The Ed Macauley Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Tuesday, November 1st,
2005
In 1960, you became the youngest player ever enshrined in the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Did you fully appreciate the honor at the
time, and have you gained a greater appreciation for it as the years have
gone by?
I'm proud
of being the youngest player ever inducted. It's an honor no matter when it
comes. You know what it means – at least I did. As the years go by, it's
not a greater thrill, you're just happy that you're in the hall of fame, and
you're happy that you can participate in the activities sponsored by the
hall. And then as other great ballplayers are enshrined – the Bill Russells
and the Bob Cousys, people like that – you realize how we all make the hall
of fame a unique organization. It's not easy to get in there [laughs].
In 1989,
you were ordained as a deacon in the Catholic Church, and in 1993 you
co-authored a book entitled " Homilies Alive: Creating Homilies That Hit
Home".
Final Question: You’ve achieved great success in your life. You are
universally respected and admired by many people, both inside and outside of
the NBA. If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what
would that be?
Being
inducted into the hall of fame is the crowning achievement. It says that
you did the things that you had to do. You're not going to be in the hall
of fame unless you worked real hard. You're not going to be in the hall of
fame unless you took care of yourself and played well. So I think those two
things – a ring and induction into the hall of fame – are the things that
every ballplayer would like to do. Now, some players don't have the ability
and they know that they're not going to get there. But if you feel that you
belong and you're not in, that's a tough thing.
I
co-authored the book with Msgr. Francis Friedl – he was Father Francis
Friedl at the time – and it was very well-received within the Catholic
community. Since then we've created a web site to broaden our goal of
disseminating ideas that can be used by Priests and Deacons as they prepare
their homilies. The web site address is
http://www.homiliesalive.com, and it has been very successful – we've
had nearly a million hits since we brought the site up four years ago. We
give homily workshops in Canada and United States to other deacons and other
priests. It has been a wonderful, rewarding experience.
Live
by the tenets of your chosen religion. Work hard in your chosen
profession. And while you may not end up with great power or wealth, you
will have peace of mind.
