"Zap's the Man: Finding Purpose"

Got to tell one of my favorite stories yesterday. Warmed thy heart. It's the story of how Denver television icon Ron Zappolo, then a HOF sports anchor at CBS Denver inspired this knucklehead to get into the sportscasting world. I was telling the story to high school kids interested in the Sports Business Academy learning pathway and its "teaching kids the business side of sports and winning side of life" philosophy. We're gearing up for a third year at Arvada High School and are so pumped to be working with incoming principal Shannon High Vigil. What a dynamo and advocate of SBA and the Irv Brown Champions Center project at the school. She's awesome. Anyway, back to the story of "Zap." It was December 1983. I was living in Denver and had no clue. I was 25 and drifting. At the time, a salesman trying to lease trucks. OMG. I sucked. I'm sitting on the sofa of my apartment near Kennedy Golf Course in Aurora. Zap was on fire. The Boston Red Sox fanatic was in the Denver Broncos locker room skillfully executing a live shot minutes after rookie John Elway rallied the team to victory against the, then Baltimore, now Indianapolis Colts. Long-time Broncos' fans know the Colts drafted Elway but the rifle-armed Stanford star forced a trade. It was the first of many legendary come-from-behind wins #7 orchestrated during his awesome career. Zap is doing his thing with such greatness. I was mesmerized and had an epiphany. A dude wondering what the hell to do with his life because "his plan" didn't work had one of those "aha" moments and muttered to himself: "I want to be a sportscaster like Ron Zappolo." Suddenly, life again had purpose. Fall of '84, off I went back to Mizzou for a master's degree in journalism at the world's first J-school and, I'm trying to be objective, still the best. Two years later this ol' jock headed to the rookie leagues in south Texas to KGBT-TV4 Alumni before CBS Denver brought me to Denver with this charge from then general manager Roger Ogden and news director Marv Rockford: "Get in the back pocket of the Colorado Buffaloes Football team." Channel 4 was "Home of the Buffs" at the time. Upon walking into the station newsroom for the first time after arriving in Denver? I walked straight to Zap's office and stated: "You're the reason I'm in this business. Thank you." I was telling this story to the kids as an example to SBA's five pillars: Sports management, marketing, health/performance, journalism and coaching. The kids were getting a heavy dose of the journalism pathway. They seemed to enjoy the story although none knew of Zap. Wow. We ain't getting any younger. This much I know. The dude who became a mentor and then friend, changed my life. Hanging out in locker rooms after big games? Traveling near and far to chronicle the exploits of the local favorite teams and then share with others? It's still cool when folks will walk up and say, "Hey, you're the Buffs guy." Pretty good gig. Zap in a smelly and jubilant Broncos locker room lit a fire within this lost soul and purpose slapped me square in the forehead. I sure hope the kids enjoyed listening to the story as much as I loved telling it. Zap's the Man! #goodbetterbest