ROCS Blog: March 2018

Saturday, March 24, 2018

José Guzmán, the Rangers and Alzheimer's

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2018/03/21/sports-rush-catching-up-with-jose-guzman/

José Guzmán posted double-digit wins in four different seasons for the Rangers in the 1980s and early ’90s (and was 2 bWAR or better in those seasons for you advanced stats folks). He also pitched for the Cubs and for the Fort Worth Cats in the the latter team’s last incarnation. He has spent a number of seasons broadcasting Rangers games in Spanish on TV and radio, and will join Eleno Ornelas in the booth for home games again this season.

Tom Grieve told me a story last week about how he let Guzmán borrow his car even though the 17-year old had no driver’s license and didn’t speak a ton of English because he thought so much of the player’s maturity. The pitcher has always commanded a great deal of respect among his colleagues, something I saw and experienced firsthand working with him at the Cats and the Rangers. In this video interview, we hear his perspective on the upcoming Rangers season, and Guzmán also talks about the charity he started to help Alzheimer’s patients and those who care for them. He and his wife run the charity themselves, managing funds and outreach activities. You can find more information about the charity at http://guzman23foundation.com.

Rush Olson has spent more than two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports, Mint Farm Films, and FourNine Productions.

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Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports

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Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Sam Perkins, Sidney Moncrief, and the Final Four

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2018/03/06/sports-rush-sam-perkins-and-a-final-four-function/

March Madness has gotten underway because, well, it’s March, duh. The conference tournaments have already started to get us revved up for a month of buzzer beaters and bracket busters culminating in Final Fours as the month concludes. A couple of North Texas residents contributed to legendary runs to the national semi-finals, and later this month, I’ll be interviewing them about the experience at a special event at Campisi’s Restaurant on Mockingbird in Dallas. Sidney Moncrief and Sam Perkins will take the stage to discuss what it felt like as their Arkansas and North Carolina teams made their respective runs, as well as broader topics germane to college basketball and the tournament landscape.

The event, entitled “Sidney, Sam & The Final Four,” benefits the charity programs of the National Basketball Retired Players Association’s local chapter. Besides Perkins and Moncrief, a number of other former NBA, ABA, WNBA, and other players will be on hand to mingle and swap stories. In the video interview with Perkins that is the centerpiece of this post, you’ll find out more about what they do and about why the Final Four still resonates with the former NBA standout.

Tables are still for sale, with details available at the NBRPA’s local Facebook page.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Interview with Gold Medalist Ben Maher

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2018/03/01/sports-rush-an-olympian-changes-horses/

Polo spent five Olympiads as an official sport, but it hasn’t participated since before World War II. Equestrian competitors in general, however, have vied for medals in every Summer Olympics since 1912.

Ben Maher has competed in show jumping in the last three Summer Games, and owns a gold medal for his part in winning the team jumping event for Great Britain in 2012 in London.

Friday, I watched him ride in a polo match. The setting was a great deal less competitive than his normal sporting pursuits: a charity contest in Wellington, Florida. Maher participated in the final chukker (equivalent to a period or quarter in polo parlance), as both sides added a guest teammate for the final period. The Olympian found himself at the event in part because he’s affiliated himself with one of polo’s most prominent families.

The young men’s father was once perhaps the world’s best player, and the whole family is filled with accomplished riders and polo players. Though Carlos, Sr. died after an in-game accident in 2014, the Gracida name still foments warm feelings within the polo community. The brothers leveraged the goodwill their father generated, along with their own friendly and unpretentious demeanors, to create Friday’s Equine Salute Invitational. They designed the event to benefit the Gracida Legacy Foundation, a charity they’ve started with the aim of helping underserved kids realize the benefits of horsemanship, and generate interest in their Gracida Wine brand, which was available at the match and subsequent tent party.

Maher and many others contributed his time to making the day a success. In the video interview that accompanies this post, he tells us what it was like playing a sport that is not his main one and how he feels watching an Olympics in which he didn’t participate, in this case the 2018 Winter Games, which were in their closing stages as he played in the polo match.