On the TunneySide of Sports May 24, 2021 #849 Up next… “Are you crying?”
After further review… You could hear Jimmy Duggan, played by Tom Hanks the manager of the Racine Belles, the All-American Girls Professional Softball T*E*A*M (AAGPBL) as he yelled at Evelyn when she threw to the wrong base that cost the Belles that game. “Are you crying?” Duggan repeated. Then he followed with “There’s no crying in baseball!” I disagree!
Wouldn’t you think that there was a tear or two in Mickey Mantle’s eyes as he circled the bases after hitting #536 in his last home game against Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg on September 20, 1968 – one month shy of his 37th birthday. Or how about on October 8, 1956, when Don Larsen pitched that perfect game retiring all 27 batters in that World Series game? Larsen said afterward, “When it was over, I was so happy. I felt like crying.” My guess is he did!
This brings me to 24-year-old Tom Burns who won his first major PGA Championship at Innisbrook in Palm Beach, Florida earlier this month in the Valspar Championship. What’s unusual about Burns’s victory is that this was his first time being atop the leader board after 72 – that’s right – 72 PGA tournaments! As his wife and parents poured onto the 18th green, Burns was seen wiping away a face full of tears. A championship after 18 tries! Wouldn’t you? That victory was worth $1,242,000 or about ½ million more than second-place finisher Keegan Bradley, who, incidentally, helped Burns’ victory by double-bogeying number 12 in that final round.
Two weeks later at the Byron Nelson Classic in McKinney, Texas, Burns was the leader all three rounds but shot a 70 on the final round losing out to K.H. Lee who won his first PGA event.
Tears-in-your-eyes can take many forms. It happens in victory and in defeat. I remember holding a towel to cover my face sitting on the bench as our chance at a high school basketball championship faded away. Sports are played with passion which builds emotion that is sometimes unable to control. To those in defeat or victory, tears become a release.
Tears in victory are easy to understand. When you work so long and so diligently for something and then it happens– well, you have every right to release those emotions. You deserve that.
However, don’t forget your opponents! They have the right to release their emotions as well. “Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat,” said Christopher Earle. By doing so you will display a strength of character and a level of honor.
Will you show strength and honor in your victories or defeats during your sporting life?
—————
Jim Tunney had an exemplary career in sports. A former high school coach, teacher, principal, and district superintendent, he had a 40-year career in officiating football and basketball. Thirty-one of those years he was “The Face of NFL officiating” working a record twenty-nine post-season games including three Super Bowls (two back-to-back), ten NFC/AFC Championship games, six Pro Bowls and twenty-five Monday Night games, when MNF was THE game of the week. He officiated some of the most memorable games in NFL history, including “The Ice Bowl”, “The Kick”, “The Snowball Game”, “The Final Fumble”, “The Fog Bowl”, and “The Catch”. His book “IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT: “The Dean of NFL Referees” calls Pro Football as He Sees It”, chronicles his NFL career. See the website for all products.
To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.
