We spoke with three time winner of The Indianapolis 500, racecar driver, Helio Castroneves, as well as retired baseball star Sammy Sosa. Above, you can see Helio, his lovely partner Adriana and yours truly, at the event. And, of course, you can read the highlights and listen to the CYInterviews below:

Listen to the Helio Castroneves and Sammy Sosa CYInterviews:

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When asked if there is anything better than winning the Indianapolis 500 three times, Helio had this to say:

“Well, professional no. Personal, it’s being with this gorgeous lady, which is Adriana and she is, gave me great pleasure, which is my little girl Mikaella. So other than that, it’s very difficult to beat winning the Indy 500.”

CYInterviewing Helio Castroneves at Lea & Roy Black Present The Blacks’ Annual Gala with Flo Rida

The Indy racer won season five of Dancing with the Stars. He reflects back:

“Great memories, certainly winning Dancing with the Stars season five was just awesome. We went last year for the season 15 for the all-stars and I had a great time. Hopefully they’re gonna continue doing well.”

With Sammy Sosa at Lea & Roy Black Present The Blacks’ Annual Gala with Flo Rida

Besides being supportive of The Blacks’ Annual Gala, baseball great Sammy Sosa told us he has his own foundation in the Dominican Republic. The MLB great also shares what he’s been up to in retirement:

“It’s made me feel great. I never forget where I’m coming from now. I give back to my people. … I have two companies that I’m moving forward with and everything looking pretty good.”

CYInterviewing Sammy Sosa at Lea & Roy Black Present The Blacks’ Annual Gala with Flo Rida

The former Chicago Cub says he would do Dancing with the Stars. Perhaps, we are looking at another sports star turned dancing champion in the making. He is just waiting for the invite:

“If they invited me (laughs).”

You can and find more information about The Blacks’ Annual Gala and contribute to the Consequences Foundation at www.theblacksannualgala.com .

Helio Castroneves’s official website is here.

You can follow Sammy Sosa on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

From Vince Lombardi to Mickey Mantle, Tom Landry to Howard Cosell and most of all John Madden, Mr. Summerall knew a who’s who of athletes and sports broadcasting greats.

Back in 2006, I had the honor of CYInterviewing Pat Summerall. We spoke about his life on the field and in the broadcasting booth. Below, you will find a transcript of our conversation. Additionally, you can listen to this CYInterview in its entirety.

Our condolences and prayers are with Mr. Summerall’s family at this difficult time.

Old sports broadcasters never die; they just go up to that broadcast booth in the sky. Mr. Summerall’s golden voice will forever live on in our collective consciousness.

Listen to the entire Pat Summerall CYInterview:

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Chris Yandek: How long did it take you to reflect upon all those decades of memories in your book [Summerall: On And Off The Air]?

Pat Summerall: “Well, actually from the time I first started, it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. From the time I first began, it took about five years. Basically, I started a long time ago and then I happened to be in New York on 9/11 and saw what happened to New York City, and saw the second plane hit the building with my own eyes and I sort of stopped writing a book at that time just because of what was going on in our country and didn’t pick it back up for another year or so until after I had a liver transplant. Overall, it took about five years, but actually hard work, it probably took a year, something like that.”

CY: While a college player at the University of Arkansas in the 1950s you kicked a winning field goal to upset number four rival Texas [16-14]. What do you remember about the game and how different is college football today?

PS: “I don’t remember much about that game. I remember the field goal was good and the place went wild. I remember that. College football, my gosh as pro football has grown immensely beyond the magnitude I ever imagined. The equipment’s better. The players are bigger, better. The diets are better. The coaching’s better. There are so many more coaches. Traveling is so much easier. There’s so many changes that it’s hard to numerate all of them, but it’s changed. I think maybe not for the better, but it’s certainly got a whole lot bigger.”

CY: You were drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1952 and your contract was $6000 with a $500 signing bonus. What do you remember about being part of the early years of the NFL with the Detroit Lions and are you amazed at how much has changed and how much these guys get on their contracts now?

PS: “Well, I’ve seen it grow. I was a part of it in the broadcasting business after I got through playing. So I watched the growth with my raw eyes as John Madden likes to say. I saw it happening in front of me. It’s just mind boggling to think what kind of player would you get for $6000 today? You wouldn’t even get somebody’s attention for that price. At that time, I thought that was a good offer, a good contract. But certainly it’s grown beyond everybody’s imagination and expectation.”

CY: What was it like to be part of the 1952 Champion Detroit Lions and then go to the Chicago Cardinals in 1957 and a team that struggled to many under 500 seasons while you were there?

PS: “Well, it was a big disappointment. The Lions were on the threshold of being that NFL Champions at that time. They had a lot of marquee players, a lot of nice guys. The atmosphere surrounding the team was all positive. Everything was good, and then to go to the Cardinals where everything was exactly the opposite. The equipment was poor. The practice facilities were poor. The attitudes were poor. We had some good players, but not nearly enough of them. It was going from the proverbial outhouse to the house guess. I don’t exactly know how to express it. But the whole atmosphere was depressing as opposed to being very optimistic in Detroit.”

CY: You got traded to the New York Giants in 1958. What do you remember most about your offensive coach Vince Lombardi and your defensive coach Tom Landry?

PS: “Well, I had an opportunity. I played both ways. I was an offensive end and a defensive end. I had the opportunity to go to the offensive meetings and the defensive meetings. They were very different in their approach. They were both superb teachers. Lombardi was dynamic, flamboyant, loud, but you listened to what he had to say and you realized that he knew exactly what he was telling you. If you did what he said, you would more than likely be successful.

He was, I learned more in the offensive meetings under Lombardi than I learned the whole other time that I was in football. Landry was the same, entirely a different personality, but the results were the same. He was an excellent teacher. He was far less emotional than Lombardi, but again he said if you do what I say we’ll win and usually he turned out to be right.”

CY: What was it like to play football for the New York Giants in Yankee Stadium and have Mickey Mantle’s locker room for a football season?

PS: “Well, it just happened that I got the locker he used during baseball season. It just happened that when we moved in, I got assigned the same locker that he used. I had know Mickey when we were both playing minor league baseball in Oklahoma. It was not like I was in awe of him or anything at the time. It was just a situation where we were friends and remained friends, and actually became very close friends.”

CY: And what was it like to play in Yankee Stadium for football overall?
PS: “Well, the atmosphere, the Giants had played in the polo grounds in the early years of the 50s. They moved to Yankee Stadium in 1956. There was something about playing in Yankee Stadium, the aura of Yankee Stadium, the memories, the tradition. It made it a special place to stay and a special place to play. It was a first class atmosphere. No question about it.”

CY: You retired at the beginning of the 1960s from the New York Giants and signed on at CBS Sports. What do you remember about the early days of the NFL being broadcasted on TV and being part of it?

PS: “Well, I remember I wasn’t making much money in my first CBS contract. It was an honor to be a part of it. We had no idea at that time. I was just doing Giants games. I was an analyst working with Chris Schenkel who was a great teacher. But it seemed, it was all new to me. I was in awe of being able to have that opportunity. I was living in North Florida and commuting to New York or wherever the Giants played every weekend. So I was the analyst as I said, but it was a thrill to be a part of it. We had no idea at the time what it was going to become, what pro football was going to be.”

CY: What are your memories of the time you spent with Howard Cosell besides his ability to drink more than most of the country under the table?

PS: “Well, Howard and I lived in nearby communities. I lived in Stanford, Connecticut, he lived in PoundRidge, New York, which were bordering towns and we got off the air at ABC in his case and CBS at my case about the same time. So we rode the same train home at night, almost every night, every weeknight at least. So we got to be very good personal friends. When Howard had an audience, in other words more than one person, he was a performer. When it was just him and me, he was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.”

CY: After John Madden left for ABC and Monday Night Football, did you think about calling it a retirement since you weren’t calling the big stage game every week anymore?

PS: “Yeah. I did. In fact I did. That was when I stepped down and decided not to do it anymore. My health was failing at that time too. So it was a good time for me to step down.”

CY: What do you remember about the Thanksgivings and all the other times you spent with John Madden during that holiday and with the Madden Cruiser and all that great stuff?

PS: “Well, I remember a lot of Thanksgiving dinners on the Madden Cruiser. When he first got the bus, I was a little bit skeptical about whether or not he would be able to keep up the travel because they’d send us, it didn’t make any difference. Travel consideration was not a factor. So we went from long distances and I wouldn’t sure he was going to be able to make it from week to week, but he did. He never was late. He never missed a game. But it turned out that the bus was a blessing.

That’s where we had production meetings, we had an awful lot Thanksgiving dinners. That’s where he and I really got to be very close friends in addition to being broadcast partners. Nothing about the bus is a bad sour memory to me because we had an awful lot of good times with both John and with the drivers.”

CY: Your problem with alcohol is well documented through the book. What would you say to anyone who is listening or reading this interview that might have a problem with alcohol?

PS: “I would say that I never thought I had a problem with alcohol until there was an intervention. A group of people got together and said to me we think you’re drinking too much, we want you to go for help. I think that’s what makes the disease so insidious. Nobody ever thinks it’s a problem. I know I have told myself over and over again that I can quit anytime I want to. It’s not a problem with me. I don’t crave a drink. I can stop. I am bigger than this is. I am more powerful, I’m stronger. Nobody is willing to ever admit that they do have a problem and I think that’s the key to beating the problem, to curing if there is a cure and that is to realize that you have to be honest with yourself and you have to admit that you do have a problem and until you do, you’re never gonna get over it.”

CY: You had a very close relationship with Mickey Mantle and spent a lot of time with him in his last years. What are your fondest memories of him and did you ever feel bad for him when he would call you on Sundays during the NFL season for some inside information if he was down from gambling on College Football on Saturdays?

PS: “My relationship with Mickey, he became a very close personal friend. We spent a lot of time together, played a lot of golf together. It’s true that he called me. He liked to bet on college football and on the pros. When he had a bad day in college, he’d call me no matter where I was on Sunday morning and asked me what I thought about the pros that day. The biggest mistake I made was being correct a couple of times. Then he called every week. He thought I was some kind of genius. It never affected our relationship. I just knew he’d like to bet and I’d tell him whatever I knew.”

CY: You needed a new kidney [actually a liver and not a kidney] to live and you did get the transplant, but how close do you feel physically before you got the transplant that your life might be over and that we might not be having this conversation right now?

PS: “Well, I didn’t need a kidney. I need a liver.”

CY: Excuse me. Yeah.

PS: “I got the liver transplant and I was close to being dead. I knew that. The doctor, after the operation was a success, told me I had about 18 hours to live or it would of been over if I didn’t get a new organ. Now the operation was a success and I probably feel better than I have felt in over forty years. I feel stronger. I have more stamina. I just feel good when I get up in the morning and I am so grateful. If anyone has ever had an organ replacement operation and it works this well, you should be just as thankful as I am because I have never felt better.”

CY: Finally, will we see you in any kind of future projects down the road?

PS: “I have no idea. Right now there are no plans. I’d like to do some work on football games or baseball games or whatever the sporting event might be, but right now I don’t know. I can’t say that you will see me.”

CY: So it’s still never say never?

PS: “Still never say never.”

You can find more information and purchase a copy of Pat Summerall’s book Summerall: On and Off the Air here

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

We spoke with Paul as part of a CYInterview series where I looked back on some of my favorite people from the world of pro wrestling. Mr. Bearer was slated to receive the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cauliflower Alley Club this year. That award presentation, which we believe will still take place, all be it posthumously, is sure to be bitter sweet.

Mr Bearer – was a widower; his wife passed away four years ago. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his two sons and the rest of his family, friends and fans.

Below is a reprinted version of our CYInterview from January. You can listen to the full CYInterview and read the highlights below:

Listen to the entire Paul Bearer CYInterview:

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Talking about his involvement in professional wrestling today, Paul says this:

“People that don’t know, that don’t see me, I am still involved. I’m still under contract with WWE. I’m under a legends contract with WWE and I do things now and then with them like WrestleMania and go do signings, this, that and the other. Plus I work the independent organizations all around the country. I go out to L.A. once a month and do Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. We tape four weeks of TV once a month out there and some months I’m busy every weekend doing wrestling stuff. People think Paul Bearer who is fat, behind, rolled up into a ball and buried in concrete and they wondered what happened to him, but I’m telling you, I’m still busy. I stay as busy as I want. Fortunately, I turn down more invitations to do events than I do.”

As the manager to three of the biggest stars in pro wrestling history: The Undertaker, Mankind and Kane, Paul Bearer managed those characters with a dark side flair. Props he used, such as urns, caskets and other funeral related items during his pro wrestling career were nothing new to him. In his life away from wrestling, he is actually a licensed mortician:

“I signed my first contract with WWE on December 22, 1990 and here we are in 2013. … Back when I first started with The Undertaker, if I ever thought that you know the gimmick would last these just number of years, no way. He didn’t either and he don’t, you know he’ll tell you the same thing. We didn’t have a clue. It was just, I’ve been very, very blessed in professional wrestling because I’m just a Alabama kid, from the Alabama Gulf Coast that grew up watching local territory days wrestling. … It’s always been professional wrestling and the funeral business for me. I have a degree in mortuary science. I’m a licensed funeral director and embalmer, licensed in four states and right now I haven’t been doing anything with the funeral business. After my wife passed away, that’s when I kind of went back to wrestling full time.”

Today, there is a scarcity of pro wrestling managers on the scene. Guys like Classy Freddie Blasie, [see here for possibly his last interview] Captain Lou Albano, Jimmy Hart, Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenan and Paul Bearer are now a rarity. Percy says he gives advice to Ricardo Rodriguez of the WWE, one of the few male managers currently in pro wrestling:

“I think a hell of a lot of Ricardo Rodriguez who manages Alberto Del Rio. He has become a very good friend of mine and I give him tips all the time and not that he needs them. And when I see things that I like, I let him know that I liked it and he’s very respectful and very, knows the history of our business and he deserves to be where he’s at and other than Ricardo Rodriguez, there really isn’t any managers, you know WWE doesn’t have any managers. … Bobby Heenan and Lou Albano and I could just go on and on and on, you know all the old school managers, there are none.”

One of the four wrestlers Paul Bearer managed in the WWE is Mick Foley. Mr. Foley, who went on to become a New York Times bestselling author, is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Mr. Bearer shares some memories of working with Mick:

“I love him dearly. I had so much fun managing him when he was Mankind ‘cause we was going against The Undertaker. … We just had so much fun because he wore that mask, you know that covered half of his long hair and that mask and all that and we were just like kids out there all the time and I was the only one that could ever make The Undertaker laugh and he could be laughing and nobody ever knew it and the same with Mick Foley. We would be out there and we all got paid to do this. … I have been all around the world. I performed in all 50 states, 28 countries and I got a paycheck every week.”

Though many consider him to be one of the greatest managers in pro wrestling history and believe he should already be in the WWE Hall of Fame, Paul Bearer says his day will come. In the meantime, Paul/Percy is being honored for his work in pro wrestling at the upcoming Cauliflower Alley Club. He’s receiving the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award:

“I know that I will [be in the WWE Hall of Fame]. So that’s all I need to know. Whether it’s next year or whether it’s five years from now, I know the time’s coming. … This year I am receiving the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club. That’s their second highest award that they give out. To put in perspective, last year Ricky “The” Dragon Steamboat received it and this year Paul Bearer, Percy Pringle’s getting it.”

Those who know Paul Bearer know he’s a big Alabama Crimson Tide football fan. Reflecting on Alabama’s starting quarterback A. J. McCarron who’s led the Tide to back to back national titles, Paul offers that A.J. is a wrestling fan:

“I know A.J.. He’s a wrestling fan. I mean, he’s not never one of those who miss it type of wrestling fans, but he’s watched wrestling and his cousin went to school with my youngest son. … I am very, very proud of A.J. and we see him now and then and I’m just so proud of our football team and the job Nick Saban does for us.”

You can check out Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle’s official website at www.percypringle.com.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

A new documentary, The Last Gladiators, explores the life of some of hockey’s toughest players – known in the sport as enforcers – long after the games are over. At the center of the piece is Chris “Knuckles” Nilan. The former Montreal Canadien, Boston Bruin and New York Ranger spoke candidly about the personal challenges he has faced during his life and the pain he lives with every day from having played professional hockey.

Chris Nilan joins me for a candid discussion focusing on where his life is today. You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the entire Chris Nilan CYInterview:

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Candid about his life struggles in The Last Gladiators, Chris says being part of the documentary and talking about his life was not tough compared to things he has been through:

“The toughest thing was facing my transgressions in life and going into treatment and getting well and realizing that I had a problem with painkillers and eventually heroin. That was probably the toughest fight and still is today, but you know I went into treatment, I did well there and then I got out and I decided to do this film. … I found it would be something that would one, keep me busy and two I thought I’d have fun with it and I did and it felt a little bit like an extension of my therapy talking about it. I didn’t have a problem before, people knowing that I was messed up and everything. So to be able to bare my soul wasn’t that difficult to be honest with you.”

On how he’s doing today, the hockey enforcer says this:

“I struggle with some pain, arthritis and stuff in my hands, my knee, my ankle. You know I had some issues, I woke up in pain every day. I deal with it differently today than I did a few years ago, but you know, things are well. My life is back on track. I’m pursuing a radio career here in Montreal. I’m on between periods of all Canadiens games, on every night for 20 minutes during the week and hopefully someday I’ll get my own show.”

Directed by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney, The Last Gladiators shows the life of hockey’s great tough guys, known as the NHL’s enforcers. Enforcers were players on a team that would get into fights to either protect another player or to prove a point. Chris says all athletes have to deal with life after the game:

“I think not just NHL stars, I think all athletes deal with it whether you’re a hockey player, you’re a football player, basketball or baseball player, they all deal with it. It’s transitioning out of the game that you played your whole life, that you love and you enjoyed playing, and it’s taken away from you at an early age in a lot of cases.”

When it comes to his persona, on the ice, as Chris “Knuckes” Nilan, he says it was not something that was part of his every day life:

“The deal is with me I know who I am. I always have. I found out who I was at a young age. I know a lot of people struggle with that. I know who Chris Nilan is. I’m not necessarily – “Knuckles” is the nickname. Yeah, I earned that by fighting in hockey. But you know I know who I am as a person. I was always comfortable with that. I still am today. The only time I lost myself was when I got involved in drugs and alcohol and that truly hurt. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I wasn’t the person I knew I could be in life. In order to get myself back and get the real Chris back, I had to get into treatment and get help. So no, I don’t believe it hurt me at all.”

In his 13 seasons in the NHL, Chris Nilan accumulated over 3000 minutes in the penalty box. One time Nilan even threw a puck at another player while in the box. Speaking about his tough guy abilities on the ice, he says this:

“I felt I could take on anybody, you put it that way. You know, the toughest? Does that mean I’m the toughest? I don’t know. You have to ask someone else. But I know I didn’t back down from anybody and I did my job night in and night out whether it was throwing a puck at Paul Baxter or breaking someone’s nose with a punch. You know, I didn’t do that when I threw the puck at Baxter, I didn’t do it so much for the team. It was kind of a selfish thing to do because he, stick in the eye and cut me open and told me he was gonna give it to me in the other eye. So I figured I would get him before he got me and I did.”

In many cases, it is said that the careers of professional athletes lead to personal problems. Chris says his hockey career was not the root of his personal issues:

“Money doesn’t necessarily make you happy. You know I had some issues that I had to deal with and I did. I dealt with them in the wrong way, my pain issues. I got addicted to medication. It can happen to anybody, not only an athlete. It can happen to lawyers, it can happen to mailmen, it can happen to garbage men. It can happen to anybody, radio personalities, entertainers, Hollywood people, whoever. So it’s really a life issue, not so much, I don’t believe and a lot of people I know here they try and link it to the job, but it had as much to do with my playing hockey as it did with my life growing up in Boston.”

The Last Gladiators can be currently viewed on Video on Demand. You can find more information at the film’s official website clicking here.

Chris Nilan’s official website is here.

You can follow Chris Nilan on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

The wide receiver, out of the University of Florida, was kind enough to join us live from New Orleans as we count down the few days left until Super Bowl 47. You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview:

Listen to the entire Deonte Thompson CYInterview:

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Reflecting on this special opportunity to be on a Super Bowl team, Deonte says this:

“Oh man, it’s awesome man. There’s nothing like it man. You know, opportunity of a lifetime man. Just enjoying it, soaking it all in. … I learned so much man from veteran guys man. Really just learn how to work hard, take advice, play as a team man. I mean, just playing with these guys like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and all these guys man, privilege.”

The transition from college football player to NFL player is a big learning process. Deonte says playing on this team has been a pro football education:

“Just learn how to just pretty much just take care of your body man, just being a professional man pretty much. These guys are the pros man. Being around these guys every day just teaches you how to be a pro.”

Focusing on what the Baltimore Ravens must do to beat the San Francisco 49ers on Super Bowl Sunday, the rookie says this:

“We just gotta come out and play Baltimore Ravens football man. We come out and play like we always play and no telling what can happen. … I mean, the skies the limit for us man. I think we loaded in every position, especially offensively man. We got some weapons to stretch the field. We got guys like Anquan [Boldin] to throw across the middle. It’s going to be great man. … I think we just come out and play our ball how we always have been playing throughout this playoff run, we’ll be good.”

Deonte Thompson and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald both played their college football at the University of Florida. Additionally, they both played their high school football at Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida. Deonte says there is some history there:

“Ray [McDonald] my guy man. You know his granddad was my track coach. We were All High School so pretty close with him man, just great man that we had an opportunity to be on the two Super Bowl teams man. It’s crazy. We come from the same small town, small as our town is, it’s crazy.”

The Super Dome in New Orleans, where Super Bowl 47 is being played, is no stranger to Deonte. In 2010, he played for the University of Florida in their Sugar Bowl win against Cincinnati. That was also Tim Tebow’s last college game:

“It’s great. Last time I played here we kicked butt. … We had a great game. Actually, that was Tim’s last game as a Gator, Tebow’s last game as a Gator. … I got a few stories man. I mean it’s great playing with a guy like that man [Tim Tebow]. You know, he coming out, there’s nothing like it man. He has us ready.”

As far as what he has learned from the veteran Baltimore Ravens wide receivers like Anquan Boldin and Torey Smith, among others, the Raven rookie says this:

“I learned so much man, just learned the patience in your routes and stuff like that man, just being a pro man from these guys. I’ve never seen so many pros. These guys take their work very serious. So just being around them, you have no choice but step your game up in here and feed off that.”

For a rookie free agent, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. Deonte talks about that and his hopes for the future:

“I just say God is good man. You know, coming from not playing, a job to playing to getting ready to play in the Super Bowl is just crazy. … I just want to be in Baltimore for a while man, keep winning those Super Bowls. That’s all.”

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

Today, many fans refer to him by one of his other wrestling names. That would be Percy Pringle. This year, he is receiving the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Cauliflower Alley Club in Las Vegas. It is one of the biggest pro wrestling events of the year, with many of the legends and stars of the sport coming together. Beyond his talent, Percy is one of the great historians and fans of pro wrestling. Currently signed to a WWE Legends contract, he still does various things for World Wrestling Entertainment.

By reading the highlights or listening to the entire CYInterview below, you will hear what one of the greatest pro wrestling managers and personalities is up to:

Listen to the entire Paul Bearer CYInterview:

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Talking about his involvement in professional wrestling today, Paul says this:

“People that don’t know, that don’t see me, I am still involved. I’m still under contract with WWE. I’m under a legends contract with WWE and I do things now and then with them like WrestleMania and go do signings, this, that and the other. Plus I work the independent organizations all around the country. I go out to L.A. once a month and do Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. We tape four weeks of TV once a month out there and some months I’m busy every weekend doing wrestling stuff. People think Paul Bearer who is fat, behind, rolled up into a ball and buried in concrete and they wondered what happened to him, but I’m telling you, I’m still busy. I stay as busy as I want. Fortunately, I turn down more invitations to do events than I do.”

As the manager to three of the biggest stars in pro wrestling history: The Undertaker, Mankind and Kane, Paul Bearer managed those characters with a dark side flair. Props he used, such as urns, caskets and other funeral related items during his pro wrestling career were nothing new to him. In his life away from wrestling, he is actually a licensed mortician:

“I signed my first contract with WWE on December 22, 1990 and here we are in 2013. … Back when I first started with The Undertaker, if I ever thought that you know the gimmick would last these just number of years, no way. He didn’t either and he don’t, you know he’ll tell you the same thing. We didn’t have a clue. It was just, I’ve been very, very blessed in professional wrestling because I’m just a Alabama kid, from the Alabama Gulf Coast that grew up watching local territory days wrestling. … It’s always been professional wrestling and the funeral business for me. I have a degree in mortuary science. I’m a licensed funeral director and embalmer, licensed in four states and right now I haven’t been doing anything with the funeral business. After my wife passed away, that’s when I kind of went back to wrestling full time.”

Today, there is a scarcity of pro wrestling managers on the scene. Guys like Classy Freddie Blasie, [see here for possibly his last interview] Captain Lou Albano, Jimmy Hart, Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenan and Paul Bearer are now a rarity. Percy says he gives advice to Ricardo Rodriguez of the WWE, one of the few male managers currently in pro wrestling:

“I think a hell of a lot of Ricardo Rodriguez who manages Alberto Del Rio. He has become a very good friend of mine and I give him tips all the time and not that he needs them. And when I see things that I like, I let him know that I liked it and he’s very respectful and very, knows the history of our business and he deserves to be where he’s at and other than Ricardo Rodriguez, there really isn’t any managers, you know WWE doesn’t have any managers. … Bobby Heenan and Lou Albano and I could just go on and on and on, you know all the old school managers, there are none.”

One of the four wrestlers Paul Bearer managed in the WWE is Mick Foley. Mr. Foley, who went on to become a New York Times bestselling author, is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Mr. Bearer shares some memories of working with Mick:

“I love him dearly. I had so much fun managing him when he was Mankind ‘cause we was going against The Undertaker. … We just had so much fun because he wore that mask, you know that covered half of his long hair and that mask and all that and we were just like kids out there all the time and I was the only one that could ever make The Undertaker laugh and he could be laughing and nobody ever knew it and the same with Mick Foley. We would be out there and we all got paid to do this. … I have been all around the world. I performed in all 50 states, 28 countries and I got a paycheck every week.”

Though many consider him to be one of the greatest managers in pro wrestling history and believe he should already be in the WWE Hall of Fame, Paul Bearer says his day will come. In the meantime, Paul/Percy is being honored for his work in pro wrestling at the upcoming Cauliflower Alley Club. He’s receiving the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award:

“I know that I will [be in the WWE Hall of Fame]. So that’s all I need to know. Whether it’s next year or whether it’s five years from now, I know the time’s coming. … This year I am receiving the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club. That’s their second highest award that they give out. To put in perspective, last year Ricky “The” Dragon Steamboat received it and this year Paul Bearer, Percy Pringle’s getting it.”

Those who know Paul Bearer know he’s a big Alabama Crimson Tide football fan. Reflecting on Alabama’s starting quarterback A. J. McCarron who’s led the Tide to back to back national titles, Paul offers that A.J. is a wrestling fan:

“I know A.J.. He’s a wrestling fan. I mean, he’s not never one of those who miss it type of wrestling fans, but he’s watched wrestling and his cousin went to school with my youngest son. … I am very, very proud of A.J. and we see him now and then and I’m just so proud of our football team and the job Nick Saban does for us.”

You can check out Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle’s official website at www.percypringle.com.

You can follow Percy Pringle on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

In the Fall of 2012, Ric received the Joe Gold Lifetime Achievement Award in Las Vegas. Certainly, Mr. Drasin has made his mark in the world of bodybuilding. You can read the highlights or listen to the entire CYInterview below:

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Giving his thoughts on Lance Armstrong and the culture of performance enhancing drugs in some sports, Ric says this:

“With Lance, he’s not the only one. There’s other ones who do the same thing. They just haven’t fessed up to it. So I don’t see anything wrong with it. You know, if that’s what he wanted to do and he set records, fine. He should keep those records. That’s my take on it. … If everybody is taking the same thing or the same things and they’re competing, they’re pretty much all at the same level. So if one guy excels more than the rest of them, he has the ability to do so, doesn’t mean because he took drugs ‘cause they’re taking them too. Look on the stage of the bodybuilders today and how big and enormous they are. Every one of them is 300 pounds. They’re taking insulin. They’re taking growth factors, all of these things to be huge. But when you line them on stage they all look alike.”

Comparing the scrutiny some professional wrestlers have received for purportedly using performance enhancing drugs to athletes like Lance Armstrong, Ric does not understand why society comes down hard on pro wrestlers:

“The Rock too, look at him He was down to, I don’t know how much, maybe 220 for the last couple of movies . Now he’s up probably 270, ripped, thick, big, people love it. He’s not hurting anybody. He’s just showing what he’s got and it’s not even a competition, it’s entertainment. So I don’t know why they come down on the wrestlers for that because they’re hurting nobody.”

Reflecting on what it meant to receive the 2012 Joe Gold Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Drasin said this:

“I was overwhelmed that they thought that much of me to give me an award like that because I never expected it. It’s just, I didn’t get into bodybuilding and acting and wrestling to be famous or to make money. I did it because I had a passion for it and my passion was to reach out to people and suck them in and let them, show them what to do and make them better people as well. So by getting this award, it was really an honor. It opened a few more doors for me to go out and do stuff and if I get called to do the motivational speech and they know that I’ve done this and received the lifetime achievement award. It gives me credibility.”

You can find out everything about Ric Drasin and Ric’s Corner at his official website at http://www.ricdrasin.com

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

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Today, we catch up with The Stro, formerly The Maestro of World Championship Wrestling. The Stro is actually celebrating a birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday big guy! The veteran professional wrestler, from North Carolina, continues his work on the independent wrestling scene, as well as teaching at his pro wrestling school and occasionally acting in movies. He used to appear weekly on my wrestling radio program back between 2002 and 2004.

You can read some of the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

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Birthdays can be a time for reflecting on your life. The Stro talks about what his professional wrestling career has meant to him:

“You know everyone has their lifelong passion to do something that’s a little extra special that they love and I’ve been really, you know blessed to be part of professional wrestling for all these years and still being blessed to this day with it. So you know what, keep the good times rolling.”

During his time in World Championship Wrestling, as The Maestro, he actually celebrated one of his birthdays at the WCW Nitro Grill in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, it is no longer there. Stro reflects on what that birthday meant to him:

“It was good timing. A lot of the guys came down, the WCW roster came down for it and it was really cool. The food was really good at the time, so and you know Bob Ryder and Jeremy Borash did a WCW Live show remote from my birthday party there. So it was really cool.”

Though he’s a wrestling insider, who has worked with the big stars from all the major companies, The Stro is not jaded and, in fact, continues to be as big a fan of the industry as anyone. He gives his thoughts on Mick Foley and Bob Backlund being inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year. He has worked with both of them:

“Tremendous, utmost respect for both. I’ve wrestled with both through the years and the contributions both gentleman have gave this business is second to none. I mean, Mick Foley has put his body on the line. … More than anybody I know in this business and his passion, his intelligence is incredible. And same goes for Mr. Bob Backlund. Not only you know pro wrestling ranks, amateur as well, tremendous wrestler, all around great guy. Both individuals, great human beings to be around and really they’re more than deserving of being hall of famers.”

You can keep up with everything The Stro is doing at his official website www.thestro.com

You can follow The Stro on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

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For keen insight, we welcome back Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook Manager and CYInterview regular John Avello to look at some of the betting angles for the big game. You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

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The current spread, in Las Vegas, for the game has the San Francisco 49ers as a four point favorite [-4] over the Baltimore Ravens. For those not familiar with sports gambling, the 49ers would have to win by 5 points or more if a bet were to placed on San Francisco to win. Bets on the Baltimore Ravens would require a loss of 3 points or less or an outright win in order to be victorious. The game total is currently 48 points. A player can either bet the over, meaning the game will surpass 48 points or bet the under which means the game will stay under 48 points. John Avello thinks there will be some more line movement on the game up to Super Bowl Sunday:

“We’ve had some line movement already. We opened this game -5 San Francisco. We opened the total 50. So obviously they’ve been betting the under and they have been betting the Ravens early. Will there be more movement on the game? Yes. I believe there will be. This game could probably go down to 3.5, possibly 3 and it could go as high as 4.5. I think you will see some swings in this line, but currently we’re holding pretty steady at 4.”

John says that from a wagering standpoint, when it comes to the NFL playoff games compared to regular season games, gamblers are betting 200 percent more money on postseason games as compared to the regular season. The Super Bowl surpasses both the playoff and regular season games in money bet:

“If you want to take the average of all games, I would say that these games it increases probably by I believe 200 percent. So the money’s, much more money being bet on these championship games over just the regular season games. The Super Bowl, those games don’t really compare with this one.”

Avello says this was a great year for sports gamblers betting NFL and college football games:

“Overall it was a struggle for us here at Wynn. We had some good weekends, but we certainly had some weekends where we paid out a lot of money and like I say, I thought the players had a good year, good handicapping year for them, they did their homework and their homework paid off. So overall, the check mark goes to the customers this year.”

The Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook manager says he enjoys a tradition with his staff every year, when setting the odds for Super Bowl props. He brings his team in for a meal and they come up with ideas for prop bets that a customer can wager on for the Super Bowl. [We spoke with John yesterday and he’ll be meeting with his staff tonight]:

“The staff, I’m gonna be bringing in for some pasta and wine tomorrow night to work on ‘em ‘cause that’s how we do. We sit around the table, eat some Italian food, drink some wine and throw out across the table anything that comes to mind. So that’s how we come up with our props every year.”

You can find out more about Wynn Las Vegas at http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

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You can read the highlights or listen to the coach’s latest CYInterview below:

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As mentioned, Coach Leach is currently out on the recruiting trail, for a three week period, fielding the latest group of young men who will come play for the Washington State Cougars. Reflecting on the recruiting process, the 2008 College Football Coach of the Year said this:

“You go to a lot of different places. You see a lot of different homes, I mean anything from houses that have a dirt floor with a rug over it to mansions. Generally most of them are somewhere in between those two and different locations in the country and everybody brings a different kind of personality background to the thing and it’s always interesting. …

The points I make are that I think people should come to Washington State for the same reasons I did which would be first of all, it’s a true college town. As a college student you step out your door and you see it’s all fellow college students, not, you know you have the rest of your life to live in a city or town, but in our case it’s truly a college town where everything’s within a couple blocks and it’s all students. And what’s exciting about that is you know everybody’s going through the same thing you are. You’re kind of growing, maturing, expanding your mind and there’s a special chemistry to a college town I thinks unique.”

During Lance Armstrong’s recent interview with Oprah, the cyclist admitted to using performance enhancing drugs, at different times, when competing in the Tour De France. Mike provides an interesting perspective on Lance and the state of the sport of cycling:

“I think all of America took a lot of pride in his accomplishments and to me it’s still something clouded. I mean, as easy as it is to make Lance Armstrong a hero, you know people are very quick to just as easily make him a villain and I think that you know and I don’t know the facts on this at all, but you know odds are somewhere in the middle is the truth. I think that if you have a sport where cheating’s commonplace if it is in cycling and everybody else is doing it, well, then you have Lance who, you know, I mean if everybody’s doing it then Lance is essentially guilty of cheating better than the other people that he beat in the same sport in.

I think obviously there’s a problem with testing, legislating, enforcing, you know, and I don’t know the difficulties that exist with that, I’m sure that they’re huge. And, but if it’s commonplace to the point where everybody’s doing it, it doesn’t make him innocent, but you know it mitigates it on some level, I think. … In the end, hopefully it cleans up cycling and it’s something that, because it’s a worldwide sport that the whole world can be proud of.”

Whatever you believe about the story of Notre Dame Football player Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend, Coach Leach has an interesting perspective providing for a moment of sociocultural reflection:

“Part of me wonders and I’m sure this is probably an oversimplification is, if isn’t the ultimate, the ultimate glorified year 2013 prank phone call. You know, I mean, use to be you’d get prank phone calls, you picked up the phone, ‘Hello. Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go catch it.’ Well, nowadays it’s kind of extended to computers and the complexity of that which, you know, once the toothpaste gets out of the tube, it’s tough to get it back in. …

You’ve gotta wonder how fulfilling a relationship is with a girlfriend that doesn’t exist and that you’ve never seen other than, you know, then a bunch of computer strokes on a computer and you know I’m sure there’s some very attractive and wholesome girls that would’ve been more than interested to get to know Manti Te’o.”

When it comes to the Oscar discussion, Mike has seen a set of the movies nominated for Best Picture this year and provides the kind of insightful and entertaining movie analysis you just won’t find anywhere else.

Those who know Mike Leach are aware he has a true love of movies. Of the movies nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, he’s seen Argo, Lincoln, Life of Pi and Zero Dark Thirty. Here are some of his Oscar movie thoughts:

“Les Miserables I heard was fantastic. I haven’t seen it. I’m not a big musical guy, but despite that, several other people I’ve talked to say that is transcends all that and it’s more than worth seeing it. I saw the Life of Pi. It was very good. My kids in particular loved it. I liked it quite a bit. … I saw Lincoln. I thought it was really good. It centered around the 13th Amendment. I liked it a lot. I think that it’s gonna be very, very, very difficult under any circumstances for Daniel Day-Lewis to not get best actor for Lincoln. … My gut feeling is either that [Lincoln] or Les Miserables will be Best Picture, just the way that, handicapping it the way that it appears to me the Academy usually votes.”

As always, we thank Coach Leach for his time and valuable insights.

You can find more information and purchase a copy of Mike Leach’s paperback edition of Swing Your Sword: Leading The Charge in Football and Life clicking here

You can find Mike Leach’s official Twitter clicking here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.