TunneySide of Sports

On the TunneySide of Sports June 8, 2020 #799 Up next… Racism in Sports

After further review… Sports have often served a purpose during such times, as a healing or unifying element.” We certainly are in “such times” not only with the COVID­-19 pandemic still sheltering us in place as well as unemployment reaching untoward numbers. Long-standing businesses are teetering on bankruptcy and currently suffering at the hands of vandals. Further, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has ignited the flames of racism. The pandemic has eliminated some sports as well as the impending suspension or delay of summer and fall sports. Indeed, we are in troubling times.

I was fortunate to be raised in a family that considered all people, all races, all nationalities as one. With a grandfather born in Ireland and the history of the Irish being mistreated as they migrated to America, I heard of, but never personally experienced, prejudice because of race. My father who helped support his single mother (of four) by selling newspapers on the streets of downtown Los Angeles worked three jobs most of this life to support his family of four.

Our family was never poor, oh, we didn’t have any money. All four of us kids worked when we reached our teens. We lived through the “Great Depression” of the thirties as well as WWII. We loved each other as we grew into adulthood and “loved our neighbors as ourselves,” which may sound trite, but it’s trite because it’s true.

My father was a teacher and coach at Lincoln High School in East Los Angeles. His football T*E*A*M had a young athlete named Kenny Washington, an African-American. That school had a variety of nationalities, and Kenny was a phenomenal athlete, who I met when I was 6 or 7. Dad helped him go to U.C.L.A. and later Kenny became the first black player to play for the Los Angeles Rams in the late 1940s. I guess that was my first introduction to black athletes. When I started playing and encountered black players, it was just natural for me. I thank my dad.

As I began my teaching and coaching career it was coincidentally at that same Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights with a mixture of races and nationalities. My officiating career found me working with that same mixture of races. It was an easy transition. Did I encounter prejudice and some trying situations? Of course, I did. As an  NFL game official with games and players that became confrontational, my experience and training from my father was first and foremost. I was fortunate.

We need understanding and tolerance of each other, and the only way to get that is to want to work together. Successful teams do that every day. If and when there is a “blow-up,” they stop and work it out. It does take some necessary time and patience. We are all in this together!

Will you be part of that solution?

Thank you!

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