Olympian Gene Mills to be on MTV Show “Made “starting Thursday, Jan. 13
1/11/2005
Diana Cook
Everyone who has been through the Phoenix schools has probably heard of Coach Gene Mills. The long time wrestling coach, student and staff mentor extraordinaire,is about to become a well-known national celebrity, at least on the MTV circuit.
On Thursday evening, January 13, Mills will appear on the MTV program, “MADE, “beginning at 10:00 p.m. The one hour show focuses on taking a polar opposite kid that wants to be the opposite of what he or she is, and gives them a coach to make it happen.
Selected from numerous applicants for the “Made coach, “Mills traveled to the location taping three and a half hours away for many weeks. Back and forth each taping night he went… sometimes not arriving home until 1:00 am or later,then rising to make it in for the regular Phoenix school day. One hundred hours of taping were required to get the one hour show.
Mills’ charge was a 15 year old kid, Dov “The Hammer “Rubenstein, a dancer, who was tired of being picked on and bullied by classmates. He wanted to lift weights, “get ripped “(muscles) and be a wrestler, because everyone respects the wrestler.
Mills says, “He really was so soft. “The challenge says Mills was to provide tasks and activities to make the goal happen for Rubenstein. It was a challenge for both Mills and his charge, but says Mills, “I had a blast.”
Tune in to MTV on Thursday, January 13 at 10:00 p.m. and see how Coach Mills “made “it happen.
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