A journalist enjoys a privileged position. In exchange for not being able to participate in the rough-and-tumble issues of a community, we are given license to observe it all, based on the understanding that we'll tell everyone what happens fairly and squarely. That's harder than it sounds.

First of all, I'm a Midwesterner, being from Kansas, and Chicago is basically a big Midwestern cow town. It was built from the stockyards, and everyone is very friendly, and it's at the edge of the tallgrass prairie. There's just a good feel to it.

Movie stars and singers never fully pass away because their images are replayed on film and recordings, over and over.

In L.A., everyone is competing for the next job, and in New York, it's pretty much the same thing: competing for a better job.

On my football field, I know what bliss is. My team cuddles more than the missus. We won't inject drugs, just oodles of hugs. I warm up my team with some kisses.

Choose something you like to do. I know its a cliche, and youve heard it over and over. But the reason is, youre going to have to work long and hard to achieve any success. You better like it or life is going to be terrible.

My personal philosophy is I'm running a 100-yard dash, and I haven't reached the end.