2008 Woodie Awards
Sports Talk With the Editor
Tom Phizacklea spills the beans on his closet devotion to the Steelers and why he would never make it as a pro hockey player
Josh Marx
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: Sports and Wellness
Josh Marx: Hello again, and welcome to our second installment, hopefully of many, of Sports Talk with the Editor. This issue we have a very special guest, your friend and mine, Vice President for Finance, Tom Phizacklea. Let's just dive right in with the first question. If you didn't have to be Vice President for Finance, and you could play any pro sport, what would it be?
Tom Phizacklea: I would probably be a professional golfer. Even though I wouldn't say that's my favorite sport, that's the sport I think I would want to play.
JM: For enjoyment or the money you could make?
TP: I just love the game. I just absolutely love the game of golf. It's an honor system type of game; you call penalties on yourself, there's no ref to call them for you. I like that it's a game of integrity, I appreciate that. I also like that fact that when you don't play well, you don't make any money.
JM: You said golf isn't necessarily your favorite sport to watch, what would be?
TP: Football.
JM: Favorite team?
TP: Definitely Steelers. I have lots of Steelers paraphernalia. I've got flags, mugs, a Steeler computer mouse. I'm from western Pennsylvania, so I've been a Steelers fan for about 40 years now.
JM: What do you think of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger?
TP: I'm thrilled with him at the moment. I liken him to a rookie pitcher who just got called up from the minor leagues, and for the first couple of weeks, until the hitters figure him out, I think they seem to do pretty well. Roethlisberger's a big guy, and he's a tough guy. I'd say he's playing with reckless abandon right now. It's kind of fun watching him; he doesn't have a lot of expectations on himself, I like that. I feel bad for Tommy Maddox, but Roethlisberger is certainly the future of the Steelers.
JM: Alright, well let's change gears for a second. What is your opinion of Baseball's division series so far?
TP: I'll be crucified for saying this, but I am not a Yankees fan. I would love to see the Red Sox get into the World Series. I'm just tired of seeing the same teams in the World Series, I'd like to see some new teams get in there. I wonder if the Cubbies can ever make it. So far, from the little I've been able to see, it's been pretty interesting.
JM: Well I don't know if you'll get crucified for not being a Yankees fan. Most of the fans here are actually Red Sox fans. I often get chastised for rooting for the Yankees.
TP: It's funny, about the Yankees. I guess I feel that when you have enough money you can do whatever you want to do. That may be unfair for me to say that about Steinbrenner, but I don't fault that guy. If he's able to do it, why shouldn't he be able to do it? But I can't think of the more antithesis to the Yankee way of doing things than the Pittsburgh Pirate way of doing things. I've seen the number of stars that have gone through the Pirates organization, Bobby Bonds, Bobby Bonilla.
JM: It's almost like the Expos.
TP: Exactly. We get these players for relatively few dollars, until they build their careers to the point where the Pirates just won't pay them. Then they move on and get the big contracts.
JM: That's kind of what the Oakland A's do, but Billy Beane just has a way of keeping players there.
TP: Well in the days of the 60's and 70's, I know I'm going way back here, you knew every player on every team because they were basically the same year after year. Now, there are times I can't keep track; I'm two teams behind a certain player. It seems to be all about money, and people chase the best offer. It's tough to build loyalty to teams or players with everyone jumping around so much.
JM: Do you think there should be more team loyalty among players?
TP: I guess you could extrapolate it to our culture, our society. Today, it's expected that the average person will change careers several times in their life, and change jobs ten to twelve times in their career these days. In the last fifteen years, I've been employed by three different colleges. So here I am talking about loyalty, and I've moved around myself. But really, football and golf are my two favorite sports.
JM: You grew up in western Pennsylvania, though. Did you experience any other cold weather sports?
TP: Hockey, I was around hockey a lot in my youth.
JM: Did you ever play?
TP: I went to hockey school one year, and realized I couldn't be a hockey player. I think I was twelve or thirteen and I think I was playing with nine and ten year-olds and I absolutely got killed. I mean I got creamed, and I realized, there's no way I can do this. It was funny watching these kids blow by me and hammer me, and they were just these little kids. I wasn't very big myself, but still, no, I couldn't do it. We played street hockey all the time in the street, but on ice I did not do very well.
JM: Well Tommy, I think that'll do it.
TP: I would like to know if there are any Steeler fans around here because I don't dare put up my paraphernalia. I don't ever leave it up over the weekend, I'm afraid someone might throw a rock at it.
Tom Phizacklea: I would probably be a professional golfer. Even though I wouldn't say that's my favorite sport, that's the sport I think I would want to play.
JM: For enjoyment or the money you could make?
TP: I just love the game. I just absolutely love the game of golf. It's an honor system type of game; you call penalties on yourself, there's no ref to call them for you. I like that it's a game of integrity, I appreciate that. I also like that fact that when you don't play well, you don't make any money.
JM: You said golf isn't necessarily your favorite sport to watch, what would be?
TP: Football.
JM: Favorite team?
TP: Definitely Steelers. I have lots of Steelers paraphernalia. I've got flags, mugs, a Steeler computer mouse. I'm from western Pennsylvania, so I've been a Steelers fan for about 40 years now.
JM: What do you think of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger?
TP: I'm thrilled with him at the moment. I liken him to a rookie pitcher who just got called up from the minor leagues, and for the first couple of weeks, until the hitters figure him out, I think they seem to do pretty well. Roethlisberger's a big guy, and he's a tough guy. I'd say he's playing with reckless abandon right now. It's kind of fun watching him; he doesn't have a lot of expectations on himself, I like that. I feel bad for Tommy Maddox, but Roethlisberger is certainly the future of the Steelers.
JM: Alright, well let's change gears for a second. What is your opinion of Baseball's division series so far?
TP: I'll be crucified for saying this, but I am not a Yankees fan. I would love to see the Red Sox get into the World Series. I'm just tired of seeing the same teams in the World Series, I'd like to see some new teams get in there. I wonder if the Cubbies can ever make it. So far, from the little I've been able to see, it's been pretty interesting.
JM: Well I don't know if you'll get crucified for not being a Yankees fan. Most of the fans here are actually Red Sox fans. I often get chastised for rooting for the Yankees.
TP: It's funny, about the Yankees. I guess I feel that when you have enough money you can do whatever you want to do. That may be unfair for me to say that about Steinbrenner, but I don't fault that guy. If he's able to do it, why shouldn't he be able to do it? But I can't think of the more antithesis to the Yankee way of doing things than the Pittsburgh Pirate way of doing things. I've seen the number of stars that have gone through the Pirates organization, Bobby Bonds, Bobby Bonilla.
JM: It's almost like the Expos.
TP: Exactly. We get these players for relatively few dollars, until they build their careers to the point where the Pirates just won't pay them. Then they move on and get the big contracts.
JM: That's kind of what the Oakland A's do, but Billy Beane just has a way of keeping players there.
TP: Well in the days of the 60's and 70's, I know I'm going way back here, you knew every player on every team because they were basically the same year after year. Now, there are times I can't keep track; I'm two teams behind a certain player. It seems to be all about money, and people chase the best offer. It's tough to build loyalty to teams or players with everyone jumping around so much.
JM: Do you think there should be more team loyalty among players?
TP: I guess you could extrapolate it to our culture, our society. Today, it's expected that the average person will change careers several times in their life, and change jobs ten to twelve times in their career these days. In the last fifteen years, I've been employed by three different colleges. So here I am talking about loyalty, and I've moved around myself. But really, football and golf are my two favorite sports.
JM: You grew up in western Pennsylvania, though. Did you experience any other cold weather sports?
TP: Hockey, I was around hockey a lot in my youth.
JM: Did you ever play?
TP: I went to hockey school one year, and realized I couldn't be a hockey player. I think I was twelve or thirteen and I think I was playing with nine and ten year-olds and I absolutely got killed. I mean I got creamed, and I realized, there's no way I can do this. It was funny watching these kids blow by me and hammer me, and they were just these little kids. I wasn't very big myself, but still, no, I couldn't do it. We played street hockey all the time in the street, but on ice I did not do very well.
JM: Well Tommy, I think that'll do it.
TP: I would like to know if there are any Steeler fans around here because I don't dare put up my paraphernalia. I don't ever leave it up over the weekend, I'm afraid someone might throw a rock at it.