It is not often that a sports fan such as myself, has the opportunity to sit down and talk at length with the parents of one of our great athletes. Earlier this week, I got such a chance with Gary and Madeline Chiotti, the parents of David Chiotti. Anyone fortunate enough to have ever met the younger Chiotti, can't help but come away impressed with the hard-working and gregarious Lobo star.

After meeting his pop, it was pretty obvious where David gets his athleticism and competitiveness from. But, after talking with his mom...well, you've just got to say that Big Dave truly was blessed with the best of both worlds!

WB: Good evening Gary, and thanks for setting such a late time for this interview. Man, sometimes I drive myself nuts trying to figure out how I am going squeeze in an interview while I am at work during the day!

GC: "Well, I've been retired since November and I'm a free man. Let me tell you, I'm really enjoying it - it is just the greatest thing. I still catch myself thinking that I have to go to work and forgetting that I don't have to - it's just wonderful. Retirement to me is just having a choice of what you want to do. If you want to continue working you can - because you want to, but not because you have to."

WB: That does sound great. I'm looking forward to it myself one of these days.

GC: "How old are you by the way?"

WB: I'm forty-three.

GC: "Oh man, you are still a pup!"

WB: (Smiling) That's funny...I don't feel too much like a pup.

GC: (Laughs) "I tell you, I have really been enjoying your site, but I couldn't believe that article by Richard Stevens in the Trib. Seriously, I could not even believe that article."

WB: Richard is a complicated guy, I guess. I have nothing but respect for him in the way that he has raised his children, but the stuff he writes infuriates me sometimes. For some reason, he feels that it is his duty to play 'devil's advocate' or to be a muse to the school at all times. He was out of line on that one, though. Coach McKay doesn't deserve that sort of thing after the way he has turned this program around.

GC: "Well, I'll tell you this. I have had contact with these coaches and I've really gotten close to all of them. That's just my nature. I am a people person and I love to be around people. I'm a parent of a kid that plays on that basketball team and I could not be happier with what these guys are doing. To me, they are all right on. I really don't understand where he (Stevens) is coming from, when they have done so good and so much in so little time. And I've been around it, so I know. I've been to practices - I've been to workouts and I am involved with these guys. I know Aaron Day - I know Smitty, and all of the managers I'm really close with too. I know everyone in the office, and I know what's really going on there. I couldn't be any more proud of those coaches and what they stand for in regards to our players. It is just so hard for me to understand how a person could ever say something like that. So, he didn't get along with coach in the beginning - and that gives him a reason to put him down now?"

WB: I agree, and I am as angry as anyone about that stuff. I think that Stevens probably regrets it, but the harm is already done. To change the subject slightly, one of the things that I am really looking forward to next season is the senior leadership of Mark and David. They have seen the valleys and climbed the mountains of Lobo basketball. They experienced Fran - and I am not dogging Fran, as essentially, he was a good man at heart.

GC: "I loved Fran. Both my wife and me loved Fran Fraschilla. We encouraged David to go to New Mexico because of Fran. He did an unbelievable job of recruiting David. He was hands-on and we fell in love with Fran - we really did. David liked Fran too, but when Fran left, he still knew that this was the place he was meant to be. He knew it and we knew it, and I am just so glad that he made that choice. Here comes Ritchie McKay through the back door, someone who was trying to recruit him earlier and someone who had the Christian background that we were looking for."

"Praise God. It is just unbelievable how this whole thing has worked out. There is providence in all of this...I believe with all of my heart."

WB: Do you have a theory of what happened with Fran? I tend to think that he was overwhelmed by the passion for Lobo basketball that exists here.

GC: "See, I really didn't know about all of the stuff that was going on with Marlon Parmer and with a bunch of other guys over time. I've heard about a bunch of these characters and their backgrounds that have gone through that school and it really blows my mind. Here is a new coach and he wants to be successful, it seemed that he was trying to balance kids that only cared for themselves and that didn't give a hoot about anyone else. I didn't really know about any of it, though I've heard bits and pieces down through the years - all of the mishaps and some of the people that he had to deal with. There was probably a lot of pressure of course, because of it being New Mexico and what's expected. That probably was a lot of it."

"Getting back to the local media, overall, I think most of the writers have been really fair - although I still think that Stevens, Wright and Mark Smith don't get it. After all of the great things that have been going on with this team, there are just so many good angles and good stories that they could have written, and those were never even told."

WB: Exactly.

GC: "I really mean that. There were so many things that this team accomplished this year that they should have written about....but they never did! I mean, I saw nothing! (excitedly)

Here's Villanova - a good team and look at what they did! After they beat us, they beat some quality teams and lost by one point to North Carolina! Just look at how close we were. Just a little bit more time and we would have beaten Villanova. Just look at how close we were to going to the Final Four - they were almost there!"

WB: Hey - we might have went all of the way. Who knows?

GC: "Yeah. A lot of good things should have been written even though we lost that first round game. Yes, I think that we were a little bit intimidated, but we held those guys to like what - three baskets in the second half? And we still weren't shooting well. If we had of shot well, we'd have won that game easily."

WB: Definitely. I felt so bad for the team.

GC: "I'm just so proud of the way they came back. They could have given up, but they didn't. I was just so proud of them and there is so much to gain from all of that. The whole experience - there was so much to write about it that would have been positive. Especially the way Villanova went on through the field after we gave them a battle in the second half."

WB: That was my whole reason for writing "The Greatest Team." There are just so many wonderful stories about these kids that never get told.

GC: "Yeah - definitely. I kept waiting for a nice article like that {from the media} and there was nothing - just nothing. Only that one on your site."

WB: Thanks - that means a great deal to me. It was 100% meant for our players, staff and families who have worked so hard and accomplished so much despite more adversity than anyone could possibly deserve over three seasons.

GC: "For sure. And I'm such a pollyanna, anyway. I look for the good in every person and that takes work and that takes effort. If I want to find something bad in any person, I can find something bad in them and that includes myself also. I'm not exempt from that - no one is perfect. All that negativity does however, is bring the person down and the individual down. Why would anyone want to deal with that? I mean, nothing good can come of it. I know that there are certain things that need to be said - just like what you did with Richard Stevens. A friend will tell a friend when they are wrong. You're not a friend if you won't tell a person when they are saying something that isn't right."

WB: I agree. As I've said before, I admire him for the kind of dad that he is - I can't help it. I have seen too many people who throw enough dirt on their kids that they will never be able to dig out of it. He works his tail off for those kids. That is why I can't understand his recent outburst. Your son has brought nothing but honor to this university - I mean, Dave is just the greatest kid. He shouldn't have to read that sort of thing about the coach he looks up to.

GC: "Yeah - we are really so proud of David. He has really grown a lot since high school, where he just played on raw ability and talent - and really didn't work all that hard. What he has done with these coaches...what he has learned about hard work and effort, it is just incredible the changes that he's made. The direction that he's headed and to graduate on time...we are just so proud of him. He never was really that dedicated of a student before, Jimmy. My wife worked with him - my wife is a schoolteacher and if it wasn't for her, he might not ever have graduated from high school. When we knew he was going to be out on his own in college, we really didn't know whether he'd be able to do it or not. But then he took the bull by the horns and got the help that he needed. These coaches expect the kids to sit in the front row of the classrooms and not in the back. They expect them to be good representatives of the program and these kids are doing it. I am just so happy for David and what he's accomplished. He's thinking of the future and he's planning realistically.

Where does all that come from? Who has the most influence on those kinds of things? Well, the most contact that he has is from the coaches and his teammates, and that is where it is coming from. And that is what Richard Stevens doesn't see and doesn't understand or doesn't know. It's really too bad, because I read that article you wrote on him and I was really impressed - I really was. I thought that maybe I need to give this guy a little bit more slack, and the the very next day (groans) he comes out with that article. He's sort of like a Jekyll and Hyde character- he has two sides."

WB: Yeah, I know what you mean. We first connected through that Christmas poem that I wrote about him. I thought he was going to try and kill me, but instead he put it on his refrigerator! I get a little nuts with my humor sometimes, so you'll have to excuse me on that.

GC: "Laughter is such a wonderful thing - it really is. People who laugh a lot, live a lot longer."

WB: (We share a laugh - perhaps adding years to our life!) Thanks - I believe that too. Man, we have just barely grazed the surface of this interview! I hope that you are prepared for a long conversation tonight!

GC: "Of course!"

WB: What can you tell me about the early recruiting process involving David? The things that made him become a Lobo? I am really interested in this, as you are one of the few people around these days that still have a positive feeling in their heart for Fran Fraschilla.

GC: "Let me just share with you how it all began. David was hearing from about 75 division one schools - and some of them really, really heavily. David's desire from the very beginning was to play PAC-10 ball. Coach Montgomery at Stanford was an early factor, because David played ball with his son for about 4 years at St. Francis High and in the summer leagues. We got to be really close friends with them, Coach Montgomery and his wife Sarah. Stanford would have been ideal for David, but there was just no way academically he could have gotten into Stanford. And so, I asked David who were the Christian coaches in the PAC-10 - because that's where David wanted to go and it was totally his decision. As parents, we were going to try and encourage him and everything else, but it was still entirely his decision.

When we asked him about the Christian coaches, he said Ritchie McKay was one and that Ernie Kent from Oregon was the other one. Oregon recruited David quite heavily and so did Cal. We spent a lot of time out there with Coach Braun and went to a lot of the games. That was a lot of fun, but David really didn't like Berkeley at all - he just didn't like it. USC and Bibby were trying to recruit him quite a bit - oh, my gosh! So much mail and so much stuff from USC - it was just unbelievable! Of course, Pepperdine and Loyola went after him - though Gonzaga really didn't do anything.

A lot of schools in the Midwest also recruited him. Missouri and I don't remember who all else. Through talking with those guys and reading all of the letters and stuff, we whittled it down to 5 schools that we were going to visit. They were Oregon, New Mexico, UTEP, San Diego State and Portland State. The UTEP coaches were really great. Of course, they also left the very next season. They were really neat though, and we really liked them a lot. Steve Fisher came to visit and so did a few others. Oregon was first on the visiting deal, and we flew up there and it was just crazy. Nike's involved with them and they had this locker for David with about twenty pairs of shoes and jerseys with his name on them already. It was pretty impressive and they've got a great program out there. Coach Kent was really positive and upbeat. They wined and dined us and I really enjoyed the whole situation, so I thought, 'Oh my gosh...this is it!' A good school and the PAC-10....that really pleased me and my wife."

"But on the way back home, David just said, 'No - that's not the school for me.' He had went out with they guys on the team that night, and he had felt that they were kind of seperated - kind of cliquish. So, he just said, 'no.'

I thought, 'wow,' but it was his decision to make all of the way."

"You have to understand, I am a prayer warrior - I really believe in the power of prayer, and I knew that the Lord had a place picked out for David. All that I asked the Lord to do, was when we got to that place, he'd open the door on the right school and close the doors to the wrong ones. Obviously, the door was closed on Oregon and that was in answer to our prayers. We were going to go on to San Diego for the second trip, but for some reason, David wanted to switch it to New Mexico. He wanted to go there first and then go to San Diego. One of the things that we were told early on while setting up our visits, was that every school tries to get you to come to them on either the first or second visit. That is because 80% or more of high school recruits will make their decision after the first or second visit. They might have initially planned to take all five of their trips, but it rarely happens that way.

So, when we switched it around, Steve Fisher got really upset - I remember that for sure. The only reason that David didn't really care for Steve Fisher, was that he was too old. David wanted a younger coach and although Fisher was very nice and very cordial, David just felt that he was a little too old for him. Now, the whole deal with Fran, is that Fran did everything himself. He made all of the phone calls and he wrote all of the letters - handwritten letters and nothing off of the computer. He didn't delegate any of it to his assistants, he did it all himself. Very personable, and that was why we really liked him. Most of the stuff from the other schools was all computer generated stuff and things like that. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, because sometimes you have to do that. With Fran though, he was a hands-on guy. He was on the phone to us and he was so positive and so upbeat. That and the fact that Senque Carey was there, were the main reasons David was leaning towards the Lobos. His AAU coach had coached David, Senque and Patrick (Dennehy), so he really encouraged David to go down there and check it out. So, David decided to switch the trips around and go down there because of all the positive recruiting that Fran did, and with what Patrick and Senque had to say about the school."

"David got down there one day before us, and when we got in - I tell you, it was just unbelievable. We get to our room, and here is this food basket with all of this really neat stuff. Me and my wife thought that the greatest thing of all in it, were these cookies with David's picture on them. I don't know know how they ever did that, but it was really neat.

The next day, we go out to watch practice, and all of the players had on t-shirts that said "Chiotti Country." That was really special. The very first thing that Fran did for us when we got there, was to take us to the Pit, and I just said, 'wow' - I was just astounded. It was sort of like - have you ever walked into a major league baseball stadium for the first time as a little kid and you're just blown away? Well, that was how it felt. I just loved it and Fran did such a wonderful job. We rode the Sandia Tram, went out to dinner and spent some time over at his house. His wife fixed us something to eat and we hung out with all of the assistant coaches. Everywhere that we went, everyone seemed to know Fran and they knew who David was. It was such a friendly town - so much friendship, and that was really a lot of fun. Later on, David was in the same room when Fran was talking to us, standing behind the coach where we could see him but Fran couldn't. David then takes one of his hands and holds it up flat like a piece of paper, while with the other one he pretended to be writing something on it.

He had made up his mind where he wanted to be.

We had to tell the other schools and cancel the rest of our visits. David gave him a verbal at that time and you pretty much know the rest. They really did do such an unbelievable job, that we really couldn't ask for anything more. We were really pleased with his decision, and we loved Fran."

WB: That's a fantastic story, Gary. It is nice to see Fran getting some positive press for a change. How did David feel when he resigned just a short time later? Was he disappointed?

GC: "David really respected and liked Fran, but about the only thing he really said about his leaving, was that he still felt New Mexico was the right place for him. What David had picked up on the most, was Lobo basketball. The charisma and the atmosphere that you sense in all of the people we came in contact with. It wasn't just Fran, as he fell in love with a lot of other things too. And although he really didn't know any of the fans yet, he had felt and seen all of the tradition. Senque Carey was still going to be there, and that was important. Honestly, David never hesitated."

WB: What were David's initial impressions of Ritchie McKay? Surely that was a big switch from the more vocal and emotional Coach Fran Fraschilla.

GC: "To tell you the truth, from our end it was a real smooth transition. David had made up his mind that whatever coach was going to come in, he was going to stay. Of course when Ritchie McKay was announced, there was a sigh of relief. Not because he had ever met McKay, but he had visited with Coach Soucie who had made several trips to St. Francis to watch him play. He was the one on Ritchie's staff that we had really gotten to know real well."

WB: Coach Soucie is a great guy.

GC: "Oh yes. Just a fantastic guy. Oh, man - when I first heard about it, I was really glad it was them, but I wasn't surprised in the least. See, that's just the way that God works. You pray and you pray and you pray, and you think that it should go this way, but it doesn't. He pushes you in another direction and you think that you are going out of your way, but it turns out to be a shortcut! I mean, if we had of written the script, this is way better than anything we could have written. I shouldn't have been surprised when Coach McKay came out of nowhere, because that was my prayer all along! Not that Fran wasn't a Christian, because he was. I just don't feel that he would have had anywhere near the influence that Coach McKay has had spiritually.

Both Madeline and I are just so happy with him and the whole coaching staff. These coaches are not only good basketball coaches teaching them how to play offense and defense, but they are also teaching them how to grow spiritually, how to grow socially and how to grow academically. They are giving them the whole package and that's why we love these guys so much. They are multi-faceted and they are teaching these kids in all of the ways that are important."

"These kids are going to leave New Mexico and they are going to become leaders and make an impact wherever they go because of the values they are learning from these tremendous coaches. I can't say enough about that."

WB: Your son has an excellent chance to join an elite Lobo club this season, consisting of only 21 players in school history. Did you know about that?

GC: "Oh, yeah, the Thousand Point Club. We keep up with that pretty well. He also has a great chance to get 500 rebounds for his career."

WB: If you haven't already gotten the opportunity, be sure and check out the basketball section under the INFORMATION button. In there, I keep track of where our players are at all times on the all-time stat lists.

GC: "I will for sure, but I haven't really had the chance to yet. I've just spent hours on your site, and there is so much different stuff on there to see, that I haven't even scratched the surface yet. I just keep finding all of this new stuff!" (Laughs)

WB: David will go down as one of the all-time great Lobos. He should even pass Danny on the scoring list next season.

GC: "David has accomplished some amazing things so far, but I tell you, next year people are going to be really surprised at the changes in his game. He's been working really hard at it and the coach has been trying to get him to be a leader since his sophomore year. And - how can I say this, he's been a little reluctant to do so. Last year however, he began to take more control. People have to remember that David is just 20 years old, and he won't be 21 until next September. Kids mature differently, and the physical and mental part of their games come together at different times. For David, I believe that he still doesn't totally believe in himself.

It's coming, and when that switch goes on, he is going to really be something. It happened to me when I was about 20 or 21 years old. I was in junior college and that switch went on and it was like, oh my gosh - just night and day."

WB: I'd love to hear about that, as you have had quite a storied athletic career yourself. Is it true what I've heard about you at one time being with the 49ers?

GC: "I had a number of tryouts. In fact, I had 3 tryouts with Pro teams. Back in my day - I graduated from high school in 1960, if you were a good athlete, then you played all sports. Even in college I was always a 3-sport man, excelling at baseball - which was really my sport as I had started that one first. I never played Pop Warner football and didn't even start playing football until I was in high school - though I did play basketball (in addition to baseball) in junior high. In junior high baseball, I really went on a homerun hitting tear, making every All-Star team around and then I got into high school and kind of ran into difficulty just finding out who I was. I got caught smoking once and kicked off of the team as a sophomore - that kind of stuff."

"Stupid, stupid stuff, really."

"Fortunately, I started to mature. As a freshman in baseball, I was all-league, but things didn't really start to happen until my senior year. That season, I was all-league in football and all-league and second-leading league scorer in basketball. In baseball, I was pretty much all-everything."

"Junior college was pretty much the same thing. I was All-Western Conference in football and basketball - finishing second in scoring. And that was a big league. I was Most Valuable Player in the league for baseball, so I was planning on going forward in baseball - that was my dream. Here I was, winning all of these awards along with the Most Valuable Player in the Golden Gate Conference and I could hit the long ball. Catchers would move up way faster than outfielders, as outfielders were kind of a dime-a-dozen, so I really started concentrating on catching."

"Playing summer ball at the end of my sophomore year, I slid into second base head-first on a pick-off play and totally destroyed my shoulder. I couldn't throw a baseball for about two years, so that kind of killed my baseball career. From there, I went to San Francisco State and played for Vic Rowen. They had an unbelievable football program and I played tight end and linebacker for them. I played basketball for Coach Paul Rundell out there also. I was All-Western Conference in football and basketball while attending there. My senior year, we played Cal-Poly and San Diego State and I had great games against them, so I started hearing from practically every Pro Football team in the NFL. During a game against San Fernando State, I was doing an out pattern - I was the tight end, and the pass was thrown behind me, so I had to plant my feet and reach back to grab it. Unfortunately, the wingback came and just took my legs out from under me. I tore a ligament in my left knee and that was it for the season."

"So, that was taken away from me there, and I didn't hear from anyone after that. I went into rehabilitation right away and was almost running in my cast before that cast came off. When that came off, I was already playing basketball, so the 49ers felt that my leg was okay and that I had healed really good, so I signed with them in 1965 for a $500 signing bonus and a $10,000 contract if I made the team."

WB: Oh, man. You were a couple of decades too early!

GC: "It was still so unbelievable. That was just the standard contract at the time, but I would have played for nothing because those people were the best and that's all that I wanted. Getting paid to do something that you love, well that was just a plus!"

WB: Sounds like you were an old-school athlete just doing it for the love of the game.

GC: (Laughs) "Exactly! But I was working out with George Mira (SF quarterback) and Rod Dowhower who had played at San Diego State on the first day - just running patterns and stuff and I was so excited. Then, on that first day of practice, I pulled a groin muscle. I had never pulled a muscle in my life, and it was about a week before I could do anything.

We had a scrimmage the next Saturday, and I knew that I needed to do something to show them that I really wanted to play and that I could play. All that I'd had was that one day of practice, so I looked at the list of players for the game and my name wasn't on the list. I asked coach Jack Christensen what was going on, and he said that they wanted to make sure that I was healthy and not going to get hurt again."

"Well, the very next day I was put on waivers, so that was it for the 49ers. I really didn't even get a chance. The following year, I signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and flew up there with those crazy French-Canadians and had a lot of fun. I was probably the best tight end that they had, but in the CFL, a team can only keep a certain number of Americans and they didn't want to let go of the other Americans that they had, so I got released. From there, I played rugby for almost 19 years."

WB: Rugby?

GC: "Oh, yeah. I traveled all over the world - well, maybe not all over the world, but I went to New Zealand and was on a six-week tour over there with an All-Star group called the "Grizzlies" which was comprised of the best rugby players from the colleges and clubs of California to represent California and New Zealand. That was probably the greatest athletic event of my life, playing in front of 30,000 people everywhere that we went. They love rugby down there and they would shut down the stores and everything to watch us play. We stayed with families while we were there, and I just fell in love with the people - it was just unbelievable. We were signing autographs and in the front pages of the newspapers. It was just unbelievable - like being some sort of super-celebrity."

"It was a magical moment in time - and just to experience that and kind of wallow in it was really just wonderful. We played New Zealand University twice on that trip, and although they beat us in the first game, we beat them in the second game in Auckland and it was just unbelievable - what a feeling!"

"I've also played up in British Columbia and Victoria...I've played rugby all over, but getting back to stateside, I got hurt two years in a row after the Montreal tryout. I hurt my knee one year and broke my collarbone and scapula the other year, but by 1969 I was up to 235 pounds and bench pressing 400 pounds a couple of reps and that's really a lot of weight for someone like me. I have really long arms and I wasn't really a power lifter, but nevertheless, I got really strong and went back to Philadelphia where they flew me to Reeding, Pennsylvania for another football tryout. I gave it a shot, but got cut after about a week. I was playing catch-up all the way. I hadn't played for almost 5 years and the kids coming out of college were probably playing at about 95% of their ability, where I was limited to only about 75 to 80% of mine. It's a big business and they really don't have time to wait for you."

"I think the thing that hurt the most - the thing that was hardest thing for me to admit, was that it was all over. My whole life, my whole dream - everything that I had lived for, was to play professional sports. First, baseball was taken away and then football was taken away. It just wasn't meant to be and I prayed and I prayed about those things."

"There's a song out there - I can't remember who wrote it, but the gist of it is how sometimes an unanswered prayer really is an answer to prayer."

WB: That's a Garth Brooks song.

GC: "Really? I look back now and if my prayers had been answered at the time and I had gone off in that direction, I never would have met Madeline. I never would have had this most beautiful and wonderful family that I have right now. I wouldn't trade my wife and my kids for all of the money, all of the sports, all of the glory and for everything else that world can offer. Not a single one of them would I trade for that!

I am so rich beyond my wildest dreams. At the time though, I didn't understand that and it hurt me so much. I look back at it now in retrospect though, and I am just so thankful for the way things turned out. You just never know. You just never know Jimmy, how sometimes we can be so disappointed in something and yet, they work out for the best later on. I don't believe that anything happens by accident for those who have faith, and that pretty much sums up my whole athletic career. Sure, I continued to play a little basketball and of course, rugby for a while. Once I got married though, and got to a certain point in my mid-thirties, I let go off those things"

"If I couldn't play to the best of my abilities and put in the time to train and get myself in shape, then there was no reason to go any further. If I was going to play, then I was going to play to win. For me, it is not fun to lose. I don't like losing. (Laughs) I don't like to lose at marbles, I don't like to lose at cards...I don't like to lose at anything. I've always just been very competitive - my whole family is. My wife is the same way and our kids are the same way. We have so much fun playing games with each other - we really do. And David's like that - he is such a competitive individual - we all are."

WB: Well, it seems pretty clear where he got it from! How could he miss?

GC: (Laughs) "Thanks, but you have to give Madeline a lot of credit for it too, because she sets such a wonderful example spiritualy and emotionally for these kids. She's just a wonderful, wonderful lady and I could certainly have never done it on my own. It's really neat when you are both on the same page in a relationship and we love our kids. I'm second-generation Italian and so I grew up in a loving family. We've always had our family within a 50-mile radius of each other and our kids have all grown up with them close by, which is just so important to us."

"Even at that stage kids get into, where they are trying to find out who they are and their friends become more important than family - even at that time, when we are having to drop the kids off a block away from school and that kind of stuff. (We laugh) Even with that, whenever it came time for a family get-together - birthdays, holidays and barbeques, there was no doubt that the kids wanted to be there - they wanted to be there. They have to carry the torch, and we're not worried about the 'empty nest.' I think families who worry about that, never put the time in to build those relationships with their children in the first place, and now that they are running out of time, they don't think that they are going to see them anymore. Our kids are going to still be around no matter where we are, because they love their family and we are really fortunate in that respect."

WB: Wow - thanks for sharing that. Your honest and heartfelt words are going to mean a great deal to everyone who reads them.

(Gary modestly shrugs it off)

WB: No, really. I am just humbled...I never expected all of this. Thanks!

GC: "You are absolutely welcome. It is nice to share with someone who cares about what's in my heart and what I believe in. The two of us talking tonight is not an accident - there is always a divine purpose. If we can touch some other Lobo fan's lives with our conversation - hopefully, that's what I'm looking for and to help build up this program a little."

WB: That is really fantastic. I couldn't have asked for anything more. No wonder Big Dave is so cool. Now, I'm not talking about 'cool' as it is understood today, I am talking about how it was understood in our day. One cool cat, that David Chiotti. He never takes cheap shots or gets riled, but let someone take a shot at one of his teammates, and pretty soon Big Dave will be leaning on that person for 40 minutes.

GC: "Yeah. David doesn't push his weight around - David is not an aggressor, but he is strong. I still haven't passed the baton to him, though. We still arm wrestle all of the time."

WB: Is that right? Those have got to be some pretty spirited battles.

GC: "Well, another thing that I did when I was younger, was a lot of arm wrestling. I went to the World Wristwrestling Championships in Petaluma for a lot of years and although I never won, I either finished second or made it to the quarterfinals everytime that I went. It's a real tough draw though. It's who you match up with in the beginning that counts, and when you are wresting 3 or 4 times in a single night it really takes a toll. It was a lot of fun though, so I taught David how to arm wrestle when he was really young. We're still pulling pretty hard together, but he's gotten to the point now where I kind of stay away from it a little."

WB: Now be honest. Can he put dad down?

GC: (Chuckles) "What's that again?" (Pretending not to understand)

WB: Can he beat his old man now?

GC: (Laughs) "Okay, okay. Yeah, the last time we wrestled - he beat me. That was about a year ago, though."

WB: Now, that's a confession!

GC: (We laugh) "Yeah, that's a confession, but I still haven't given him the baton yet! I guess that I need to do that though - to let him know that he's the man of the house now." (Sighs melodramatically)

WB: We both spent the next few minutes and a few feet of tape laughing our heads off. This seemed like as good a place as any to end Part 1 of our interview - and besides, the tape ran out while we were both laughing! If you think it can't get any better than this, then be sure not to miss Part 2 with this fantastic Lobo family. It gets even better, Lobo fans!