In our weekly Q&A segment we asked Reese Hoffa a few questions about what he has in store for the future of throwing as well as his tallen of speed cubing. 

Describe your childhood dream.

My childhood dream was to play football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I would be their star running back, go pro, and be the star of the Super Bowl Champion Steelers.

Describe your fondest meet memory.

My fondest meet memory has to be the first World Championship that I won in Moscow Russia. Before winning that championship I was fourth out of the American shot putters and was a relative unknown, behind Adam, Christian, and John. Though I had performed well making it to one Olympic team and one World championship, I finished pretty poorly, I think 26th in the 2004 Olympics and 35th at the world championships in 2003. Winning that World Championship established me as a thrower on the rise and that I needed to be respected as a competitor, not just in the US but in the world. It was a great feeling to know that I finally made it as one of the elite throwers in the US.

If you weren't throwing, what would you be doing and why?

Previous to this year, I would have been a P.E teacher either in high school or elementary school. I love athletics and teaching others the wonders of living a healthy life. I would also love to serve as a role model to elementary school students. Most elementary schools don’t have a lot of male teachers, so I would love to be a positive male role model and show students how to respect women and be a responsible adult. At the high school level, I would still serve as a positive role model, but I would also be able to push sports a little harder. I love the idea of creating a winning culture in football and in the throws. I love being able to mold young minds and bodies into strong winning machines.

This year though, I’ve shifted my post throwing plans slightly and am opening up a throwing academy. I’m building it from the ground up, exactly as I want it to be and will be able to teach people how to throw and lift the way that I think will make them most successful. I’ll also be able to do online consultations, skype coaching, etc. for the people that live too far away to make the drive to Athens. I’m very excited about the Hoffa Throws Academy. I’ll be teaching the first batch of throwers in October of 2014.

Describe your worst habit.

Oh man, where to begin, I keep the toilet seat up, I love to chew ice, I am sometimes very messy with my clothes all over my side of the bedroom and in hotel rooms. I have an Oreo cookie addiction that I fight everyday, and I have not found a Twizzler that I have not found delicious. You can pick any of those.

Describe the kind of kid you were in high school.

I would say I was a nerdy athletic kid. From the age of 5, I had glasses that did not help my overall look off the field. I usually dressed very formally with a polo and matching short or dress pant, not because it was required but because that was the style that my parents and myself thought I should wear. During my lunch break, I was either in the library studying getting ready for my next class or with friends playing chess. Luckily for me, I was blessed with great athletic tools so sports were always easy for me and I always had a passion for all sports and an internal drive to want to win. I was very driven to accomplish my goals. I had athletic gifts, but I pushed myself to take advantage of them. I willed myself to get stronger in the weight room so that I could throw farther.

If you had a day off from your everyday responsibilities, describe how you would spend it.

Hopefully for this day I would have calm winds because I would go and fly my glider at the park. Then it would be off to the skate park for a few hours getting around the many hills, hair pins and bowls without falling. I would have lunch at my favorite steak house and order the largest porterhouse that they have on the menu with veggies with my beautiful wife Renata. Then I would go hang out with my friend Corey and play Mario Kart which I would typically lose, but since I’m putting together a dream day, let’s just say that I win. Next would be a movie that i cannot wait to see and end the day with 2 In and Out burgers (Double Double, Animal Style) washed down with pecan pie and an Oreo milk shake.

Describe your most embarrassing moment as an athlete.

There are not many moments in my life that i would be embarrassed about but we all have a bad day or bad moment. It was the first year my parents would let me play football, which for me was in 7th grade. The first game in my young career against a team that was just as good as my team, the Lakeside Middle Panthers. It was 3rd and 4 and I was ready to show the coaches just how great I was at the defensive tackle position. I was in my three point stance and I lifted my head and saw the offensive linemen across from me didn’t have his chin strap buckled. Our coaches made a big deal about having all your equipment on properly and that if we didn’t it would be a penalty on us, so remembering this speech, I rose from my stance walked across the line and grabbed the chin strap to show the ref that he wasn’t following the rules. The ref did not see it my way and called a five yard penalty, we lost the game AND my coaches remind me of it every time I see them.

Describe your most unique experience this summer in Europe during the diamond league?

My usual answer to this is throwing at the train station in Zurich but they canceled it this year, so it has to be at Pre. Most of the stands were emptied and all the fans got a chance to watch the men’s shot put all nice and cozy right next to the shot ring. It was great to have the fans so close which allowed me to feed off the positive energy that the fans brought to the shot. I am not sure if they are going to do it again but it was a lot of fun.

A penguin walks through the door wherever you are right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?

He would say that the margaritas are in the back of the gym and remember to be nice to the lion and compliment him on his hair, that the mo hawk is still cool. He is here to help me celebrate the opening of the Hoffa Throws Academy and congratulate me on winning the lottery.

Describe your favorite workout?

My favorite work out has to be any lift that scares me a little; I like to push myself to do lifts that are out of my comfort zone. I know the first time that I squatted 600 pounds I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to get out of the hole and that the weight would crush me. That fear and excitement helped push me though. I ended up doing it for a double. Knowing I had that strength inside me is useful when I’m competing. Knowing that I have been nervous before and overcome it is a powerful memory when things aren’t going my way.

Describe the most unique experience since you have become a professional thrower.

It would have to be throwing in Olympia in Greece for my first Olympics (in 2004). Knowing that no one had been able to throw on those grounds for such a long time and knowing that after I left it would be such a long time before that area would be used again was very special. You could feel the history and really felt like you were a part of it. I wish I could have taken in the grandeur of that a little bit more, but I was distracted by it being my first Olympics.

Who is your childhood hero and why?

Besides any pro football player, it was Michael Knight. He was the star of a little show called Knight Rider. I loved Michael Knight so much that when my adoptive parents let me pick out my name, I named myself after him (Michael Reese Hoffa). I loved him and his super awesome car. He’s a winner, he never lost a fight, and he always figured out how to defeat a tough situation. His car, KITT, was the greatest car ever built and that ever will be built. KITT was not just a car that followed orders, it could interact with Michael on a personal level and could drive through a concrete wall. I appreciate that.

Describe your guilty pleasure.

I am an avid people watcher. Living in a college town, Athens, this has to be the best place to watch people. I like the crazy interactions with friends and the ramped up PDA that would make any parent blush. One of my favorite places to people watch is a bar called Magnolias. It’s right on the corner of one of the big intersections in town so you see a ton of people walking by. My friends and I will take up a spot on the patio and sit and hang out and watch the crazy college kids, older people reliving their youth, and those that have been over served. Some people would say it’s creepy, but luckily I have the face and body of a 26 year old, so no one notices.

If you could give one piece of advice you think every person should hear, what would it be and why?

It is okay to have your time unplugged from everything. I feel like people are so attached to their computers, phones, tablets, emails, and televisions that they are missing the world. I make a point of not immediately answering texts or emails because I don’t want to be a slave to my technology. I wait until I have a break in the day and then check emails or texts, but I don’t leave my phone in my pocket and react every time I hear a buzz. I know my wife hates it, but I feel like it has helped me keep my life at a speed where I can handle it and decreases my stress.

Dinner for 3 (living or dead) who and why?

Andre Rene Roussimoff - I have always wondered how someone who weighed 500 pounds could live and what you would eat to stay that big. I have heard he was born super strong and never lifted a weight in his life. The most interesting thing is that he was a gentle man and very smart. I am sure he would have some great stories of his life growing up and while he was on the road.

Abraham Lincoln - I would want to ask about why stood up for the rights of slaves. I am sure he would be amazed at how far this country has come and could see how much further we still have to go. He has been known as a very honest man but I am sure he has some stories where he was less than honest and great stories on how he came to power.

My Dad Steven Hoffa - I know he has lived a very interesting life and would like to hear about it now as a man. I know as a parent they have to censor a lot of their life for the betterment of their children, but I would like to hear the real story without the embellishments. It would be interesting to hear his take on the death of Kennedy and how it impacted his life. To clarify, my dad isn’t dead, but I don’t see him that much and I miss him.

Describe your pre-meet ritual.

My ritual is to wake up early in the morning, take four ibuprofen and two fish oils and then eat breakfast. I return from breakfast and take a nap for a few hours, then wake up, take three more ibuprofen, watch several hours of UFC fights and go to lunch where I eat and pound 4 coffees. I come back from lunch and do a light stretch and pin my number or name to my singlet. I organize my bag for the meet, make sure everything that I need is in the bag and my ball is next to the bag. I then get dressed and take three more ibuprofen and grab my bag and iPod and start to think about the meet. At the stadium, I stretch and rock out to aggressive heavy metal music and rap music. I put on the knee sleeves, then I put my ankle braces on left to right, and then the shoes left to right, then the wrist rap making sure I hit the right mark on my wrist. I put on my head band, then the arm bands left to right. I finish by walking over to the throwing area and winning.

If you weren't a thrower what track event would you run?

Like most people, I would love to be able to run a sub 10 second 100 meter dash. Weighing around 320 pounds, that’s not going to happen, but I would love to feel what it’s like to reach and sustain those speeds. There’s actually a video on my youtube page (Hoffa Throws Academy) where I’m sprinting at Defranco’s Gym in New Jersey. I have some speed.

How did you get in speed cubing?

I have been cubing since I was six years old, but didn’t solve a cube until I was 23. In college, I saw a kid named Pano Sun doing it on the bus. He was really fast so I talked to him about it and he got me hooked. That night I went to Target and bought one and bought a cube. It took me three months to solve. After that I was able to knock it down to about five minutes. My record is 38 seconds, at a tournament in Georgia. The best part about cubing is a lot of people try to solve them and fail, so I feel good knowing that I can solve one. I also like to share it with others. It’s almost as if they’re learning a magic trick.