The one we've been waiting for

Our interview with Wichita Wings founder Roy Turner was scheduled for April 14. Roy cancelled because he was ill. As it turned out, I wasn't feeling too good myself that day.
Yesterday, nearly four months later, we finally rescheduled with our friends at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. It's kind of funny that it took us so long to interview with Turner, who is pretty much the face of the Wichita Wings. After all, we used his home to interview Kevin Kewley. He sat in on our interview with Kim Roentved. I profiled Turner in the Wichita Business Journal nearly 10 years ago, which means I've known him even longer than the authors who wrote a book about him.
Point is, we weren't worried because we knew Turner wasn't going anywhere. He has called Wichita home since arriving here to start the Wings in 1979, and he's always been gracious with anyone who wants to talk about them.
His interview was fantastic. He spoke freely about his favorite players (he couldn't pick just one, of course), his rules (more relaxed than most) and their relationship with the fans (he actually encouraged them to go out at night).
One sidenote: For those who don't know, Turner's nickname is "Digger." Kewley's nickname is "Tiger," and that's how we came up with the name "Digging Tiger" for our production company. Hey, I've seen worse.
Turner made the same jokes about his struggles trying to guard the legendary Pele, and I made the same jokes about Turner being the most famous person from Liverpool.
"Please don't tell this to the guys," I said afterward, "but this was our best interview."
Roy had a gleam in his eye.
"You're going to tell them I said that, aren't you?" I asked.
"I would have told them that," he said, "even if you hadn't said it."

by Adam Knapp (posted by Tim O'Bryhim)