“On the spot: Robert Shelton, UA president”

OK, first off is some UA-related questions. Daily Wildcat or Daily Star?

Well, I read them both.

OK, fair enough. Cardinal or Navy?

I like Cardinal. It’s brighter. It’s more dynamic.

Arizona or Stanford?

Well, Arizona. Come on.

Well how about Toby Gerhart or Nic Grigsby? I mean, Toby is a Heisman finalist.

(Pauses) Yeah, I’ve got to go with Toby. I’m going to be unpopular with that, but he had a monster year. Nic would have had just a great of a year, but he was injured.

The cheerleaders or the pom line?

Hmm. Boy, this is tough. I’m in trouble no matter what I do here. I can’t pick between those two because they’re both athletic. They both have unlimited energy and they both probably wear out multiple pairs of tennis shoes throughout the course of their time.

Football or basketball?

Basketball. I played basketball in high school before everybody got really tall and talented and I’ve always been a little small. Also, basketball you can get close to the court and you can yell even more vigorously.

Mike or Mark Stoops?

I’ll go with the head coach. I’ll go with Mike.

What about Frank or Augie Busch? Same deal there?

Yeah, and the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree on that one. They’re both very talented.

Wilbur or Wilma?

Oh, Wilma all the way. She’s a sweetie.

Now we’re going to food stuff. Nico’s or Los Betos?

I’ll go with Los Betos.

In N’ Out Burger or McDonalds?

In N’ Out all the way.

White or wheat bread?

Wheat bread. When you’re my age you need roughage.

Pancakes or waffles?

Waffles. They catch the syrup and you can put a lot of whipped cream on it, yeah. More calories.

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke. I don’t drink soda but when I did long ago it was Coke.

Vodka martini or gin martini?

I don’t drink either so I’d probably go with gin if I had to.

This might trip you up a little bit, it’s time for some pop culture questions.

Oh God. Where are my kids when I need them?

iPhone or Blackberry?

I have a Blackberry. I love it, but I haven’t had an iPhone so I might like that more.

Mac or PC?

PC. I’ve always been oriented that way. When I tried a Mac long ago they were not very good, so it’s like you take one taste of an eggplant and you’re not going to go back to it.

Firefox or Internet Explorer?

Hmm. I’ll go with Internet. It’s kind of tough siding with Microsoft, but …

“”Star Wars”” or “”Lord of the Rings””?

“”Lord of the Rings.”” I loved the story. Tolkien was big when I was in college. We had these floor-to-ceiling windows in the lounge of our residence hall. We had a guy who was an amazing artist and he painted scenes from the trilogy all over there, from Mount Doom to the ring itself.

Xbox 360 or Playstation 3?

Playstation 3. I had my first experience with Rock Band on Playstation 3.

Guitar or drums?

Guitar is easier than drums, so I’d better stick with guitar. (Laughs) I finally tried some medium difficulty with the guitar and when it wasn’t a tough one I could get through. A couple of times they were difficult medium ones, shall we say, and they threw me out. My son rescued me and they threw me out again, (laughs) so I said, “”OK, I’ve got to go back to the easy level.””

(Laughs) OK then. Now we’re going to get a little bit personal. Treadmill or elliptical?

Elliptical. Five days a week.

Electric razor or handheld razor?

I use an electric most of the time. I use them both, but …

Undershirt or just a dress shirt?

(Sigh) I wear an undershirt. I hate them. I don’t like them, but I wear them.

Suit and tie or polo and khakis?

For this job, a suit and tie.

Boxers or briefs?

(Laughs) Briefs.

Is this the weirdest collection of questions you’ve ever been asked during an interview?

Just about, yeah. (Laughs)