And Bring Your Playbook!

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Jim Tunney Ed.D
On the TunneySide of Sports
August 22, 2022 #914
Up next… 

After further review… “Coach wants to see you … and bring your playbook.”

As the NFL nears the end of its 2022 pre-season, fans can hardly wait for the regular season to start. The real games start when the teams play their “first-string” players. For the preseason most every team has played its reserve players so as not to get their regular players injured. They call it the championship season since preseason games don’t count toward the playoffs.

While that system is OK for the regulars (those players in the high salary brackets) the fans aren’t thrilled that the cost of the tickets is still high and they are watching their team play with players who will be “cut” when preseason ends. You see, each team brings 100-plus players into their training camps so that during the preseason the coaches can evaluate them for a spot on their regular roster. That’s what fans are seeing in the preseason. Coaches then begin to cut those they can’t keep.

“Coach wants to see you … and bring your playbook.” That’s the opening line from an assistant coach who is sent to deliver the message to a player about to lose his job. That pause is because that coach hates to deliver the bad news. When that “knock-on-the-door” comes as preseason ends and, for some, even sooner, it’s a most difficult time for all concerned. It means you’re fired! For players on the roster bubble, it’s tough.

Have you ever been fired? If you haven’t, let me tell you it’s a very trying experience. Imagine you are a standout high school and college player and have dreams/aspirations of playing professional football and now you get the ”knock on your door.” Your heart is in your throat and knots in your stomach. Your first thought is “What do I do now?”

What about your head coach who has to give you the bad news? Some coaches may appear cavalier about it as if you should have expected it. Most coaches understand this kind of news is a real heart-breaker and are most considerate about your future. Herm Edwards, who was the head coach of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, said it’s the most difficult part of his job. He took time and counseled each player he had to cut. He assured each one they had a future, while it may not be with his team or even in pro football. He emphasized that you should believe in your abilities and something will open up.

Will you build confidence in those you may have to fire?

—————

Jim’s Bobblehead is still available for $30. He has added one of his books (your choice – you pick one from his website www.jimtunney.com) at no extra charge. 

Shop here.

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

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

A Tribute To Vin Scully

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Jim Tunney Ed.D
On the TunneySide of Sports
August 15, 2022 #913
Up next… A Tribute to Vin Scully

After further review…

The acronym G.O.A.T. is too often used to describe athletes for outstanding achievements. The term has also been applied to anyone who achieves some spectacular feat. G-O-A-T is translated to mean the Greatest Of All Time! I have often derided those who want to claim their “hero” is the G.O.A.T. as records are meant to be broken. Vin Scully is an exception!

In 1975, I terminated my job as principal of Hollywood High School (Yes, THAT Hollywood High School, corner of Sunset and Highland in Hollywood) and accepted the position of Assistant Superintendent in the Bellflower Unified School District in Bellflower. The phone rang. It was Vin Scully. I had met Scully a few times over several years when my close friend, Rollie Seidler (he married Terry O’Malley Seidler) had entrance to the Dodgers broadcast booth from where Scully was to broadcast the games. My grandsons Jake and Nash were with me on occasion as were my own kids Maureen, Mike, and Mark.

Anyway, the phone call from Scully said he had been hired by CBS to broadcast NFL games along with George Allen as the analyst. Allen was the former coach of the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. I wished him good luck with that one! I had known Allen when he coached at Whittier College. Scully said he would like to meet with me to discuss NFL rules and interpretations. I was honored! It was my 16th year as an NFL official and I was giving rules presentations to NFL teams in pre-season, so I felt comfortable meeting with Scully. We agreed on meeting at Dodgers Stadium in August when the team was in town.

We met, just Scully and me, for an early dinner (4:30 p.m.) before his broadcast. We met 5-6 times at that hour. Vin was insightful and inquisitive. He was a lifelong learner (Fordham University grad). During that 1975 season, we crossed paths a few times at games we both worked. The last game  Scully did was “The Catch” — Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFC Championship game at Candlestick. I was the referee.

Years passed and I hadn’t seen Vin for a while until one day as I exited the Spanish Bay Inn in Pebble Beach I spotted him. Scully was picking up his luggage and loading it in the trunk of his car with his back toward me. As I approached (and he couldn’t see me) I said,” There’s a fanny I’ll never forget! “And I never will!

Will you remember the style and class of Vincent Edward Scully, as I will, forever?

—————

Jim’s Bobblehead is still available for $30. He has added one of his books (your choice – you pick one from his website www.jimtunney.com) at no extra charge. 

Shop here.

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

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

You Never Met My Brother

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Jim Tunney Ed.D
On the TunneySide of Sports
August 8, 2022 #912
Up next… You Never Met My Brother

After further review… I sit here on Saturday in the process of writing my weekly column that will soon be published. Thoughts of my brother Peter fill every crevice of my mind. Aug. 6 is Pete’s 84th birthday but he’s not with us. Pete died about a year ago – Sept. 22, 2021. His memory will be with me forever. He was more than just a brother.

It was Aug. 5, 1938, when our family moved from East Los Angeles to 439 No. Daroca, San Gabriel. My dad was a teacher/coach at Lincoln High on North Broadway in Lincoln Heights. With not much money being a teacher in those days, dad managed to save what he could to qualify for an FHA loan with which he bought the Daroca house and lot – for $6,000 he once told me. I remember helping dad load that rental trailer – more than once for this 20-mile trip to 439 Daroca. That trip in his 1936 Dodge seemed like we went through three states. Pete was born the next day.

God love my mom! At 9, I had no idea of the difficulties in moving. I just followed orders – “put this in the trailer,” “put this in the kitchen” — and didn’t fully know the difficulties Mom had in simply moving around. But then you didn’t know my mom – I guess I didn’t either. Not sure when Dad and Mom got to the hospital the next day or with whom my sister Joanne and I boarded.

They brought home this little guy, Pete, with whom I then was forced to share my bedroom. It really was an easy transition. We got along very well. Of course, being 9 years Pete’s senior, I was gone a lot doing my own thing with my friends. Until Pete got to be 3 or 4 we then often played catch.  As I got into high school, I spent more time away – sports and all. But I did notice that Pete was faster than most kids. We would have him “race” other kids often 3-5 years older. Then to build his upper body we had him chin himself on our clothes pole. He outperformed everyone who showed up.

Pete played Little League baseball but as he got into high school, football and track were his sports and he was good. He was the captain of every class-level team he played. In his senior year, he broke his leg in the first preseason game and was through for the balance of that season. He ran track, 10.7 seconds in the 100. Gulp!  He repeated that in college and set the school record in the 4X100 relay.

He was recruited by Payton Jordan, track coach at Occidental College. Pete did go to Oxy, but Payton took the job at Stanford. Every time Jordan’s Indians competed against Oxy, the Tigers beat them. Pete was also Oxy’s star tailback. In his senior year, he was selected All-Conference and honored on the Little All-American football team. He was in line to play in the NFL. An injury prevented that. However, he followed Dad’s path in California’s thoroughbred racing and was general manager of Golden Gate Fields for 30 years.  I miss him every day.

Will you follow brother Peter’s example of bouncing back?

—————

Jim’s Bobblehead is still available for $30. He has added one of his books (your choice – you pick one from his website www.jimtunney.com) at no extra charge. 

Shop here.

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

Posted in Sports, Tunney Side of Sports Columns | Tagged | 2 Comments