I prefer not to compartmentalize my life.
Originally asked
The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series
The Creative Independent repeatedly asks working artists how they divide time between creative practice and administrative, family, or second-job obligations.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 16 →Well, I make the magic wherever I can. I don’t know if that’s conscious or accidental.
Generally, my hours are during the first part of the day; hardly ever in the evening. The hours nearer noon, the zenith of the day, are good for working.
There are many times for three months in a row I wrote every day, but there are also many times for three months in a row I didn't write a word. What I found is I make an appointment with myself and I don't look at each day, I look at the calendar ahead.
More from Pete Rozelle
View profile →You can’t make decisions based upon whether it will be popular or not. You have to make decisions based on whether they’re right.
There really wasn’t. That’s one thing I kind of regret. I started reading, and became interested in reading very young. But I read sports books. I read sports pages and newspapers. That’s one thing that I would like to have had that I missed, reading more scholarly books than I did. I was so devoted to sports.
Because of my love for sports, and the nature of my job, it was pretty intense for 30 years, and you have to be sure. I would take it home. My wife would know when things were tight, and she would hear me get up in the night, and walk around and sit and think. It’s not something you can leave at the office.
It was a very simple thing. It was a church camp, I think. I was there about two or three days, very young, and I just remember some counselor telling us that reputation is what people think you are, and your character is what you are. So if you have a bad reputation, you might as well have a bad character, and it pays to have a good reputation and a good character.
The main thing is trying to be patient. Be sure to give them a chance to speak to the issue on both sides, and so forth. Then I would have a policy of taking straw votes, and seeing how close it was to passing, if I was trying to get it passed. And if it won by one or two, then you might recess, and then talk to those one or two, and see if they have changed their vote.
I think it’s probably a natural, adversarial position between a commissioner in any sport and their players association, or union. I was very concerned about this problem. I wanted to be sure that we were clean, so I set up a testing program. Their union took it to arbitration, and got it softened a great deal. So now I will be criticized in the future for drug incidents, yet I was unable to execute a testing program that could stop it.
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