Stadiums!

On the TunneySide of Sports November 9, 2020 #821 Up next… Stadiums!

After further review… From the old saw, “I never met a (fill in the blank) I didn’t like,” I can honestly say I never met a stadium I didn’t like. In fact, to be in a stadium as the NFL Referee ready for the kickoff is where I wanted to be on Sunday afternoon.

Today’s 2020 novel COVID-19 pandemic that caused empty stadiums across our country just sickens me. It’s tragic to see stadiums, particularly the new Los Angeles and Las Vegas stadiums, having games without seats filled with fans.

In my 31 years as an NFL referee, I worked in dozens (lost count of the exact number) of stadiums where NFL games were played. Going back in time, my love for stadiums perhaps began when my dad was a football game official and I would carry his officiating bag as we walked through the south-east gate and down that ramp into the official’s dressing room at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. I was 6 or 7 at the time. Later I was able to sit on the Pasadena Junior College bench alongside Jackie Robinson! What’s not to like about that?

The Los Angeles Coliseum was always a favorite. The official’s dressing room was located in the bowels directly underneath the press box and we (the officials) would enter the field at the 50-yard line. Further, I officiated one of my first high school football games in that Coliseum and many college (USC & UCLA) and NFL (LA Rams) games as well. The L.A. Rams abandoned the Coliseum and moved to Angles Field in Anaheim, California, which was never it’s equal.

As an NFL official, I was able to “open” the Kingdome, first home of the Seattle Seahawks as well as the Superdome in New Orleans, although I had officiated several Saints games including Super Bowl VI (Dallas vs Miami) in Tulane University Stadium earlier.

In my home state of California, the Oakland (Raiders) Coliseum was always fun with the “Black-Hole” loud and raucous. My first game with the San Francisco 49ers was in Kezar Stadium with the seagulls on the field. The Niners then moved to Candlestick Point in South San Francisco where I worked many championship games. They now occupy Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. While I have attended NFL games there, the stadium was built after I retired.

It was special for me to travel to New York City to work games in Yankee Stadium where the Giants played their home games. Officials were housed in Manhattan and rode the subway to the stadium in the Bronx, then after the game took the subway back downtown to get to either Kennedy or LaGuardia to fly across the country. I eagerly awaited a return to NYC.

Space prevents me from writing about so many other opportunities provided me by the NFL.

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Many of the stories about stadiums as well as NFL players and coaches can be found “On the TunneySide of Sports” – 2 books now bundled at the reduced price of $35. Tax and shipping free!  Send a check to Jim Tunney Youth Foundation (501c3) P.O. Box 1440 Pebble Beach, Ca. 93953.

Thank you!

Jim Tunney