They’re Off and Running!

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

On the TunneySide of Sports September 14, 2020 #813 Up next…”They’re Off and Running!”

After further review… “They’re off and running” was the announcer’s voice as the field of 15 thoroughbreds broke from the gate to start the 146th Kentucky Derby. There was only a sparse crowd of horse-personnel in attendance at Churchill Downs, usually packed with 150,000. Pandemic taking preference. Trainer Bob Baffert’s Authentic went wire-to-wire and outlasted the 4-5 favorite Tiz the Law with a time of 2:00:61. That’s why it’s called “the greatest 2 minutes in sports.” It was Baffert’s sixth derby win. I’ve had a long-time interest in thoroughbred racing since my father was a steward for 20 years at California’s race-tracks and my brother, Peter, in California race-track administration for over 30 years.

Which brings me to last Thursday night’s (September 10) NFL game and NBC’s Al Michaels, who said “And off we go” as Kansas City kicker Harrison Butner kicked-off for the first NFL game of this pandemic season. A sparse crowd of some 17,000 watched their World Champion Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Houston Texans. Arrowhead is usually packed (76,416) and well-known as “the loudest stadium (142.2 decibels) in the league.” The NFL season is off and running.

This 2020 season will be my 60th NFL season with more than one-half spent on the field as a referee. During that time, I worked games being played with a pending lawsuit (AFL vs NFL) and two player-strike years. But this 2020 season has a much different feeling. Not only the threat of the virus with sheltering-in-place and physical distancing being the call-of-the-day, but the protests and violence taking place in so many of America’s cities and towns.

The Black Lives Matter movement has found its message into the sports world en masse as players are joining together as one in support of social justice fairness. When some members of a T*E*A*M (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) reach out for an improved social justice system, then a T*E*A*M needs to do it as one! It’s the assumption here that all members of a given team met as one and agreed they should march/stand together.

While no one should deny the rights of anyone to fair justice, many fans have opted-out and will not watch or attend NFL games feeling that sports and political issues should occur separately.

Will you log-in your thoughts about athletes using sports to promote their causes?

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To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.

Jim’s Bobblehead and books are available at Jim Tunney Youth Foundation (501c3).

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Civility Lost!

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

Civility Lost

On the TunneySide of Sports September 7, 2020 #812 Up next… Civility Lost!

After further review… Have we lost our moral compass in the United States of America?

Sure, I believe that Black Lives matter simply because we are all part of humanity. Do I treat Blacks any differently simply because their skin is darker than mine? Absolutely not… unless one’s behavior calls for it! As a teacher in the classroom or coach or referee on the field/court if one’s behavior was beyond the rules, I must abide by them and provide the necessary discipline. All should expect that since we all want discipline when we are the offended ones. That’s only fair!

The abhorrent treatment of black men on the streets needs to be dealt with by  authorities. That’s what justice is all about. Justice by vigilantes only leads to retaliation and that’s not what our country needs! Will we see more Rittenhouse-type responses? Perhaps. That’s not what our country needs! Have we lost our moral compass? It appears so. Civility is needed.

Then the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks decided they were “gonna take their ball and go home,” then followed by other NBA teams “in the bubble,” followed by MLB, MLS, and a few colleges and others. Unless reason happens and this “refusal to play” comes to its senses, it would not be unexpected to see high school teams follow in big-brothers footsteps. Professional athletes must understand their responsibility to our youth and lead in a positive direction.

This BLM movement is not new in our country. However, the major tenet behind its power is for fair justice, not equal justice. “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.” If you observed what has happened on our streets, it is easy to see that many who were not involved have suffered needlessly.

Sports have often served a purpose during difficult times, as a healing element. This is a call to those leaders in all sports to bring people together to work toward fairness for all. We need to stop fighting each other and work together.

Will you be part of the problem or the solution?

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To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.

Jim’s Bobblehead and books are available at Jim Tunney Youth Foundation (501c3).

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Equal Opportunity!

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Jim Tunney Ed.D

Passion Led Us Here

On the TunneySide of Sports August 31, 2020 #811 Up next… Equal Opportunity!

After further review… “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.”

Now before your blood pressure gets beyond its normal limits, let me offer this. It’s the opportunity to live, grow and achieve that needs to be equal for everyone, yet not always.

It was my good fortune to be raised in a family with both mother and father who not only showed me how to live, grow and achieve but taught me to help others have that same opportunity. At an early age, I decided I wanted to be a coach. Undoubtedly, my father who was in that job had an influence on that decision. Following in his path was not so much his words that made a difference, but it was his manner and demeanor that created a worthiness I admired. Not everyone has that privilege.

My dad taught at Abraham Lincoln High School in East Los Angeles which, in the 1930s, was primarily a mixture of Eastern Europeans, Mexican Americans (as they were called then), and a variety of other ethnic groups. One of whom was an African American named Kenny Washington who went on to be the first of his race to play for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League. Kenny, who I got to know better later in his life, gave credit to my dad for not only teaching him to be a stand-up citizen but helping him get into U.C.L.A. and on to professional football.

When I was a senior at Occidental College, I was assigned to do my student teaching at that same Lincoln High School, which had become largely Hispanic/Latino along with a variety of ethnic groups. I coached a basketball T*E*A*M that hadn’t won many games in years before. In my four years, we went from last place in our Northern League to first place and an undefeated season my final year.

My goal in those four years was to give those players an opportunity to succeed. Every player on that squad of 12 players was not equal. They were a mixture of young men who hadn’t succeeded much earlier. Were they equal in size and talent? Far from it, but they got a chance to be successful by working together. They all couldn’t shoot the basketball as well as “Cheo” (our best shooter) who was 5’8”, but they all had an opportunity to do so and to be part of a T*E*A*M. Only two from that team went on to play college basketball.

Will you give everyone an equal opportunity to succeed?

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To contact Jim, go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.

Jim’s Bobblehead and books are available at Jim Tunney Youth Foundation (501c3).

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