The Steamer

“When I came down from Oregon in 1972 to join John McKay’s staff at USC, he used to hold court with this gang of writers every week in a booth at a restaurant across the street from campus called Julie’s. It was Bud Furillo and John Hall, Bud Tucker, Allan Malamud, and Loel Schrader. These were guys who loved football, loved sports, loved the players, and loved the coaches, and they loved drinking vodka and talking about all of it. They weren’t house guys—they’d get on your ass if you played bad or something. But they weren’t like critics. They were just great writers, and you had to read every newspaper every day. You didn’t just turn on ESPN. You had to read Bud Furillo and John Hall to find things out. Of course, the sports in L.A. were fabulous, and these guys were your connection to it. Bud was the most aggressive of the bunch. He was always there, at the right moment. You’d walk into the locker room after a big win, or a loss, and he was right on the spot.”—John Robinson, USC Football head coach, member of the College Football Hall of Fame

“In 1972, I trusted Bud Furillo to tell my story. Over the years, he got it BETTER THAN PERFECT!”—Bill Walton, UCLA basketball player, member of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame

“With his colorful writing, magnetic personality, and big-name contacts, sportswriter Bud Furillo helped transform L.A. into a major sports town a half century ago. Furillo’s Steam Room column crackled with anecdotes about such notables as Wilt Chamberlain, Sandy Koufax, Muhammad Ali, and Frank Sinatra, as well as offbeat characters like pitcher/starlet-chaser Bo Belinsky. Furillo helped dispel the notion, prevalent among many sports franchises, that fans in the West wouldn’t support pro teams. Furillo’s improbable climb from the edges of the crime world in Youngstown, Ohio, to the press boxes of L.A. and the rest of the nation, is told in a fascinating biography by his journalist son, Andy. Bud Furillo used to say he would one day write an autobiography titled The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I. He never did. But Andy has taken the mound on Bud’s behalf and, for that, readers can be grateful.”—Steve Harvey, Only in L.A. columnist, creator of Steve Harvey’s Bottom Ten

“The Steamer was definitely an “Only”—a hard-hitting but fair and humorous columnist, a dedicated sports editor who gave a lot of young writers their first break. I’m proud we were best friends for a lifetime. We always talked about writing a book together about all our travels and travails and calling it Big, because that told it perfectly. We never quite got to it. Now, Andy has done it for us.”—John Hall, former columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register

“During Bud Furillo’s heyday, the vaunted L.A. Times sports section had nothing on the Herald Examiner, a fixture in my house to the very end. A lively writer himself, Bud presided over a top-notch group and forever left his mark on the Southern California sports scene.”—Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle columnist

“Bud Furillo was a great writer and an even better sports editor. The Steamer was charismatic, creative, and more colorful than most of the people he wrote about. Working under Bud at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner wasn’t just a job, it was a privilege. He was definitely one of a kind.”—Steve Bisheff, ESPN L.A. columnist

“It always did seem implausible that Bud Furillo, so vivid and uncommonly alive, could have passed away. Here’s a rich reminder that, in a way, he never will.”—Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post

“Bud Furillo mattered.”—Jerry Izenberg, winner of the 2000 Red Smith Award

“The only thing more riveting than the L.A. sports scene Bud Furillo wrote about was Bud Furillo himself. A fascinating look at a one-of-a-kind man.”—Norman Chad, ESPN poker analyst, Washington Post Couch Slouch columnist

“With one ear to the ground and his fingers on the pulse of L.A.’s boxing heartbeat, sportswriter Bud Furillo was born ready to deliver his ‘next scoop’ for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. By looking through his father’s eyes, author Andy Furillo lovingly relives The Steam Room column era of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Entertaining, yet with exquisite smoke-filled backroom detail, Andy Furillo transports us to the red-hot L.A. sports scene of his father’s heyday. From his ringside seat during the glory days of the Olympic Auditorium (which, curiously, was not far from his Eastside roots), the colorful and insightful copy of the Steamer made Bud Furillo one of L.A.’s best sports beat writers ever.”—Gene Aguilera, author of Mexican American Boxing in Los Angeles

“If you’re a young, current sports fan, this will be a major history lesson and provide a little insight into why your grandfather calls yesteryear ‘the good old days.’ If you’re one of the Old Guard, here’s a book you’ve been waiting for . . . page after page of ‘Oh yeah. I remember that.’"—Bruce Gallaudet, DavisEnterprise.com