I worked with Rocky Graziano and Rocky was certainly a character.

It's kind of ironic that the two sports with the greatest characters, boxing and horse racing, have both been on the decline. In both cases it's for the lack of a suitable hero.

Cliches and adjectives permeated my prose.

Sugar Ray Robinson was at the top of the boxing world during the 1950's when it seemed that he would either win or lose the championship about every three or four months.

I got to know Sugar Ray but I certainly would not say we were good friends.

I think my mistakes were kind of common - leaning on cliches and adjectives in the place of clear, vivid writing. But at least I knew how to spell, which seems to be a rarity these days.

I came up with new leads for game stories by being observant and clever, by using the many gifts of the English language to intrigue and hook a reader.