Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Adam Housley: The friendships and camaraderie formed with my teammates and coaches. Some of my best childhood memories come from the soccer fields and baseball diamonds in Napa and Yountville. To this day, some of the guys I grew up with, still laugh and joke about all the great times we had. Also, my parents were involved in coaching some of my younger teams, which was also special.
As I got older, those friendships continued and many new ones added though high school sports, then on to college, Cape Cod and professional baseball. The life lessons also evolved, because as an athlete you learn how to adapt to new people, places and pressures. At the same time, the adrenaline never really changed. The energy that flows through the body when pitching in a Fly League Championship game, or in the Junior Olympics, or on national TV in college...it's actually the same energy...that tingle of excitement and nervousness drives me.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Housley: After high school, I graduated as a double major from Pepperdine University and got my Masters from the University of Arizona and twice attended Stanford's Hoover Institution. At Pepperdine we won the College World Series and I was drafted by the Montreal Expos (Now the Nats). I played for more than 3 years in the minor leagues, reaching AA. When baseball started to become a numbers game, I was lucky enough to transition to television and have spent the last 15 years as a national correspondent for Fox News, reporting on everything from war zones, to tsunami's, the Chilean miners..to the World Series. I have been so lucky to witness history from the front row since I left baseball.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Vintage High?
Housley: I actually enjoyed a number of classes at Vintage. Mr. Migdal's environmental science class, Mr. Wolters English class and Mr. Nelson's Spanish class stand out.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Vintage High?
Housely: I was lucky to have a few. Scoring a goal at Memorial Stadium in the Big Game..then catching a pass in the Big Game on the same field...not at the same time of course.
Being named a Junior Olympic All American in baseball and lettering in three sports are great memories.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Housley: High school seems like yesterday, but I have grown a massive amount since then. At times small towns can be tough and pressures/people can be unfair. When I went to Pepperdine there were doubters, but I chose the place that would give me my biggest challenge, the best place to grow as a player and as a man and it was the best decision of my young life. That is where my growth began after high school. My college coach, Andy Lopez, was an inspiration and pushed us to levels that many felt were unattainable. Then in pro baseball, you meet and live with people from all walks of life and from all over the globe. Professional baseball actually prepared me for my job in news like no other.
Living out of a bag, long bus rides, playing with people from different cultures, it is all about adaptation and communication and that is what I deal with covering international news on a daily basis. So, my personal growth is really immeasurable, but absolutely at its core is completely traced to athletics.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Housley: My family is very small and we are very close. My parents shaped me and have supported me at every step. My grandparents were also always there for me. As I got older, my brother and his family...and now my wife and kids. They are my life and my energy and they influence every decision that I make.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Housley: Avoiding the obvious, Abraham Lincoln and Jesus. In sports, Satchel Paige. In American life, Teddy Roosevelt.
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