THE HEROES ON MY WALL

Having heroes is awesome. My heroes are the people who trail blazed before me in an area that I'm passionate about. They were successful in their calling and gave me something to shoot for.

In my office, I have four 8x10 mounted photos of people who inspire me. I guess two of them are no longer relevant, which is giving me reason to rethink my choices.

Lance and the LIFE 10th Anniversary
 

The first is Lance Armstrong. It’s very sad to see such a mighty athlete be regarded as scum of the earth. I read two of his books, I attended, two of his speaking engagements and watched from the sidewalk of the Champs Elysees as he crossed the finish line to win his 7^th Tour de France. It wasn’t the wins that impressed me. And I don’t care about drugs in cycling - Lance just beat the rest of the druggies, which still makes him a very tough competitor.  Lance could do what the rest of us cannot - ignore pain. His training regime leaves me speechless. Unfortunately, he’s a big liar, and for some reason the U.S. Government hasn’t arrested him for lying under oath.

The second is Steve Molitor. When I was training with 18-24 year olds at the boxing gym in Barrie I heard about a 27-year-old boxer from Sarnia named Steve Molitor. Unlike most other Canadians, boxing was his full-time job, until his recent retirement. He made a bunch of money thru fights at Casino Rama. At a media scrum after a fight, I asked him, "What do you do on boxing day?" and he explained how specific his routine is. "Every calorie, protein, carb, fat - all of it is monitored. Meals are eaten at very specific times. Sleep is specific. Routine is regimented." He said, "It’s like fueling a car with the best fuel and oil and mechanics - if you do it right, the car will perform to win." I guess I never thought of my body in those terms, but it makes sense.

The third photo on my wall is of Scott Shannon - a radio guy, taken during my visit to NYC. He's known for creating "the morning zoo" - the idea of two or three people doing a morning show, instead of just one DJ, which has been copied hundreds of times. Shannon was hired at a floundering station in New York, re-named it Z100 and took it to number one in the ratings, then he moved to L.A., then he moved back to New York where he was hired at the station competing with Z100. He’s been there for about 20 years, now. I’m guessing he’s about 68 and he still programs WPLJ and he still does the morning zoo. He loves radio, like I do. I love his enthusiasm and longevity. And, he works in New York City which is kind of a big deal.



Scott Shannon and me, and Steve Molitor
 

The fourth photo is of "a moment in time".  It was taken at the LIFE 100.3 10th anniversary party, of my wife, my daughter, her husband AJ and me. My wife has been with me at every station I worked at over the years and without question, she has kept me from going off the rails. Now she works with me at LIFE, as does my daughter and of course AJ. If I was looking at my life's impact, there's no question that LIFE 100.3 would be at the top of the list, with my family sharing the memories.

This brings me back to Lance and Steve. They were important in their day, but their relevancy has faded. I’m thinking of replacing their photos with new heroes, although I’m not sure if I have any who have inspired me as much.

Heroes are good to have.  Hopefully I live my life so that I might be a hero, in some way, to someone.