Get down with
James Brown

By Paul Szaniawski


Q: What convinced you to come support Katrina victims at a small University in New Jersey like Rider?

A: Just the fact that students were doing this and spearheaded the effort was extremely encouraging for me; to see that there was that sense of community, a sense of caring, thinking more than about themselves was awfully encouraging. Many of us assume because folks are young they tend to think about only what’s important for them and it was quite encouraging to see they were thinking well beyond that.

Q: Do you plan on doing any other benefits for Hurricane Katrina victims?

A: To put it into proper perspective, it was really all those guys who did it — Katrina [Brown], John [Walker], Kim [Addison] and Greg [Lojuste] — I just wanted to be as supportive as possible and if anyone else can do something similar, I would lend my name, my effort, my resources to it.

Q: Do you feel the celebrity response to Katrina has been sufficient?

A: I think it has been pretty good. A lot of it is done without a lot of fanfare, which is good. While we do have a focus on the celebrity response and sacrifice, I understand that people want to know what they are doing, I was as heartened to see everyday folk. The student response, those who went out and took the time out to go down and assist — to me they were the ones who really need to be commended.

Q: As a television football personality, what are your views on the low level of black coaches in the NFL and college?

A: Thank goodness we’re starting to see more in the NFL. The effort is being made. Let’s not get complacent until no people are restricted. At the collegiate level, now that should not be at the NCAA level. It’s been that way for a long time and its beyond the point of giving excuses as to why that exists; it needs to be dealt with. Some of the inefficient fears that people have about alumni maybe not being supportive are rooted in some very myopic, very ignorant viewpoints. Clearly there are many good examples — Karl Dorell of UCLA, a young guy who is doing exceptionally well there. There are many other Karl Dorells out there who should be given the opportunity.

Q: Where do you believe the displaced Saints should have their home games?

A: I am more of a proponent of seeing them play in Baton Rouge. But given that they were situated in San Antonio, I would prefer to get on the side of them playing where they wanted to play, and they wanted to play all of their games in San Antonio. I wish that the NFL would be sensitive to that. They’ve undergone an awful lot of change already. Why not make it as easy as possible on them and have them play at one location?

Q: As a boxing announcer, do you feel the sport of boxing has lost its prestige compared to how much it had about 10-15 years ago? Is the fall of Mike Tyson a reason?

A: I guess the business of sports is such that you will probably get more casual fans interested, more fans on a peripheral basis, which will follow it if there’s an attraction and typically a controversial attraction. Tyson certainly was and he still draws a crowd. People would still show up because he was a knockout artist.

Q: What was your best moment on television?

A: My best moment is probably still to come.

Q: What was your worst moment on television?

A: I don’t know if I’ve had a worse moment other than local TV, when I got caught picking my nose on TV thinking that the camera wasn’t on when it really was. True story, I didn’t know the camera was on; I just looked up and said, ‘Hi there.’