Inattentional Blindness

downloadOn The TunneySide of Sports January 28, 2019 #729 Up Next… Inattentional Blindness

After further review… Inattentional Blindness? Huh? What’s that and what’s it got to do with sports? This theory is an old as Houdini himself. We’ve all closely watched magicians perform their craft and when finished asked “How’d they do that?” Some call it Inattentional Blindness and it causes us to miss something even if our eyes never look away. During a magic trick your eyes may never look away, but you still didn’t see what happened!

While some may refer to the magicians’ tricks as “misdirection,” inattentional blindness is not the same. Misdirection causes you to look at a new subject. Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon that explains how people can fail to see what is directly in front of them. So, what’s the sports connection?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you saw or since have seen the NFC championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints played in the Superdome on Sunday, January 20, 2019, which was won in overtime by the Rams. In the fourth quarter with 1:50 minutes left on the clock, the Saints threw a pass to their receiver running at full speed at about the Rams 10-yard line. As the ball approached that Saints receiver, a Rams defensive back made helmet-to-helmet contact with him before the ball arrived. By NFL rules that contact was not only defensive pass interference, but a personal foul for the helmet contact. The game officials were in the correct position to “call” (throw-the-flag) pass interference and helmet-to-helmet fouls but didn’t. Why not? Inattentional blindness!

Many studies over several years have shown that happens to all of us. Here’s an example by which you can test your I.B.: http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/videos.html. Did you see the gorilla the first time while you were counting the ball-passing? In the NFC championship game did you see the pass interference and the illegal helmet contact in real time, i.e., when it happened? Real-time for the officials to make that call was three (3) seconds. We all saw it when it was replayed in slow motion. But that’s not the way the game is played.

If you were to ask those officials why they didn’t see the P.I, and P.F., they probably couldn’t tell you. What they would tell you is that they were looking right at the play. It can happen to us all. That’s why talking or texting on your cell phone while driving (or even walking) is dangerous.

Will you take care not to let Inattentional Blindness affect what you see?

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 To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com. Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more. Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly. These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others. Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.comThank you!

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The Superdome is Special!

download (1)On The TunneySide of Sports January 21, 2019 #728 Up Next… The Superdome is Special!

After further review… The Superdome is the home stadium for the New Orleans Saints. In the 2018 NFL season, the Saints have said: “The road to the Super Bowl (LIII) goes through the Superdome.” As of this writing, it appears so. However, that has not always been the case for the Saints, but to me, the Superdome has always been special.

When the dome opened in 1975, I was privileged to be the referee for the first pre-season game. It was a Saturday night, August 3, 1975 played between the Houston Oilers and the Saints. The dome was packed with 72,434 screaming fans, but the Saints lost 13-7, and their season ended 2-12. In 1975 the dome, as it is today, was spectacular. In those days the only other dome was the Astrodome, home of the Oilers.

As you drive east on I-10 from the Louis Armstrong International Airport (of course, it’s called Louis Armstrong – what else would you call it) located in Kenner. LA., you can see the top of the dome from a mile away, and the excitement begins to build. Entering the dome was a thrill unlike any other. In 1975, it was special. That specialness is not lost on the Saints players. Archie Manning, Saints QB in 1975, wanted to win the toss in that first game, so he could throw and complete the first pass. The Saints lost the toss, but the Oilers QB didn’t complete a pass. When the Saints had the ball, Archie, indeed, did complete a screen pass for a first down. Special!

At the end of that first season (1975), the NFL held its Pro Bowl in the Superdome. Two years later, January 16, 1978 (forty years ago last Wednesday) the first Super Bowl was played in the Superdome between Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. Dallas won 27-10 and yours truly was the Referee. Officiating a Super Bowl is always the pinnacle of every NFL official’s season. Being the first one in the Superdome was special. The honorary toss of the coin was handled by Red Grange, The Galloping Ghost (as he was known). Grange was a three-time All American at Illinois and a member of the Chicago Bears as well as charter member of both the college hall of fame and the pro football hall of fame. Special to hand that coin to a football legend.

Will you please recognize with me how special that iconic stadium is?

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 To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com. Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more. Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly. These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others. Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.comThank you!

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Bounce of the Ball

cody-parkey-miss
On The TunneySide of Sports January 14, 2019 #727
 Up next… The Bounce of the Ball!

After further review… If you watched the NFC Wild Card game last weekend between Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears, perhaps you felt the disappointment of Cody Parkey, the Bears kicker. He missed a 43-yard field goal as time expired that gave the Eagles a 16-15 victory moving them onto a divisional playoff game with the New Orleans Saints. (Ed. Note this was written before the divisional games were played.)

The kick by Parkey was his second kick on that same down. His first kick went pretty much down-the-pike, as they say. But wait, the Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, called time-out just before the ball was snapped. By then, Parkey had begun his kicking-motion. However, with this “icing-the-kicker” call by the Eagles, the kick didn’t count. His re-try kick was long enough, but the ball hit the left goal post and then bounced on the crossbar and fell into the end zone. If the rotation of the ball turned on either of those two bounces, it could have dropped on the back side of the bar and been good. Indeed, isn’t life often about the “bounce-of-the-ball?”

Parkey said in a post-game interview, “There’s really no answer to it. I thought I hit (with my foot) a good ball. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world to let your T*E*A*M down. I feel terrible.” Wait just a darn minute before you jump all over Parkey. Replays showed that Eagles defensive tackle #90 Treyvon Hester (6’2” 304 lbs.) jumped-up to get his finger-tips on that kicked ball just enough to divert it off course!

Perhaps you missed getting a promotion that was diverted off course. Or when you lost your job were told, “Well, that’s just the way the ball bounces!” Yes, like the bounce of Parkey’s ball, sometimes your life takes a bounce on which you didn’t plan. You prepared; you did your best, but the ball didn’t bounce your way. For Parkey, twice it didn’t bounce his way.

Haven’t we all been there at one time or another? You prepare, you gave it your best shot and then it bounced in another direction. Perhaps you missed getting a promotion that went to another candidate. How do you deal with it, when the bounce doesn’t go your way?

It’s called mindset! Move on! Continue to believe in yourself. Prepare for the next opportunity. Because it will come!

Will you maintain your self-confidence when the bounce doesn’t go your way?

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 To contact Jim, go to JimTunney.com or email Jim@JimTunney.com. Jim’s books are full of inspiration and interesting stories. Please visit his online store to learn more. Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports Be sure to get Jim’s book ‘Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports’ by clicking this link or using the email above to contact Jim directly. These TunneySides take issues from real-life situations and relate them as inspiration for the betterment of others. Jim is available for speaking engagements on leadership and T*E*A*M Building. His books are available for $20 which includes shipping and tax. The Tunney Bobblehead is available for $30. Please visit JimTunney.comThank you!

Posted in NFL, Sports, Tunney Side of Sports Columns | Leave a comment