"Oh man, is that Rocco?!看到他的前同事走进房间，约翰尼·格列柯说，他的反应真的很惊讶. As a Full Sail grad and current VP, 拉斯维加斯黄金骑士队的首席体验官, 还有几分钟，乔尼就要在满赛学院的学生面前做演讲了. 但这并没有阻止他全心全意地问候他的朋友, it would become apparent, is typical of Jonny's personality.

“现在看着我的朋友，真是太棒了, who I've done shows with for the WWE," he says. “想到你们在这里，我是多么的感激，我真的流下了眼泪."

在整个演讲过程中，Jonny会在听众中认出更多的同事. 他的朋友们在那里支持他，这是有意义的. 这是Jonny在演讲中给学生的核心建议:人脉是关键. 但成为人们想要交往的人也是如此. 他分享了一个娱乐行业常见的说法, "It's about who you know, who knows you, and who likes you."

“我得到工作不是因为我真的很擅长我所做的. 我身边都是令人难以置信的专家，我很好，我尊重和友善地对待别人.但在这一点上，乔尼有点小看了自己.

他也是艾美奖、艾迪奖和电视奖获奖作家，他的作品也获得了特辑 NPR's "The Two Way" podcast and in The New York Times. He's worked with the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, and WWE. And beyond the tangible, 他在团结一支看似不可能的英雄队伍——拉斯维加斯黄金骑士队——的过程中发挥了前所未有的作用.

For entertainment for the Knights' first NHL season, 乔尼说，制作一个以歌舞女郎为特色的节目很有吸引力, live tigers, slot machine mascots, and Elvis impersonators -- it's Las Vegas, after all. Instead, Jonny and his team listened to the locals, who, it turned out, wanted more than stereotypes and kitsch. They wanted something to be proud of.

"Respect the fan," Jonny says. And the Knights delivered. Before each drop of the puck, the entertainment got more elaborate 黄金骑士队挺进斯坦利杯决赛.

“他们的赛前仪式已经成为他们身份的核心现象, 在广播节目和社交媒体上备受关注——这是美国最好的节目.H.L. before, well, the best show in the N.H.L." says The New York Times.

"Every single thing is a story," says Jonny. 这是他在WWE工作时学到的一课, 尤其是来自著名的艺人和好人, John Cena. In his presentation, Jonny高度评价了这位演员兼摔跤手讲故事的才能，就像他对Cena的慈善事业一样. To Jonny, success means having both.

也许正是这种对人与人之间联系的理解激励了乔尼的团队在最黑暗的时期帮助治愈这座城市. 对于拉斯维加斯来说，黄金骑士队的首演之夜是悲惨的一周, just days after the 2017 mass shooting. 这对球队来说是一个困难的处境:在经历了这样的恐怖之后，他们怎么能上演一场本应值得庆祝的表演?

为了表示敬意，他们在比赛开始时护送悲剧的第一反应者到冰上. 他们还用“维加斯之强”的形象取代了广告，并暂停了58秒的沉默，以纪念58名遇难者. As Jonny explained on Jon Taffer's No Excuses! Podcast, "It was an 18,000-person group hug moment."

但如果你问强尼他职业生涯的亮点是什么, 这是一件比赢得奖项或认可更贴近家庭的事情. It's about saying "Go Knights Go!在拉斯维加斯对一个陌生人说，然后听他们回答. It's about the future of the fandom too. For example, at a six-year-old's birthday party with his kids, 约翰尼注意到，这个生日男孩似乎对打开拉斯维加斯金骑士队的帽子比打开任天堂Switch更兴奋.

“这些孩子将带着加入这支球队的喜悦和自豪成长. 然后你就觉得，哇，这比我们任何人都重要. This is bigger than sports."