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Home > What's New > Perks of the Job
Perks of the Job
Posted: Monday, January 13, 2003
By Michael S. Marsh
Since joining the staff of Cigar Aficionado in September 1998, I can't begin to explain how many people have told me how great they think my job is. The comments have been endless. I'm often told how most people would kill for a job with Cigar Aficionado and that I should feel lucky to get "all those free cigars whenever I want."
Now, I don't think it's necessary to call Ripley's here, but the truth of the matter is, I know I have a cool job, and few mornings go by when I don't feel lucky about it. Over the last four years, I've become a full-on cigar lover with a solid collection of smokes. But cigars are not the only things that have endeared me to my position. My job has also given me the opportunity to meet a number of sports figures, and as a passionate sports fan, this is a perk that compares with all the heaters I've had the pleasure of enjoying.
Take last Thursday for example. Dave Savona, the director of Cigar Aficionado Online, asked me if I wouldn't mind heading to Times Square to interview Hall of Fame football coach Don Shula about his new steak house. As you might imagine, I readily agreed, grabbed a notebook and some cigars, and headed out.
Don and Dave Shula
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Located at the Westin Hotel at 270 West 43rd Street at 8th Avenue, the restaurant is the latest addition to the national chain of Shula's Steak Houses. The original, which is located in Miami Lakes, Florida, opened in 1989 and has since been joined by 22 others, including the New York location. Themed after the Miami Dolphins' "Perfect Season" in 1972, the restaurants contain a wide collection of photographs, game balls and other Shula and Dolphins-related memorabilia that any sports fan would love.
The New York eatery is no different, and before the interview, I checked it all out. There were photos of Shula being carried off the field by his players after winning the Super Bowl, photos of him holding the Lombardi Trophy, and dozens of photos of Dolphins greats, such as Larry Csonka, Bob Griese and Nick Buoniconti. There were game balls from the 1972 season and even a life-size replica of the Lombardi Trophy.
Needless to say, it wasn't long before it hit me that I was meeting with more than just another football figure that I could remember watching on the sidelines as a kid and reading about in the sports pages. I was meeting with a Hall of Famer, the man who holds the record for the most wins ever by a National Football League coach, a true legend.
Then Shula came down the stairs into the restaurant with his son Dave, another former NFL coach and the president of Shula's Steak House. After introductions, we sat at the bar and immediately the conversation turned to the NFL playoffs. I told Don I was still suffering from the Giants' loss to the 49ers the weekend before, and he said it was just as hard for him to stomach the Dolphins' breakdown at the end of the season, first losing to the Vikings and then, dramatically, to the Patriots. Shula said it was even tougher considering his other son, Mike, is an assistant coach with the Dolphins. But, said Shula, that is the way the NFL has been all season long. Anybody can beat anybody.
It wasn't long before we were talking about Shula's steak house franchise, how it got started, how it expanded and how it became so successful over the years. But as one would expect with a man who has been involved with professional football since being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1951, the conversation always returned to football. I listened intently as Shula began talking about 1972's perfect season and how it related to his restaurants.
"It's all about the perfect dining experience," Shula says. "Providing the best product to the people who come here, and the 1972 season fits in with that idea.
"For me, looking at the memorabilia reminds me of the different parts of my career. It's fun to walk into the restaurants and to be able to look back and see all those great memories."
Did any of those great memories entail lighting up a cigar? I ask.
"Oh for sure," says Shula. "Lighting up after winning the Super Bowls…those were always very special moments."
Today, Shula considers himself an occasional cigar smoker. He says he finds cigars relaxing, and that his brand of choice is Cohiba. He usually smokes on the back porch or when taking a walk. He says he always has one or two boxes at his disposal, which he gets from a friend who is a physician and often travels to Cuba.
As one would hope, Shula's enjoyment of cigars means that many of his restaurants are smoker friendly. Even though Shula himself isn't lighting up at every possible moment, he appreciates the many cigar lovers who visit his restaurants. Knowing this, many of Shula's Steak Houses keep the cigar smoker in mind, including building separate lounges and dining areas where smokers can light up.
"We often have cigar events and cigar dinners at the restaurants," he says, "and some of the restaurants have [personal humidors] and cigars available."
"We want to give people the opportunity to smoke," adds Dave, "but we don't want to infringe on our guests that don't smoke. We try to design the restaurants so we can do both."
Unfortunately, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new smoking policy about to take effect, Shula's in New York is unable to cater to smokers the way it can in other cities, a fact that father and son are well aware of.
As the interview winds down, Shula shows me around the restaurant, pointing out many of the photos on the walls. I snap a few pictures of him and Dave and thank him for spending the time with me. With that, he says the pleasure is all his, and signs an autograph for me. We shake hands, and as he heads to his next interview, I smile at the thought that I've just hung out with arguably the greatest football coach of all time. Too cool.
On my way back to the office, I begin recalling some of the other sports figures I've met while at Cigar Aficionado. In 1999, I interviewed Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett about a promotion he was involved in with La Gloria Cubana, and in 2001, at the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America show in Tampa, Florida, I met Mike Ditka. Another Hall of Famer, Ditka and I smoked cigars while we talked about a new line of smokes he was releasing with Graycliff.
That same year, I sat down with Luis Tiant in Brockton, Massachusetts, as part of Cigar Aficionado Online's baseball preview. Together we sipped Johnnie Walker, and for two hours he waxed nostalgic about his upbringing in Cuba, his major league career and the game of baseball. We also found time to talk about his love of the leaf and the new brand of cigars he was releasing. Finally, there was last year at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan during a press event for an exhibit called Baseball As America. The exhibit, which was organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, had nothing to do with cigars, but I couldn't pass it up. That day I felt like a little kid at his first major league game, meeting such diamond legends as Mike Schmidt, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, Larry Doby, Carlton Fisk, Joe Morgan and Monte Irvin. Like my first major league game at Shea Stadium in 1978, it is a day I won't forget.
I won't forget my day with Don Shula, either. For him, it was a chance to talk about the opening of his new restaurant in Manhattan. For me, it was another day on the job and a chance to sit with an NFL legend. A chance to listen to a Hall of Famer speak of his past as a coach and player and his future as a restauranteur. Also in Cigar News:
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