Kwatinetz (with Big3 Commissioner Clyde Drexler) has been traveling with the league all summer by busgetty images
When the Big3 expanded from 10 to 18 cities this season, league co-Founder JEFF KWATINETZ had a decision to make. Would he and his wife take their 20-month-old daughter through airport after airport, or could they try to do something different? Kwatinetz decided to travel in style, which means he and the family have been making their way around the country by bus this summer. "Once we went from 10 to 18, I just couldn’t get my head around that much plane travel and dealing with all the summer airport drama. Like CHEVY CHASE, I thought ‘this will be great. Vacation with the family!' The bad news is I haven’t seen my CHRISTIE BRINKLEY yet. But on the serious side, it has been great to use the trip to see America with my wife, NATALIE, and daughter, BROOKYLN. Plus it’s still easy to get work done with a cell phone." Kwatinetz caught up with THE DAILY to dish on the Big3's visit to Miami this weekend, what he will be up to when the season ends and why he is avoiding HBO's "HARD KNOCKS" this season despite being a Raiders fan.
WELCOME TO MIAMI: Friday I’m going with (Big3 co-Founder) ICE CUBE and (Big3 Power coach) NANCY LIEBERMAN to do a panel at the NABJ convention on diversity. It will be hosted by JEMELE HILL -- one of my heroes. Then we’ll be attending practices and later I’ll be celebrating my wife’s birthday belatedly. We’ve been on the road and will finally have a nice birthday dinner for her. I’ll have to find a flower shop somewhere in Miami. Then Saturday are the games. Mostly, I sit at the scorer’s table. Hopefully there won’t be much to do except watch. If anything crazy happens or if anything goes wrong, it’s always up to me! Then Sunday we get back on the bus and we’ll be headed off to Dallas. We've been going strong since June.
WHY NO "HARD KNOCKS"? I'm really conflicted. Cube and I differ on this but I really don’t like JON GRUDEN. I hold him responsible for 3 Super Bowl victories he should have had. Two as our coach, and then the one with Tampa Bay. I blame him for the Tuck Rule (against the Patriots in '01). In the NFL, you’re always one freak play from it falling away. You don’t sit on a lead. I don't care who it is. He sat on the lead when it was a one-score game. I liked JACK DEL RIO, he’s my kind of coach. I think the game has passed Gruden by, but I hope I’m wrong.
IN THE MEANTIME: Once the season wraps up, I’m definitely looking forward to sleep, catching some football games and finding somewhere on the globe to disappear for a couple weeks. Our bus trip ends in New Orelans at the end of August and then we’ll fly to the championship in L.A. During the summer, I haven’t had a moment to watch anything TV-wise honestly. I’ve seen a lot of the children’s show "VAMPIRINA" and the Baby First channel in general. My wife and I do keep up with cable news, but I don’t know if that’s healthy.
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