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Athletes who did not speak to the media

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Dick Whitman, Dec 12, 2011.

  1. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    I used to get the same vibe from (former Panthers, Saints and Colts LB) Andre Royal when I covered him in college. Just a menacing, menacing guy.
     
  2. Really? I covered the Panthers in their first season and Royal was great to deal with. I did a feature on the team's three designated special teams maniacs -- he was one of them -- and he couldn't have been more fun. He had a great time describing the chaos that is kick coverage, and talked at length about the competition the three of them had for the team lead in ST tackles. In fact, all three of those guys -- Paul Butcher and Chad Cota were the others -- were great talkers.
     
  3. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    He might have quit drinking by then.
     
  4. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Greg Lloyd came to my little podunk town in Ohio once as a "celebrity waiter" when he was the Steelers' United Way guy. This is an Ohio River town 45 minutes from Pittsburgh, big Steelers territory.

    I was assigned to write about the event and I went up there for like the last half-hour. When I got there Greg Lloyd was sitting at a table all by himself, no one near him. Place wasn't all that busy, but still you would think there would be some attention. I went up to the table, sat down, introduced myself, asked him a few questions mostly inane stuff about the upcoming game. After about 3 minutes I knew he was getting pissed. I don't know all what happened at the restaurant. I asked him how he became the United Way guy. He said something along the lines of Mr. Rooney chose him, and when the boss tells you to go do something, you do it.

    That was it for me. I left. Passed Mrs. Lloyd and their little boy, who had been at the mall to see the eye doctor. (Can't remember how I learned that detail.) Needless to say, he was a scary man.

    Also saw him almost attack some guy in a charity basketball game. Of course, this local tough guy was banging on Lloyd the entire game and trying to prove how much a man he was, but still.
     
  5. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    RE: Steve Carlton in the thread-starter. That was pretty much a dickhead team, including Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt and manager Dallas Green. There was at least a brief period (in either the 1979, 1980 or 1981 seasons) when really no one was talking except Pete Rose (who was great every time) and Green (such a monumental asshole that I avoided dealing with him after the first interview). It was so bad that I saw Nino Espinoza talking to a reporter, so I quickly headed over. But he shooed me away -- he would talk only in Spanish, to the guy from the Spanish-language paper. They were the visiting clubhouse, though, so it was abundantly easy to just shrug and say fuck those people. I was glad I was not a Philly-area beat writer.
     
  6. mrbio

    mrbio Member

    Lefty Carlton was at a boxing show in Atlantic City this summer, Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara. He spoke with us briefly about his love for boxing and that he was a big Joe Frazier fan. But wouldn't go on the record for an official interview. Pretty nice guy.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I thought I had heard that Schmidt became less of a dick later in his career.

    I had also heard that Rose was almost always great to deal with when he was playing.

    A longtime baseball writer I worked with told me the holy trinity of miserable bastards to deal with were Jim Rice, Steve Carlton and Albert Belle.

    I asked him who was the worst and he said, "My instinct is to say Belle, but that's only because it was more recent. They all deserve to go to the same level of hell."

    That made me laugh...
     
  8. lantaur

    lantaur Well-Known Member

    If memory serves correct, Pride also played soccer at William & Mary. The things your brain pops back up out of nowhere.
     
  9. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    I went into the White Sox locker room once when Albert Belle was the only one in there. I just felt the anger.
     
  10. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    As the story goes, Belle once took a notebook away from a reporter, threw it into the toilet and proceeded to go to the bathroom on it.
     
  11. mrbio

    mrbio Member

    Belle once grabbed a reporter's tape recorder and ate it in one bite.
     
  12. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I don't think he played at Wm. and Mary, but he was quite good. Was on one of the US Junior teams that played in an event in China. He told me once his goal was to play international soccer, collegiate basketball and major league baseball. He hit that trifecta.
     
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