SCOTT JACOBS

Bill Laimbeer was one of the elite centers in the NBA in the 1980’s, and one of the nastiest players as well.  He was aggressive, hard nosed, and relentless, and he played every game like his job depended on it.  Laimbeer may have been a  mean, ruthless player on the court, but he’s a class act off of it. He talked to us for fifteen minutes, but we had more questions, so we continued our candid conversation a few hours later.

All in all we talked about 25 minutes, and I came off very impressed by how honest and easygoing he was to talk to. He may seem like a mean cuss on the court, but off of it, Laimbeer is one of the nicest and most respectful athletes I’ve ever spoken with.  So here in it’s entirety is my entire conversation with the Laimbeer.  It’s a Juiced Sports exclusive.  Enjoy!

Juiced Sports: You went to Notre Dame, but flunked out as a freshman.  How did flunking out your first year change your perception on things, and drive you to work harder at a technical school for one year so that you could rejoin the Irish and show them what you could do?

Bill Laimbeer: As a freshman I admit that I didn’t like going to class. You had to go to class to get the grades you needed to play, and I didn’t.  I learned thorough the experience about having more discipline in my own life.  You had to do what was asked, if you wanted to play the game.  I had to do what was asked of me if I wanted to participate.

JSB: College Basketball is huge today, and the NCAA Tournament is like a national four day holiday the third week of March, but you played when the game was not always on center stage.  In fact, there was no ESPN during most/if not all of your college years.  What’s it been like for you to see college basketball’s explosion from well kept secret to one of America’s national past-times?

BL: No question that TV has created the explosion.  It spread the talent out.  There are great players now spread apart on more and more teams.  The number of teams that can compete for a title has increased dramatically.  It draws more fans in, and it’s great for the players, because not everybody is going to play pro basketball (the majority won’t), so it gives them recognition that may help them one day in a business career.

JSB: You were drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they took so long to offer you a contract that you decided to go to Italy instead.  Was that a really difficult decision to make?

BL: No, Italy gave me a guaranteed contract of $40,000.  {So I guess times have changed, huh?} Yeah, Times have certainly changed.

JSB: You got dealt to the Detroit Pistons in 1982 who were not very good.  Every athlete seems to have a comically bad story from their days playing on a hapless team; Any memories that stick out for you?

BL: Isaiah Thomas didn’t like practice one day, and Coach Scotty Robertson told him that he we very serious about practice and asked Isaiah if he was serious.  Isaiah said no, so Roberson told him to leave.

JSB: In 1989 and 1990 the Pistons repeated as champions.  Which championship was sweeter: the first or the second?

BL: Winning the first one was a relief.  Finally we could say we won something!  We believed we’d win the first one.  The second one was fun, and you could enjoy it more.  We didn’t believe we were going to repeat, we knew!

JSB: Now a lot of people probably forget that you were one of the NBA’s Iron Men at one point during your 12 year career.  You played 685 games in a row.  How did you do it?  Were NBA players tougher back then compared to the more pampered stars of today?

BL: I would have played over 1000 in a row had it not been for suspensions.

JSB:  So Cal Ripken would’ve had nothing on you!

BL: (Laughs) NBA Players were definitely tougher then.  The competition for jobs was stiffer.  You couldn’t take any nights off, because this was the pre-expansion era and because of tht there was less teams.  There were much deeper teams back then, and I made sure I played hard every night to keep my job.

I think I hold players respect by what I accomplished in my playing days, but that only goes so far.  I am honest, I say what everybody else is thinking, but they’re afraid to say.  Team comes first, before me, them, or any star.

JSB: Did you ever feel threatened that you might loss your job?

BL: No, I played hard every night, so I always kept my spot in the starting line up.

JSB: Do players today take their starting jobs for granted?

BL: Definitely, I think players take their starting position for granted. Not everybody does, but a lot of them.

JSB: You were not exactly the most beloved player by any means, due mostly to your physically rugged style of play.  But players respected you.  Do you think that if you played in the NBA today, where the game has become more about quickness and finesse that your style would be just as effective?

BL: I think so.  I rebounded, set good screens, hit open shots, and I was a good teammate.  Those are traits that never go away.

JSB: You were called the Prince of Darkness, amongst other things, and collected some of the most unique nicknames in NBA history.  Did you get a kick out of all the nicknames people gave you, and what’s the best one someone ever called you that few people know about?

BL: It was funny to read a lot of the stuff that people would say and write.  I didn’t mind it because I knew we were doing something right.  You have to laugh at all of them.  It’s no big deal.  The best one was Prince of Darkness.  That would be my favorite

JSB: You played the majority of your NBA career with just one team.  It seems rarer by the day with free agency, the salary cap, and luxury taxes for a great player to play the duration of his career with the same team; Is this a trend that we as the sports fan just need to get used to?  Is loyalty dead?

BL: Yes, fans need to get used to it.  The trend will continue.  There is loyalty, however there is money.  Salary caps and players wanting bigger contracts cause moves to be made, as well as trades.  That’s business.

JSB: What was it like playing with Dennis Rodman?

BL: Rodman was great.  He was a great teammate; he worked hard, knew his responsibility, and did his job very well.

JSB: Were there any antics with Detroit?

BL: There were no antics during his Pistons years; we would not have allowed it.  When he started to go that route, he was traded.

JSB: Were you upset when he was dealt or was it something that needed to be done?

BL: It was something that needed to happen.

JSB: In 2003 you took the WNBA’s Detroit Shock from worst to first in just a single year.  What was that experience like for you?  Is there anything more rewarding for a coach than to lead a turnaround that remarkable and that quick?

BL: It was a great experience.  We rode an emotional wave that year.  It was a great reward to have that quick of a turnaround and to cap it off with a championship.  That’s a rare feat.

JSB: You’ve won three WNBA titles since taking over the reigns in Detroit in 2002, including last year’s title over the San Antonio Silver Stars.  Clearly you’re doing something right.  So my question to you is what makes you such a great coach?

BL: I think I hold players respect by what I accomplished in my playing days, but that only goes so far.  I am honest, I say what everybody else is thinking, but they’re afraid to say.  Team comes first, before me, them, or any star.

JSB: A lot of people disrespect the WNBA, some even say that it’s a joke.  Does that bother you?  Do you just laugh at people who make those remarks?  As a coach who’s had a chance to see these girls year in and year out what would you say to that?

BL: Those that disparage it have not watched it.  Ten years ago the WNBA was average basketball, but today it is great basketball.  It bothers you, but you have to laugh about it, because they’re just naïve.  Once they watch it, we’ll get many more fans.

JSB: How much longer do you plan on coaching?

BL: I don’t know.  There is no timetable, and I enjoy what I’m doing.

JSB: You’re promoting Coke Zero’s Taste the Madness, which is a very cool interactive site for college basketball fans.  If you could tell all of our readers a little bit about the contest and the site that would be much appreciated.

BL: Sure. Coke Zero is a huge sponsor of the NCAA Tournament.  They want fans to send in videos of their crazy rituals, traditions, fight songs, etc. and the more bizarre and wild the better.  You upload it at www.tastethemadness.com and every video is posted.  Judges will judge every last one of them, and the winning videos will be shown during the title game on CBS.  Papa Johns will even throw all the winners a pizza party.

JSB: How’d you get involved?

BL: They asked me to.  Previous experience in the Final Four with the Irish was a big reason.

JSB: So I take it when it comes to the Coke versus Pepsi debate you like…

BL: Coke.  I am a big Coke supporter.

JSB: Mr. Laimbeer, thanks so much for your time.  You may have been a Bad Boy and a rugged hard nosed player on the court, but you are a hell of a nice and cordial guy off of it.

BL: Thanks very much, I enjoyed talking to you.

Photo: AP by Eric Gay

The Tampa Bay Rays are the best team in baseball, they’re garnering national attention that they only could have dreamed of, and their bandwagon is filling up as their stunning lead in the AL East grows. Juiced Sports talked about it with Rays mega-fan and DRaysBay Senior Editor R.J. Anderson, and its safe to say no one could have foreseen this coming

SCOTT JACOBS

The playoffs in July? It sure felt like it yesterday watching Tampa’s raucous crowd will their high flying Rays to a spectacular comeback and a surprising sweep of the reigning champ Red Sox. The win pushed Tampa Bay’s lead in the East to an impressive 3.5 games. It was time. Time to talk to the top Rays fan site on the net.

That’s where R.J. Anderson of DRaysBay comes in. Anderson has been with DRaysBay since August 2006 and says he got into baseball “right before the Rays came around.” Before that, he was a Braves fan. Anderson hails from the Tampa area and writes for Beyond the Boxscore, and has had his work featured on Deadspin and The Hardball Times.

Without further adieu: the interview in it’s glorious entirety.

Scott Jacobs: Have you pinched yourself to make sure everything happening right now is real? I mean, the Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball. As the Senior Editor of DRaysBay, how does it feel to finally have a winning team to talk about?

R.J. Anderson: No way, I don’t want this to end whether it be a dream or real. It feels a bit odd, honestly after all the losing seasons you start becoming numb to the results of games, and it’s not because you don’t care about the team and whether they win, but more of self protection. This is the first time in a long time that I, and really the entire fan base, can live and die with this team every night.

SJ: Who would have thought that the Rays could supplant the Yankees as Sportscenter’s number one crush of the week? ESPN has been all over you guys, and for good reason. How’s it feel to have all this attention (positive attention) placed on a team that has known nothing but failure?

RJ: It brings a smile to my face. Of course then someone will take a potshot at our fan base, which is growing, and it causes me to turn the channel. I don’t think the Florida Marlins or Oakland Athletics fans get called to go to the park every night, and it’s not even the Rays fans who don’t go, it’s the Yankee and Red Sox fans or even Cubs fans who live here and won’t support the home team, at least not until the Rays are winning.

SJ: Obviously the Rays are having their breakout year in 2008, but its been 10 years in the making. When did this turnaround really begin? And by turnaround I mean when was it evident, regardless of record, that Tampa Bay was starting to turn the corner?

RJ: It’s pretty hard to place a date on it because there isn’t a definitive point, this is more like the Renaissance, or if I can throw a cheap pun out there, the Raynessiance. Stuart Sternberg and the new regime took over in November 2005, so that’s a possible date, but if you want the moment us fans began thinking of this club different it was last July when the team dealt for Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler within a few days of each other, suddenly they weren’t dealing major leaguers for minor leaguers anymore. Perhaps November 18^th as well when the team announced stadium plans and the trade of Delmon Young to the Twins.

SJ: Tampa Bay’s notorious, along with the Marlins, for having really bad fans and attendance numbers. Yesterday’s game against Boston was the 4th sellout of the season. So my question is this: are the fans finally here to stay, or is this just a tease of what could one day be?

RJ: I wouldn’t say “really bad fans”, I would say “fewer”, the fans the Rays have aren’t bad fans, they’ve supported a team that many would’ve given up on, and most Rays fans have a great grasp on the game itself. As for the attendance, look, the 1991 Braves went from 65 wins to 94 and their attendance jumped from 12,100 per game to 26,422. Right now our attendance is just shy of 21,000 in a 36,000 seat stadium, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium sat nearly 50,000 as a football stadium that hosted baseball. Going purely be capacity measures the Rays are filling up nearly 59% of the place, the Braves had that great run and at the end of the season filled up around 53% of their stadium. Are they here to stay? I’ll say yes, but only because I don’t expect the bandwagon to empty anytime soon.

“The people who run this team are former Wall Street honchos, think Billy Beane to the extreme. They’re going to find someone who is undervalued… and then they’re going to look like geniuses when he works out.”

SJ: Tampa’s got great pitching, very good defense, a solid bullpen, and they love to steal bases. Sounds a heck of lot like the 2003 Florida Marlins. That team as you may recall won the World Series. See any similarities between this year’s Rays and the 03 Marlins? What team would you compare this Rays squad to?

RJ: I think the 2003 Marlins are a fair comparison. Both teams had a young star step up after opening day with Miguel Cabrera and Evan Longoria, both had a pretty legitimate top three of the rotation – I mean look back at that rotation and tell me how they wouldn’t be expected to win every year if not for injuries – but they didn’t have a very good defense. The 1994 Montreal Expos fit us better in regards that they had a really good defense, no true “star” players, a bunch of somewhat young guys with good seasons, and came out of nowhere.

SJ: The trading deadline is fast approaching, and some interesting names have been linked to the Rays: C.C. Sabathia and Ken Griffey Jr. being the biggest When it’s all said and done, and the trading deadline has passed, is it realistic to think the Rays will have made a trade for a big name player, or are they going to stick to their young guys ‘paving the way’ approach?

RJ: It’s realistic to think they could, but they won’t, and it’s not because of money – although I don’t know if there’s a team out there that can re-sign Sabathia straight up before he touches the free agent market. The Rays have built this persona around their motto “We Are One Team” and I don’t see them bringing in a guy like Griffey Jr. because A) he’s not going to help this team outside of the veteran presence non-sense people toss around and B) he’s not good value. The people who run this team are former Wall Street honchos, think Billy Beane to the extreme. They’re going to find someone who is undervalued but can help this team and they’re going to acquire him for less than they should be able to, and then they’re going to look like geniuses when he works out. They understand the market and real player value very well.

SJ: Everybody’s talking about what Tampa Bay is doing well. And for good reason. But in order to sustain their success throughout the second half, what doe the Rays need to improve on?

RJ: The pitching and defense have been stellar, but the offense has only been average. I’m not sure if it’s something the team can improve on outside of acquiring someone, but they need for progression to strike Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford. If those two can get going with B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, and Eric Hinske having their seasons, this lineup could jolt up from middle of the pack very quickly.

“This is the first time in a long time that I, and really the entire fan base, can live and die with this team every night.”

SJ: The Rays have long been one of the saddest franchises in pro sports. They changed their look, and their logo this year, and ditched “Devil”, now fining media members 1 dollar every time they say the word. Clearly they’re serious about the new image, but how much of an impact do you think their new look has had on the turnaround of this team?

RJ: I’m not sure if it had any affect, although the players love the unis, this team – or perhaps the franchise’s – mindset changed November 2005. To paraphrase something Chuck LaMar said: the only thing that was separating this organization from being recognized as one of the best was the results on the field. The team name and colors didn’t matter until the team got good.

SJ: And uh, speaking of the uniforms, why are the Rays too afraid to put “Tampa Bay” on any of their jerseys? What’s up with that?

RJ: The organization says its to build the new identity more, and I believe MLB rules prohibit changing the home/away jerseys within a year of each other, so what the plan seems to be is introducing a new uniform with RAYS on it, and then in 2010 implementing Tampa Bay on the road unis.

SJ: What’s the prognosis for Tampa the rest of the way? Can they win the AL East? Is it still hard to believe that you’re even getting asked this?

RJ: It’s easy to say the team will win the division, but frankly I’m not sure I can wrap my mind around that quite yet. Let’s say they break the franchise wins record (70) and after that all bets are off.