Now in his second year as head coach of Ohio's cross country and track and field teams, ¥Clay Calkins is no longer the newest kid on the Mid-American Conference coaching scene (that would be Northern Illinois' ¥Connie Teaberry, briefly an Ohio assistant). $1 Michelle Mu-oz recently sat down with Calkins to talk about construction, ¥Bill Belichick and the Tonight Show.
Post: If you weren't coaching, what would you be doing?
Calkins: Construction. It's what I did before I got into coaching, and I love construction as much as I love coaching. I mean, I love coaching. It's just a completely different occupation. There's no relation except hard work and dedication.
Post: What about the Super Bowl? Who do you like for that?
Calkins: Oh, man, I don't know. I'm a Cleveland Browns fan, let's leave it at that.
Post: I like the Eagles, but I'm not sure how logical that is.
Calkins: I'm usually in support of the underdogs, so I would be with you there. I wanted Pittsburgh to get in even though I'm a big Browns fan. Regionally, it's close to us, and having a quarterback out of the Mid-American Conference, it was neat to see him (¥Ben Roethlisberger) lead the Steelers as far as he got them. I would have liked to see the Steelers win for that reason.
Post: I'm just sick of seeing the Patriots win everything, but people probably felt that way about Dallas, my team.
Calkins: I've never been a big Dallas fan. The Browns never should have gotten rid of Belichick. Look what he's doing now.
Post: Yeah, what happened there?
Calkins: I don't know. It's hard to say.
Post: Did you hear about ¥Johnny Carson?
Calkins: Yeah, I grew up with him. He was always on. Before ¥Jay Leno, and when Jay Leno took over he didn't do bad, but Carson was the originator of it. Actually, he wasn't but, he was from the very early days. The Tonight Show started off back in the early '60s with someone else, but Johnny was in it for so many years.
Post: Who was that? ¥Jack Paar?
Calkins: Yeah! Good call! Yeah, he started it, then Johnny Carson took over, and he was in it for a long time. I hated to see him go. It puts everything in perspective when you watch people that you used to watch as a kid, and they get old, and you get kind of reflective and think, 'Wow, I'm getting old too.'
Post: What do you have in your CD player?
Calkins: Classic rock, I listen to a lot of folk, classic rock, classic country.
Post: The Beatles?
Calkins: Not so much The Beatles. They're OK, but I'm more like ¥Bob Dylan, ¥Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, ¥Jefferson Airplane.
Post: I saw Neil Young not long ago at ¥Farm Aid.
Calkins: Oh, yeah! My girlfriend saw him there, and she said he did a good job.
Post: It took him about 45 minutes to set up his set. But he was good.
Calkins: Is that the one where ¥John Mellencamp was there?
Post: Yeah, and ¥Dave Matthews. I actually have that T-shirt on right now.
Calkins: Really? Yeah, she said John Mellencamp wasn't that great. But she said Willie Nelson was great and Neil Young.
Post: John Mellencamp made me mad. He didn't sing Jack and Diane or Pink Houses.
Calkins: She said he didn't sing any of his older stuff.
Post: No, he didn't. Then he started making all these political statements. It just wasn't the time or place.
Calkins: No kidding.
17 Archives
Michelle Munoz
