Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Vin Scully Called Up


Vincent Edward Scully, known by all as "Vin" or "Vinny," has died.  Over 67 years, first for Brooklyn then starting in 1958 for Los Angeles, he announced Dodger baseball.  For summer after summer and generation after generation, he was the voice of baseball.

As many are saying in tribute, Vinny was so much more than an announcer. 

Vinny and I arrived in southern California about the same time - he as the 31-year-old Dodger broadcaster and me as a newborn at Pomona Valley Hospital.  From my earliest memories, the Dodgers have always been my team.  Year in and year out, reliable as the sun, there was always Vin Scully.  

So, though I never met the man, his death feels like a loss in the family.  That's crazy. And its not.

To kids growing up in my neighborhood, he was "VinScully," pronounced as a single name. It would have been unthinkable for a child to use the familiar "Vin" or "Vinny." Scully brought us the Dodgers, but he was also our teacher on all things Dodgers and baseball.  I remember more than one boyhood argument ending with "VinScully says so" which was the final word on the matter.  

I don't associate Scully with any one place. I remember listening to his voice in cars, backyards, front yards, garages and living rooms.  As I grew older, Vin Scully and Dodger baseball was something parents and a laconic teen could share.  

As a young man, I lived in other cities with other teams and other announcers.  But, none were Vin Scully. 

I became a father. Rocking back and forth, with a sleeping baby on my shoulder, I listened to Vin Scully on the radio.

We celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and wrote to celebrities hoping to get a note of congratulations.  Some sent autographed photos.  Not Vin.  He handwrote to my mom and dad, "I would say God bless you, but I can see that he already has." Just a simple thing, but so elegant and kind that I'm retelling the story 15 years later. 

In 2016, I watched on television as the Dodgers honored Vin and then watched him broadcast his final game from San Francisco.  The next year, Marcia and I heard him speak at the Pasadena Civic.

Last October, I was at Dodger Stadium for the post season series against the Braves. I was up in the reserved section and instantly stood with 50,000 others as Vin Scully appeared on the big screen. He was at his home and appearing by live video feed.  There he was, smiling on the screen, gently waiving to the crowd. His smile grew. He knew very well what was coming next. He was 93, his voice shook, but there was a boyish glee about him. We all knew exactly what was coming next and a kind of reverent clapping erupted. Then, at Vin's invitation, all together in his sing-song cadence, we yelled "It is time for Dodger baseball."   

............

The Dodgers play the Padres tonight at Dodger Stadium.  Game time is 6:10.



Saturday, March 23, 2013

On the Passing of Victor McClinton

I want to join the many who are honoring the life and memory of Victor McClinton.

Near the end of 2012, it was front page on the Pasadena Star News and the most viewed article for days -- Pasadena Comes Together to Remember Victor McClinton.   McClinton was director of the Brotherhood Community Sports League.    At the age of 49, he was tragically killed on Christmas Day.

A recent Pasadena Weekly article aptly titled "One Very Good Man,"  again brought Victor to mind. 

I knew Victor only for a season - a football season.   Like thousands of area kids, my son participated in Brotherhood Crusade sports.   One year, he had the privilege of playing on a football team Victor coached.   So, I knew Victor as a dad knows a coach -- mostly from the sidelines.  But, I saw and  heard enough to know my son was fortunate to cross paths with this man.  

Though I did not know Victor well, I have known men like him -- men who are there for the kids month after month, year after year, consistent, resilient.   They get the keys to the gym or the field and they make sure the kids play.   They are more important than we realize.  

Well worth reading is a moving tribute to Victor written by his longtime friend, Danny Bakewell.    Over the years he led Brotherhood Crusade Sports and coached, Victor touched the lives of 20,000 area kids.  Few can say as much.   His was a monumental life.  "One very good man" who will be remembered by thousands for years to come..  

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Whew! Lakers Win. Channel 7 Ruins Postgame

Chick Hearn called it "nervous time" -- those last minutes of a game where tensions are high and either team could win. Last night, the whole game was nervous time. The Lakers trailed by double digits in the second half and somehow turned it around for a come from behind championship win over the dreaded Celitcs.

My Laker allegiance goes back to when the Laker big men were named Rudy and Mel instead of Shaq or Pau. For me, the finals against the Celtics have been equal parts joy and fear. Joy of the thought of another championship. And fear of yet another loss to Boston.

Yesterday's Times captured my mood. Heisler wrote about the Lakers' '69 loss to the Celtics in game seven. Plaschke couldn't get away from "nagging twinges of doom." Me too.

I got those twinges of doom even in the first minute when Kobe drove the lane, was mugged, and no foul was called. It was clear the refs would only call the most egregious fouls and that favored the Celtics. It also promised an ugly low scoring game, which is what we got.

Kobe never got on track, made just 6 of 24 shots, and missed free throws to boot. The rest of Lakers team were the heroes -- Fisher, Gasol, Odom, Sasha. The enigmatic Ron Artest played an incredible game. And, right after the game, Artest made NBA finals history by becoming the first player to thank his psychiatrist on national TV.

*************************

Local postgame coverage on KABC Channel 7 was absolutely terrible.

Instead of reporting on the celebration inside the Laker locker room, KABC focused on the crowd outside of Staples Center and on a few stupid incidents. There was helicopter coverage of the foolishness and several reporters on the street. They trumped up as much unrest as they could, glorified the drunken fools and repeatedly interviewed the police. About the last things I wanted to see after an historic Laker win.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Remembering John Wooden

John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

Recently the "toy department of human life," has offered up a lot to ponder. That's especially true for this lifelong LA sports fan. We've got the Lakers-Celtics again in the NBA finals and the NCAA's ridiculous sanctions against USC football. We've got the US tying England in soccer.

Then, in a whole different category, there's the passing of John Wooden.

Coach Wooden

I grew up a Laker, Dodger, Ram and Bruin basketball fan. Back then, UCLA basketball was just amazing to watch -- the stifling full court press, Kareem, Walton, and the rest. Ten NCAA championships in a dozen years. Nothing like it before or since. But, as dominant as UCLA was in the 60's and 70's, you always knew there was more to those teams than just basketball. There was the person and the teaching of John Wooden.

Coach John Wooden died June 4 at the age of 99. He coached his last game in 1975, yet what the man taught was so enduring and so compelling that 35 years after his retirement his death was front page news across the nation. By "the numbers," he ranks as one of the greatest coaches of all time -- regardless of sport. But, remarkably, almost all of the buzz (and there's been a lot of it) is not about basketball. The Internet is filled with story upon story of Wooden's teaching, his upright life and his devotion to his wife, Nell.

Wooden's life began in 1910 in a house with no indoor plumbing and it ended this month with his life and his teaching splashed across the World Wide Web. Through it all, he was guided by a seven part creed given him by his father, an Indiana farmer. Kind of bedrock rules for living, the creed stood the tests of time and place -- from Wooden's schoolboy days in Martinsville, IN to Westwood in the tumultuous 60's and they anchor his legacy today.

I've enjoyed the celebration of Wooden's life and reconnecting with Wooden's teaching. Now, make today your masterpiece... and be quick, but don't hurry....

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Vin Scully at Work

Came down with a bad case of nostalgia the other day. Just being at the stadium sends me back to my first game as a boy. It was a long time ago, but I still have the tickets.

The Dodgers don't miss a beat on this nostalgia thing. Everywhere, you see the old and the new. There are the retired numbers over the outfield. Fans wear Dodger jerseys with player names that span the decades. And Dodger Vision -- that giant TV screen in left field -- runs clip after clip that blends the the old stars and the old glory with the new.

Then there's Vin Scully. He's been calling Dodger games since 1950. In one man, he connects Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Robinson to Ramirez, Koufax to Kershaw. And he connects us to all the history that is the Dodgers.

Like millions of others, I've heard Scully's voice my whole life. Over transistors, in backyards, on bikes, in cars, stores, homes. Wherever there's a radio, there has been Vin Scully, his stories and Dodger baseball.

So, here's Vin Scully at work. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't get much detail. But, it shows enough to make my point.

Scully's the guy in the KABC booth, calling the game solo, as is his custom. Blue shirt and tie. Headset on, he's got the game below, a monitor in front and pages neatly arranged on his desk.

I like how Scully's work style contrasts with the TBS announcers. The TBS booth looks like a flurry of activity -- three monitors, notes on the desk, notes on the wall, announcers flipping pages with help standing behind. But, Scully is the picture of control in his neat, organized booth. And while the other announcers have slumped shoulders and their heads down, the 81 year old Scully is sitting tall at the edge of his chair, eyes forward.

Doing his job, sitting at the edge of his chair, at 81 years old!

Scully, the Dodgers, Los Angeles -- its all been an unbelievably good fit. For all of us.

He has all the accolades a baseball announcer could ever have. What more to say than thank you.

And, I suspect, Vin Scully would return the thanks.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Dodgers 3 Cardinals 2

You can watch a million games and you won't see what happened tonight.

The improbable stage was set: Bottom of the ninth, Cardinals up 2-1. With two outs, James Loney hits a routine fly ball to left. Surely the game is over. But, amazingly, Cardinal left fielder Matt Holliday drops the ball. At the last minute he turns his glove away and the ball smacks him in the stomach. After the game one Cardinal complained that Holliday lost the ball in a sea of white towels the crowd was waving. Holliday said it was the lights. No matter. The Dodger's had new life.

With this one improbable error, you could feel the crowd's expectation. It was as if we knew the Cardinals were going to unravel and somehow the Dodgers would win. And it happened.

The team and the crowd went wild.

Mark Loretta got the game winning hit. Dogpile on Loretta. This was a stunner.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Opening Ceremonies

One of the great things about playing AYSO soccer in Pasadena is that opening ceremonies are held in the Rose Bowl.


This was the view as I entered the tunnel leading to the Rose Bowl field with my daughter's team -- the Lightening Lizards. Dozens of teams preceded us onto the field, each with their own banner and each with a bunch of screaming kids. As each team reaches the end of the tunnel, their team name is called, the kids go crazy and run out onto the field. The kids get to watch their pictures on the Rose Bowl's JumboTron.

For me, I can't walk through that tunnel without thinking of all the great players and teams that trod that space in times past. It is amazing to live in a city that has one of the most storied and historic stadiums in the country.

The AYSO program is huge. More than 3400 kids play AYSO soccer in this region, which covers Pasadena, Altadena and La Canada.