With each Off the Cuff, we try to share some insight into notable people who have made their mark on St. Louis, but unfortunately, it’s impossible for us to include it all. So this issue we’ve decided to share some of the awesome answers that we couldn’t the first time around.
cedric the entertainer
Did you ever think you would have so many other entertainment opportunities other than standup comedy?
I think that’s always the desire. For us back in the day, we saw the Richard Pryors and Eddie Murphies of the world take their standup and make great careers. I definitely desired those things. You don’t really know what’s going to happen until you do it. You don’t know where the next opportunity is. I was working for State Farm and on the corporate path. You believe that’s going to be your life. The first time I decided to do standup, I won $500. That was a different type of adrenaline.
paul chickey
What was your best night on stage?
We were playing The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri, one time. We have these cages with go-go dancers, and DeeDee James decided to join one of the dancers in the cage. I will never forget that night because it was Halloween, and our bass player was dressed up as the Pope. You can imagine the Pope next to the go-go cages. There’s a rock ’n’ roll story for you.
randi naughton
Who inspired you to go into the sports industry?
Mr. Roy Naughton, my father. Picture Archie Bunker—he and my dad were the spitting image of each other. He was a huge sports fan, and I remember sitting and watching college basketball with him on Saturday mornings. He instilled that love in me. Not only as a fan, but I really got into the X’s and O’s of the Buffalo Bill back in the day. When I was around 11, the Buffalo News would print full page photos of the players. I put the entire offense and defense up on my bedroom wall.
josh schertz
What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in college sports?
The emphasis on efficiency. In some ways, it’s almost become a different sport. The way you space the floor, the analytics and turning things into a mathematical equation, those weren’t things that you thought of as a coach previously. How you hunt, how you run offense and defense, it’s dramatically different from how it was when I got started in ’08.
miles mikolas
Should there be more of a dress code in professional sports?
If you watch anything made before the 1970s, people are walking around in suits and ties everywhere they go. I’m not saying that it’s the downfall of society, but looking unkempt is more acceptable. In a lot of ways, high fashion has changed, and younger players may be following that. You could be wearing $5,000 sweatpants, but they’re still just sweatpants. Some kind of reasonable dress code would be OK.