
by: Ryan Doyle
It was about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 9. I was sitting on the bench in front of Holy Cross Hall, talking to my friend Claire when I saw a dark green van pull around the circle. Slowly the passenger window rolled down and I heard, “Let’s go fellows… No time to waste. We’ve got to make Cheshire, Connecticut by noon.” Mike Marzen was standing on the sidewalk and Doc came around the van to open the sliding door for him. “The one thing I ask when I go on location is no hats. So loose the hat Mike,” Doc said. Mike took off his Yankee hat, and I sat down in the passenger seat. So there we were about to set off on an adventure that would take us to Cheshire, Connecticut and the Marvel home.
I was filled with anxiety and nervous excitement as I sat shotgun on my first, real location shoot.
Doc was anxious and insistent that we get on the road immediately. Right away he gave us pointers on traveling, “Don’t depend exclusively on Map Quest, they’ll send you the long way,” he said. In the same breath he delegated our jobs, “Mr. Doyle, you are our scribe for the day. I want you to take copious notes on everything we do today, so that you can write about it when we get back. Mike, you are going to be our navigator, because I’m known for getting lost on the way to a shoot,” as he handed Mike the map.
After all the preliminary work like checking the equipment and directions, the individual tasks were done, so we began what was going to be a “Marvel-ous” day.
Doc met Julie and James Marvel, mother and son, at the Olympic Museum in Lake Placid, N.Y., earlier in January. Unknown to him at the time, the topic was close to their hearts since Julie is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where Olympic coach Herb Brooks coached. James wants to become an Olympic hockey player. It was all quite ironic! To make it even more interesting John Marvel, the father, is a senior executive for ESPN in charge of maintaining their website. It was a simple twist of fate that Julie and James were in Lake Placid for a hockey tournament and they were visiting the museum in between his games when Doc literally bumped into them.
So there we were about to get onto the interstate. Doc was talking about this wonderful occasion. Mike was checking out his map, and I was battling butterflies that filled my stomach. I kept saying to myself, “Just remember this is a learning experience.”
As we drove, Doc began to relax and the mood in the van lightened.
“I’ve never been on a real shoot before, so I’m excited,” I said with a little nervousness left in my voice. “Well, that’s good Ryan, this should be a good experience for you,” Doc replied. He reminded us that, we had to be professional at all times during the shoot.
“Oh I’m ready,” Mike said playfully with his head in the map looking over our route. This wasn’t Mike’s first time on a shoot, so he was more at ease than I was.
For the next two hours we discussed any and everything that there is to talk about, family, sports, consumerism and bottom line economics, and Doc’s trip to Ireland with his wife Kitch. Mike talked about his intention to travel and see Europe. His dream job would be to someday work for National Geographic, traveling to exotic and remote places snapping pictures of everything to inspire people. He is an avid Yankees fan and had been most of his life. His knowledge of the Yankees organization was staggering to me and his disgust with the continuing turmoil over steroids lead to an interesting discussion.
After retiring from decades of teaching, Doc hopes to focus more attention on his television series, “Windsor Park Stories.” He glows when he talks about helping people who are not celebrities tell their stories of triumph and inspiration. He believes strongly in what he does and hopes that people who watch the shows will be encouraged and learn things that will help them improve the quality of their lives. He wants to spend more time working in his garden, spending quality time with his wife, Kitch. His face lights up when he talks about spending more time with his granddaughter. He also plans on writing a book about all his experiences. Boy, retirement sounds nice!
The most interesting subject relating to our project was the idea of team chemistry and how everything in sports today is about the mega million dollar superstars. To illustrate this we used the Yankees organization, with help from Mike’s extensive knowledge. We reflected on how in the 2000-2001 seasons the Yankees were the greatest team in baseball. They were unstoppable during the regular season and excelled during the playoffs. The best weapon for the team wasn’t Bernie Williams or Derek Jeter, it was their team chemistry. Each player complimented the other, in hunger, in talent and in overall respect for their teammates. But in the following years, the owners began to release players that didn’t measure up with the best. They paid top dollar to get the very best in baseball. Today, the Yankees are more of an all-star team than the dynamic team of old. “That’s the reason why they were unable to win the World Series this year,” Mike said with good reason.
In so many ways this was what Herb Brooks worked hard to change. He knew that to beat the Soviets, he needed a team not a group of all-stars. As he once said, “I’m not looking for the best players. I’m looking for the right players.” In the years before the 1980 Winter Olympics, the US hockey team continually lost, even though they were the best of the best on the ice in the USA. Brooks knew that they needed to alter the way they played the game. They needed to out skate, out maneuver and out play the Soviets. To do this he needed players with ability and passion, not big egos. So he recruited the best college kids in the country for his team. He worked them harder than they had ever been worked. He said he wasn’t there to make friends; he was there to build a team that could compete with the Soviets in the third period. In the end team chemistry was essential to victory.
It was a great conversation and before we knew it. Things were going very smoothly. We were on schedule, and it was time for a snack. I think we were all starving from the intense conversation so the idea of food sounded good to me. We whipped out the sandwiches and chowed down. Kitch sure makes a good ham and cheese sandwich! For the first time during the ride, the van was silent. Well, almost, we were all chomping pretty loudly, but it was the first time no one was talking.
After a few uneasy moments, trying to find the right exit in a mile of road work, we finally saw the sign for Cheshire. We got off the exit and turned onto a four lane road divided by two double yellow lines. This is where my butterflies reappeared. As we were approaching the first traffic light Doc mumbled to himself, then looked at us and said, “Oh I have to do this. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” Before we could react, Doc swings the wheel to the left, gets to the curb on the other side of the road and proceeds to reverse. Now, we are parallel across two lanes of oncoming traffic and I’m sitting in the passenger seat, watching the light turn green with a silver Volvo coming straight at us. I knew we were in no immediate danger, but in situations like this my family has a saying, “It’s time to tie your shoe.” In other words duck out of sight. Unprepared Mike and I sat wondering what Doc had in mind when he said “trust me.” The unorthodox u-turn was then compounded when suddenly, the wheel turned again into the opposite lane. This time we only had one lane to maneuver. I looked back at Mike with a smile and we all started to laugh as Doc finished his second u-turn. The strategic automotive maneuvering, as we called it was done so Doc could get a picture of the Welcome to Cheshire established in 1780 sign. After the deed was done we all had a good laugh. From then on Mike and I looked hard for possible shots that would be useful, so we could avoid any more u-turns.
Driving down the back roads to get to the Marvel’s house we stopped to take some more pictures. We saw two full football fields of greenhouses, an old windmill, a policeman and some old New England style houses.
We reached the Marvel’s house about an hour before schedule. Doc pulled the car to the side of the road, and he called Julie to get her OK for our early arrival. She was receptive.
When we arrived, she was very gracious, inviting us in and even complimenting us as we took off our shoes entering her house. She offered us food and drinks and for the next hour we sat at her kitchen table discussing the project, her involvement and her career.
It was so interesting listening to her career path story. After attending the University of Minnesota for two years and then graduating from Arizona State, she spent time preparing for the LPGA Tour. Unfortunately, she missed the qualifying score by two points, so she spent some time on a mini-tour. Unhappy with her situation, she moved back to Minnesota and took a teaching job at a high school where she also coached the girl’s volleyball and both boys and girls golf teams. After two years in Minnesota teaching she wanted to go to graduate school and focus her career in the communication and public relations field. In graduate school at the University of Southern California, she had many internships ranging from teaching assistant at the university’s School of Journalism to working in press operations for the 1984 Olympics. All of her internships were unpaid but she was quick to point out they helped her to see the career path she wanted.
After she received her M.A. degree, she looked for a job with all the sports teams in the Los Angeles area, but found her niche with a public relations firm. From there her career began to take off. She was offered a job as Assistant Public Relations Director for the LPGA which she declined at first but accepted a year later. Within a year she was promoted to Director and she stayed until the LPGA moved its headquarters. During this time, she met her husband, John, at a tournament in Phoenix. Unwilling to relocate with the LPGA, she was offered her “dream job” as communications director for the Golden State Warriors basketball team.
Today, she still works in communications as a special events consultant, organizing and developing communications and marketing plans for clients. Listening to her journey was a real eye-opener! As we talked more about the project her excitement for what we are trying to do was apparent. She was willing to help in anyway she could, she even offered to help me with my career plans. She showed us the rest of her house which was amazing. The basement was complete with a home theater center and all of her Golden State Warriors memorabilia on the walls.
Then she showed us her office where she spent most of her time. After that we climbed the stairs to visit James’s bedroom. It was filled with hockey pictures, figurines and even a photo that captured the final moments of the 1980 US Hockey victory with each of their signatures. No small feat in acquiring them I’m thought to myself.