McNabb wasn’t shocked, says Rich Burg, who represents the veteran NFL player at 5 Star Unlimited, but he was surprised when the Eagles finally pulled the trigger. “The rumors had been out there,” Burg says. Rumors started surfacing back in 2007 when the Eagles drafted quarterback Kevin Kolb, who has now slipped into McNabb’s spot on the team. Despite the rumors, “Donovan always acted as if he would be with the Philadelphia Eagles forever,” Burg says.

In 1999, when McNabb was a first-round draft pick by the Eagles, the team had just come off of a discouraging 3-13 season. During McNabb’s reign on the field, the Eagles averaged 10 wins per season. The club won the NFC East Division five times and played in five NFC Championship games. In 2004, McNabb had arguably his best season (he completed 64 percent of his passes) and led the Eagles to the 2005 Super Bowl, where they lost to the New England Patriots.

McNabb, who tries not to focus on the trade, was equally caught off guard when the Eagles decided not to bring back NFL Pro-Bowler safety Brian Dawkins for the 2009 season. “He has given everything that he has and for you not to bring him back kind of opens up the door to let everyone know that we’re all replaceable,” reflects McNabb. “I’ve been a part of it this year, but neither one of us are going to hang our head low. We’re going to continue to keep our heads high for the teams on which we’re playing.”

The 2010 season marks a new beginning for the Washington Redskins. Not only has the team added a new quarterback but it has also brought in a new general manager, Bruce Allen (formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and head coach, Mike Shanahan (formerly of the Denver Broncos), who has under his belt two back-to-back Super Bowl wins along with two conference championships and four division championships.

Shanahan didn’t have the opportunity to meet McNabb until the day after the trade was announced. He says that a “quick kinship” evolved. “Here are two guys from Chicago, two guys starting out with a fresh start – it’s better than being fired,” he quipped in an April press conference. The two “team newbies” have a mutual goal: to win a Super Bowl. McNabb certainly has the drive. “I’m excited to have him as our quarterback,” Shanahan says. “He’s an excellent leader. He’s everything that you look for in a quarterback and I’m not just talking about the physical attributes. [It’s everything from] leadership, how he carries himself and what he’ll do in his community to the way he’ll lead this football team.”

McNabb began his football career at Syracuse University, where he was a starter all four years. A well-rounded athlete, he also played on the school’s basketball team for two seasons. Even today, when he’s away from football he enjoys hitting the basketball court. “He was a pretty good player at Syracuse,” Burg says. “If he was taller, he would have been a [professional] basketball player.”

A former Eagles employee, Burg remembers one of his first encounters with McNabb after he was drafted. The two were in a limo with one of the coaches when McNabb started thumbing through his three-inch-thick play binder. “He was studying plays that he would have to run in a few days at Veterans Stadium,” Burg recalls. That’s when Burg knew this new quarterback would be “tireless and committed.”

Burg had met McNabb before the draft when the Eagles brought in several players who were potential first-round picks to meet with the coaches and owners. “I knew without a doubt that Donovan would be the one who could do what was needed in Philadelphia,” he says. “There was no question in my mind that he was the guy.”

McNabb stepped into a leadership role immediately. “He was being asked to rescue this franchise and there was no doubt that he was going to be able to do that,” Burg says.

Fast forward to the present. McNabb has joined a team that finished last season with a 4-12 record. Is this yet another rescue mission? Many Redskins fans are wondering if the seasoned player can bring home a winning season or, better yet, a Super Bowl bid. “He’s a professional,” says the Redskins’ new offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan (Kyle, son of head coach Mike Shanahan, previously was with the Houston Texans). “He’s very poised out there. He knows what he’s doing. But, he’s rusty just like everyone else, even though he’s running some plays that he’s run before. Everybody runs similar plays but everyone coaches them different.”

Mike Shanahan is known for his run-heavy variation on a West Coast offense, in which he uses the running game to facilitate the passing game. McNabb is no stranger to a West Coast offense, a strategy that dates back to Bill Walsh’s coaching days with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s. “The offenses are somewhat similar, but very different,” McNabb says, referring to both the Eagles’ and Shanahan’s offense. “There will be a change but I look forward to going back and studying and making sure I have this thing second nature to me.”

Washington’s offensive line will be different for McNabb in more ways than one. “I’ve been looking back for years seeing [Brian] Westbrook doing everything,” he says, adding that he feels confident about fitting into Shanahan’s system. “We will run the ball here [in Philly there was an emphasis on the passing game]. We have got three solid running backs that are very effective and have done well with their given teams, but we also have some talented wide receivers and tight ends here, as well. I think it’s important that we are able to spread it around and get guys involved and give them the opportunity to make plays for us. And for me, [I] just have to be the guy that orchestrates everything, make sure everybody’s confident and ready to go and ready to make that big play for us.”

The veteran quarterback embraces his leadership role on the field. “He’s not put in a position to be above anybody else but [rather] to bring people to the level that they can achieve great success,” observes Burg. “Donovan wants to be part of a team that wins.”

McNabb understands the responsibility of being a franchise quarterback, being the face of the franchise. He tries to keep things on an even keel without drama, even in the face of angry fans and commentator barbs. He knows that his actions and statements reflect positively or negatively not only on himself but also his family, teammates, coach, owner and fan base. “I think he gets that,” Burg says. “He understands that his voice holds a lot of weight. He knows that every word he says will be analyzed, sometimes overanalyzed.”

Burg feels there are times that McNabb has been misjudged by the press, especially when the media bring up controversial topics, such as an incident with talk show host Rush Limbaugh where he implied that McNabb was given more attention because of his race. “Donovan has been accused of being thin-skinned and I’ve always felt that was unjust. Donovan has moved on from many of the controversies that he has been party to. However, many interviewers doing profiles on Donovan feel the need to ask about them. He’s only responding to their questions. It’s always brought up by the interviewer. Sometimes he won’t respond or he will respond politely. He lets things go. There’s not anything that he dwells on.”

The moral foundation that McNabb draws from was formed early in his life in Chicago. He grew up in a loving, nurturing environment. His father, Sam, a retired electrical engineer, and his mother, Wilma (“Char”), a registered nurse, instilled in their son a sense of responsibility and community. “Early on in his career, Donovan would say ‘My parents are my No. 1 fans and also my biggest critics.’ They are the ones who are the most honest with him,” Burg says. “They are a close-knit family.”

His parents have been supporters throughout his career. His mother, who has become a celebrity herself because of her NFL mom Campbell’s Chunky Soup commercials, is now president of the Professional Football Players Mothers Association. McNabb’s father heads the National Football Players Fathers Association, which he helped found in 2000. Both organizations help families of NFL rookies deal with the life changes that occur when a family member joins the league.

McNabb’s father, who has diabetes, was the impetus behind the Donovan McNabb Fund, which pledges support to raise awareness of the disease. The fund has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the American Diabetes Association and has provided scholarships to many students. Likewise, McNabb served as the inspiration for his dad, who created SEADO Enterprises, a nonprofit that helps “support, assist and mentor young student athletes.”

In his own family, McNabb is a doting father. He met his wife, Raquel, at Syracuse University, where she was a star basketball player. The two married in 2003. The couple now have four children – a 5-year-old daughter, Alexis; 1-year-old twins, Sariah and Donovan Jr.; and 6-month-old Devin James. “Donovan has two sides,” Burg says. “He’s Donovan, a fun-loving dad, and also Donovan, the football player who is relaxed, a jokester and a smart guy. When he’s with his kids, he’s a jungle gym. They are in his arms and on his lap.”

Even though his professional life is in the glare of the camera, McNabb keeps his personal life private. The family quietly splits its time between northern Virginia and the Phoenix area. McNabb’s competitive spirit, however, isn’t lost on his daughter Alexis, whom he encourages to score goals during soccer matches. Once McNabb challenged her to score at least four or five goals. Each time the 5-year-old would get a score, she would hold up her finger and say “That’s one. That’s two,” and so on. “She ended up getting a prize,” Burg says. “She got a little motorized car that she could sit in.”

McNabb’s family also plays into his philanthropy. In October 2009 he and his wife announced a partnership with Virtua, a multi-hospital health-care system headquartered in Marlton, N.J. The couple’s twins were “preemies” and had to spend about a month in a Virtua hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. That positive experience prompted the McNabbs to make a six-figure donation to help with the construction of a new NICU at the Virtua Voorhees replacement hospital, which is scheduled to open in spring 2011. The couple will also help raise $2.5 million in additional funding. “Donovan and his wife made a commitment,” Burg says. “They wanted to make sure that many other parents would be able to be treated as well as they were.”

McNabb is used to handling tough situations, off and on the field. That’s a quality that Shanahan likes. “I know the press can be pretty tough on you when you are a quarterback no matter what team you are with,” Shanahan says. “He’s been in a situation that I think he has handled himself as well as any quarterback I’ve seen.”

Being a franchise quarterback, McNabb “has found out that you are going to get more credit than you deserve and more blame than you deserve,” Burg adds.

McNabb is looking at this year as a new opportunity. “I love the challenge of being able to present and display your talents and to gel with a new group of guys,” he says.

He minimizes the fact that he will be playing the Eagles twice during the 2010 season. “I don’t look at it any differently than playing the [New York] Giants or Dallas [Cowboys],” he says. “It’s an opportunity to play against another team, and for us to hopefully try to bring a win home.”

Not many people could play for a team for 11 years and not feel some type of loss when they leave. Looking back on his time in Philly, McNabb says that he was treated fairly when he was with the Eagles. During those years, he made it a point not to let anything – fans or the media – distract him from the game. “You have to understand in this game in which we play there are so many distractions and if you allow [them] to affect what you do and what your team relies on you to do, you’re never going to accomplish anything,” he says.

There is one thing that McNabb wasn’t able to accomplish in Philly: winning the Super Bowl. Maybe he can change that in Washington. “If that happens, that’s outstanding and I’ll be looking to try to win another one,” he says. “But again, that doesn’t happen just from one person. I think a lot of times we focus so much on just one person instead of the team. This is a team game. One person can’t do it by himself. There are 11 guys on both sides of the ball out there and we’re all trying to do it together.”

Even though he hasn’t always been in the good graces of Eagles fans, McNabb says he wants to say “thank you” to those diehard fans “for giving me an opportunity to come in and display my talents and be able to be put in a position to get drafted when they were 3-13, going to 5-11, and to averaging nine or 10 wins a season. We didn’t win but it was a great ride. It was a ride in which every time we stepped out on the field the fans felt confident we could win that game … I look to bring that here to Washington.”

For right now, McNabb is happy that all the hoopla regarding the trade is behind him and that he can focus on the future. “I’m here starting a new chapter in the book of Donovan,” he says, “and I look for great things to happen.”

After a short conversation about basketball, Brown offered to send him a copy of a weight training program. “How long have you been in the service, soldier?” Brown asked. O’Neal smiled and replied, “Coach, I’m only 13 years old.”

A stunned Brown kept to his word and after returning to Louisiana sent O’Neal the promised information. Later, the young man replied with a letter saying that his high school coach had cut him from the team because he was too clumsy, too slow and his feet were too big.

Brown contemplated his own response. “I thought, ‘What kind of statement can I make to a 13-year-old who is thousands of miles across the ocean?’” He told O’Neal to “always try to do your best and never give up” and that God would eventually take care of everything else. The sound advice and spiritual belief have held true for O’Neal, who, at 38, is the oldest player in the NBA.

Former NBA star Bill Walton predicted O’Neal’s success in a 1991 TNT interview, noting that he could become “the best player ever to play basketball.”

“Whether he does,” continued Walton, who helped O’Neal hone his skills during his early college years, “depends on him. He has the ability, the physical skills, the mental skills, the family background, the work ethic, the discipline. Now it’s whether he puts his time and mind to it.”

O’Neal has done just that. His career in basketball is star-studded with awards and accolades. In 1996, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, the youngest player ever to earn that recognition. He also won three consecutive NBA championships (2000, 2001, 2002) with the Los Angeles Lakers and a fourth with the Miami Heat in 2006. He received Most Valuable Player honors during the 1999-2000 season, 2000 All-Star Game (co-MVP) and 2000 NBA Finals, only the third player in NBA history to achieve that accomplishment. He also played on the gold medal winning 1996 Olympic basketball team that walked away from the games undefeated.

Away from basketball, O’Neal is a popular commodity in film, television and commercials, as well as music – he has released several rap albums. “Rapping was a hobby,” he says. “We would do it in the neighborhood.”

Born in Newark, N.J., O’Neal grew up in a military family and lived on bases in the United States and Europe. His stepfather, Philip Harrison, an Army drill sergeant, taught his son all types of sports, from baseball to football.

At 13, when O’Neal shot up in height – think 6 feet 9 inches – he gravitated toward basketball. He had started playing the game when he was 8 years old. “Football was too physical,” O’Neal says. Baseball, he noted in a television interview, was too boring.

O’Neal’s road to basketball legend started when he enrolled in Cole High School in 1987 after his family moved to San Antonio, Texas. The high school sits on the Fort Sam Houston Army post. In 1987, the school posted a 68-1 record. It won the Class AAA state title his senior year, and in 1989, O’Neal was named a first-team Parade All-American.

Brown remembers seeing O’Neal on the court during his junior year at Cole. “I really didn’t have to see him play,” he says. “I liked his attitude, how he looked you in the eye and called you ‘sir.’” Seasoned in the sport, Brown could tell that O’Neal would get even better with time.

After recruiting O’Neal to LSU, Brown found that he was not only “very coachable” but also academically conscientious. “He had the highest grade average on the team,” Brown says.

During his freshman year, O’Neal excelled at shot blocking. “He didn’t have a lot of moves then,” Brown admits. “He dunked a lot.” He brought in Walton and former NBA all-star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to tutor his new player. O’Neal took their advice to heart. “He didn’t only hear,” Brown says. “He listened.”

Kent Lowe, LSU’s senior associate sports information director, recalls that during O’Neal’s freshman year, Brown would sometimes keep the young player on the bench during the first few minutes of a game. “He wanted to let Shaquille watch the flow and then put him in the game,” Kent explains. “It helped him get the flow of the game.”

By the time he was drafted to the NBA in 1992 during his senior year, O’Neal was an offensive threat with numerous strengths both on and off the court, according to Brown. “The greatest was his attitude. He had a good work ethic, intellect and hustle. He had a quest to be the best and he got to be the best.”

In college, the 7-foot-1-inch player attracted a lot of attention. “He was like the Pied Piper,” Lowe says. “He was already larger than life, literally. Parents and students loved him. He was pleasant and fun loving.”

O’Neal was comfortable with all ages, from children to seniors. He treated people with respect and kindness, never hesitating to stop for an autograph. “He was very benevolent,” Brown recalls. “He would reach out to help people.” Parents of children with cancer would often call Brown to see if O’Neal could stop by the hospital for a visit. “He would always go,” Brown says. “He would often visit with kids in elementary school and sometimes, when he was driving, he would see kids playing basketball and he would stop the car and get out and play a game with them.”

When O’Neal first came to LSU, he was shy, but as he became more comfortable with his surroundings, his keen sense of humor started to surface. “He is jovial,” Brown says. O’Neal has always been playful with the press, sprinkling his own brand of humor into interviews. His media savvy is well-known. Lowe laughs as he remembers O’Neal tossing out all sorts of percentages about the game to “newbie” reporters. “The local press was used to that and got a kick out of it,” Lowe says. “Shaquille would wink at the local guys and then [come up with] the percentages. He would always give it his own twist.”

In 1992, O’Neal was the No. 1 pick of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic, signing a multiyear contract estimated at more than $40 million. He admits that type of paycheck puts a burden on a 20-year-old. “You have to learn things on the fly,” he says. “I had good people behind me.”

Two of those people were his parents, Philip and Lucille Harrison. When he was young, O’Neal would tell them he wanted to play in the NBA. They told him “it may or may not happen.” When he was drafted, they were supportive.

Throughout his life, O’Neal has followed the steps his parents told him to take: “Stay out of trouble, believe [in yourself] and work hard.” When he left college for the pros, he promised his mother he would finish his education. “I wanted to do that,” he says. He made good on his promise in 2000 when he earned his bachelor’s degree from LSU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

O’Neal was 16 when his mother realized that his wish to become an NBA player could materialize. She advised him to always think about the bigger picture, no matter what he did in life. “She told me, ‘You have a lot of neighborhood kids looking up to you,’” O’Neal says. “‘The bigger picture is always better.’”

Those words of advice stuck. He says that he has never tried to be anyone other than who he is. “People try to sell characters that are perfect,” he says. “I don’t try to show the kids a character. I show them myself. What you see is what you get with me.”

During his early years in the pros, the media characterized O’Neal as cocky. He’s been vocal about his thoughts, especially when it comes to the game and other players in the sport. In one ESPN exchange where he was asked if he might one day “sit down and have a talk with [teammate] Kobe Bryant” of the Lakers, O’Neal, whose relationship with Bryant was strained, reportedly shot back “Who? You know what, I am not familiar with that name, I know a lot of names and I have a lot of names in my head, but I am not familiar with that name.”

O’Neal contends that he’s never been cocky, just confident. “I think sometimes you don’t know a person,” he says. “Cocky is being disrespectful. I was not cocky.”

Brown believes that people often misinterpret O’Neal because he is so outspoken. “He will tell you what’s on his mind but there’s so much depth to him.”

Throughout his career, O’Neal has credited his father with keeping him on the right path and helping him build confidence. “He was the one to stay on me,” he says. “He taught me to be a leader and not a follower.”

Mike Bantom, senior vice president of player development for the NBA, sees both of O’Neal’s parents as “no-nonsense people.” “You know they mean business and that they are very serious about things,” he says, noting their influence on their son.

When it comes to professional basketball, Bantom believes O’Neal is “the most dominant big man to play in the NBA in his era, or any era. He’s a combination of power and speed,” he says, adding that O’Neal’s personality and outreach have brought new fans to the sport. “He’s had a great impact on the continued success of the NBA. He’s friendly, outgoing and he has a great smile.”

He refers to O’Neal not only as a “renaissance man” because of his multifaceted talents and interests but also as an example of “doing what’s right.” “Not only has he figured out how to conduct himself as a professional but he has been willing to share that information with young players as they come along. He reaches out to them and talks about issues and how to conduct themselves. He’s willing to help younger players grow and help them understand what it takes to be successful.”

O’Neal has been that way since college. “He’s never been selfish with the basketball,” Brown says. “When he went to the Miami Heat, Coach Pat Riley told me the first practice they were in a circle and Shaquille was standing next to rookie Dwyane Wade. He put his arm around him and told him, ‘I am not going to be the star of this team. I am going to help you [and the guys] do it to win the title.’ And, he did.”

Since joining the NBA, O’Neal, a center, has played for the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat, the Phoenix Suns and now the Cleveland Cavaliers. Basketball hasn’t been his only passion, however. He also has a penchant for law enforcement and says that after retiring from the pros, he would like to become a sheriff. He has attended four police academics in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and Bedford, Va.

Sheriff Michael J. Brown of the Bedford County, Va., Sheriff’s Office met O’Neal for the first time when he asked him to serve as a spokesman for the Safe Surfin’ Foundation, which educates the public about Internet crimes against children and explains how to protect children from becoming victims. The foundation is the educational arm of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, known as Blue Ridge Thunder.

O’Neal immediately said yes. “He is one of the biggest supporters of law enforcement that I have ever known and I have been in law enforcement for 42 years,” says Michael Brown.

O’Neal went through several training sessions with the ICAC task force as well as a National White Collar Crime session on online undercover investigations. “He’s very smart,” observes Michael Brown. “He catches on very fast.” O’Neal served in the capacity of investigator while he was training in Bedford. Even though he is currently inactive, he still holds that title.

Just as he is on the basketball court, O’Neal was a team player on the police force. “He followed instructions to the letter,” Brown says. “It didn’t matter if it was a sergeant or a lieutenant or me giving them, he followed instructions. It was none of ‘I am Shaq.’ He is a very humble individual.”

Of course, when a basketball star lands in a community of about 6,000 people, it generates excitement. “People gave him his space but there were calls for autographs and interviews,” the sheriff recalls. “He was always very polite. He was never rude to anybody.”

During O’Neal’s time in Bedford, Michael Brown discovered the NBA star had a real passion for helping kids and for catching predators. “He’s still a big supporter of Safe Surfin’,” he says. He found O’Neal to be a “very genuine individual with a big heart.”

“He’s a sweet guy,” he says. “He loves people. He can take a joke and he can give a joke. He’ll make one hell of a sheriff. He has the temperament and the personality for it. I would hire him in a heartbeat.”

O’Neal hopes that his training in law enforcement will help him if he does run for sheriff. “I want my teammates [in the sheriff’s office] to know that I did the same thing they did rather than be a superstar,” he says.

There are many avenues O’Neal would like to explore in the future. His first goal: ramp up his film career. To date, he has starred in movies including “Steel” in 1997 and “Kazaam” in 1996.

On the television front, he has signed on for another season of his ABC reality show “Shaq Vs.,” where he takes on various athletes in their own sport, from Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps to tennis great Serena Williams. It’s been rumored that this season he will face off with some of the world’s best poker players in a game of Texas Hold ’em.

He is also currently appearing with columnist, television personality and former presidential speechwriter Ben Stein in commercials for Comcast. “Ben’s a lovable guy,” O’Neal says. “We are fans of each other.”

O’Neal’s television career also includes the ABC reality show “Shaq’s Big Challenge,” where he challenged kids to shed pounds and stay in shape. “I didn’t know obesity levels in children were that high,” says O’Neal, the father of six children. (O’Neal and his ex-wife, Shaunie, recently divorced.) “I wanted to do something. I thought my presence might bring more attention to the problem. One kid on the show lost 75 pounds.” The kids on the show loved being around O’Neal. “They felt comfortable with him,” Dale Brown says. “As big as his basketball career is, it’s small compared to the rest of the stuff he does. He is one of the most genuine and benevolent athletes I have ever met. He is loaded with goodness toward others.”

O’Neal prefers to stay behind the scenes when it comes to charitable giving, but Brown says he’s always doing kind acts. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, he filled an 18-wheeler with food, clothes, medicine and water and sent it to hurricane victims in New Orleans. When he was playing with the Lakers in a game against the Indianapolis Pacers, he took time out before the game to visit a child dying of cancer in an Indianapolis hospital who had wanted to meet him. “He stayed and talked to him,” Brown says. “Nobody has really captured that side of Shaquille.”

In May O’Neal paid for the funeral of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis who was killed in North Carolina. He learned about the girl’s death while watching “Nancy Grace,” a show he catches almost every night. He called Grace to tell her he wanted to pay for the funeral. “I thought they probably couldn’t afford a funeral,” he says, adding that he thought the gift would be anonymous. “I didn’t want that to get out.”

There are many sides to O’Neal. One that people haven’t seen is his geek side. “People don’t realize that, so don’t tell them,” he jokes, adding that he was one of the first to order a 4G phone when it became available.

One of his most pronounced qualities is his quotability. Shaq is known for quotations like this one: “I don’t really consider myself one of those superstars. I just consider myself a guy that was lucky enough to win the athletic lottery many times over.”

O’Neal likes being referred to as “quotetacious.” His favorite personal quotation is his newest: “As a person you can call yourself many things but when you call yourself me [Shaq] you have big shoes to fill” – size 23, to be exact.

He likes the designation of currently being the oldest player in the NBA. “It’s nice,” he says. “I came in being one of the youngest. I’ve been consistent.” When he retires, he says, he wants his legacy to note that he was “one of the most dominant players. I was a champion, a winner. When I came, I changed the rules because of the way I dominate the game.”

In addition to his bachelor’s degree, O’Neal has a master’s and is now working on his doctorate in human resource development, which he hopes to have in another year. There will be changes made to his status, he says, when that day arrives. “People will have to address me as Doctor. Shaq will be gone.”

“It was a bigger deal to interview him for losing than it was to interview me for winning,” he says. “I got out of the car and no one came to interview me. That shows you what he means to the sport.”

At 61, Force is, as the saying goes, a force to be reckoned with. His son-in-law, driver Robert Hight, refers to him as the “face of NHRA drag racing.” And why wouldn’t he? Force is a 14-time Funny Car champion and a 2008 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee with 129 career wins under his belt, giving him the No. 1 spot on the current top 10 list of NHRA Funny Car drivers.

He has won 1,053 racing rounds as well as races on 24 different tracks in 19 states and Canada. The only current events in the NHRA Full Throttle drag racing series that he has not won as of this printing are the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, and the O’Reilly Carolinas Nationals in Charlotte, N.C.

NHRA driver Kenny Bernstein of Kenny Bernstein Racing believes that a great deal of Force’s popularity “stems from the tremendous exposure he has received as a result of his success on the track.” Fans also enjoy his shtick, Bernstein adds. “People like to listen to his interviews because you can’t predict what he’ll say next.”

Over the years, Force has created a corporate empire that includes John Force Racing, Inc., with 75 employees. “They bust their tail for me to win,” he says. His race team includes his daughters 27-year-old Ashley Force Hood, 23-year-old Brittany Force and 21-year-old Courtney Force as well as Hight.

Force hired Hight as a crew member in 1995. He didn’t begin driving until 2005. “John definitely puts a lot of money and effort into trying to grow the sport,” observes Hight. “He’s always thinking of new ways to draw fans.”

Tom Compton, NHRA president, thinks of Force as a great business man. “He is one of the hardest working people you will ever meet,” observes Compton. “He focuses on his race team 24/7. He will spend money others don’t consider spending to make the team better.”

As an example, Force was the first NHRA driver to have a trailer outfitted with the latest in technology, everything from computers to a full-fledged weather center. “There was a lot of science and technology in one trailer,” Hight says. “It’s now the norm. Everyone has them.”

Trucks play an integral role in Force’s family history. His father, nicknamed “Willie,” was a logger and truck driver in the Northwest. “He was a Teamster, Local 208. He drove for Garrett Freightlines out of Boise, Idaho,” Force says. “He hauled a little bit of everything.”

Force’s father served as an inspiration for his son, encouraging him to always follow his dreams. “He believed you had to chase your heart,” says Force, who did follow his father into the trucking industry. “Trucking is what I did. It was the romance of the highway. I still have a Class I permit.”

He also owns a fleet of 10 Peterbilts, as well as a collection of Harleys and classic cars. “I have more trucks now that I ever dreamed I would have,” Force says, noting that he fuels up at Pilots. “I try to stay on the road preaching the gospel.”

Even though he enjoyed trucking, Force’s passion was racing. “It’s been in my blood since I was a kid,” he says, adding that he would race every available weekend.

In 1974 he took a few weeks off to travel to Australia, where his uncle was racing. “That was my start in racing,” he says.

For the first 10 years, Force struggled in the sport. He snagged his first major NHRA win in Montreal, Canada, in 1987. “They used to call me a perennial bridesmaid – I got to the altar but I never won,” Force says, laughing. “That first win was a really exciting feeling that you only have once.”

Force’s highly competitive spirit is as well known in the racing community as his top-notch racing abilities. “When you’re on the track, you can’t bump the guy out of the way,” Worsham says. “John will pat you on the back and say he loves you but then he’s going to go out there and try to kick your butt.”

Force’s dynamic, no-holds-barred personality gives him a unique edge. “There are many sides to him,” observes Bernstein. “When he gets excited, he talks a mile a minute. He’s often flamboyant and out of control as you see in his interviews, but he’s smart on the inside; he has a lot of common sense and street smarts.”

Compton sees Force as both a naturally gifted speaker and a stand-up comic. “His enthusiasm is infectious,” he says. “He goes in different directions when he talks but ties it all together. John can see the forest through the trees. He gets the big picture.”

Force’s entertaining personality gets fans to “stay tuned to see what is coming out of his mouth next,” says Hight. That’s one reason that “Driving Force,” a reality show about Force and his family that aired on A&E in 2006 and 2007, was a hit.  “That brought a lot more fans to the sport,” Hight says. “Little old ladies and truck drivers love him. John is a big fan of the blue-collar worker.”

Force’s daughter Ashley had to get used to being part of a reality show. “There were times when you saw us fighting but it was about the show,” she explains. “We were new at it and the show was new to racing. It took time to get to know each other. It was fun. We had a lot of things captured on camera we wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the reality show.”

Over the years, Force has seen and done it all. He laughs when he remembers the time he was sponsored by Wendy’s – he’s been sponsored by Castrol ever since. “When the Wendy’s girl didn’t show, I dressed up as the Wendy’s girl,” he says. “They paid me $75. I looked funny. I had hairy legs. That’s why Castrol gave me the money to run the circus, so I didn’t have to be the clown anymore.”

Force says he wasn’t surprised when his daughters decided to take up racing. “All my kids have grown up at the racetrack. I figured one of them might get involved. Ashley evolved and now Brittany and Courtney. They can drive those race cars like the men.”

He may be a team owner but he’s still a dad and that fatherly mindset does kick in. He admits he worries about his daughters and that he tries to subdue his competitive drive when he races against Ashley in the Funny Car division. “I always pray for her to win even when she is racing me,” he says, pausing before adding, “I do have sponsors that pay me so I have to win too.”

Ashley had no idea she would one day compete in the same division as her father. “I had an interest in working on the cars,” she says. “I wanted to be a crew member. I thought they were the coolest people on earth. When I got older, I took auto shop classes. Racing [came] many years later.”

She started racing Super Comp dragsters when she was 18 and moved up to Top Alcohol Dragsters before settling into Funny Cars in 2007. “It definitely has something to do with growing up around it,” she says of her desire to race. Some of her wins carry special memories. “One of the most exciting was in 2004 in Pomona, our home track. I won Top Alcohol Dragster and my dad won in Funny Car. It was the first time a father and daughter won.”

Racing against her father isn’t any different from racing any other driver, she says. “I’m used to it. I just focus on the best I can do.”

Force changed the way he looked at racing in 2007, when one of his drivers, 33-year-old Eric Medlen, succumbed to injuries from a testing accident at Gainesville, Fla. After that tragedy, John Force Racing and Ford Racing formed The Eric Medlen Project, which focused on finding and improving safety innovations for the sport. Since then, a series of safety measures, everything from significant Funny Car chassis modifications to the installation of a crash data recorder on all nitro cars, have been put into place.

Force had no idea that, a few months later, he would benefit from those safety improvements and changes to the basic Funny Car chassis when he crashed in Dallas, resulting in serious injuries and a one-month hospital stay. “I give credit to The Eric Medlen Project for saving my life,” he says.

Five months after his crash, Force was back in a race car. He returned, not only for himself, but also for his fans. “When I had no money [back in the beginning], people would bring sandwiches to the ropes; they would bring a birthday cake on my birthday,” he says. “They never gave up on loving John Force or his daughters or his drivers.”

“The A-Team” was one of my favorite shows as a child,” says Copley, who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. “I had an A-Team gang at school. It was a real part of my childhood.”

When director Joe Carnahan (“Narc,” “Smokin’ Aces”) first spoke with Copley about the part, the actor let him know that he was interested in playing Murdock. “I said to Joe, ‘One of the reasons I want to do this is so you guys don’t screw up my childhood memories,’” Copley says, laughing. “The opportunity to play Murdock was the thing that most attracted me.”

Carnahan says he was a fan of the culture the show created. “People loved this show so much. It was funny and campy. It was unique in its breed. It didn’t take itself seriously.”

When he would ask fans of the show to tell him about their favorite episode, Carnahan found that no one could come up with a specific detail or plot. “People can’t cite stories but they remember the guys in the show,” he says. “The show relied on the charms of the cast. They were the centrifugal force of the show.”

The series, which ran from 1983 to 1987 and became a cult phenomenon, focused on the adventures of four Vietnam War veterans who become soldiers of fortune after being sentenced by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit.

Carnahan knew it would be a challenge to bring “The A-Team” to the big screen because it had been such a larger-than-life hit on television. Despite the difficulty of the task, he jumped at the chance to craft the remake, respecting the original show, but taking the action to a level that suits suits today’s audiences.

“I’ve hung onto the things about the show that were important to me. I feel like we did a nice homage to those things without letting the tail wag the dog,” Carnahan says. “I didn’t want to make this slavishly devoted to

the television show. What would be the point? You could just watch the show. I wanted to move on and tell our own story.”

Carnahan made it a point not to camp up the film or make it tongue-in-cheek. “The greatest strength of this movie, like the television show, is that you love these four guys,” he says. “We knew that we must engage the audience and the four characters were the key to that.”

To create the right mood, the film needed the muscle to jump off the screen in the theater, pulling audiences into the action with a gritty, real-world feel that steps away from the campiness of the television show. Carnahan and his writing partner, Brian Bloom, placed the action in the Middle East, during an impending troop withdrawal, to ramp up the intensity.

During the writing process, the two never lost sight of the show’s humor and team camaraderie, but were intent on making the characters relatable to today’s audiences. The difficult balance of capturing the essence of the original team and contemporizing that was a creative challenge that everyone on the film was eager to take.

At no point did Carnahan want to lose the admiration team members had for each other. Fans of the television show believed that this unlikely foursome really cared for and protected each other. It was that connection between the guys, both emotionally and technically, that made the A-Team a team in its truest sense.

It was important to Carnahan to not only create that same chemistry when casting the four leads in the film but also to give it a fresh, modern feel. He never tried to cast look-alikes in a role. “Beyond a relative age, I wasn’t looking for [exact duplicates],” Carnahan says. “Steve Cannell (who created the original show) was incredible in liberating us to do what we wanted to do with the movie. Not in any way did he restrict us.”

Carnahan’s first task was to cast the pivotal role of Col. John “Hannibal” Smith, originally played by George Peppard. In the story, Hannibal acts as a modern-day Robin Hood, helping the oppressed while attempting to clear the names of his team members. He is the mastermind of the group, leading every mission and using some unorthodox methods to keep his team out of harm’s way.

Carnahan wanted someone with gravitas who had a world-weary, weathered look that said he had “seen it, done it and was better for it.” His choice: Oscar-nominated actor Liam Neeson, who won praise as Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed “Schindler’s List.” His most recent films include “Clash of the Titans” and “After.Life,” both released in 2010.

Neeson’s bravado, integrity and passion made him a natural fit for the role. He was drawn to the script because of the team camaraderie and the fact that Hannibal is a hero people can believe in, someone who would go to any length to save his men.

There was one aspect of Hannibal’s character – his penchant for smoking cigars – that didn’t appeal to Neeson, an ex-smoker, even though he could understand why filmmakers chose to keep that prop in the script. In the film, just as in the television show, Hannibal lights up a cigar when he realizes his plan is moving along smoothly.

The role of Lt. Templeton “Face” Peck, a charming, handsome smooth talker  whose sugar-coated gushing could win the heart of any woman, was given to Bradley Cooper, who starred in last year’s breakout comedy hit “The Hangover.” Cooper also recently starred in “All About Steve” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

“Bradley has been in romantic comedies,” Carnahan says. “He’s never been a suave, tough, gritty action star.”

Cooper’s charm, good looks and likability made him the perfect candidate for the role. Copley found that Cooper’s likability factor in the film was art imitating life. “When Bradley was in a scene with a girl, they would kiss. I hadn’t read that in the script,” he says, laughing. “He ended up kissing a lot of people [none of which] was in the script.”

Carnahan was pleased with Cooper’s passion for the part, noting that he gave every shot “100 percent.” The film gave Cooper a chance to slip into a role that had both humor and action. “We made Face edgier, a more Army kind of operator,” Carnahan says. “He still wears a nice suit, but he’s a nuts and bolts guy.”

Even though he stays fit, Cooper found that he had to “up the ante” for this role, sticking to a stringent diet and a strict exercise routine. To get in shape, Cooper even took an exhausting speed-hike up 2,800 feet of Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain.

When Carnahan approached Copley about the role of Murdock, the actor was eager to play his childhood hero. “I fell in love with Sharlto when I saw him in ‘District 9,’” Carnahan says. “He brought a wonderful, childlike essence to Murdock. When he had to turn it around and be insane, he could do that. He was crazy like a fox.”

In the television show, Murdock had a genius I.Q. – he could complete any task handed to him – but always appeared to be slightly crazy, impersonating everyone from a surgeon to a prince to accomplish the task at hand. “I really related to the playful, crazy Murdoch character and to all of his accents, which I had always done as a child,” Copley says.

He sees the show, which had around 65 million viewers at one time, as “iconic.” “It was just crazy,” he says. “It was a bizarre combination of four guys.”

The issue of whether Murdock was mentally unstable was never resolved on the show. “It won’t be resolved in the film either,” Copley says. “We’ve kept a lot of the original essence of Murdock.” During filming, he got to meet Dwight Schultz, who played Murdock on television. “It was like a dream come true.”

Grasping the various accents Murdock uses was easy for Copley, who has been doing accents and dialects his entire life. “I gave Murdock a non-specific Southern accent as his base voice,” he says. “Once I get [an accent] I will stick to it. I was more concerned with being technically accurate. You can’t be thinking about how to say the line when you’re filming.”

After finishing a scene, Copley would have a dialect professional watch it to make sure the accent or dialect was perfect. There were two or three things that were a bit soft and Copley had the opportunity to go in and correct those words. “If it’s something you can refine, you want to do it during filming,” he says.

Copley enjoyed working with the cast in Vancouver, where the film was shot. “I thought they knocked it out of the park,” he says. “I loved the interactions and the comedic aspects.”

He formed a particularly strong bond with former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who was tapped for the coveted role of B.A. Baracus, played by Mr. T in the original version. In the show, B.A. was a capable driver and mechanic as well as a skilled fighter. His only fear in life: riding in a plane.

“We developed a good friendship and a close bond,” Copley says. “We had a lot of fun with our characters. We both had love and a sacred reverence for what our characters meant to us.”

Casting the role of B.A. was one of Carnahan’s biggest challenges. “Mr. T is a sweet, genuine human being,” he says. “The television show let Mr. T. make B.A. in his image. When you start to mess with that, it gets dodgy. For my money, I wanted to hang onto the essence of the character but not the Mr. T image. We have kept who B.A. was with a nod to Mr. T.” Look for Mr. T’s favorite words, “pity” and “fool,” to show up in the film, as well as his signature Mohawk hairstyle.

When Jackson read for the part, everyone in the room “fell in love with him,” Carnahan says. “He’s the most raw actor in the group, but he is fantastic in his scenes.”

On set, Copley found Jackson to be funny and kindhearted. “That’s not what I was expecting,” he says. “He’s very sweet and playful.”

During filming Copley did find one area where he was tougher than Jackson: swimming in a freezing cold lake. “We had to go under water and come back out,” he recalls. “That’s when I found his weakness, his kryptonite.”

To get the true feel for the camaraderie of the show, Carnahan and the four A-team members hung out socially before shooting began. “I got to see how they would interact,” Carnahan says. “Liam stepped into the role of the father of three adopted sons. It just gelled.”

When it came to creating the action, Carnahan and Bloom went out of their way to add in scenes and plots that they hadn’t seen in the show. “People are going to plunk down their hard-earned $10 so they can be entertained,” Carnahan says. “That is all I want to do, entertain.”

He gave some of the actors the latitude to improvise. “There was a high level of improvisation,” Copley says. “We all had a lot of fun with that.”

Actor Yul Vazquez also had a blast playing Gen. Tuco, the main antagonist in the beginning of the film. Vazquez has appeared in more than 30 films, including “Che,” “The Take,” “Traffic” and “American Gangster.” “Tuco is sort of the catalyst for the A-Team coming together. He’s an unhinged man, apoplectic,” Vazquez explains. “He kidnaps Hannibal and Face and tortures them, which launches the creation of the team.”

Vazquez recalls that he had a “strange fascination with Mr. T” when he used to watch the show. “I used to have Mr. T stickers and a rubber stamp,” he says, adding that after the show went off the air, he was given a Mr. T collectible doll. “I had never seen anything like Mr. T. He was on the cutting edge of a look that is more common today.”

When it comes to directors, Vazquez is a fan of Carnahan’s. “He is one of those great directors who can balance the line between the action and the narrative stories,” he says. “He gives his actors tremendous freedom.”

Vazquez enjoys playing the bad guy in the film. “It’s fun to do,” he says. “You get to do all this crazy stuff in a safe environment. The film has a great deal of stunts and I took a couple of falls on my own.”

In one stunt he had to go up in a helicopter with a skilled stunt pilot. “It’s one of the most exciting things I have ever done,” he says.

To make all of the action scenes realistic, Carnahan had Paul Maurice, an active duty military adviser, work with the cast. “He trained all four members of the team very well,” Carnahan says. “We wanted them to have an ease of use with the weapons and that’s what he gives them. He [gives them the sense] that the weapons are deadly; that they kill people and they require a great deal of respect.”

The cast went through basic and, eventually, advanced levels of weaponry. Copley was pleased with the level of realism the training gave the film. Working with Maurice, who was wounded in Afghanistan, was a sobering opportunity, Copley says. “It brings it close to home.”

Even though the film is just being released this month, Copley is already looking forward to working on the second A-Team film. “This is the origin movie. [It’s not] starting with the characters and dynamics in full gear,” he says. “The second will be about a mission or project. We’ve all contracted to do more films if this one does well.”

Carnahan would love to do a sequel, as well. “I had the best time making this movie with these guys,” he says. “The studio was unbelievably enthusiastic and caring.”

He remembers one moment at the end of the filming schedule as they were shooting a scene on the docks in Vancouver. “It was freezing,” Carnahan says, adding that he likes to play music on set to help energize folks. “I started playing ‘Baba O’Riley’ by The Who and everybody, both actors and crew, started singing that song. It was so fantastic; one of those moments when everybody came together. I felt like people knew we were at the end of the road and everyone was going their separate ways. It was pretty great just to have that moment. It made my day.”

When the film opens, Vazquez hopes fans will feel the same excitement that he and the other actors felt on set. “You’ll put your seat belt on and take that ride. It’s cool.”

“She said, ‘I want a career like Dolly Parton’s,’” Kraft, of Shopkeeper Management, recalls. “I want to perform the material I believe in.”

That type of focus was unusual for an entertainer as young as Lambert, Kraft adds. “A lot of artists have no idea how to answer that. She told me exactly what she wanted, which I thought was impressive.”

It’s no wonder that Lambert, now 26, has carved out her own niche in country music. A three-time Grammy nominee, Lambert says she was shocked to be nominated for the prestigious award again this year. “I didn’t realize anything was eligible for the Grammys,” she says.

She was nominated for Best Female Country Performance for her self-penned song “Dead Flowers.” She shared the nomination with Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Lee Ann Womack and Taylor Swift, who won for the song “White Horse.”

“It was the first time I got nominated for a song,” Lambert says with a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

Lambert released her third album, “Revolution,” on Sept. 29, 2009. She wrote or co-wrote 12 of the album’s 15 tracks. “I think I invested the most emotion on this,” she says. “I stayed on form and focused on what I wanted to say and who I was.”

She likens the album to an entire work of art. “There’s not one song that puts it in a nutshell,” she explains. “Every song was part of a story. Without one song it wouldn’t be a complete picture of me.”

The bubbly, vivacious singer captured the national spotlight in 2003 as a finalist in the first “Nashville Star” television competition. Since then, her popularity has continued to soar. She received the 2008 Academy of Country Music’s Album of the Year Award for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” in addition to the AMC’s 2007 Top New Female Vocalist Award and the 2005 ACM Cover Girl Fresh Face of Country Music Award.

A spitfire on stage, Lambert grew up in a small town in east Texas, adopting the state’s don’t-mess-with-Texas attitude. Her onstage bad-ass persona doesn’t reflect the total picture, however. Offstage, Lambert has a sweet, girly side, which came through in her first ballad, “More Like Her.” Lambert likes what the song conveys because it shows her more vulnerable side. “I think it’s important to bring that element in,” she says.

Lambert believes that at first some people were boxing her into a corner by thinking of her as “a tomboy, crazy girl with a shotgun.” “I have so much more to say,” she reflects. “I want people to hear what else I have to say and to see that softer side.”

It’s that softer side that fans see when the blond beauty walks the red carpet. This year, she wore a flowing blue gown to the Grammy Awards although she admits to a fondness for pink. “I do enjoy the red carpet,” she says. “It’s great because it’s not every day. However, I still like jeans, T-shirts and boots.”

Her penchant for songwriting was a natural progression. She remembers that she wrote her first song after her father, also a singer/songwriter, taught her a few guitar chords. The songwriting process gives her a sense of self-awareness and helps her find her way as an artist. “[My songs] are who I am,” she says.

When she was in high school, Lambert realized there wasn’t an outlet for singers. She wrote a letter to the school’s administration advocating some type of music program. A program was approved. “I thought it was really important,” she says. “It cultivates people’s dreams.”

Lambert was only 17 when she started her own band. Two years later, she was in Nashville, starting to build her career, slowly and methodically. “We had to get enough records sold so we could play in arenas and get her out on big tours,” Kraft says, noting that those big tours included Keith Urban, George Strait and Brad Paisley. “Those are big stars. She looks at how they work the stage and the crowd and adjusts that [to her performance].”

When it comes to her career and the songs she sings, Lambert doesn’t hand over control. “That’s not an option,” she says. “I know who I am and what I have to say and I don’t feel like I could sing what I don’t believe in.”

It was that kind of attitude that probably raised eyebrows when she walked into a meeting early in her career with a major record label. “I told them this is who I am and what I do,” she recalls. “If you don’t like it, I can go back to playing bars.”

She was out to set an example, she adds. “I didn’t want to just sell out for success.”

Kraft believes that Lambert has come into her own in the last two years. She’s moved from a naive industry newbie who didn’t understand there was “a lot of business and a little music” to the music industry to a savvy businesswoman. “There are about 25 people making a living because of Miranda,” Kraft says. “She is running her own company.”

Her musicians are on full-time salaries, an oddity in the world of music. “They don’t get paid per show, so they know they have as secure a job as you can have in the music industry,” Kraft says.

Lambert’s friendly personality and humble nature endear her to everyone she works with. “Miranda is very inclusive,” Kraft says. “She can put together a group of people that are a team; that work well together. They like one another and that comes from Miranda.”

Kraft recalls that someone once used the standard Hollywood line “Have your people call my people” in a conversation with Lambert. “Miranda answered with ‘We are our own people, we don’t have people,’” Kraft says.

Family means a great deal to Lambert, both at work and at home. Her parents head up the merchandise portion of her business and her mother serves as the president of her fan club. Her 21-year-old brother, Luke, built her Web site and accompanied her to this year’s Grammy Awards. “She wanted him to experience what that was like,” Kraft says.

Over the years, Lambert has grown as an entertainer and a person. “She’s really learned a lot of skills,” Kraft says. If there’s one thing that Kraft has learned during her association with the singer, it’s that Lambert doesn’t lie. “That’s the one thing I know for sure about her. She had a good upbringing. She said her parents would be able to see that she was lying when she was a teen so she gave it up.”

Kraft has also seen the warm, caring side of Lambert. At the end of the night after a big show, Kraft usually gets a text from Lambert thanking her. “She thinks of others a lot,” Kraft says.

Lambert stays on the road most of the time. When she does get a break from touring, she settles into her farm in Oklahoma. Lambert, who grew up on a farm, is comfortable with a more simplistic lifestyle. Her farm includes a variety of animals – pot-bellied pigs, miniature horses, dogs, cats, goats and chickens. “I’m thinking about getting a llama or alpaca,” she says. “People ask me why an alpaca. I tell them it’s the same thing as a dog. There is no purpose; I just like them.”

Her love for animals extends to her MuttNation Foundation, which helps abused and neglected animals across the country. “Miranda is known for picking up strays,” Kraft says, adding that the singer travels with two of her dogs: Delilah, from a shelter, and Delta Dawn, who had been abandoned. For the past two years, Lambert has hosted a Cause for the Paws concert as a fundraiser. “I want to build MuttNation nationwide,” she says.

Lambert’s farm is in close proximity to Blake Shelton’s home. The two have been a couple since they co-headlined a tour in 2008. “I’ve always thought that Blake is one of the greatest artists in country music and he brings such a dynamic presence to his performances,” Lambert says. “Anytime you play with a great artist it makes you strive to be even better.”

The two collaborated on a couple of songs on Lambert’s latest album. Her newest single, “The House That Built Me,” from that album was released in March. “We have different tastes in music,” Lambert says. “He put his creativity aside and came to my side on what I wanted to say and represent. We got to know each other better.”

Lambert admits that Shelton and her father are similar in some ways. Both love music, hunting and the outdoors. “Redneck,” she says, laughing. “I ended up with a guy like my dad.”

Lambert believes that friendship is an important component of a relationship. She and Shelton, she says, are “really good friends.” “That’s important, especially if you are apart as much as we are. We have a lot in common and that helps.”

Today, Lambert’s life has more balance than it did when she moved to Nashville seven years ago. This year, she will be headlining her own “Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars” tour. “It’s time to step out and get my own feet,” she says.

She’s also going to carve out some time at home. “For a while I didn’t have a lot outside of work,” she says. “Last summer I wasn’t home as much as I would like to be, but hopefully this year I’ll have a good balance. I love to be on the road, but I have to recharge.”

“I was so proud,” he reflects. “I was so happy she made the United States team.”

Jessica Mendoza has given her parents many proud moments over her lifetime. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver at the 2008 Olympic Ggames in Beijing, China. She is also a two-time Pan American gold medalist and a two-time World Cup champion. In 2006, she was named as the USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year.

A member of the U.S. women’s national softball team and an analyst for ESPN, Mendoza is also a board member of the National Education Association Foundation, president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and athlete ambassador for Team Darfur and Right to Play to help children in Africa.

Mendoza started playing baseball when she was 7 years old under the watchful eye of her father. “I grew up on the baseball field,” she says. “I played baseball first and then switched to softball.”

Gil Mendoza helped his daughter learn the nuances of the game. “I wanted to make her aware of all the things going on on the field,” he says. “I have been a college baseball coach and I coached my men like I coached her.”

Mendoza was not only a quick study but also a quick-footed player. “She was so fast. She was like a little bomb,” her father remembers. “She was like a lion locked up. When you open the door, she was wild.”

Karen Mendoza was also aware of her daughter’s pent-up energy. “She was a super hyperactive kid,” she says. “We had to divert her energy into something positive.”

That something positive was sports. When she was 5, Mendoza was playing t-ball with the boys in the neighborhood. “She was a tomboy,” her mom says. “The few times I forced her to put on a dress, she threw a tizzy fit.”

Mendoza has been playing softball non-stop since the age of 12. “I didn’t take a break until I had my baby when I was 28,” she says.

At first, her father concentrated on teaching Mendoza and her sister how to bunt. His focus quickly changed when he saw Mendoza hit a home run out of the park. “I discovered she could really hit the ball,” he says. She proved her ability to the world when she led her team in batting average on the Bound for Beijing Tour leading to the 2008 Olympics.

By the time Mendoza enrolled in Stanford University, she had already been recognized as an all-star. John Rittman, who served as head coach at Stanford and also national team assistant coach from 2001 to 2008, started watching Mendoza’s talent when she was a sophomore in high school. “I knew she was a gifted athlete,” he says. “I knew she would be a gifted player one day.”

Mendoza displayed a good work ethic, he adds. “That, coupled with her determination and drive to become better, is what separated her [from other players]. During her freshman year, you would never see her without having her uniform on. She was always going to or coming from practice.”

She knew she had to become a whiz at time management in order to juggle classes with conditioning practices and weight lifting. That’s when all of that pent-up energy her mother had worried about proved beneficial. “I have never been one to sit around,” she says. “I’ve always been go, go, go.”

Rittman could see her determination. “When she got to Stanford, she wanted to explore everything,” he says. “She continually has a full plate. She’s been able to balance that her whole career.”

During college, Mendoza practiced, conditioned or both five days a week. Going into the Olympics, she had daily workouts. “There wasn’t much time for time off,” she says.

She spent countless hours honing her skills, building up her strength and endurance. It all paid off when the athletic world took notice. In 1999, she was named PAC 10 Newcomer of the Year. The following year she was the conference’s PAC 10 Player of the Year.

Mendoza’s skills improved once again when she moved to the U.S. national team. “She has continued to get better every year that she has been in that program,” Rittman says. “She has great speed and a great arm. She’s a great defensive player. She’s a player that has all the skills.”

She may be no-nonsense during a game, but when she’s off the field, Mendoza is happy and fun-loving. “She’s extremely intelligent, but at the same time has a goofy side to her,” observes Rittman. “She enjoys getting the most out of life.”

Mendoza never lets her accomplishments define her. She remains humble and team-motivated. “She has strong core values,” Rittman says. “She’s never had a big head. She’s always looking out for the best for her teammates. As a coach, you have to pinch yourself [when you have a player like Jessica]. You enjoy each day with them.”

Appearing in the Olympics was an amazing experience for Mendoza, both personally and professionally. She quickly realized that being passionate about a sport is one thing; being passionate about your country is a far greater responsibility. “You don’t realize that until you get to the Olympics and meet other athletes from around the world,” she says. “There is this great sense of pride. Winning was the icing on the cake.”

She used her Olympic experience as an opportunity to learn about the politics and cultures of different countries. “There are a lot of countries where women don’t have the right to play sports,” she says. “We take that for granted.”

Even though the Olympics present a special type of pressure, Mendoza felt there was more emotion attached to being in the games than stress. “There are so many more people paying attention – the crowd chanting “U.S.A.,” people at home watching – and a heightening of pride,” she says. “That’s the hardest part, trying to control all of that. You can’t play softball with emotion. You have to be relaxed to be able to hit and move.”

Adam Burks, Mendoza’s husband, has never doubted his wife’s confidence in her abilities. “She’s dedicated, passionate, gracious and hard working,” he says.

After the birth of their son, Caleb, last August, Mendoza easily moved back into a schedule that included softball clinics, speaking events and training. When she travels, her son goes with her. “Caleb has his own passport,” she says. “He’s already accustomed to traveling.” Burks is in awe of her ability to balance family and work while also helping others. “It’s incredible,” he says.

Mendoza tried out for the U.S. national team in early 2010, only four months after Caleb’s birth. Her tryouts were memorable. “After a year layoff from softball and having our boy four months earlier, her first at-bat at the tryout she hit a homerun,” Burks says. “That was a great moment.”

Her celebrity status doesn’t faze her, he adds. “She’s the same person today as the person I met six years ago. I am so proud of her because of the person she is and the difference she is making in so many people’s lives.”

Mendoza’s compassion for mankind is another part of her life that brings tears to her father’s eyes. “She goes into deprived areas and donates her time to kids who are not as fortunate as she was,” he says.

Her mom sees her as a positive role model for young girls. “Jessica is trying to make positive changes,” she says. “When she gives clinics, all the girls are sitting there and you can hear a pin drop. They are all focused on what she has to say. I’m amazed at how she can connect with people.”

Yolanda Jackson, senior director of athlete marketing and promotions at the Women’s Sports Foundation, believes that Mendoza has been a role model for most of her life. “She is a living example of an athlete who can do it all,” she says. “She is the 2004 recipient of the Yolanda I. Jackson Give Back Award, which was created by Billie Jean King in 2001 and is awarded to an athlete who has consistently given back to the foundation in support of its mission and goals. As our president, [Mendoza­­­] is the face and voice of the organization.”

Mendoza got involved in the Women’s Sports Foundation to help young girls recognize both the physical and social benefits of sports. “It gives them confidence and helps them feel good about their bodies,” she says. “We are trying to create more positive role models so we can get girls active and happy.”

She likes the fact that women’s softball highlights real women who have diverse body types and come from diverse groups. These women enjoy the game for its essence, not for a million-dollar paycheck.

She’s saddened that softball won’t be played in the 2012 Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee made the decision to eliminate the sport in 2005, creating a setback for women athletes. “For me it’s so disheartening,” Mendoza says. “The Olympics is something you work for every day of your life. That’s what makes it so beautiful. It made no sense why softball couldn’t be a part of that.”

The notoriety Mendoza has gleaned from the sport and her Olympic participation has allowed her to reach out to more people in need. It’s not so much about the accomplishments an athlete makes, but more about the path an athlete takes to “pass the torch.” “I have been blessed,” Mendoza says.

“They brought rock ’n’ roll back to its core,” says Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and chief curator at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. “They brought it back to the blues. They are three tremendous musicians.”

Strip away the beards, the sunglasses and the rock ’n’roll persona and what do you have? Three fun-loving, blues-based Texans who are out for the ride of a lifetime.

“What you see on stage is what they are in real life. The two have merged,” observes Bob Merlis, the band’s spokesman for more than 30 years. “They have become the persona they are on stage because they have lived it for so long. They have a great sense of humor in their presentation and commentary as well as in their songs.”

The chest-length beards that give the group its special look have a purpose, according to the band’s front man, Billy F. Gibbons. “This may come as a shock, but we’re not as cute and kissy as some of the boy bands out there,” he jokes. “Keeping things under wraps brought on a splendid excuse for mastering laziness.”

In reality the beards weren’t part of any master plan. They took hold during the band’s three-year hiatus in the late 1970s. “While we were on that infamous lengthy break, the chin whiskers sprouted quite independently,” Gibbons says. “When the break concluded, notes were compared and the realization that our chin whiskers had grown totally out of hand [was acknowledged]. It figured as a good idea to keep ’em and that’s more or less the way it’s been ever since.”

Guitarist Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard (who doesn’t sport a beard because, as Gibbons puts it, having the last name Beard doesn’t compel one to “wear the name on the chin”) are now in their fourth decade of music. The original trio has remained intact since 1969, something no other major band can claim.

ZZ Top is legendary in the music industry. The band was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2004. Band members were named Official Heroes of the State of Texas in 1986, and on May 4, 1991, Gov. Ann Richards declared the day ZZ Top Day in Texas.

The band reached the 50 million-records-sold point in 1990. Their “Eliminator” album achieved the Recording Industry Association of America’s Diamond status – they were in the first group of artists that received the award – with domestic sales in excess of 10 million units. Their lyrics, which are often gritty and tongue-in-cheek, may be simplistic but their songs are epic. Tunes such as “La Grange,” “Legs,” “Tush,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man” still spawn new generations of fans.

ZZ Top dates back to 1969, when Gibbons was in search of a new musical venture: a band with a great rhythm section. Gibbons had been playing with the band The Moving Sidewalks. Hill and Beard had been with their own band, American Blues. The three Texans got together and the rest is, as they say, history.

All three drew their musical inspiration from artists such as Little Richard, James Brown and Ray Charles, creating an instant and strong camaraderie. “It was rock ’n’ roll kismet and now, marking the fourth decade of doing this, it’s clear the stars aligned for this terrifying trio,” Gibbons says.

Gibbons, who hails from Houston, caught the blues bug when he was a youngster. “Our housekeeper inundated the house in loud R&B radio music – blues musicians and singers such as Jimmy Reed, Bobby Blue Bland and Lightnin’ Hopkins – and, from way early on, there were them bad, bad blues,” he says, adding that he was also influenced by an outing with his little sister. “We got to see Elvis in Houston with our mom. That certainly made that hard-lasting impression, to say the least.”

He became interested in the electric guitar because he felt it “was the requirement to go from bystander to byproduct of the eccentricity of electricity in the rock ’n’roll world.” His first electric guitar, a 1963 Gibson Melody Maker, was a Christmas present, received just nine days after his 13th birthday. “That changed his life,” says Merlis.

Gibbons has never gotten rid of a guitar since that first one. “He sold his first guitar early on for a better one,” Merlis explains. “Almost 47 years to the day, the neighbor who bought it appeared at a book signing for Billy’s book, ‘Rock + Roll Gearhead.’ He told Billy he still had the guitar. They stayed in touch and he loaned it back to Billy who played it at the Roxy in Los Angeles in 2009.”

One of Gibbons’ early musical influences was Jimi Hendrix – Gibbons opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968 before ZZ Top was formed. “That was mind-blowing,” he says. According to Internet reports, Hendrix referred to Gibbons as his “favorite guitar player” on late-night television.

Like any new band, the trio had to come up with a name for the group. Gibbons explains their unorthodox selection process. “We kept toying with names and were totally addicted with the name and recordings of some great blues men. Then of course there were Zig Zag and TOP rolling papers, and … and …”

ZZ Top grabbed the industry’s attention with its third album, “Tres Hombres,” their first gold album. One of its tracks, “La Grange,” a boot-tapping gritty ditty about a particular chicken ranch featured in the film “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas,” shot up the charts.

In 1975, the group began a year-and-a-half worldwide tour that Gibbons describes as “play, travel, play, travel, repeat a few hundred times.” City identities blurred together during the grueling schedule. “It’s going from dressing room to the stage and that’s almost all there is,” Gibbons explains. “The endless exacting surroundings of Holiday Inn made for seamless stumbling into closets and cantinas. Rock on!”

ZZ Top continued to rack up the hits. Two of their most popular tunes, “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man,” were tracks from the “Eliminator” album, which had a different, more engineered feel musically than previous albums. “There were new contraptions to hammer on and seeing how they could meld modern electronics with down-home blues, well, it provided a powerful point,” Gibbons explains. “It seems like the combination was a winning one in light of the fact that the recording sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone. It’s still a powerful reference point for excursions into the experimental unknown, a bluesy unknown at that.”

Onstage, the band made a statement with their unique style and props, everything from cactus to cattle. While they may appear to be “party hearty” rockers, and yes, they have had a good ol’ time over the years, that “bad boy, hell raising” persona is just that, a glorified persona. “Ah, yeah … TVs out the window … betting on the calculated bounce factor,” Gibbons kids. “And, of course, the never-ending late-night outings to experience local music at the first hint of the rarity of ‘time off’ and tucking into bed … wondering if it’s beards on top of the covers or …”

Over the years, Merlis has never seen any members of the group let their celebrity status go to their heads. “They have handled success very well,” he observes. “They don’t have that attitude that some have; that superiority complex. They feel they are equals to the people that come to see them and buy their records. They really are just folks.”

Band members are happy to stop and sign an autograph or have their picture taken with a fan, if they have the time. “They have a really good work ethic,” Merlis says. “Their job is to be ZZ Top.”

Forty years of music means 40 years of dealing with one another, something many married couples can’t do successfully. Are there any secrets we could learn from ZZ Top about working together and remaining friends? “No secret really,” Gibbons says. “It’s a groove getting to do what we do.”

There could be mayhem, however, if someone was to take off with Beard’s stash of the soft drink Tab, one of Beard’s perks of stardom. “Frank and I are the last people in the world that drink Tab,” Merlis says. “Whenever I see them on the road I covet his Tabs. He’s always nervous he will run out.”

During its career the band has had its share of memories, some memorable, some the band would like to forget. “I would probably like to forget the gig early on when a single paying customer, only one single paying customer, showed up,” Gibbons says. “All in all it was a groundbreaking show and the crowning moment was buying the guy a Coke afterward. Still know that cat! He’s at all the gigs to this day.”

One of the band’s defining moments came in the mid-1980s when they appeared on the MTV Awards and the entire audience dawned beards. Their proudest moment, career-wise, happened when they were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by their friend Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. “It was a great time that night,” Gibbons says. “It kind of recounts the extraordinary ongoing opportunity to bring the blues to a great number of people – and get paid!”

ZZ Top is now part of the “Legends of Rock and Roll” exhibit at the Hall of Fame and Museum. The exhibit includes everything from Beard’s “Sasquatch” (think white fuzzy fur) drum set from the band’s 1986 video “Sleeping Bag” and “Yunker,” a guitar crafted from metal pieces used in the 1986 “Rough Boy” video to three stage outfits from the Afterburner tour and the band’s 1933 Red Ford Eliminator car, featured on the cover of the “Eliminator” album.

Henke of the Hall of Fame talked to Gibbons in 1994 about donating some of the band’s items to the museum. “He invited me to go to Texas and go through the band’s warehouse where they had their guitars, props and clothing,” he says. “I picked out what I wanted. We’ve had something from ZZ Top on exhibit since we opened in 1995.”

In the past, ZZ Top has used its celebrity status to help preserve the history of the blues. In 1998 the band contributed to the formation of the Delta Blues Museum in the Mississippi Delta on Highway 61. “It was a real thrill to support it back then and it still is,” Gibbons says. His guitar, “Muddywood,” was born in the Delta after a huge cypress timber had fallen to the ground during a tornado. Curators of the museum gifted it as a keepsake of Muddy Waters’ childhood home. Waters, known as the Father of the Chicago Blues, was born and raised in Mississippi.

“The idea soon struck to use that very timber as the basis for an electric guitar, commissioned and built in Memphis and returned to the Delta,” Gibbons explains. “It became an iconic instrument and actually went on tour on its own and became a centerpiece for fundraising efforts for the Delta Blues Museum. Muddy’s house giveth and giveth.”

When ZZ Top is not performing, each band member has his own pastime. Beard is an avid golfer, Hill is a gearhead, into gadgets and electronics, and Gibbons is a collector of African art, guitars and custom cars and motorcycles.

“Billy is a very interesting individual. He can be very introspective,” says George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. “He’s very intellectual, educated and sophisticated. He knows a lot about numerous topics. When he learns about new things, he goes into depth.”

Gruhn has been selling vintage guitars to Gibbons since 1970. “Over the years Billy has bought more than 100 guitars from me,” he says. “He also bought a custom-designed Gruhn Guitar.”

Gruhn admits that Gibbons can be quirky. “He’s very conscious of his image, both on and off stage,” he says. “But I can assure you there is very little that he does that he is unaware of. He ain’t clueless. In fact, he’s highly knowledgeable.”

When it comes to cars, motorcycles and guitars, Gibbons has “somewhere north of one too many and a hundred ain’t enough,” he says. His favorite guitar: “Pearly Gates.” “It’s a mysteriously mad 1959 Les Paul Gibson that sounds like no other,” Gibbons says.

The Gibson was Gibbons’ signature trademark for several years. Today, his on-stage guitars are visually flashy, often with unique shapes and distinctive coverings – think fur – and special effects – think flames. “What he realized was that playing an original vintage guitar on stage didn’t have a psychological impact on the audience,” Gruhn says, noting that manufacturers often make copies of the originals, giving them less prestige. “It’s no longer easy to impress the audience with some rare, vintage instrument with all the replicas that are readily available.”

Gibbons’ Mexican Blackbird, named after one of the band’s early songs, is his current favorite car. “It’s a wonderful ’58 Thunderbird custom, spirited for any kind of all-day-long abuse,” he says. “It shipped out to Japan recently for the famed annual Mooneyes gathering and before its triumphant return, it caused a sensation … yet … now back on the asphalt, it demands a down-home, lean-and-mean, cross-country shakedown. Let’s roll!”

Even though each has ceremoniously passed the age-50 mark, band members are still touring four to six months out of the year. They’ve played all around the world, from Bulgaria to Macedonia. This spring and summer they will play Chile and Brazil along with some dates in the United States.

Gibbons sees the band’s success as a “trio’s tanglings that certainly clicked.” “[It’s] just the simplistic concentration on what’s best,” he says. “After all this time, same three guys … same three chords.”

“That was the night she was discovered,” Chapman recalls. “There were some folks from Warner Bros. [record label] there. A couple of weeks later she was signed to Warner Bros. I’ve watched her career develop since then.”

Regarded as one of the reigning queens of country music, Hill has sold more than 30 million records worldwide during her 15-year career. She’s racked up 13 No. 1 singles and 20 No. 1 videos. She’s a five-time Grammy Award winner who also has a slew of Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, American Music and People’s Choice awards. She earned the spot of being the only female artist in history to have three albums – “Breathe,” “Cry” and “Fireflies” – debut consecutively at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Pop Album Chart and Country Chart.

Her television credits include several network television specials and guest spots. In 2004, she made her big-screen debut in Paramount Pictures’ remake of “The Stepford Wives.” Football fans know her as the voice for Sunday night football. A football fan herself, Hill sang “America the Beautiful” at the 2009 Super Bowl and the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.

Hill started a new chapter of her career in 2009, when she introduced Faith Hill Parfums, released by Coty.

Chapman, who has penned songs for everyone from Bette Midler and Elton John to Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, wrote “Free,” “All Comes Down to Love” and “This Kiss,” one of Hill’s most memorable mega-hits.

“I wrote ‘This Kiss’ with Robin Lerner and Annie Roboff,” Chapman says. “When we finished we thought it was a pop song so we demoed it with an R&B track.”

The trio pitched the song around and nothing happened. “About a year later Annie heard that Hill was recording,” Chapman says. “We went back and put a country twang on it and changed from keyboard to acoustic guitar. It went to Faith and she cut it quickly.”

The success achieved by “This Kiss” is something that a songwriter dreams about, Chapman says. “You can have a great song and a great singer and not a great record but this was the right song, the right singer and the right moment in time. All the timing was beautiful.”

Chapman sees Hill as an “amazing presence” in the music world but also appreciates Hill’s intelligence and natural demeanor. “She’s a sweetheart,” she says. “If you see her in the mall with her kids, she’s usually wearing a baseball hat, T-shirt and has no makeup on. You would walk right by her. She doesn’t wear her glamour on her sleeve.”

Hill, 42, grew up in Star, Miss., with her adoptive parents, Pat and Edna Perry. Like many youngsters growing up in the South, Hill sang in the Baptist church her family attended. She began playing the guitar and at 16 started a country band. Three years later, she decided to follow her dream and move to Nashville. Her first jobs, everything from selling T-shirts to working as a receptionist, revolved around the music industry.

At the age of 20, Hill (then Faith Perry) married Dan Hill – the two divorced in 1994. Her record deal with Warner Bros. after she sang at the Bluebird Cafe led to her 1993 debut single “Wild One,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and remained in that position for a month.

The early 1990s, when Hill was making a name for herself, was a boom period for country music. “There were a lot of young singers coming onto the scene,” says Michael McCall, writer/editor for the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville. “Faith had a hit right away. It was one of the big starts of the year.”

Hill took country music to a new level, says singer/songwriter Gretchen Peters, who wrote “The Secret of Life,” a top-five hit for Hill. “I don’t know if people really remember the struggle that women country artists had to go through,” she says. “Faith had a mountain to climb and she proved to a lot of doubters that she could take it to another level.”

Peters recalls the time when radio stations would play only one song from a female artist per hour. “Faith sought out songs that speak to women,” Peters says. “She looks at her audience as an extension of herself. One reason she could break the glass ceiling is because she was a woman singing to women.”

Her song “The Secret of Life” appeared on Hill’s “Faith” album. The singer/songwriter says it didn’t occur to her to pitch the song to Hill. “It was such a quirky song,” she says. “It made sense to me once I heard [the album]. I was thrilled. I never anticipated it being a single or a hit.”

The song proved by its success, she adds, that women don’t have to sing only love songs. “That’s one of the things that I really appreciate about Faith recording ‘The Secret of Life.’ In a very subtle way she moved the marker by recording that kind of message.”

By the time Hill met her husband, Tim McGraw, she had racked up four No. 1 country singles and had sold more than 3 million copies of each of her first two albums. She was tapped as Top New Female Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards and named Female Star of Tomorrow by TNN/Music City News.

The two met on the aptly titled Spontaneous Combustion Tour in 1996. McGraw popped the question during the tour prior to going on stage one night. In an interview with People magazine, Hill said she wrote “Yes on a mirror in his trailer while he was performing onstage.”

The couple married that same year. “She and Tim had a magical romance and that was part of the story she had,” McCall says. “They quickly grew to be major stars of their time.” In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked them fourth on a list of Hollywood’s top-earning couples, bringing in $35 million.

Hill’s crossover success blossomed when she released her third album, “Faith,” which included “This Kiss.” Hill has always had a knack for finding material that suits her, observes writer Craig Shelburne of CMT.com. “It’s hard to think of anybody else singing ‘Breathe,’” he says. “She is one of the strongest ballad singers in country music in the last 10 years.”

In Shelburne’s 2007 article titled “Faith Hill Finds Perfect Timing” for The Hits, Hill said she started being instantly recognizable after “This Kiss.” “With ‘Breathe,’ it was grander for us,” she told Shelburne. “It was much broader, and that was an exciting ride. It was fast-paced. Everything was happening so quickly.”

Shelburne found Hill to be very down-to-earth during their interview. “She had come to the Top 20 Countdown and we sat in the green room and talked. There were no [celebrity] handlers. She was charming and friendly,” he says. “It was kind of overwhelming because of her presence in country music.”

Hill’s calming composure helped set the tone of the interview. “She would talk to you like you were on her front porch,” Shelburne recalls. “She has a gift for making you feel comfortable, which made the interview really easy.”

When it comes to living in Nashville, she is once again comfortable in her surroundings. “She keeps a pretty low profile for someone who is as big a star as her,” McCall says. “[She and Tim] are homebodies when they are home.”

The family moved into their new home in Franklin, Tenn., late last year. Hill appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” shortly thereafter, talking about decorating their home with items she had collected in her travels.

Peters first met Hill and her family during the taping of a prime-time holiday special in 2004. “She did something I will never forget,” Peters says. “She invited all the songwriters to be guests on the show. That is pretty much never heard of. She did versions of songs with the songwriters. For her to bring everybody together and make a big deal of that it was quite a gesture.”

At the show, Hill was a “doll,” Peters adds. “It was like she was hosting a big party.”

Peters recalls that everyone had to sit on awkward, uncomfortable stools. “We were taping all day long. It was a grueling schedule. She was worried about everybody being comfortable.”

McGraw and the couple’s three daughters – Gracie, Maggie and Audrey – were in the studio. “One thing that made an impression on me was that Tim and the girls were hanging out with everybody,” Peters says. “There was no sense of separation or isolating anyone. It was a lot of fun.”

Family is a huge component of Hill’s life. She makes sure that her work schedule doesn’t conflict with her daughters’ school schedules. At home, life is typical. Family time is just that. There are no frills, just togetherness.

It’s that strong connection to family that singer/songwriter Lori McKenna, a mother of five, can relate to. Hill has recorded four of McKenna’s songs, including “Fireflies,” the title track of Hill’s 2005 release of the same name. McKenna wrote the song as a reminder that when you believe, anything is possible. She was at home in Boston when she got the call from a publisher in Nashville that Hill wanted to record the song.

McKenna, like Peters, met Hill during the taping of the holiday show in 2004. “That show was an example of how Faith showcases her writers,” McKenna says. “She makes a huge effort to make sure everyone knows who wrote the song.”

McKenna also appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with Hill and snagged a record deal with Warner Bros. Nashville. “If Faith hadn’t championed my music, I wouldn’t have gotten the record deal,” McKenna says.

She describes Hill as a “regular mom and wife.” “She’s a sweet person. She sent me a beautiful handwritten note after she recorded the songs, along with a beautiful guitar,” McKenna says. “She said she loved the songs and identified with what I wrote.”

In 2007, Hill surprised McKenna, who was singing at a Nashville club, 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill, by singing harmony on one of McKenna’s songs. “She’s done that a couple of times,” McKenna says. “Almost every time I play in Nashville she and Tim will come up to support me.”

McKenna toured with the couple on their Soul2Soul Tour in 2007. One of the last shows of the tour was in Las Vegas. “During the pre-show one of her road managers said I should sing a song during the pre-show. I did and Faith heard me and ran out and sang with me. She will do something like to be part of a moment,” McKenna says.

When it comes to family, she and Hill have similar mom roles. “When I have been backstage or to Faith’s house, the kids have chores. They do what other kids do. Faith and Tim are as hands-on as parents as you get,” she says. “They have made a big conscious effort that their kids wouldn’t grow up feeling that they are better than anyone else. They have good morals and good values.”

McGraw and Hill are a remarkable couple, she adds. “You can definitely tell they have a lot more in common than a lot of couples. They understand each other’s language no matter what they are talking about. They have an amazing way of communicating.”

On tour, the two would end each show with the ballad “I Need You” sitting on a chair holding each other’s knees. “That’s a level of love and dedication,” McKenna says.

Hill has made a lasting impression on McKenna and her family. “She is one of those people that make you want to be a better person,” McKenna says. “She’s been a huge blessing to me and my family. I’m so thankful for her to be part of my life.”

“She had a grin so big and so wide that it was laughable,” Smith recalls. “You could see all of a sudden she was beaming and ready for the women’s hockey world. It was ‘Here I come, so watch out.’ She never looked back. She’s always kept that grin.”

Flash forward to the present. Ruggiero, now 30 and a three-time Olympic medalist, is once again hitting the ice, competing this month with the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team in Vancouver for a medal in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The seasoned veteran is considered to be one of the greats in the history of women’s ice hockey. Her many awards and accomplishments set a high standard for future players.

In 2003, The Hockey News voted her the Best Female Hockey Player in the World. A year later, ESPN.com ranked her as one of the Top 16 Female Athletes in the World.

At the 1998 Olympic Games she and her team won gold. In the 2002 games, they scored a silver medal, and in 2006, a bronze. In addition, Ruggiero was tapped for the Top Defenseman Award at the Winter Olympics in 2002 and 2006. She received the same award for the 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008 World Championships. The list goes on and on.

Ruggiero’s passion for ice hockey started at the age of 7 when her father signed her and her younger brother, Bill, up for the sport. Ruggiero’s sister also played for two years. “It was a good outlet for us to be together as a family,” she says.

It didn’t take her long to realize how much fun she was having on the ice. “It was super fast,” she says. “You are just gliding across the ice.”

What didn’t dawn on her was the fact that area youth ice hockey teams were dominated by boys who weren’t thrilled with the notion of having a girl on their team. Participating in the sport was often a struggle. “There were a lot of boys on other teams and parents saying ‘Get off the ice’ or not picking me,” she recalls. “You remember that kind of thing. That motivated me to work harder, not to give up.”

Ruggiero’s resolve is legendary. Smith, who coached her in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Olympics, knew when he laid eyes on her in 1995 that “she was something special.”

“She’s well focused on the ice,” he says. “She’s an outstanding athlete, a physically imposing type of player. She’s hard nosed and very talented. She is one of the top two or three players in her sport at her position.”

Not daunted by the temporary obstacles, Ruggiero continued playing ice hockey throughout high school and college. During her senior year in high school at Choate Rosemary Hall, she was picked to be a member of the 1998 U.S. Olympic hockey team, which won a gold medal in Japan. It was the first women’s ice hockey game to be played in the Olympics. “I had the coolest senior year possible,” observes Ruggiero. “To have the opportunity to graduate with my class and represent America in the first-ever Olympics for women’s ice hockey and also be the youngest member of the team, I couldn’t have scripted it better.”

Ruggiero continued her winning streak at Harvard with a team medal in the 2002 Olympics. She also captured a number of major awards, including the 2004 NCAA Top VIII award as one of the top eight student-athletes in the NCAA and the 2004 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best college hockey player. As if that wasn’t enough, she graduated cum laude from the prestigious Ivy League school.

She admits she was intimidated by Harvard at first but quickly “fell in love” with the school and the people on her hockey team. “I thought it would be the perfect fit for me,” she says. “It was one of the best decisions of my life.”

Her brutal schedule forced her to become an expert at time management. “You have to learn to discipline yourself,” she says. “When I applied myself, I could get good grades and that allowed me to realize where my potential was.”

The year 2005 was a special one for her. She scored the tournament-winning goal at the Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship and played in a professional hockey game with her brother, giving her the distinction of being the first female non-goalie and the first brother-sister team to play in a North American men’s professional hockey game.

Her male teammates, she says, treated her like one of the guys. “At first they tried to see if I could hang with them but it quickly occurred to them that I could play hockey. It helped to have my brother out there. He’s a big supporter of mine and I am a big supporter of his. He’s the one that got the team to invite me down.”

Hockey is hockey, she adds. “It’s like training for the Olympics. You are not thinking you are female, just that you play hockey.”

Ruggiero’s determination is as strong as her physical and mental discipline when she steps on the ice. “You have to be fully in the moment,” she explains. “You are definitely not supposed to think about consequences. You have to work hard and use all the skills you have.”

An elite athlete like Ruggiero doesn’t think about the situation. She just responds. “The second you get into your own head and start thinking, you are defeating yourself as an athlete,” she says. “You have to just be there performing.”

Michele Amidon, USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey and a former teammate of Ruggiero’s, sees her as “a force to reckon with on the ice.”

“Luckily she is on our side,” Amidon says with a laugh. “You don’t want to be on the end of one of Angela’s hits. She’s a very aggressive player on the ice. She is solid and sturdy.”

Off the ice is different. Ruggiero is extremely personable and open. “She can draw you in immediately,” Amidon says. “She’s easy to speak to and she’s not shy in front of the cameras.”

Fans of Season 6 of NBC’s “The Apprentice” saw that side of her when Ruggiero was a cast member on the spring 2007 show, not getting fired by “the Donald” until the 10th episode. She found the reality television experience tiring. “You can’t really prepare yourself for not sleeping,” she says. “I definitely had a good time. It was a grueling process but at the same time I was getting exposed to a lot of neat people.”

The show’s originator, Donald Trump, offered her a job after the season ended but Ruggiero politely declined. “I wasn’t ready,” she says. “I wanted to compete in one more Olympics.”

Amidon sees Ruggiero as an inspiration to the younger members of the Olympic hockey team. “The team itself is very young,” she explains. “A lot of kids are still in college or just out of college. Angela brings a lot of knowledge. She’s had to be a leader of this group. A lot of girls turn to her for advice on and off the ice.”

Ruggiero’s participation in ice hockey has boosted the visibility of the sport as have her off-the-ice activities. She has authored her autobiography, “Breaking the Ice,” and served as color analyst for CSTV. She is the former director of the New York Islanders’ Project Hope, an organization that provides “young Chinese athletes with access to educational opportunities,” and the founder and president of Angela Ruggiero Girls’ and Women’s Hockey School, which she started in 2003.“It’s a natural fit to be able to talk to young female athletes,” she says.

Currently, Ruggiero serves on the board of trustees of the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by tennis great Billie Jean King, one of Ruggiero’s role models. “I am a benefactor of what the organization has done,” she says, explaining her commitment to the foundation. “I wanted to help the community and young girls get involved [with sports].”

Yolanda Jackson, the foundation’s senior director of athlete marketing and promotions, says Ruggiero brings her “deep love of sport, dedication and a sincere desire to help girls achieve” to the organization. “She has shown girls that they can do anything and surpass even the boys at times. She has been a leader for all those women athletes who have been denied access to proper facilities and the training it takes to be a champion. She’s a person who never gives up and who will always fight for what she believes in.”

On the ice, Ruggiero may appear fearless, but she acknowledges that everyone has some fears. The key is how you approach them and tackle them. “I will be done with hockey soon and am going to my second career and there are fears surrounding that,” she confides. “Am I going to be successful? Am I going to enjoy it? It’s a new adventure for me. I’m fearful of the unknown at times but it’s better to try than sit back and be comfortable.”

Jackson sees Ruggiero as much more than just a hockey player. “I have met and come to know many athletes in my day and Angela is among only a handful I would call a true role model.”

At the moment, he’s on his computer finishing a humorous vocal introduction to be played at a friend’s son’s bar mitzvah. He’s using voice recognition software to create a mechanical voice with an English accent. “I didn’t want to use my Midwest nasal twang,” he says, laughing. “I did this thing like I was doing a commercial with some humor thrown in. I like goofing around with that kind of stuff. This is what I do, dumb stuff.”

Nielsen, who hails from Rockford, Ill., formed Cheap Trick with his friend bassist Tom Petersson in 1972. Since then, the band has sold more than 20 million albums and toured the world several times. Their hits include “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender” (both penned by Nielsen).

Nielsen’s love affair with music started long before the band was organized. His father owned a music store in Rockford and both of his parents sang. “I was around music all the time, but the music my parents liked and I liked were totally different,” he says.

His parents leaned toward opera and religious music – both of Nielsen’s grandfathers were ministers. Nielsen, on the other hand, was drawn to rockabilly and the gritty-but-soulful sound of the blues. The guitar wasn’t the first instrument that Nielsen picked up. He started out playing the drums, trying to emulate drummers such as Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. While he was playing, Nielsen found that he often strayed from the drums to help out guitarists who were having trouble with a song.

“I always had perfect pitch,” he says. “I know a bad note from a good note.”

Nielsen taught himself the keyboard and the guitar. He played in several bands during his younger years, including Grim Reapers and Fuse. Nielsen and Petersson got their first record deal when Nielsen was in his late teens. That deal resulted in their first record, which was produced in 1968. “We thought we were going somewhere and that went nowhere,” Nielsen says.

In an attempt to garner more attention, Nielsen and his band moved to Philadelphia, adopting the name Sick Man of Europe, coincidentally the same name as a Cheap Trick single off their newest self-released album, “The Latest.” The band toured Europe for a year before heading back to Illinois. Nielsen and Petersson added drummer Bun E. Carlos and vocalist Randy Hogan and renamed the group Cheap Trick. When Hogan left the band a year later, he was replaced by Robin Zander, who became the band’s lead singer.

Cheap Trick’s rise to rock ’n’ roll fame came in the 1970s, when they gained a following by opening for bands such as Queen, Journey, Meat Loaf and KISS. It was their huge fan base in Japan that eventually led to the group’s legendary live album “At Budokan” and the hit “I want You to Want Me.” The rest, as they say, is rock history.

Nielsen has never been one to adopt the rock-band persona. Instead of long, frizzy locks and leather, he keeps his hair trimmed and dons a baseball cap on stage. His bowties and button-up sweaters border on geeky. But that oddball look is as comfortable to Nielsen as playing a five-necked guitar. “I’m never going to be a pretty boy guitar player,” he says. “I’ve always been a musical nerd. I like girls but I also like computers and guitars.”

Not one to shy away from the camera, Nielsen never enjoyed watching other rock guitarists contort their faces during a show. Now, at the age of 60, Nielsen doesn’t like watching videos of him on stage either. “I’m not exactly pleased with what I see,” he remarks.

One of Nielsen’s trademarks is the checkerboard design that graces everything from his guitars to the band’s Web site. The inspiration for that look came from his childhood, when there were only three network television stations. Each would sign off around 10 on Sunday nights. Nielsen remembers watching the black and white dots that filled the screen as it faded into the night. “In Europe and Japan they are rectangles,” he says. “I liked the idea. It was something so simple. I kept using it.”

Nielsen, who says he still feels like a kid, recalls that when he was in school, he could never sit still. “I still can’t,” he admits. “I’ve been an insomniac all my life. I love to play. I have energy that doesn’t want to go away.” That energy is obvious as Nielsen bounces around the stage, periodically flipping custom guitar picks into the crowd.

Over the years, Nielsen has written some of the band’s most well-known songs. It took him only five minutes to come up with “I Want You to Want Me.” “I wish I could be that dumb more often,” he says, laughing.

A prolific song and jingle writer, Nielsen also wrote the theme for “The Colbert Report” and “That 70’s Show” as well as other film and commercial-related projects. “I love doing that,” he says, adding that he has his first royalty check, for 66 cents, framed and hanging in his basement bathroom. “A year and a half ago I got a check for $1,000 for a song I wrote 40 years ago (the song was used on a soundtrack for a Japanese movie). That was found money.”

A portion of Nielsen’s money is poured into his renowned guitar collection. Nielsen’s collector mindset surfaced when he was young and would collect coins and stamps with his grandmother. That evolved into baseball cards and, by the 1960s, into guitars. “They were called ‘used guitars’ then,” he says. “I always bought used guitars and I never got rid of stuff. I was a musician and didn’t have that much money.”

Every time he made a little cash, he bought a guitar. “I’ve owned about 2,000 different instruments through the years,” he says. More than 15 of his guitars, from his 2008 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top to his 1963 Guild Merle Travis, were recently on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., during its Rock Star’s Cars and Guitars Exhibit. Nielsen also lent the museum his tricked out black-and-white checkerboard John Deere riding mower. “I’m a menace on that,” he says. “It goes about 20 miles an hour.”

That’s not the only vehicle that Nielsen likes to talk up. Last December, RealWheels Corp. created a rock-themed vehicle with the help of Cheap Trick. The vehicle was created as a tribute to the band’s 30th anniversary of its “Dream Police” album and comes complete with checkerboard wheels and a laser-light and music show that emerges from the rear of the vehicle, along with the popular video game “Rock Band 2.”

Nielsen also has a few unusual items on his personal “Smart” car, including a semi horn, rear-view mirrors in the shape of a guitar head stock and door sills with stainless steel cutouts of his kids’ names.

Even though Nielsen is now a 37-year veteran of the music industry, he is still excited about traveling around the country with the band. This past summer Cheap Trick toured nationally alongside Def Leppard and released their new album, “The Latest,” which they’re offering in limited edition vinyl and 8-track (ordered off their official Web site) as well as CDs. “The 8-track was partially for fun,” Nielsen says. “We are Cheap Trick.”

In addition to its touring schedule, the band takes time out to play for various causes and organizations, such as the USO. The group has participated in three USO tours within the last 20 years. “It was the right thing to do,” Nielsen says. In December 2007 the band performed “Sgt. Pepper Live” at the Waldorf Astoria in New York for the Michael Milken Prostate Cancer Foundation Charity Concert and Auction. The guys, who are fans of the Beatles, reprised their performance as special guests of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra to commemorate the 40th anniversary of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” record release.

Rock star isn’t the only hat that Nielsen wears. He’s also a proud granddad. He has three sons (two – Daxx, who has played drums for Cheap Trick, and Miles – are involved in the music industry, while Erron is a businessman) and one daughter, Scarlett. “She’s in college and she’s high maintenance,” Nielsen says with a chuckle. As far as his two granddaughters, he comments, “I prefer they call me Grumpy and not Granddad.”

Could that Grumpy reference relate to the band’s heavy work schedule? Possibly. “We’re busy boys,” Nielsen says. “We’re too dumb to quit. We sure have fun.”