This isn't about Tommy. This isn't about getting him more publicity, about impressing people, about getting the media here (two Chicago TV stations covered the event). It's about giving back.

But they (amusement parks) have other pressures on them as well -- to minimize publicity and maximize profit -- that need to be acknowledged and accounted for to ensure that safety receives its due.

It is now certain that the public does know. It is not so certain that the public does care.

Platform and publicity are interconnected, yet very different. Building a platform is what you do before a book comes out to make sure that when it hits shelves somebody buys it. Publicity is an active effort to acquire media attention for a book that already exists.

It was an exciting day today. We flew out [to New York]; we were treated like royalty, rubbed elbows with the best in the business. He's on pay-per-view. He's at Madison Square Garden. That's like being in the Super Bowl. That's like being in the national championship. Fighters who have fought for 10 years -- title-holders -- don't get a chance to fight at the Garden.

I thought that he would have been a better boxer than a football player, because being a football player you have to have size, you have to have speed. It's a lot more difficult to get a scholarship for football than it is to go into the gym and go box.