Another quick story.. (and if any family member has a problem with it I will pull it down, but I think it's good to remember).
I started working on the TV show pretty early on. Bobby Jr. and Sr. had a relationship where they would get into it pretty good and the next moment they are hugging. Kind of like an Italian family. It was sort of their way of working things out. You would be sitting in a meeting and they would start yelling at each other... over stuff like who is on the cover of the magazine.. just little stuff. After a few times you get used to it because you realize that it was just part of how they related. They didn't hold it in and got it out on the table. I kind of forgot that it might be shocking to someone who hadn't seen this before. So we are about midway through filming of the episodes and I bring Bobby Razak down to work on it. This was pretty much the first time he met them. We are all sitting in a room viewing an episode that's being edited sans Robert Sr. (I should mention that Sr. was old school and everyone who worked full time there had to wear a suit.)
Next thing I know the old man comes in there out of nowhere and starts in on Jr. and Jr gives it right back to him. They are full out yelling at each other. LOL Razak didn't know what to think and just started slowly moving his chair back ..like he inched back a full two feet. turns and looks at me like "what the hell is going on?".. he was sure they were going to beat the crap out of each other.. lol Now Razak's seen his share of shit in his day but this was an office setting and totally unexpected. .. it was an interesting introduction..
Actually the people who worked behind the scene on that show was an incredible line up..
-Gerard Roxburgh worked on the post production.. he directed the Even Tanner doc that's out now (Once I Was A Champion) and works on TUF
-Bobby Razak worked on a few of the episodes
-Rick Lee did camera and ended up doing the filming for Fight! Magazine, Bleacher Report, Heavy MMA
-Aaron Tru worked behind the scenes and near the end of filming Rick shot the Cyborg incident with Aaron that ended up on Fox News, TMZ etc.
(Rick and Aaron grew up with Bobby Jr.)
-Chris Staab filmed the Mayhem Miller show back in the day.
-I executive produced the GSP doc after that
Crazy line up of talented guys.. fond memories.. One big dysfunctional family we were... all chiefs, no indians on that one..
A couple of other memories from those days.. so the crew drives out to Vegas to film.. (they have a big MMA Worldwide RV) of course the air conditioner kept breaking..
We were always busting each other's balls..
Anyway we are at the former TapouT gym in Vegas.. I am by no means a fighter.. I USED to compete in Judo when I was 19 (36 now). I compete in natural bodybuilding for fun but other than lifting weight and cardio I no longer practice a martial art. That said we would roll around from time to time for fun.. Chris always wanted to roll with me. So we went at it and I would try and power out of stuff and burn out so he tapped me a couple of times pretty easy. The third time I got his back and got a RNC.... later on Razak was asking me how I did.. I said "he got me a couple of times and I got him once.. ".. he's like "oh no man, he gave you that one.. he told all of us.. ".. gave me a complex about it for two days to the point I actually asked Chris if it was legit or not. lol Chris said it was legit but either way one of them was fucking with me..
Later that evening we needed Kevin Randleman at the gym to film something.... now Razak knew him for years (Pitfight etc.) so he sets me up and asks me to call Kevin.. So I do and told him we needed him to get down to the gym.. well Kevin was pissssed and asked to put Razak on the phone.. I could hear Randleman through the phone.. "who does this white boy think he is telling me to hurry up? Didn't you tell him about how I work?"
Next thing I know Randleman shows up at the gym wanting to kick my ass.. asks who I am.. so I am face to face with him and he is "I will beat your white ass right here.. ".. and I am talking calm explaining that I meant no disrespect, that we just have a timeline.... Razak is seriously afraid at this point for me.. he kept saying "Hergott, shut up and just apologize and walk away.." I kept talking calm and explaining and eventually everything was cool.... not sure how close I came to getting my ass kicked that night.. lol
Like I said... good times.. fond memories of all.. Just shows how much a person can touch other people's lives.. Not trying to take the focus off of Mr. Pittman but rather show how my life was impacted for the better.. in terms of memories, opportunity and experiences that would not have otherwise occurred.. Life is a journey of experiences.. =)
TTT
thanks for the stories james. You can tell the people that knew mr. pittman because we all call him Mr still. My dad was a client of mr pittman's about 15 years or more ago, as he published my dad's work catalogues. to show his gratitude, mr pittman would take my dad and I to see games in his luxuary box and 12 years later even gave me a job at mmaworldwide out of loyalty to my father and probably because bobby jr and I went to school together and were on the wrestling team together.
As you mentioned james, bobby jr and rick and I grew up together and i can remember mr. pittman having a nice vidoe camera before they were really common 12 years ago and would come to EVERY and I mean EVERY one of bobby jr's wrestling matches. I don't think he honestly missed one match. He was stern as hell and sometimes scary, but he honestly cared soo much about his kids.
Chris wrote above about mr. pittman bringing him out to ca and giving him a job and a family and even his daughter's hand in marriage. My last memory of mr pittman can sum him up pretty well; his dream was to be a poilice officer, but he was too short. The last time I saw mr pittman was at chris and his daughter's house right after their baby was born...Mr pittman couldn't reach the top of the window seal to hang the blinds in the nursery. Chris and I were boxing or doing mma or some kind of fighting work out in the garage and as I passed through the house to use the restroom, mr pittman called me into the nursery and asked me to hold the blinds up high and connect them to the window seal for him.
RIP
Thanks for the story Tru.. Sad indeed. Guy definitely was a family man. I remember he was pissed that at Mask's funeral they didn't have more family and instead had more business types on stage (I didn't attend because even though I was very involved with MMA at that point and knew most who were attending I didn't know Mask personally and felt it would be disrespectful to attend.)
I was at the office when Bob and Bobby returned from the funeral and Mr. Pittman just shook his head and said he couldn't understand it wasn't more about the family.. in fact he left early because he felt it was exploitive. Never would have thought the same man would also have a tragic end. I was in his office the day word got out about Mask's death and Pittman was pretty broken up.. called Punkass etc. To this day his words echo.. "it, doesn't make any sense."... cuz that's pretty much how I feel now
UPDATE: The memorial service for Dad will be on Saturday, December 22nd at 2PM at Forest Lawn at 4471 Lincoln Ave., Cypress, CA 90630. Thanks everyone.
TTT Adding the update to the original post..
ttt
This is very sad to hear. Worked with Bobby during NAMMAE/IMMAE, he always wanted to do something to help the sport grow. I remember going to his office and Bobby telling me all the reasons why I should go to Springfist 2008 to see his employee and son's good friend, RJ Clifford, fight in his second MMA match. A good salesman I tell ya! I was happy I went. Tagg Radio, now MMA Junkie radio, was there too. RJ made it out like a beast and won with what seemed like the whole Marriott cheering for him. I know he took in RJ like a son - he was that type of person. Every time I ran into him at an event he always had a smile on my face. Good guy. My prayers and heart goes out to his family, kids, RJ, and colleagues. Love and Light, Tamara. 
MissRARA -This is very sad to hear. Worked with Bobby during NAMMAE/IMMAE, he always wanted to do something to help the sport grow. I remember going to his office and Bobby telling me all the reasons why I should go to Springfist 2008 to see his employee and son's good friend, RJ Clifford, fight in his second MMA match. A good salesman I tell ya! I was happy I went. Tagg Radio, now MMA Junkie radio, was there too. RJ made it out like a beast and won with what seemed like the whole Marriott cheering for him. I know he took in RJ like a son - he was that type of person. Every time I ran into him at an event he always had a smile on my face. Good guy. My prayers and heart goes out to his family, kids, RJ, and colleagues. Love and Light, Tamara.
^^^Truth. I think we even disscussed getting you as a host for the show around that time. Salesman is the word, he was right out of Glengarry Glenn Ross at times..lol RJ is the only one who I never saw get in trouble while I worked there. Mr. Pittman was so proud when RJ got into Strikeforce he was emailing everyone about it.
One sad thing too is that Bobby Jr. got a parasite on a trip to Manilla and it got into his spine and he was hospitalized and it was very serious. He wrestled with RJ in high school and was taking BJJ under Royce and boxed as well. He was planning to be a fighter up untill the illness.
Aaron Tru ended up fighting and nobody would have expected that. Never understimate the underdog.
man this is very sad. :( Bumms me out. I didn't know the man, but have heard so many great things about him throughout the years. i'll be praying for his family. RIP
From his first wife and mother of Bobby and Coley:
James, you have summed him up incredibly well! But he did graduate from Marina High School in 1972. He truly loved his family more than life itself! I was 13 when I met him, he was 14. He felt that his family was his responsibility even then. It's who he was. He was a fantastic father and had a heart of gold. He will be missed by so many.
Robert F. Pittman was born on July 2, 1954 and passed away on December 10, 2012. Let it be known that first and foremost Bob loved his family. He was an amazing husband, a dedicated father, a protective brother, uncle and friend to all. He was one of the most giving men you will ever meet, and he made it his life's mission to put a smile on the face of everyone that crossed paths with him along the way. Bob's life was full of accomplishments. He graduated from Marina High School, completed Dale Carnegie Business Training, and he even held the title of being president of ABC/ Capital Cities. Later, he opened Robert John Industries, and won "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1989. He rose from inserter to partner after 23 years at Trend Offset Printing, and then opened SMP. There, he created and published 3 national newsstand magazines. In order to continue his list of accomplishments, we would need much more paper and ink… but to sum up Bob Pittman, he was a salesman through and through. If you could ask Bob now to look back on what he would consider to be his greatest accomplishment in life, Bob would most likely sum up his greatest joy with one word, "family." Robert is survived by his wife, Sheree; his children, Coley, Bobby, Danny, Tanner, Cody, Nicky; his grandchildren, Haven and Adrian; his sister, Carol; and his brother, Chuck. But… for Bob, the list would continue to include his family, friends, business associates and the many other people whose lives he had touched throughout his life's journey. On Saturday, December 22 at 2PM we will all join together at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cypress, CA to remember Robert F. Pittman. Saturday will be a day to come together and share the great memories of his life with those who loved him.
TTT for tomorrow
Ttt RIP MR PITTMAN 