Observations From the Upper Deck

By Rhonda Reigstad

A few thoughts and observations on Tony Dungy, Johnny Damon, Brett Favre, Lisa Guerrero and Stan Van Gundy.

We extend our utmost condolences to the family of Indianapolis Colts’ coach Tony Dungy and his family in the unexpected loss of their son, James, age 18. His girlfriend found him in his apartment early in the morning and efforts to revive him were not successful.

No one, except those who have lost a child, can ever understand the pain they are going through. It is heart wrenching to see people go through the loss of a child. I have seen it from the outside looking in many times in my young life and cannot imagine what they are feeling. After having lost my second cousin in August (reference my past article “When Life Throws Sports for a Loss”), no words can describe what you feel or go through when something that sudden happens. It hurts and is still hard to believe four months after the fact that this happened. It’s not supposed to happen to your family or your community—it should be someone else’s. You learn exactly just how fragile life is.

The biggest news in the early baseball offseason is a shock to many. Boston Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon is now going to be a New York Yankee. He will be signing a four-year, $52 million contract here soon. Damon said he and his agent tried to stay in Boston but they weren’t trying hard enough to keep him at the salary that the Yankees were wafting under his nose.

It’s hard to believe that Damon is going to be a Yankee. He was so instrumental in ridding the Sox of the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004. For him to go to the enemy, so to say, after the Sox turned the Yanks over in the worst fall in American League Championship Series history, is still unbelievable. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has never been afraid to open up his checkbook to players he feels will get him that next World Series ring.

More than anything, here’s the real question for Damon. Will the “Almighty” cut his mane to fit in with the Yankees? Time will tell….

The Milwaukee Brewers reacquired and then put reliever Dan Kolb out on the free agent market in a two-week stretch. Why even bother getting him back? Kolb told reporters early in the 2005 season that he was happy to be in Atlanta where there was an atmosphere of wanting to win. When manager Ned Yost got wind of Kolb’s words, he sat down with the team and asked them how they felt about it. Needless to say, they were none to happy with their former teammates words. The result was a pretty good win streak for the Brew. Goes to show you can come back home again but don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.

Is this the end for Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre? After a hellacious showing by the Packers on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens, a lot of people in Packerland are saying it may be. If you are to ask me and many other faithful, we think he’ll return for another year. Favre is the type of guy who doesn’t want to go out on such a bad note.

You can’t blame him for all the woes this past year in Packerland. The loss of offensive linemen Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle in the offseason to free agency was the first hit. Running back Ahman Green and so many other guys falling to injury didn’t help either. They didn’t do a whole lot in the free agency market in getting quality players in reserve positions.

It isn’t only on the field that Favre has had his share of hits. Off the field, in the last two years, he has lost his father, his wife, Deanna, lost her brother unexpectedly and she was diagnosed with breast cancer and this past fall, his family in Mississippi were some of the millions that were hit by Hurricane Katrina.

He has gone through a lot the last two years and we all go through our share in our lives. The major difference with him compared to us is his life is in the public spotlight and ours isn’t. We can only take so much before it starts affecting us personally.

When I went to Football 101 with the Packers, equipment manager Red Batty said something to us about Favre that I don’t think any will forget. He said, “I’ve seen him win, and I’ve seen him lose. But I’ve never seen him give up.” Solid words from a man who has seen many players go through the league in his 33 years of being involved.

Former Best Damn Sports Show and Monday Night Football reporter Lisa Guerrero decided to pose in Playboy magazine. She has joined a growing trend of female sports reporters posing in men’s magazines. Her former co-worker from Best Damn, Leeann Tweeden, hasn’t been afraid to show a little skin herself. In a time when women are still trying to get the respect of their male counterparts in the sports world, this isn’t the best of ideas. Ask reporters like Lesley Visser and Robin Roberts—they will tell you that they have worked hard to get respectability and these women doing such acts only drag the rest of them down.

Guerrero was quoted a week or so ago in USA Today that the ratings for ABC’s Monday Night Football started going down after her one season on the sidelines. Take a closer look, Ms. Guerrero. Monday Night Football’s ratings started going down about 10 years ago and they never came back.

Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy decided to step down as head coach a week ago and the man he replaced, Pat Riley, has returned to the bench from the front office. Van Gundy cited “family reasons” for his departure. I have read many editorials from writers across the country whom felt his leaving was for reasons other than family. Some have surmised that Riley ran him out of town.

It’s hard to say one way or another the reason why Van Gundy stepped down but he did make a couple comments that not many people think about when it comes to coaches. He said he didn’t want to miss many more of his four children’s activities. His oldest daughter is 14 and he’s spent her entire life coaching at the college or professional level. Not many talk about the “dark side” of coaching—how many hours they spend on the road or in the office reviewing tapes, practicing, interviewing or whatever may come up during the course of a day.

So many people think that being a coach is a glamorous life for the money they make and it really isn’t. When you consider the demands and the stress from ownership all the way down to the fans, it all can add up and it’s surprising that more coaches don’t step down for the same reason.

Van Gundy did very well in his short tenure with the Heat. He has been regarded around the league as a good coach and if he wants to get back in the future, there shouldn’t be any doubt he can return to the bench wherever he wants

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