Time Out with Tom Zulewski

Vince D’Adamo: What have you enjoyed most about being connected with athletics throughout your life either as an athlete or journalist?

Tom Zulewski: I have always enjoyed the art of making conversation with the athletes. It's never the easiest thing in the world to ask questions that get them to start talking, but once we get over the awkward moments, I've always appreciated the athletes who were honest and open from the start. When the athletes recognize you years later, that's even cooler. My role model in media will always be the late Ernie Harwell. I had the pleasure of interviewing him twice along the way and I'll never forget how after writing my farewell tribute column to him when he retired in 2002, he called me personally the day it ran. The conversation lasted about 30 seconds, but I never forgot that moment. And I'm not ashamed to say I cried when I heard the news of his passing at age 92 in 2010.

D’Adamo: Which sports did you play competitively in high school?

Zulewski: Believe it or not, I was a bowler. I spent many a Saturday afternoon watching the Pro Bowlers Tour (ABC aired it for 36 years -- until 1997). I bowled on a club team at Fresno State for three years and have a 298 game and several 700 series on my resume.

D’Adamo: Even with the declining state of the newspaper industry, what kept you coming back every year?

Zulewski: Good working relationships with sources. It was reinvigorating when I would be approached and complimented for something I wrote about a high-school athlete. Even now, a year after I wrote a column in support of referees, that one resonates with the officials I see at a lot of high school games in Utah.

D’Adamo: Within your family who have been the most influential people?

Zulewski: My mom, without question. She helped make the world a less stressful place and had the best piece of advice for me when she said "I only want to see you happy." My dad died when I was in my mid-20s, so the bond didn't get that last push to fully develop. I know he would have been proud of me, though.

D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports, that you would most like to meet. What would intrigue you about meeting him or her?

Zulewski: I'd love to meet Babe Ruth. How can a guy who basically looks like he belongs sitting next to Norm and Cliff at Cheers hit 714 home runs in his MLB career? That's something.