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St. Stephen Martyr football: we were champs 50 years ago

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My St. Stephen Martyr boys were perfect. We didn’t all get straight As. Some of us sassed teachers and earned detention. Others screwed up in their personal lives but when it came to football, we were dialed in.

We practiced hard every afternoon. If Coach Don Kalbhin thought we were slouching, he’d order our dads to line up their cars and turn on the headlights so we could keep practicing after sunset. Our dads deferred to the coach’s wishes.

The reward unfolded through the course of the season. Our little football team was perfect in 1968. We beat all challengers, including the Holy Family team listed below to win the Toy Bowl.

It would be the only championship experience many of us would ever embrace. At least four of the St. Stephen Martyr guys have died, one by his own hand. Another teammate spent time in prison. Several have struggled with chemical dependency or mental illness.

When I bump into a teammate by happenstance, I ask for an update and always hear great things about their current status. It delights me to see any of my teammates enjoying life so many years away from our innocent grade school days.

Plenty of us seem to be doing great or something close to it. Dr. Henry Sadlo (pictured on the far right of the front row) is still my best friend. Ted Schaefer (#42 in the middle row) and I just met for lunch last week. My brother Tim’s (#12) successful business is right down the street from my radio station. I saw Don Brumleve (center of the front row holding a football) a few days ago.

Dr. Henry Sadlo and I communicate almost daily and always end phone calls by telling each other “I love you.” We could never have imagined exchanges like that when we were kids.

I miss Mike Kremer (#42 in the back row), my college roommate who passed a few years ago from medical complications. When we were at UK, we actually made a pact about things we’d like the other to do if one of us died young. It’s not fair but we celebrated life while we had it.

We, the St. Stephen teammates, constantly laughed, teased each other, worked hard, celebrated our triumphs, and consoled each other through challenges.

Great guys, one and all. God bless all of these men. No matter what obstacles confront us, we can always reflect on that perfect year.

The team photo will appear in this year’s Catholic School Athletic Association Toy Bowl program with the following copy:

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR ST. STEPHEN MARTYR TOY BOWL VICTORY

[PLACE PHOTO HERE]

Led by Coach Don “Rock” Kalbhin, these gallant St. Stephen Martyr 5th and 6th grade teammates hammered Holy Family 28-7 to win the 1968 Toy Bowl. Neighbors danced in the streets for days. Germantown barkeeps poured free brews for everyone who was at least 15 years old. Fearing that the victory was a sign of the Apocalypse, many spiritually adrift adults returned to church and put money in the collection basket for the first time.

Since a Google search rendered no game stats, the trio of Terry Meiners (10), Tim Meiners (12), and Henry Sadlo (front row, far right) humbly remind historians that they scored ALL of the points, made ALL of the tackles, kissed ALL of the cheerleaders, and used ALL their First Communion money to hire Steppenwolf for a victory concert in the school cafeteria.

And that is truly how it happened 50 years ago. Happy anniversary, teammates. If your memories are slightly different, please email your game recap to terrymeiners@iheartmedia.com

Go CSAA Louisville football — the best game in America!

Does the Pitino lawsuit create ongoing strife for the school and its fan base?

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Rick Pitino is mad at me again. The former University of Louisville basketball coach and I are longtime friends but he has thrown hissy fits when I’ve publicly questioned him about sensitive issues. He even dropped me as co-host of his TV show for two years over tensions surrounding coverage of his affair with sketchy doughnut seller Karen Sypher.

Then there was the time I asked him if mounting evidence of strippers offering sex to his players and recruits would make him consider resigning. Pitino didn’t speak to me for a year and even avoided looking at me when we crossed paths in our St. Matthews neighborhood.

Terry Meiners with Bob Ley on Outside the Lines, ESPN, October 2017

Of course, I’ve gone on national TV and newspapers of record to defend Pitino over the years. I told what I know to be the truth and was never prompted to do it.

I know what I know and am not afraid to share it. Pitino stupidly got himself into the Sypher mess, was clueless about Andre McGee bringing strippers to the dorm, and made an adidas deal that benefitted him (and Tom Jurich) but it shackled the school from getting top level recruits.

Thems the facts through my lens.

The latest upheaval stems from Rachel Platt and me inviting WHAS Radio host Tony Vanetti onto WHAS-TV’s Great Day Live to talk about Rick Pitino’s forthcoming book and the drama surrounding the ongoing lawsuit.

A WHAS-TV viewer poll indicates that an overwhelming number of fans will avoid reading Pitino’s book.

Pitino watched the segment and texted me to suggest that there is “no need to have me on your show” if I am discussing fan fatigue related to him.

Wait, what?

In June 2017, Pitino contacted me to get on the air and tell the story of how snaring Brian Bowen “is the luckiest” Pitino has been in his 40 years of coaching.

Some would say today that maybe it wasn’t all about luck.

I believe Pitino when he talks about not knowing about the dorm strippers and that Governor Matt Bevin’s buddies David Grissom and “Papa John” Schnatter used their influence to push Pitino over the cliff at UofL.

Last week, Pitino asked to appear (“U want me to go on the record”) on my WHAS Radio show to answer UofL’s legal filings that claim he knew about payments to recruit Brian Bowen’s family.

Pitino will always have a green light to come on the air with me. He’s done it to promote his teams, camps, books, sell tickets to special events, and to brag about recruits.

He has sometimes appeared on competing shows and ignored me to get his message out. That’s OK. Competition keeps us on our toes.

On a personal level, I helped Pitino fund Minardi Hall construction and advised him on charitable donations even with occasional professional disruption between us.

I’ve also spent untold thousands supporting his foundation through golf tournaments and auction packages that were sometimes unfulfilled. So those thousands became donations, too. Again…that’s all good. Charity matters.

He once texted to ask why I had resigned from his Daniel Pitino Foundation board. Unbeknownst to me, I had apparently been removed from the board over some perceived transgression. Pitino had forgotten about it and needed my help with some new obstacle.

I’ve been happy to help Coach Pitino get his messages out over the past 25 years. That’s what I do for all newsmakers. Pitino’s voice is still an important part of an ongoing story.

Asking piercing questions, even of friends, is the very basis of journalism. We search for answers from people who make news.

After the contentious 2015 radio interview, Pitino spoke to the UofL fan base at the tipoff luncheon and declared that I “blindsided” him asking about his potential resignation.

Rick Pitino speaking at the University of Louisville basketball tipoff luncheon, October 2015

He went on to say he understood it was my job to ask him questions. He compared it to 60 Minutes host Steve Kroft asking tough questions of his friend President Barack Obama.

Even with that explanation, Pitino would not speak to me or even look at me for over a year. That’s how overly emotional people like Rick behave.

People complain to me nearly every day that they are tired of hearing about Rick Pitino or seeing references to him on newscasts because “we need to get on with Chris Mack’s team” and the future of University of Louisville basketball.

I agree that we need to fully support Coach Mack and his team but I disagree on the sentiment to ignore the newsworthiness of Pitino’s story. Millions of public dollars are at stake in the Pitino lawsuit against UofL. It’s a story we will all continue to update until the money issues are resolved.

Now steering his information elsewhere, Pitino is telling a local newspaper columnist that he plans to launch a podcast and will open a Twitter account.

Sensitivity to criticism is a problem for Rick Pitino. Hosting his own podcast will keep anyone from asking tough questions. If he actually opens a legitimate Twitter account, he will soon find that “fatigue” is the gentlest term lobbed at him.

Just read the comment thread beneath this Jay Bilas tweet.

People have moved on. The lawsuit with UofL will end. Rick Pitino and Louisville will go their separate ways forever. It’s a sad end for a mostly brilliant career.

Great Day Live, October 2014

Mitch McConnell dropped by to chat, Trump had a contrary view on border wall funding and government shutdown options

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They’re throwing shade at Mitch McConnell from all over the political map.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped by my radio studio on Friday to talk about a myriad of subjects.

Mitch McConnell & Terry Meiners, February 2014

Washington Examiner

We talked about Wednesday’s meeting between the President, Sen. McConnell, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, where it was understood that compromises were made to expedite the passage of spending bills, including the notion of delaying funding for Trump’s border wall.

I asked Senator McConnell if there was a looming government shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections. “That’s not going to happen,” he snapped back.

Not long thereafter, President Donald Trump weighed in with a differing view of some of Sen. McConnell’s specifics. Big Donnie ain’t having it.

I am a host. Not a very good party host, but a radio host.

In my radio interview, Sen. McConnell also talked about people harassing him outside restaurants.

from WHAS interview, July 27, 2018

We also talked about the staggering number of arrests made by ICE, the oddity of Trump inviting Vladimir Putin to the White House, socialists as recurring media darlings, and McConnell’s bromance with Democrat Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer. AUDIO HERE

The very bad week of Papa John Schnatter

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2009 photo: Lachlan McLean, Terry Meiners, Papa John Schnatter

The founder of Papa John’s pizza company admitted using the N-word during a recent media training exercise. The slur was reported on Forbes.com and “Papa John” Schnatter was quickly removed as chairman of the Louisville-based company.

The University of Louisville then removed Schnatter from its board of trustees, scrubbed his name from the business school, and Papa John’s pizza no longer retains naming rights to the Louisville football stadium. Papa John’s immediately bleached Schnatter’s image from all of its marketing materials.

The University of Kentucky then announced it would remove the Schnatter name from its business school, and Schnatter’s alma mater Jeffersonville High School scraped his name off the field house where the pizza baron donated $800,000 for upgrades.

At the end of his brutal week, John Schnatter spoke exclusively with me in a 28 minute freewheeling interview.

Deadspin.com ripped Schnatter’s entire appearance.

Schnatter claimed that he “was pushed” to say the N-word by the company conducting the training exercise. “I should have been more sensitive. I wasn’t raised that way. I did it. I own it. And I’m sick about it.” He added that he feels “horrible” for the Papa John’s “employees and franchisees who did nothing wrong.”

AD WEEK

In response to our interview, Papa John’s directors are demanding that Schnatter cease all media appearances. They even took the extraordinary step of preventing him from using his office space within the company headquarters.

Schnatter then wrote a letter to the board saying it was a mistake to resign his chairman position.

Reinstatement? Crickets.

In our WHAS Radio interview, Schnatter also claimed that Papa John’s “fired” the NFL, not the other way around, after his 2017 comments complaining about African American players protesting the national anthem. Rival chain Pizza Hut is now the official pizza of the NFL.

The WHAS interview also delved into Schnatter’s role in the firings of University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and athletics director Tom Jurich.

Schnatter chafed at the question about whether his family would continue living in the Louisville area or would flee the hot cauldron of controversy.

In a subsequent interview with WLKY-TV, Schnatter claimed that the Laundry Service marketing firm that conducted the media training tried to extort him “to make it go away.” The firm originally asked for $1 million for services then upped the price to $6 million. Schnatter claims a Laundry Service exec said “If I don’t get my f-ing money, I’m going to bury the founder.”

When I asked John Schnatter if he would sue the marketing firm that leaked his racist gaffe to media, he didn’t mention extortion. “I don’t like litigation. I don’t like lawyers. I don’t like what (Laundry Service marketing) did.”

Papa John’s was also dropped by marketing partner Olson Engage.

Now Major League Baseball execs urged Schnatter to stay away from Tuesday’s MLB All-Star game. Multiple teams have suspended or ceased their promotional deals with Papa John’s, and the MLB league-wide promotion of Papa Slams has been shelved.

Others think he needs to disappear entirely.

New York Post, July 13, 2018

COURIER-JOURNAL: The Rise & Fall of Papa John Schnatter

DEADSPIN: Pizza Dipshit John Schnatter Claims Victimhood in Strange Strange Radio Interview

AD WEEK: Ad Agency “Pressured” Schnatter into Using N-Word

For his part, Schnatter tells me he is focusing on the philanthropic work he has done and he plans to continue working for the betterment of his community.

One day after our radio chat, Schnatter wrote an impassioned letter to the Papa John’s board to recap his claim that he was coerced into the N-word discussion, the makings of an extortion attempt, and that he shouldn’t have resigned before the board conducted a complete investigation.

He’s now hired Los Angeles attorney Patricia Glaser, who has managed cases for Harvey Weinstein and Paula Deen, to handle his forced departure from Papa John’s. She has declared that Schnatter will not go quietly.

Happy 242nd birthday, America

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Here are many of our iHeart Radio broadcast voices reciting the Declaration of Independence. Have a wonderful birthday, Americans! Celebrate freedom.

Listen to “iHeart Louisville's Rendition of the Declaration of Independence” on Spreaker.

And our apologies for one of our guys mispronouncing the word tyranny. Oops!

Does the NBA2Lou scare you?

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Terry Meiners & Dan Issel at the Louisville Forum, May 9, 2018 (photo: Phillip Bailey)

The Louisville Forum asked former NBA player and Denver Nuggets general manager Dan Issel to offer his thoughts on the NBA2Lou project. I was asked to moderate and throw in my own comments about the potential of snaring an NBA team for the city of Louisville.

Naturally, the subject creates animated opinions from those who are opposed to adding professional sports. Some fear that it would harm the University of Louisville’s athletic pursuits and others worry that taxpayers will be on the hook for various concessions made for team owners.

Issel and his investors have the city’s best interests in mind. Bring it on.

The CJ’s Phillip M. Bailey live-Tweeted the forum. Great audience questions and general enthusiasm for the prospect of bringing the NBA to The Ville.

The Paul Sorvino death stare – don’t blink or you’re a dead man

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Actor Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) made headlines a few months ago after threatening to kill Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein for allegedly derailing his daughter’s acting career. Weinstein faces a litany of allegations that he sexually abused, debased, and squelched the careers of women who rebuffed his sexual advances.

Paul Sorvino and his wife Dee Dee appeared on Great Day Live this morning for Friday’s Unbridled Eve gala.

Off the air, Sorvino told me that men praise him every day for validating that dads will go to any length to defend their daughters. We talked about Weinstein’s reign of terror and Sorvino reiterated that he would “kill that mother fucker” (Weinstein) if he had 5 minutes with him.

That’s what dads do.

Paul Sorvino and Terry Meiners, May 2, 2018

In the above photo, I asked Sorvino to give me the death stare he used to intimidate Tom Cruise in the film The Firm. He said Cruise was so flustered by the menacing faces of Sorvino and actor Joe Viterelli (the Morolto brothers) that Cruise kept botching his lines. ?

Paul Sorvino and his wife Dee Dee are in Louisville for the Unbridled Eve gala on Kentucky Derby Eve.

The Sorvinos have a cookbook with “Pauly’s” favorite dishes. One of the auction items is a dinner prepared by Paul and chef friends for a group at the home of the founder of Angel’s Envy bourbon. Proceeds benefit Blessings in a Backpack.

Great Day Live appearance, May 2, 2018

Who wants to drink poison now?

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citybeat

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin used some twisted logic to describe his concern for the state’s schoolchildren last week. Surely you’ve seen the video that made national news.

Bevin was undoubtedly upset that overrides of his vetoes of multiple bills had produced new legislation that he did not like. But to swerve from teacher protests leaving school kids vulnerable to sexual assault, drug use, and inadvertent poisoning sounded cray-cray.

48 hours after the governor’s rant roiled Kentucky and made national news, along came this half-hearted “you must have misunderstood my words” apology. We all know that genuine apologies don’t contain conditions.

A real apology is “I was wrong. I apologize. I am sorry.” Any other words dilute the sincerity of an apology.

Now that the tremors are subsiding, Bevin detractors are recalling a 2014 apology from him stemming from cockfighting comments he made on my radio show.

Don’t be a chicken. Always apologize in the most basic terms.

I am sorry. I apologize.

Oh, and thanks for the shoutout, Jeff Hoover. Am I supposed to send you a picture of my thong?