610: Rudy discusses The Punch and alchohol

Anyone else get a chance to listen to Jim Rome today about "the Punch"? The author was on Rome for a good hour from Noon- 1pm and it was the best sports interview I have heard in awhile. They are still taking calls & e-mails for the next half hour so I will try to post again later. Check it out on 610AM right now if you have some free-time.

 

Yeah, that was John Feinstein. He is one of the best sports writers out there. He contributes to NPR, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, HBO Sports, ESPN and others. He has a number of books out about sports and a few other topics. He is a tremendous writer.

 

Here is an excerpt from the book...

http://www.twbookmark.com/books/46/0316279722/chapter_excerpt15933.html

 

That was an amazing except. I'm going to have to get this book.

 

I really thought the book was really interestinmg. If you read the book, you'll learn that Rudy always hated feeling that he might be the subject of pitty and so hated people mentioning the Punch.

He was worried that people just saw his as "that guy who got nailed."

I really admire Rudy for how he has handled himself after that incident but I can't say I "pittied" him or identified him through that incident.

I bet he hears the same thing from alot of other fans now that we all know how he felt about the aftermath from incident since he cooperated with the author of the book.

Truth is, I bet a ton of fans are too young to think of Rudy even partly as the "guy who got punched."

Do any of you fans have any contemporaneious recollections of "the punch" incident and your reactions at the time?

 

I bought the book this afternoon. Looks fascinating. I heard Rome talking after the Feinstein interview and I just had to go get the book. It's too bad that it kindof gets lost how great of a basketball player Rudy was before that. He was on his way to a hall of fame playing career

 

Wow... that excerpt is amazing. That really makes me want to read the book. Hearing the descriptions of the injury and what it looked like turned my stomach, though. I hope Shaq reads this book because then maybe he will get a good idea of what he could do if he ever unloaded on someone like Kermit did.

 

I don't remember the punch conciously. I do remember hearing about it but I was only 8 at the time.

That exerpt had me queezy and weepy all at the same time. Feinstein is amazing.

 

I've seen some things from him in the mag I thought. I've been wrong before though.

 

Just found this from twbookmark.com...

<i>John Feinstein is the author of the bestsellers A Civil War, A Good Walk Spoiled, A Season on the Brink, Hard Courts, and two mystery novels. He writes regularly for Inside Sports, Golf Magazine, Tennis Magazine, and Basketball America. He is also a commentator for National Public Radio and <b>ESPN</b>. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and Shelter Island, New York, with his wife and son.</i>

 

While I found the entire interview extremely interesting, I was intrigued by what Feinstein had to say about Calvin Murphy and the incident. For one, I did not know that Calvin was a Golden Gloves boxer and had "beaten up" several opponents that were often larger than him throughout his career. I also did not know that he had not said anything about that game since the civil trial in Houston. It amazed me that (and granted...I do not know Calvin personally so I'm totally unaware of his off-air personality and life) Feinstein said that Calvin broke down several times when re-accounting the events that happened during that game. Feinstein said that Calvin said he wanted to physically kill Kermit Washington and that it was probably an act of God that kept him from going after Washington.

It was a great interview about a tragic and interesting subject. I guess it's most interesting to us locally as we all have seen Rudy's ups and downs of his life since "The Punch".

 

yeah! now that's a teammate! Calvin would have gone "Marching Thunder" on his @ss!!

 

Heard the interview on the way from Houston to Austin - really brought back memories.

Jeff - I remember it well -was in my 20's at the time - living in Houston, followed everthing about the Rockets ( really since Elvin beat Lew at the astrodome in college, went to CA and then the franchise was moved to Houston)- watching the local replays was gruesome - Kevin Kunnert and Kermit got into a hand checking/elbowing thing - - Rudy turned around ....and never saw the punch coming, even though he was running towards the fight... at first we thought it was maybe a broken nose.. lots of blood. Only later, in the paper the next morning did we know how bad it was.

Calvin Murphy, boxer.... No one messed with Calvin. Several times I saw him in fights with people much bigger.. he would seem to float in their chest ( like a fighting rooster) while both fists would just be a blur. I've seen the other guy just fall over flat on his back, with Calvin in his chest, punching him all the way to the floor. Sure would like to see some old Calvin Fight footage, if anyone has a way to locate it. - Guess everyone knows Calvin is also a world class baton twirler.

 

The book is not terribly well written, I think (re-tells the same anecdotes, sort of awkward construction...) but it is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in pre-championship Rockets and/or Rudy T. In-depth interviews with Kevin Kunnert, quotes from Tom Nissalke, Mike Newlin -- where else could you get that. And the fact that Nissalke was choice #2 after Rudy to coach when Chaney was fired -- amazing.

Rudy is quite candid about alcohol, and it seems like it was somewhat overdue -- his drinking was public knowledge, but in that word-on-the-street way which can be bad news. Good for Rudy. Sorta interesting that he chose to talk about certain things in Feinsteins book that he did not address in his own.

I remember my mom used to wake me up every morning with the sports page, when I was 5, so I could see where the Rockets were in the standings. The morning after Kermit Washington's punch, she woke me up and had to have a talk with me about Rudy getting punched. He was my hero as a kid. It did NOT seem that unbelievable to me -- in that way that you aggrandize your heroes, it only made sense to me that some evil person would want to hit him. Everyone wants a piece of Superman.

I remember when he walked on the court during warmups that year, the first time back at the Summit after his surgeries. I must have been six, and he had his jaw wired shut. The whole summit gave him a standing ovation. It was really amazing.

When he came back the next year, it was terrific. Newlin's quote about the punch indirectly sapping Rudy's physical resources and shortening his career was interesting.

Also, Lucas' quotes about 'hearing' the other players on the break was hilarious -- if you could not understand the words, it was Moses. If you needed a dictionary to figure out what someone was saying, it was Newlin. Big clunky footsteps -- it was Rudy. And so forth. Nice.

Second worst trade in Rocket's history was Lucas for Rick Barry. Lucas in full bloom plus Moses Malone would have been a great early-80s team.

I urge everyone to read the book.

Thanks Rudy.

CBFC

 

Damn...what an exerpt. I'll be sure to check out the book.

 

What's amazing about the story is how two people's lives changed in the blink of an eye. If it hadn't of happened, maybe Rudy would have had a longer career, not gone into coaching when he did, not been the next in line when Don Chaney was fired, the Rockets never win two championships because the perfect coach was not hired . . . who knows. Maybe Kermit Washington would be a head coach in the NBA.

With all the fights that Calvin got in, it could have just as easily been him that maimed someone. He could have ended up losing out on the hall of fame, being a local hero, a great announcing job, all the gaudy suits . . . . I wonder if he did some soul searching himself after seeing what happened to Rudy (and to Kermit).

Another example - you could be partying on night, drunk out of your mind, playing with a gun, and end up like Jayson Williams.

Your destiny can change in the blink of an eye.

 

Getting over being an alcholic is extremely hard. It takes a strong man to overcome it. My friend's dad was an alcholic when he was in his 20s, before my friend was born. My friends dad has now been sober for 27 years. He said that it is still hard staying away from it, each and everyday. My friends older brother has had the same problems. He got extremely drunk one night and attempted suicide. He just got out of rehab. Hopefully he will recover, because he is a really nice guy. He is just messed up. Whenever I hang out at my friends house, his older brother always offers to drive us places. Luckily Rudy is over alchol. I don't think that he is a good coach, but he definetly is a good guy.