as anyone has ever been at finding talent.

How involved was Rooney in the day-to-day of the team? Did he and Chuck Noll work closely or did he take a hands-off approach to give Noll freedom to do as he needed?

Rooney did not interfere with Noll’s decisions as far as scouting or coaching at all. That has been a longstanding Rooney tradition that Art started.

Once, a couple of the Rooney boys had been practicing with the team, catching passes during warmups for the QBs during training camp. They felt the fourth-stringer, a local kid, was clearly the best of the bunch but the coaches weren’t giving him any time. So they wrote Art a letter making their case.

He read it, threw it away and told his boys, “The coach gets to choose his players.” Soon after that the QB was cut. His name: Johnny Unitas.

Fans/media today seem to decry the behavior of many players today. In truth, were players any different then in terms of their off-and-on field behavior- if so, how?

I think they mentality towards players was different. They didn’t make as much money, they weren’t in the spotlight as much. There was still plenty of partying going on, people just knew a lot less about it.

Many feel the NFL has targeted the Steelers not just now, but in the 70’s as well, for their physical play. What are your thoughts on this and how has this helped define the franchise, in your opinion?

I don’t get that sense. I do think they are a remarkably physical team and the success of the franchise has been built on that. But I always felt this was something they were admired for.

We know that players like Lambert and Green were locker room leaders during those 70’s teams – but what other players may surprise fans as having also been locker room leaders?

The linebacker, Andy Russell, especially on those first couple of Super Bowl teams. And the center, Ray Mansfield, too.

Those were two of the only holdovers from before Noll took over and it’s because they were both so smart. But also because they were old school players.

Mansfield was the first one to protect a teammate. And he seemed to crave physical contact in a way that other players just accepted it as part of their job. Russell, meanwhile, was the one everyone took cues from as far as studying film, listening to coaches and dealing with the media.

How close-knit were those Steelers teams really? Were there rifts – if so, between who, and why?

They were very close.

Lots of team meals outside of the locker room. Poker games on Tuesday nights between offensive players and defensive players, white guys and black guys.

Noll forced it that way with the way he designed the locker room. Many are organized by position groups, but he organized it by number. It forced players to get to know whoever was around them.

Was there a real dislike between those Steelers and Cowboys teams or was most of that media hype?

They hated each other. Especially from the Steelers perspective. They were the ones always winning and never understood why the Cowboys got the tag America’s Team.

Any other thoughts for readers?

Enjoy the book!

Tim Worley, Steelers Running Back, 1989-1993

First, can you tell readers more about your motivational speaking, consulting and leadership practice – who you work with and what exactly you do in this regard?

We are a for-profit organization. We’ve been up and running for nearly two years. We work with businesses, churches, formal events, sporting events, youth, NCAA programs…any and everybody in secular and non-secular venues who need guidance and leadership in various areas.

But we don’t just show up and speak. We have custom-designed programs that are specifically tailored to each audience, group or individual. Our purpose is to fulfill their needs.

Continue reading “Tim Worley, Steelers Running Back, 1989-1993”

Jeff Weiner – ESBL

Jeff Weiner interview (March 22, 2011):

Can you tell us first what constitutes “sports management” as it pertains to NFL players – what services do you provide?

Sports Management has a very broad definition, since it can pertain to so many different aspects of sport.

To my company, ESBL Sports Management, it means providing the highest quality of services to my clients (including LaMarr Woodley and Steve Smith) as it relates to building their brand via Marketing, Public Relations, and Social Media. In this day and age, I strongly believe that Social Media is the most powerful and essential aspect in order to maximize the other two (Marketing and Public Relations).

How did you get involved in sports management?

Do you want the long version or the short version? In short, I attended the University of Maryland in hopes of becoming a Super Bowl winning head coach one day. I worked on the football team as a student volunteer and developed some great friendships with several coaches and players.

About a month before I was slated to graduate, I found out that I didn’t (even get an interview for) the Graduate Assistant coaching job I was hoping to get, and I was dejected. The coach who I was closest with consoled me and told me the old cliche that everything happens for a reason. I liked him too much and was too upset to tell him how corny that was, and soon after, I of course realized that he was 100%
right.

Just the next day, he showed me an article on ESPN.com about an agent and the relationship he had with his client, and he said it reminded him of me and that I should look into becoming an agent. I blew it off and said “No, I want to be a coach. Plus, I didn’t even know what that is other than from watching the movie Jerry MaGuire.

My good friend on the team, kicker Nick Novak, had just finished his career at Maryland and had hired an agent. Coincidentally, he approached me just a few days later and said “Hey Jeff, have you ever thought about becoming an agent? I just hired one and your personalities are very similar. I bet you would be good.” I decided to do some research on what being an agent entailed, and about a month or so later I landed my first job working for an agent. I experienced some ups and downs in my first few years in the business, having worked for two different companies who both taught me a ton.

At the end of the day, I decided that I did not want to be one of a thousand agents, but rather I wanted to carve a niche in the industry that I felt did not exist. That’s when I started my company, ESBL Sports Management, where I focus my energy on the aspects of an NFL player’s career other than their NFL contract. Yes, that was the short version.

What does sports marketing entail, exactly? Can you explain to readers what it is that you do to market and brand a player?

Sports marketing in its purest form is when athletes are paid to endorse a company. Before marketing a player, I first need to get to know the player and understand who he was in the past, who he is in the present, and
who he projects to be in the future.

Once that is accomplished, I target companies locally, regionally, and nationally that I believe would benefit from having my client endorse them. In deciding what companies to target, I take a meticulous and strategic approach, and make sure that both my client and I believe that a partnership with that particular company would be something they would be proud to endorse.

How do you prepare rookies for the NFL game and for life outside of college?

Well, I don’t have to do too much to prepare them quite frankly, because the guys I work with are very intelligent guys who already understand how blessed they are to be in the position they are in.

One of the things I work hardest on teaching them is how careful they need to be with Social Media in this day and age, since one poor choice of words on a post can negatively affect their reputation. I do my best to coach them up, so to speak, on the importance of time management and being professional with media and marketing opportunities, as well as showing them how to best communicate with their fans via Social Media.

Of course, there is much more to it than that, but that’s the basic premise.

In working with athletes and their brand, what are the biggest concerns athletes usually have when you take them on? Is it all about money for most or are there other issues that you find them caring about more?

What most people don’t understand is that it’s impossible to answer this question because every single client of mine, and every single athlete in general, is a different person with a different outlook on things.

Sure, my clients want me to make them money because they realize it’s a short window for them and that they bring value to the table for companies. I think the most common thing that my clients all want is to be presented with opportunities that can not only provide them with a couple of bucks, but that also have value for the overall development of their brand.

How do you determine how you brand players – what factors go into an individual strategy?

As I eluded to before, this is an impossible question to answer because every player is so different in so many ways. It really depends on if the player is an introvert or an extrovert, if he is willing to be active in Social Media, among other factors.

So much of a player’s personal life has become public now. How do you educate players to avoid circumstances that can get them into PR, if not legal trouble?

All of my clients are good guys who, knock on wood, have never been in any trouble with the law. I really don’t have to educate them much, but there are always situations that arise, such as an athlete getting arrested for a DUI, where I make a point to remind them how something like this can not only ruin a career, but also a life.

How do you handle players who don’t take advice or seem to have little concern for their public image?

With only 24 hours in a day, I don’t have a single minute to spend working for players who have that mindset. In order to perform my job efficiently, I need to work with players who want my advice in regards to my areas of expertise and who are willing to take these aspects of their career seriously.

How do you find players to represent and do you reject players? If so, why?

I am very strategic in my approach to finding new clients. I know it sounds cliche, but I only want high character individuals, who also are business savvy. Agents want high character guys, but they still can earn a living from negotiating a player’s contract even if he is not an upstanding citizen.

Since I’m not an agent, the thing about my aspect of the business is that if I have a client who gets in trouble with the law or represents himself poorly in the media, I am very limited in what I can do for them.

How do you prepare players for retirement and how hard is it to work with players who are making that transition from star/starter to winding down their career?

I focus on preparing my clients for retirement the day I begin working with them by asking them what their long term goals are after football. No matter what they say, I believe that the ability to build a database of fans and supporters via Social Media while an athlete is in his prime playing days will only help that athlete when he is ready to move on to the next phase in his life.

Most NFL players aren’t making the millions that you see star players making. How do you handle those players differently and is there often resentment on their part/lack of acceptance of their “place” in the NFL?

I don’t think there is resentment at all from these players. I believe that most players are realistic and understand that Peyton Manning’s are few and far between.

I think guys just want to be compensated fairly for their production and they want to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, because they know that the window is small.

What are your biggest concerns – and hopes – with any new CBA?

I don’t lose any sleep worrying about that which I cannot control. I believe this thing will get worked out in the very near future and right now everything you hear in the media is all just part of negotiations.

The NFL is the best league in all of professional sports and it’s not by accident. Not only is it a great game with great fans, but it has smart businessmen on both the NFL side and the NFLPA side who have worked very hard over the years to get it to the level of success that it has reached.

I have the utmost confidence they will not mess that up and that everything will be resolved before too long.

Any last thoughts for readers?

Thanks for reaching out to me Ron. I hope my answers were interesting and insightful to your readers.

Jim O’Brien -70’spirates-steelers

Reunions of ’71 Pirates and Steelers of ‘70s Rekindle Great Memories – Jim O’Brien

I have often been told I have a nice job.

Then again, my younger daughter, Rebecca, has often reminded me, “Dad, you never had a real job.”

Many sports fans through the years have told me they wish they could have tagged along with me and met all the great sports stars I have been fortunate to meet and interview as a sports writer and author.

I always recognized I was blessed to turn a boyhood fascination with sports and writing into a lifelong career. Yes, in my own way, I was able to make it to the major leagues in all sports.

I was never a one-sport guy. I covered more sports on all levels than any other sportswriter to come out ofPittsburgh.

I was reminded of this over the past extended weekend when I spent time in the company of the Steelers of the ‘70s, as well as some of the great players of opposing teams in the National Football League, and the ’71 Pirates.

These were the ballplayers that made the Steelers the “Team of the Decade” in the NFL in the ‘70s, and produced title teams – four Super Bowl champions and two World Series winners – and prompted sportscaster Howard Cosell to label Pittsburgh“The City of Champions.”

It stuck and we still like to think of ourselves in that respect.

Last Thursday evening my wife Kathie and I attended a gala party at Heinz Field for the 34^th Annual Andy Russell Celebrity Classic, and then I joined many of the celebrities and participants at a breakfast the following morning at the Club at Nevillewood where a golf outing was held.

From there, I hustled off to Robert Morris University, where I signed books in my “Pittsburgh Proud” series Friday through Sunday at the 33^rd Pittsburgh Sports Card Show that featured the 30^th anniversary reunion of the 1971 Pirates.

I worked at The New York Post from 1970 till 1979 and took pride in thePittsburgh sports successes from a distance. I was covering all the sports teams inNew York, but I still reveled in the accomplishments of my hometown teams, including the 1976 Pitt national college football championship team.

I returned home to work for The Pittsburgh Press, where I had worked while in high school and at Pitt, in April of 1979. I got back just in time to celebrate another World Series triumph by the Pirates in 1979, and to cover the Steelers when they won their fourth Super Bowl in six years.

Danny Murtaugh had managed the Pirates in 1971, and Chuck Tanner was at the helm of the ship in 1979. Chuck Noll, of course, coached the Steelers, still the only coach to claim four Super Bowl championships in as many outings.

And I wrote the first of 20 books I would write about Pittsburghsports achievements when Marty Wolfson and I edited and published Pittsburgh: The Story of the City of Champions.

Andy Russell has raised over $5 million at his celebrity golf outing for local charities, most recently the UPMC prostate cancer research program. I remember covering one of his early outings with Arnold Palmer as the co-host at the Latrobe Country Club, and I have attended about 15 of these events ever since.

The former Steelers present this time were John Banaszak, Craig Bingham, Rocky Bleier, Mel Blount, Emil Boures, Robin Cole, Glen Edwards, Neil Graff, Gordon Gravelle, Jack Ham, Dick Hoak, Bill Hurley, Todd Kalis, Marv Kellum, Louis Lipps, Mike Merriweather, Edmund Nelson, Myron Pottios, Lynn Swann, Paul Uram, Mike Wagner, J.R. Wilburn and Dwayne Woodruff.

Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier, both Hall of Fame linebackers for the Kansas City Chiefs, were there, along with Isaac Curtis of the Cincinnati Bengals, Pierre Larouche and Phil Borque of the Penguins, Kent Tekulve of the Pirates, Tom Mack, a Hall of Fame center for the Los Angeles Rams, and Billy Van Heusen of the Denver Broncos.

I particularly enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with Bobby Bell. I was stationed at the U.S. Army Home Town News Center inKansas Cityfor ten months in 1965 when the Chiefs were assembling one of the greatest teams in NFL history. Lenny Dawson, a former quarterback with the Steelers, was the team’s offensive leader andBelland Buck Buchanan were the leaders of the team’s defensive unit.

I helped out in the press box at Municipal Stadium for home games for the Chiefs and Athletics, a real perk since I was getting about $10 a day in meal money from the Army. I spent time in the home of Bobby Bell when I interviewed him for a feature story in Sport magazine. He was sharing the pad with a defensive back named Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, who gained fame for his ferocious hits and went on to star in a series of black exploitation movies featuring fearsome black tough guys and gals (Richard Roundtree and Pam Greer) ala “Superfly” and “Shaft” that were popular with urban audiences in the early ‘70s. Williamson had once played briefly for the Steelers.

Belland Williamson were an odd couple, andBellhad a few belly laughs over reflecting on his roommate.

Bellhas been a regular at Andy Russell’s Celebrity Classic for many years, and is popular with whatever foursome gets him in the draw. KDKA’s Bob Pompeani, who was a student of mine once upon a time atPointParkUniversity, is the only other member of the media at these outings. He emcees the auction and plays in the golf outing. He’s got a green jacket to prove it. Those who participate in at least ten of the classics rate the same kind of blazer that is given to Masters champions atAugusta.

I was not as familiar with the ’71 Bucs because I was inNew York at the time as I am with the ’60 Bucs and ’79 Bucs. It was good to see Gene Alley, Tony Bartirome, Steve Blass, Vic Davalillo, Dave Giusti, Mudcat Grant, Richie Hebner, Jackie Hernandez, Bob Johnson, John Lamb, Don Leppert, Bill Mazeroski, Al Oliver, Bob Robertson, Charlie Sands, Manny Sanguillen, Bob Veale and Bill Virdon.

I covered the New York Yankees when Virdon managed the team during the 1974 and 1975 seasons. He is the answer to a trivia question: Who managed the Yankees for two years and never managed one game at Yankee Stadium? The Yankees played at Shea Stadium, the Mets’ home field, during that span as major renovations were being done on Yankee Stadium. The venerable ballpark has since been leveled when a new stadium was constructed next door.

Terry Hanratty, a quarterback for the Steelers in the ‘70s, was the lone Steelers’ player to be signing autographs among all the ’71 Pirates at Robert Morri sUniversity. Promoter J. Paul Stogner said he wanted to have something for the Steelers’ fans in attendance.

Jim Tripodi, who operates Diamond Jim’s, a sports card and memorabilia shop in Beaver, is a regular at these card shows.

“I’m really getting into magazines, sports publications of all kinds and press guides,” Tripodi told me. “I swear I keep seeing your name in all of them. I don’t know where you found the time to have two kids.”

I told him I hustled pretty good in the ‘70s and ‘80s as far as free-lance writing was concerned. I loved writing about sports stars and seeing my byline in all the national publications.

Sportswriters weren’t making good money in those days, so I moonlighted and took advantage of all opportunities to get my stuff published and make some money on the side.

I saved nearly all of that extra money. The fees for such stories ranged from $50 to $500 in the early years, and got better later on. I started out making $12,500 a year for editing Street & Smith’s Basketball Yearbook in 1970, and was up to $65,000 for editing three annuals for the Conde Nast Publications by the mid-80s.

I was able to save about $100,000 for each of our daughters, Sarah and Rebecca. That included $65,000 earmarked for their college education and $35,000 for their weddings. I was right on the mark for what I needed for them to go to theUniversityofVirginiaandOhioUniversity, for Sarah and Rebecca, respectively. Rebecca’s wedding money is still drawing dividends and interest.

I invested the rest in retirement funds for Kathie and myself. That’s how you are supposed to manage your money. That’s why I have little tolerance for the complaints offered by pro athletes these days during the labor contract disagreement in the NFL.

The players have this sense of entitlement, which is rampant in this country among many people. With the kind of money they are making they should be stashing away the majority of their money for future use. When NFL players compare their situation to being slaves I have to question their mentality.

They say the average NFL playing career is just over four years, yet many of them think they should be set for life and never have to work again. In truth, if they saved and invested their money wisely they would be set for life.

I worked for the New York Post for nine years and Street & Smiths’s for 32 years, and The Pittsburgh Press for four-and-a-half years – the average NFL career – and draw a pension from none of them. I saved and funded my own pension.

I did what I did because I enjoyed the life. I remember Dick Young, the best baseball writer ever, when asked why he was a sportswriter, saying, “I don’t want to be a millionaire, I just want to live like one.” Exactly. My sentiments, indeed.

It’s a great life. The Pirates, Steelers, Penguins and other pro athletes who were in Pittsburgh this past week ought to know that by now. It was good to see them again. We were lucky they came our way.

Pittsburghsports author and Valley Mirror columnist Jim O’Brien has written a series of “Pittsburgh Proud” books that area available at area book stores. His website is www.jimobriensportsauthor.com

O’Brien-Ohlendorf

Ross Ohlendorf poster boy for what’s wrong with Pittsburgh Pirates – Jim “O’Brien

I actually felt some compassion for Ross Ohlendorf and that surprised me. He looked so forlorn and lost as he sat on the bench after he was knocked out of his last two starts as a Pirates’ pitcher.

Ohlendorf looked like a man who was wondering whether he would be wearing a Pirates’ uniform next season. He looked like a man who was wondering how everything was going wrong for him, and what was to become of him.

I don’t think Ohlendorf will be back with the Bucs. I don’t think another pitcher with similarly awesome stuff, Paul Maholm, will be back either. They can’t win, they’re high maintenance and they make more money than they’re worth. Catcher Ryan Doumit may not be back, and shortstop Ronny Cedeno could be gone as well. Pedro Alvarez must improve or be a bust.

The Pirates made significant progress this past season, but they had a losing season for the 19^th consecutive year – a record for all major sports – and they must make some changes if they are to become a legitimate contender for a championship in Major League Baseball.

Ohlendorf is a 29-year-old righty with a hard-biting sinker and he can hit 97 miles per hour with a two-seam sinking fastball.

But he hasn’t stayed healthy and he hasn’t been able to win.

During the last off-season he rejected the Pirates’ contract offer and took them to arbitration. When he did this I offered the thought that the Pirates should have told him, “Sorry, but we’re not interested. You should look elsewhere for future employment. Good luck.”

But Ohlendorf knew what he was doing. He was a Princeton grad, an all-Ivy standout, and he’d written a 140-page paper atPrincetonabout the financial aspects of the draft in Major League Baseball. He majored in Operations Research and Financial Engineering atPrinceton.

Now this was a guy who had posted a record of 1-and-11 and an earned run average of 4.07 in his previous season as a pitcher for the Pirates. He won his arbitration hearing and a $439,000 raise to $2,025,000 for the 2011 campaign.

How’d he do that? In truth, though, the Pirates aren’t the only team that operates this way.

Ohlendorf is making almost as much as another overpaid pitcher, Todd Graham, the first-year head coach and pitchman for Pitt’s “high octane offense” this season. Graham is getting $2.25 million. Hopefully, the fine win againstSouth Floridais a preview of what’s to come for the Panthers.

This year Ohlendorf missed most of the season with arm ailments and didn’t join the team until the final six weeks of the season. He posted a 1-3 record with an 8.15 ERA. So he’s been paid more than $3.5 million for two pitching victories over the last two seasons.

His one victory last month came against the Dodgers, but he followed it up with two disastrous and short-lived appearances in the stretch run. I witnessed both games on television. It was hard to watch.

He was shelled for seven runs in two plus innings in an 8-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that drafted him out ofPrinceton. The D’Backs managed to pull off two double steals on Ohlendorf, a club record. I’d never seen that happen in my lifetime.

In his last outing, against the Brewers inMilwaukee, he gave up a monster home run to Prince Fielder and then an even longer one to Rickie Weeks, the next batter. The Bucs managed to tie the game at 2-2 and Ohlendorf singled in a go-ahead run, but he couldn’t hold the 3-2 lead.

Afterward, Ohlendorf said, “I wish I could have held the lead but that was a lot of fun.”

Did he really think so? That was a lot of fun…

But Ohlendorf talks like that. At spring training, he was brought along carefully because of arm problems. After he pitched an extended inning (four outs) in spring training, he declared himself fit for the coming season.

He likes to put a positive spin on his efforts.

When he was ripped by the D’Backs, he said, “I felt like the ball was coming out of my hand real good and I made good pitches, but they took good swings. I had some really good pitches but I didn’t make enough good pitches.”

Even the late Chuck Tanner was never that positive and upbeat.

I’ve seen where the Pirates have fired their trainers since the season was completed, so maybe they were to blame for Ohlendorf missing so many games, or the Pirates falling apart after the All-Star Game. It was said some of the coaches were in jeopardy of losing their jobs as well.

The problem with the Pirates is that they just don’t have enough good players, and I think that’s going to be a problem for the Penguins and Steelers as well. Oh my oh my. Imagine if Sidney Crosby can’t play.

There would not be any Pittsburgh Penguins playing at theConsolEnergyCenterexcept for Sidney Crosby coming here. There wouldn’t be anyConsolEnergyCenter. And they wouldn’t be tearing down the Civic Arena. See the domino effect?

That’s why sports command our attention. This past weekend there were some great last-game of the schedule outings in baseball, some terrific match-ups in collegiate and professional football, and some hockey and golf thrown in for good measure. The Steelers lost inHoustonbecause their offensive line can’t block for Big Ben or any of the running backs.

The Red Sox took a monumental dive and that, along with his own words, cost Terry Francona ofNew Brightonhis job as manager inBoston. Maybe he’ll end up with the White Sox.

It was good to see Jim Leyland leading the Detroit Tigers into the playoffs against the New York Yankees.

But, for some reason, I kept thinking about Ross Ohlendorf. He’s probably a fine fellow. He’s taken advantage of a system that doesn’t make any sense. There are no NBA pre-season games going on right now because they have followed the lead of the NFL in having a labor dispute. There is never enough money to go around.

Unemployment is high in this country and in the world right now, and the Average Joe is hurting. But the ballplayers never make enough money. Prices are going up after a long hiatus for the Pirates next season.

They need more money to pay for the kind of players they need to make a serious run – and not just to the All-Star Game like they did this season – for a National League playoff position.

Sometimes I think the Pirates’ broadcasters would be speechless if they didn’t have statistics to spew out throughout the telecasts and broadcasts. But one statistic caught my attention last week.

Greg Brown came up with a gem. He said that the great Walter “Big Train” Johnson, who pitched for the Washington Senators way back when and was a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was a pretty fair hitter, too.

Brown said there was a ten-year stretch where Johnson had a higher batting average than his earned run average during the same span. Now that’s impressive.

Johnson surely didn’t make as much money as Ohlendorf’s raise of $439,000 during those ten years combined.

It’s a different day, of course. I thought about my friends Bob Friend and Bob Rowe. They both had their right shoulders surgically replaced this past year. Friend pitched every fourth day for the Pirates back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and Rowe was a lineman for ATT, working a high-wire act with a hook. The wear and tear on their shoulders finally got to be too painful.

They didn’t need rehab until they retired.

Pittsburghsports author and historian Jim O’Brien has a series of “Pittsburgh Proud” books available at area book stores. His website is www.jimobriensportsauthor.com

Joe Starkey

Joe Starkey, Tales From the Pittsburgh Penguins (August 12, 2011):

First, what made you decide to write on this subject and include the past as well as present team stories?

Well, my former colleague at the Trib, Mike Prisuta, gave me the opportunity and passed along the project from a publishing company in Chicago. Their whole theme was to do ‘greatest tales’ books on teams and players.

How were able to research those older Penguins teams to uncover the stories as you did – who were you able to speak with and how much fun was it to connect with those older players?

It was incredibly fun.

I already had tons of numbers from covering the team, but Cindy Himes at the Penguins connected with me a lot more of the old-time players and people like Paul Steigerwald, Bob Grove and Tom McMillan — with their encyclopedic knowledge of team history — gave me tales to pursue and people to connect with.

How was the game different then – how has it changed, and has it done so for the better, do you think?

So many things are different. I remember looking at one of the old photos and seeing the glass was only a few feet high. People could and would stand to reach over it.

No helmets, obviously, and less equipment, which actually prevented a lot of the gutless, idiotic plays you see nowadays. More equipment means more courage.

Also, as players will tell you, they protected each other back then. Of course, they also had bench-clearing brawls.

The biggest difference of all, as in any sport, is the size and speed and strength of players. Just no comparison. The size of goalie equipment, too, is a joke nowadays. You look at old-time goalies, they practically look naked in the net.

Their masks were much cooler then, too. I miss end to end rushes and slap shots off the rush. But overall, the game is better because of the skill and speed. Simply put, more players are good.

The Penguins came such a long way from sad sack team to contender – what happened organizationally to make this happen?

It started, of course, with Mario Lemieux, and Eddie Johnston’s willingness to go to great lengths to secure that pick (nice way of saying Penguins tanked it for top pick). EJ then would not be tempted by any trade offer for top pick.

Later came Paul Coffey, which was the kind of trade that made people say, wow, if the Penguins can get a guy like that, anything is possible. Then, of course, Craig Patrick came along and brought in Bob Johnson and Scotty Bowman, and suddenly the Penguins had one of the most respected management teams in the game.

Who were a few of the more memorable characters on those older teams –what made them so – any examples?

Eddie Shack stands out. Just a complete nut. Commandeered the Zamboni for a few rides. Crazy end-to-end rushes captured fans’ imagination. Bryan “Buggsy” Watson took the team’s hotel shuttle for a ride one time, kicking the driver out of his seat, and Andy Brown was the last goalie to play without a mask.

What would surprise fans most about the early days and about the success the Penguins finally realized?

One thing that surprised me in researching was that George Steinbrenner almost became owner of the team at one point early on. That would have been interesting.

Also, the NHL at one point seized control of the franchise. There were financial issues from the get-go.

Oh, and by the way, there were financial issues with the company that published the book, too. It went bankrupt and folded!! How ironic is that? Is ironic the right word there? I don’t even know where the book can be found at the moment. Probably on Craig’s List or something, or at somebody’s garage sale.

If you could put a finger on it, what did those Penguins teams of old “do wrong” in their inability to win on the ice and win over fans?

Couldn’t beat the Islanders, for one thing.

You wonder how things might have been different if they hadn’t blown the 3-0 lead in 75.

The constant trading of first-round draft picks was probably the biggest mistake. Eddie Johnston ended that habit, emphatically.

Besides the obvious players like Lemieux, Jagr….who were some of the more memorable players for you on these recent teams that didn’t share as much of the limelight, and what made them so?

Hans Jonsson wore blue socks every day. Darius Kasparaitis was probably my favorite player to cover. Just a warrior and a naturally funny guy. Never forget him playing with a torn ACL. Also the way he hit people (like Lindros).

Brad Werenka was an interesting person. I remember him constantly reading on the team plane (he went on to become a lawyer). Jiri Slegr wearing literally pounds of jewelry around his neck. Kip Miller played the guitar fairly well. Robbie Brown was a great guy. I remember my first trip with the team being a bit uncomfortable walking onto the team bus — especially when I got the stare from Barrasso — because there were no seats up front. I wound up in the back, next to Brown, and he couldn’t have been nicer.

This offseason, the Penguins lost a couple of their “heart and soul” guys in Rupp and Talbot. How damaging are those losses to the locker room >>> > chemistry and to the team’s “grit”? Who replaces those personalities?

Always hard to tell how losing certain players will affect chemistry.

I don’t think much if Crosby and Malkin come back and play well! I think the chemistry was excellent before Rupp got here and will continue to be so. He contributed, for sure, but I wish he’d playedmore in Game 7 vs. Tampa.

Talbot’s contributions won’t be forgotten. But I think the team will be fine if its top-end talent comes through.No shortage of grit when you look at who could be on the third and fourth lines.

The Penguins have become one of the most community-oriented franchises in sports. Do you think this is in part to secure their place with a fan-base that they had lost much of years ago (to the point of almost having to relocate)?

I just think they’re really good at reaching out in creative ways, like having Sid show up at somebody’s house with tickets. That kind of thing. They’re smart people. But I also think winning is the best fanattraction of all.

Any plans for a new book?

None at the moment, but I’m open to suggestions!

Any last thoughts for readers?

Should be a fascinating training camp, especially day 1. If No. 87 is cleared for contact and ready to go, I can imagine very good things for this team.