Best sports personality you've ever covered...

Pete, good to know you're still here, but I never had the pleasure with Ali. I will say this, though, without thinking about this for long. The best person I ever interviewed and got to know in this business is Vin Scully.

 

The men's basketball coach at my alma mater in my senior year was a riot. The worst coach I've ever seen at the Division I level, but he was a helluva quote.

He was really known more as a recruiter than as an X's and O's kind of guy and his time there really bore that out. You could quickly see why recruits would be charmed by him and why opposing coaches licked their chops when they got to face him.

As it became more and more apparent that he couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag and that he would be fired, he just got funnier. He knew he was toast and didn't care what he said. After the final horn of every game we'd all head to the conference room and inevitably someone would say, "Time for Joe Schmoe Comedy Hour."

It made an unbearable season at least a little easier to take.

 

Pete Rose.
O.J. Simpson, before the white Bronco.
Jim Valvano
Dale Earnhardt

 

Grobe's interview sessions usually included one joke, and one joke only, but it was usually funny. Real, genuine guy. Once quoted Fletch when he approached me at football practice.

My list: Tony Womack, Sammy Sosa, Phil Nevin and Frank Robinson.

 

I'll answer this as best sports personalities, Vermont division:

Tom Brennan
Bill Lee
Felipe Alou
Larry Robinson
Martin St. Louis

 

Dick Schafrath -- former Ohio State/Browns guard and state senator (he played well to a crowd)
Bob Feller -- guy reminds me of the great-uncle that talked too much but was usually hysterical
Earle Bruce
and I'm so glad to see someone showing some love to Joe Novak. One of the first stories I ever wrote was about him and the Warren Western Reserve High School football team that won the first big-school state championship in 1973.

 

Surprised there hasn't been much love on this thread for some of the old school college football coaches.

It's such a contrast between people like Bobby Bowden, Fisher DeBerry, Barry Switzer and the modern day football-bots like Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops.

 

Brendan Gaughan - the guy lives a charmed existence - basketball player at georgetown, NASCAR truck driver, heir to a Las Vegas casino, yet still realizes how good he has it and doesn't come off as a jerk. Even seems amazed at how cool his life is.

 

Boxing promoter Don Elbaum was a great storyteller.
His take on settling into life in a minimum-security prison (I think on tax charges): "This is great. I didn't think I'd know so many guys here."

 

Covered Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger (from the movie "Rudy") for a speech he gave over the weekend.

Really good, down the earth guy. Great stories of his childhood.

Second goes to a high school basketball coach who once said, after his star player had 35 points and 20 rebounds, "Don't write this, but he is the biggest pussy in that school...kid's go zero balls between his legs."

 

Yeah, but for talking up an opponent, no one will ever beat Vince Dooley, who could take any team and find something it could do better than anyone else in the country.

Some of his memorable gems:

``Vanderbilt has the finest long-snapper I have ever seen.''

``Temple is the toughest team we'll face this year, tendency-wise.''

And my personal favorite: ``Tulane may be the finest winless team in the history of college football.''

I promise I didn't make that up.