As many of you are probably aware, Michigan’s long time PR man Bruce Madej announced this week he’d be retiring next year. He’s devoted 34 years of his life to doing a great job for the University, serving with distinction, and helping thousands of players, coaches, and reporters do their jobs better. He will be deeply missed by all of the above, and some he’s never met.
Here’s a little bit from my book with Bo Schembechler, “Bo’s Lasting Lessons,” in the memories section in the back.
BRUCE MADEJ, Michigan Sports Information Director
Bo always said he was “just an old curmudgeon,” but the times never passed him by. He taught me how to deal with people, especially the media, and he loved to laugh. He would laugh at a joke, at you or himself. He was not afraid to laugh at his own foibles.
When we were discussing careers one day, I told Bo that he was one of the people that helped me hone my craft as a PR person. He smiled, then looked back at me. “Now I finally know why you are such a lousy PR guy.” He then roared with laughter at his own line, cracking up both of us.
Bo was no curmudgeon. He was a class act.
So was Bruce. Godspeed, buddy
FOURTH AND LONG SCHEDULE OF EXCERPTS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, STORIES AND EVENTS:
(Initial list — more soon)
My next book, “Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football,” will be published by Simon & Schuster on September 3, 2013. It can be pre-ordered now on this very website, johnubacon.com, on the home page.
I’ll have updates on the book tour events, the schedule of excerpts and radio and TV appearances very soon, but here are the first events, with more information to come. To attend, feel free to contact these organizations to reserve your spot. We WILL have books available for all at all these stops, even those that pre-date the publication date.
EVENTS:
-Tuesday, August 20, lunchtime: Columbus, Ohio, Rotary Club, lunchtime.
-Monday, August 26, 5:30 p.m.: UM Alumni Club of Chicago, at the Diag Bar.
-Friday, September 6, 6 p.m.: Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor.
-Tuesday, September 10, 6 p.m.: UM Alumni Club of Grand Rapids, at the Louis Benton Steakhouse.
EXCERPTS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS AND STORIES
-Friday, August 16:
The Wall Street Journal: excerpt on how Penn State kept their team together
PennLive.com: Review and story by David Jones.
Others will be writing on the book that day, as well, with details coming soon.
Friday, August 23:
Dennis Dodd at CBSsports.com, Yahoosports.com, and ESPN.com will be running excerpts, stories and reviews.
MGoBlog.com: Excerpt on Michigan’s Marching Band, and the Alabama game
PennLive.com: Excerpt on Penn State’s turbulent, and ultimately triumphant season, behind the scenes.
Elevenwarriors.com: Excerpt on Urban Meyer, behind the scenes.
Sippinonpurple.com: Excerpt on Pat Fitzgerald, behind the scenes.
Tuesday, September 3:(Times to come)
NPR interview on “Here & Now.”
Later that week, interviews with: WTKA-Ann Arbor-Detroit, WGN-Chicago, WBEZ-Chicago Public Radio, and more.
* * * * *
Please join the conversation, but remember: I run only those letters from those who are not profane or insane, and who include their FULL name.
Radio stuff: On Friday mornings, these commentaries run at 8:50 on Michigan Radio (91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit and Flint, and 104.1 Grand Rapids), and a few minutes later, I join Sam Webb and Ira Weintraub LIVE from 9:05 to 9:25 on WTKA.com, 1050 AM.
On Sunday mornings, from the start of football season to the end of March Madness, I co-host “Off the Field” with the legendary Jamie Morris on WTKA from 10-11 a.m. And yes, there will be a quiz, so “stop what you’re doing, and listen!”
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“Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football” can be ordered now, in hardcover or paperback.
The current AD could learn many lessons from BRUCE MADEJ if he would listen. He also would learn much from author John U Bacon – that will never happen!
“Michigan Man” extraordinaire…UM needs your very obvious “HEART,” the one sincere and human element that has been missing …on and off the playing fields,girls softball, currently excepted…pursue, if necessary, ( the PR job should already be awaiting your acceptance)…it might be less rewarding, but UM needs your PR caliber..on at every level……..You have,using the media extant, enhanced our insight into
the flaws and the excellence,,,and now “At bat, John U. Bacon.” Tried and true.
Considering the way that JUB has historically been treated in the M sports community, I think that his chances to be named SID are as futile as trying to explain to a crystal meth tweaker that the shadow people aren’t real. Hunter Thompson said it well and I paraphrase here, “…the PR business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
HunterThompson.net is a tribute to Hunter S. Thompson (July 18, 1937–February 20, 2005), a renegade American author whose writing style exploited the void between the realms of fiction and non-fiction, inspiring a generation of writers, artists, and films.
This site features an auction marketplace, a bookstore, a film library, a poster gallery, and several links of interest.
Hunter S. Thompson was often portrayed in popular culture as a dangerously absurd, drug-crazed journalist bent on comic self-destruction. While this portrayal is certainly not completely inaccurate, he is also considered by many to be one of the most important American writers of the 20th century.
Thompson was known for an explosive writing style that employed what he called “action verbs” to comically spin outlandish tales that were completely unbelievable, yet providing a unique viewpoint to accurately describe the underlying reality at hand. Thompson almost always wrote in the first person narrative, and his stories became so colorfully contrived that they easily slipped into the realm of fiction; however, the basic framework of the story he told was very often true. Thompson’s writing style exploits this void between the realms of fiction and non-fiction, and it has become known as Gonzo Journalism. Other notable gonzo writers include Timothy Edward Jones and P. J. O’Rourke.
Thompson died at his home in Woody Creek, Colorado, on Sunday, February 20, of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. [Read more…]
JUST SO – John’s readership is as acquainted with the source as you appear to be in your paraphrase…John’s multiple NYT bests; his Golden Apple; and man, many, more put him at the top of UM’s PR needs list…..The truth set him free long ago…. John U. Bacon, the product of a great university education staff, that has already been truthfully celebrated by John U.Bacon … will be asked to celebrate UM sports…His status, at this point, might be best aligned with the AD position…He could serve, either or both, with the same success he has attained as a writer, and professor….The man is not in want of courage….am I, are you?
I did