myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
Coaches Corner: High School Coach, Burbank Fire Captain, Union President Lew Stone
How does one man go from coaching to battling blazings and then to shaping union policies? Join us on myBurbank Talks Coaches Corner as we welcome Lew Stone, a true legend in the firefighting and union communities. Lew takes us through his incredible journey, starting with his early days at the Burbank Fire Department in 1981, where he swiftly rose to the rank of captain. He shares compelling accounts of significant firefighting incidents, including the infamous Castaways fire, and offers a candid look at his impactful roles in union leadership. From serving as the president of the Burbank Firefighters Union to becoming the Secretary Treasurer of the California Firefighters Union, Lew reflects on the challenges and triumphs of his tenure, the importance of maintaining departmental harmony, and his optimistic vision for the future.
Lew's story takes an interesting turn when a teacher strike led him to pivot from coaching to firefighting, a decision influenced by his father-in-law's suggestion to take a firefighter test. In our conversation, Lew fondly recalls his return to the world of coaching through his daughter's basketball team and heartwarming moments at Verdugo Park. We delve into the nuances of different coaching styles, the camaraderie built over years of shared sports experiences, and the significant impact of mentorship. Whether it’s discussing how competing against older athletes molded their competitive spirits or the unique dynamics of coaching girls' teams, Lew’s insights are both enlightening and inspiring.
In our final chapter, we explore the evolving landscape of youth sports and the profound changes Lew has witnessed over the years. From the influence of social media on player attitudes to the increasing specialization and pressures faced by young athletes today, Lew provides a thought-provoking analysis. He also shares the joys of his fulfilling retirement, his active lifestyle, and the cherished moments spent with his family. As we wrap up, Lew reflects on the lasting importance of supportive relationships and the possibility of rekindling his passion for coaching in the future. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that underscores the values of mentorship, community, and lifelong learning.
From deep in the Burbank Media District. It's time for another edition of my Burbank Talks, presented by the staff of my Burbank. Now let's see what's on today's agenda as we join our program. Hello Burbank, Craig Sheward, here with you once again, along with my co-host, Bob Hart. Good evening, Another edition of Coach's Corner. And let me tell you what we have a legend, and a legend that you may not realize from the sports world. You might realize him as being a first responder by all the fantastic things he's done for our city in different aspects. But we're going to get into his time as a coach later, but first I want to introduce our guest today, Lou Stone.
Speaker 2:Greg thanks for inviting me. Bob thanks for the invitation.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Great to have you here.
Speaker 1:Well, Lou Stone's been a brewing firefighter, became a captain and then, after he basically did his retirement, he decided to go into union work and I believe he was the president of the California Firefighters Union. Is that right?
Speaker 2:I was the secretary treasurer.
Speaker 1:Secretary, treasurer, okay, and you were also the president of the Burbank. For 25 years 25 years, long time when.
Speaker 2:No kidding.
Speaker 1:When did you join the Burbank Fire Department? March?
Speaker 2:of 1981. Okay, that's when I left the school district. Okay, and when you became a captain, when Five and three quarter years later, this is like 1987.
Speaker 1:That's like moving up the ladder pretty fast, huh.
Speaker 2:I was very fortunate.
Speaker 1:Were you also an engineer at one time?
Speaker 2:Yes, I went up through the ranks.
Speaker 1:Okay, let me ask you this In all the years you were in the fire department, do you remember your biggest response, your biggest incident in the city that you remember? We've had some big things over the years. What was your largest year? Fire or event or something?
Speaker 2:Probably the toughest fire was remember when the castaways burned down and we were there all night, long into the morning, and the only thing we saved was the main ballroom. But yeah, I vividly remember that farm.
Speaker 1:We were wondering if they were ever going to rebuild that or not. But they have and doing well, I guess it's a great location. Why wouldn't you rebuild that place?
Speaker 3:I was up there actually last week and had to mortgage my house, but we paid it out of there, so it wasn't too bad.
Speaker 1:You have a nice brunch there on Sundays, I know that. Okay. So then, what got you? You became the union president of Burbank, right? What got you into? Did you not like how things were going? Did you just feel you could do a better job? Did you feel representation wasn't good enough? What, what, what motivated you to do that?
Speaker 2:I, I grew up in a union household. My dad was with Machinist Unions, at Lockheed and uh, when I was a school teacher, uh, unfortunately, we had a teacher strike and I was involved, uh in in Involved in a quasi-leadership position there. And so when I came in the fire department, the union president at the time, a man named Dick Trimble, immediately latched onto me and started, unbeknownst to me, he started grooming me to become the next president. So you know, I mean I was the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending upon your perspective. So I took the presidency in 1986, and it was a great run. It was not the adversarial relationship you see in a lot of places it was a family. We disagreed sometimes but negotiating contracts and stuff was challenging sometimes, but overall it was a good place to be in organized labor.
Speaker 1:Without a doubt, the Briggs Fire Department in the 80s, 90s and 2000s was the place to be, and then something kind of went wrong a little bit, and either they weren't taking care of their people properly. We're getting a lot of attrition, a lot of people leaving, paramedics leaving, going to other departments, and just recently they finally have negotiated a new contract and people are happy again. But I think there are, without a doubt, when you think of Burbank, you think of one of the best police and fire departments around, which is what makes Burbank so special. So have you kept up with what's going on since you left?
Speaker 2:I peripherally watch it, but I try not to. I don't stick my hands in it. The leadership that's there now they're doing their thing and so it just has been sad, like you say, is that you know, if you don't stay on top of things, service can degradate and for whatever reason, the fire administration and the union to an extent too. They didn't keep up on keeping a current list and keeping moving people into place, so they had attrition, like you say, and I've got a nephew that's a firefighter medic there and they're getting beat up. You know they're being forced overtime constantly and stuff. So thankfully Danny Alvarez is the chief now and in fact Danny was one of my rookies that's how old I am, but I hear he's doing a good job and hopefully they stay on top of things and they turn things around where firefighters don't want to leave Burbank.
Speaker 1:You want to give a shout-out to your nephew? Where is he working right now?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, oh, make him earn it.
Speaker 1:So you left Burbank Fire and now you moved to the state level as a union person. Well actually, yeah, what happened? I mean, were you doing that at the same time? Yes, and then, once you retired, you just did that more of a full-time thing so what?
Speaker 2:what happened is that, after I'd been the president of burbank for 15 years uh, they, they I was elected to what they call the second district. So I had uh, la kern, ventura, santa barbara and san luis obispo counties those are the counties I represented and then, in 2008, I was still on the job and the secretary treasurer died. He was stricken with cancer and he died, and so I ran for that position and I was successful to get elected. So for my last three and a half years on the job, I was also commuting to Sacramento, which was really fun, and so I did that until I retired in 2011. And then I did the Secretary of Treasurer's work until 2018. And we had a great organization. We took care of about 33,000 firefighters across the state, and our main thrust was legislation, so it was mainly dealing with the state legislature and the governor's office and various departments and just making sure that firefighters were safe, firefighters had the ability to do their jobs and not get hurt.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you for all you've done for the city. I've been around forever, like most people, and you were always very good to me when you were on the job and I always appreciated that as being the media no adversity or relationships. But this is called Coach's Corner, this is not called Meet the Fireman. So let's get back and I'm going to start this off because I know Coach Hart's got a lot to say also. But I'm going to start this off where I first met you, and it's funny I'm always saying, yeah, I coached that guy, I coached this guy.
Speaker 1:Well, you were the one who coached me in the beginning. That was back in the days of Stevenson Elementary School. Myself and Microsoft and a few of us. We spent our summers over at Stevenson. That's what you did. You didn't go play in a computer game, you went to the. You know we got a group of guys we like to play over the line and all those activities, and you were the guy from Park and Rec who was assigned to Stevenson to run a summer program. So that's how we first got to know you. And let's talk about that part. How did you get into doing that? What was your motivation to start doing that and how did you get into that? It was strictly cash.
Speaker 2:It was my. I was going to cal state, northridge, I was a p major uh, now they've glorified the kinesiology. But uh, so I needed money. I, you know, I had rent, I was paying, you know the regular stuff. A college guy's got, and, uh, kale canfield, who was, you know, a long-time coach at Burroughs High School. One day he comes and goes hey, lou, do you want a job? I go sure. And so he's the one that got me into Stevenson. So during the daytime I taught PE to the fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and then at 3 o'clock I became the after-school playground coach. And that's when I first met you and Graceffo and I tried to kick you off my playground, but it was unsuccessful.
Speaker 1:You tried, but we were going nowhere. Yeah, it was great, we had to go somewhere, and that was the place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was safe for you guys, but that's how I got started with that. And then Park and Rec then hired me for the evenings, so I was either supervising a park for baseball or flag football or I was over at Verdugo Park in the cage, you know, handing out balls and stuff. So it was a great way to get through college.
Speaker 1:I made decent money and it was great. So that was your time back in our day. It used to be called our park trip. I remember an arranged over-the-line game and everything else and we'd all get on our string stingrays and ride to another school and play. Those were great times. They were really great times. I still have great memories of that. So, like kids who graduate to the next level, you graduate up to the high school level to start coaching. Now, this is, I think, where Bob here is going to get into with you.
Speaker 2:here I'm going to interject something he's going to be the truth serum.
Speaker 1:I remember you when I used to cover games as a Bobby Knight type of coach. You were fiery, you were intense and you cared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did.
Speaker 1:You cared. That's the one thing that coaches nowadays need to care about your players and about the game and about how important it is at that time. So what brought you over to Burroughs and got you into coaching basketball?
Speaker 2:So as I graduated from Northridge, I got offered a coaching job up in Emmett, idaho, and because I was not an economics major, I had no idea what cost of living meant. All I knew is that they're paying coaches like a third of what they were here, and Brian Hurst said, hey, would you like to come on staff here? And so I was. You know I go great Back to coaching basketball.
Speaker 1:Is that your first love?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah yeah, Baseball, the ball's too small in the wrong color, so it was basketball. And so I started coaching basketball there at Burroughs. And then Rich Grimes took over and I moved up to JV coach. So I coached the JVs for four years and in four years, thankfully, we weren't very tall, but we were tough and in great shape and we won two footy league championships in the four-year period of time I was coaching there and I probably never would have left education if it hadn't been that I was looking forward to someday either taking the head job at Burroughs or I was starting to look around at other uh jobs in in the area of varsity jobs.
Speaker 2:And uh, in the midst of all that, we had the teacher strike. And uh, when we had the teacher strike, uh, my father-in-law, who was a Burbank fire captain, said uh, hey, lou, why don't you take the test? And at the same time I don't know if you remember I played against him. He was a CV guy named Bob Trowbridge and Trowbridge played at USC and we were really good friends all through the time. So there were student teaching together, luther and everything. And he goes hey, I'm taking the Burbank test. I go what Are you nuts, throw away that education. So we took the test and, long story short, we both got hired. So that's when I left coaching.
Speaker 2:But I tell you what, till my last day as a firefighter, I would have loved to, I mean, still be back in coaching. I got a taste of it when my oldest daughter started junior high school at Muir. She goes hey, dad, I've got, I've got these girls who want to play basketball. And I go and I'm thinking to myself I don't, I don't express it out loud, but it's go. Oh no, but it was. These girls were great athletes. I don't know if you remember randy ivy his niece was on my team. Amanda ivy uh, natalie avanesi, who is, I think she teaches with you at Burbank.
Speaker 3:High right. I think so, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean so I had these great girls. We would go undefeated all through the Burbank Park League. We go to the SMAP turn, we do good there and then, as they're going into high school, the varsity coach says, hey, would you like to coach the freshman team? So I arranged my schedule with the fire department. We go undefeated, we win the Foothill League freshman championship. Then the next year we lost two games, we won the Foothill League championship again and then the next year I was the assistant varsity coach and after one year as assistant varsity coach I stepped down. But so I kept my hand in coaching and, like I say, if I hadn't become a firefighter I would have loved staying with coaching and teaching the rest of my days.
Speaker 3:I remember when you were probably the student teacher era I guess you were at Luther you said I remember playing with you a number of times down at Verdugo Park with all the legends Rick Bernard and some of those guys John Chance and we used to sit back and think, oh my goodness, these are men. And the funny thing is, as you get older, our, our gap has kind of switched like I feel like we're contemporaries now. Where then I thought you were an old man and you know you were probably what? 30 at the time oh no, I was.
Speaker 2:I started coaching at burroughs when I was uh 22. I got my credential pretty quick yeah but yeah, but when you're, it's like, remember alberto diaz, yeah, uh, we're still very good friends and keep in touch. At that time it's like you say, I seem so old. But now I mean, like alberto is only, like I think, six years younger than me, right, you know? So it's all relatively, I mean, and strength wise and stuff. When a guy's 22, 23, it's a world of difference for a six-year-old.
Speaker 2:But that's the thing is that back then, Verdugo Park was our place.
Speaker 3:It was legendary.
Speaker 2:That's where I mean. When I was just starting high school, I would have to pay Terry Scott or a guy named Roger Fritch who started for Burroughs on their championship team in 69. I would have to pay them a quarter and then they would let me play on their three-on-three team, and then they would make me watch while they went over the Coke machine and got a Coke suck down the.
Speaker 2:Coke with my quarter and then I'd get to play three-on-threes with the older guys and that really helped me develop was just getting my rear end kicked by older guys.
Speaker 3:Well, I could say the same. That's kind of my development had a lot to do with you kicking my ass.
Speaker 2:It's all elbows and the rear end. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah it is Lower body wins.
Speaker 2:God gave us elbows for a reason.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was very competitive as a young man, not super talented or anything but very competitive, and I attribute a lot of that to the coaching that I received, lou being probably foremost on that list. Brian Hurst had a different approach. His approach was probably more cerebral, more nurturing type of guy. Lou would just come out and tell it like it was all the time and it was, you know, somewhat refreshing, because when you're young, you know the wisdom kind of goes over your head, but the toughness doesn't you kind of.
Speaker 2:You kind of latch on to the toughness, you know it's you. You mentioned Bobby Knight and he was my hero. I went to a couple of coaching clinics where he was a feature speaker and the guy was brilliant, in addition to being just the heart of the nails. But I learned at one Burbank Burroughs game it was one of my players who shall remain nameless. He missed a defensive assignment on the press and you know the stands were already full and call him over.
Speaker 2:I start explaining to him rather loudly because, hey, the gym was packed. I mean I needed to yell a little bit. And he starts to tear up and I go oh my gosh, what have I done? And so I look and I go, hey, hey, hey, it's okay, you're doing a great job. But it taught me right then and there that every ball player is different, as I'm sure you've known. You guys have known for your coaching, where one guy you've got to get in his grill and just yell at him to even get his attention. Another guy all you have to do is say you need to remember where you're supposed to be when the ball goes weak side Absolutely, and so that taught me a lot about. I'm not going to say I became compassionate, but I at least had a little bit of empathy for some of the players who were a little bit more sensitive than others.
Speaker 1:You've always had the fire, though, in your belly. You can't turn that on and turn that off. I mean, besides Bobby Knight, what were your other influences in your coaching? Where did you get your X's and O's from and all those types of things? Where did you get your knowledge of the game to teach or coach at a high school level?
Speaker 2:You know, as I was going up through the ranks, I mean like at Cal State, northridge, you know, pete Cassidy was the head coach. We had Chuck Campione Back then we still had Frosh team, so Chuck Campione was a Frosh coach coach. So I got a lot of stuff from them and uh, pete cassidy was a was a acolyte of johnny wooden. So, uh, you started looking at things and you you realize that you don't just put x and o's up on a board. You got to look at your talent, see what they can do, and then you got to mold your defense and offense to them, not just try to plug them in to where they're an ill fit. So I think those are the main ones and just your temperament. I've always said you can always take a really aggressive ball player and tame him down, but you can't take a very timid, lackadaisical ball player and light a fuse underneath his rear end. You can't do it. I mean it just doesn't work.
Speaker 2:Very true, especially in basketball, yeah and I could give you initials of ball players. Sure, we both know vividly, but you just can't get them fired up, and especially at the size of the teams I had. They had to be tough, they had to be aggressive and you know, back then you could play pretty hard I will not say dirty, but we were very aggressive.
Speaker 3:No layups.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where now I mean it'd be a flagrant two. Just looking at a guy and I mean I would have been thrown out of every game.
Speaker 3:Me too.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, but the way you played and some of the other guys, it warmed my teeny tiny heart, you know. I mean because you'd watch these guys on the court and they were making up for lack of size with aggressiveness and really good skills and super conditioning.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we were the best condition team. I remember that very well. I think that at that time too, the first semester, you weren't allowed to shoot a ball or something, so we were on the track all the time, and that's kind of what pushed me to football or the or bleacher I was like it was a bleacher you guys I mean I had you guys uh, grimes and stuff.
Speaker 2:They just had to me take over conditioning and you guys were doing 50 sets of bleachers on the on the home stands and then double leg hops up the stairs. I mean nobody was going to be in better shape than us?
Speaker 3:No one, no. And I do think that's why I played football, because I saw all that conditioning and I was thinking well, hell, I might as well get something out of it.
Speaker 1:Football was easy. Compared to this, it was yeah, so you've worked with as a lower level coach. You worked with Brian Hurst, you worked with Rich Grimes. Brian Hurst, of course, is a legend. Right, there was the Brian Hurst gym. I mean we'll never forget that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting that you get something named after you before you're dead.
Speaker 1:I know, and I agree with that 100%. You know well, he would have loved it. Well, you know what.
Speaker 3:Didn't do it when he was alive. I think he still is alive. He is, oh yes, what, what is? Because I think I saw him about two months ago. I saw him at my heart.
Speaker 1:Doctor made me feel like we really shrunk that gap to something in common. Yeah, what did you pick up? Because he was a kind of a quiet guy, he was not a yeller or scream or anything else. You know, what did you learn from him in your time with him? Then what? And then how did it change when rich grimes took over?
Speaker 2:see, because I had played for brian in it, so I had known him as as my coach and uh then, and then going on the on his staff is that, you know, because of the way the coach, I didn't have that much interaction with the varsity that first year and my whole thing was fundamentals and really drilling in fundamentals in each of my ballplayers. And Brian wasn't so much the fundamentals guy, he was more. He was more the X's and O's type guy. And you know, like I said, I'd already had kind of my knowledge base from some college coaches that I really respected and so we would exchange information. But it wasn't like I mean, it wasn't like I was coaching underneath Bobby Knight or, you know, coach K or something.
Speaker 2:So, like you said, bob, he super nice guy, very relational, and I'll tell you we used to go over to his house for pizza after games, I mean, and his wife, Nancy, I mean she was the best, I mean she was great, I mean she just kept us all fed and and uh, so it was really familial with with Brian and Nancy and uh, so that taught me, you know, cause I didn't have exactly the best home life. So being around Brian and Nancy was just kind of like that fresh air being around Brian and Nancy was just kind of like that fresh air.
Speaker 3:I always felt that, uh, for me, uh, brian brought something to the table that a lot of coaches kind of miss out on, and I think that's the family approach. Um, he was very uh, like I said before, nurturing, um, he was uh somebody as a young man we could look up to. He uh wasn't full of drama. Um, yeah, I thought his composure was probably his strength. He wasn't a crazy man on the sidelines, but he was competitive, you know. So he was definitely somebody that made a big impact on my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1:Then transitioning to Rich Grimes. How was that then different?
Speaker 2:Me and Rich were good friends and so we hung out a lot. Again, different coaching styles. Um, you know when you're the assistant. So you know, I was the assistant varsity coach. I'm sitting there and, uh, when you're, it's just like being the vice president, united states. You keep your mouth shut, and so I would. I. My role was basically to whisper in Rich's ear or, at a timeout, to take one of the ball players go. Hey, you know, make that guy go left. You know he he's got no left hand, whatever it was, and uh. So Rich appreciated that and uh, and, like I said, he had me take over all of the preconditioning. And, like I said, he had me take over all of the preconditioning. And then I remember, on Saturdays after practice, then we would play full court Right For sometimes a couple hours, yeah, and so Sometimes six in the morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And so it was just great fun and you know, and it really by playing with you guys it gave me insight into who you know. It's like one guy I remember he was the dirtiest ball player I mean I've ever played against, and I won't even give his initials, but I was so heartwarmed by him because I think I know who you're talking about he was so sneaky.
Speaker 2:He'd be like hold on your shorts and all kinds of— and I'm going you're not getting enough playing time. So I would tell Rich hey, this guy needs more playing time because he can get the job done.
Speaker 3:I remember Rich having a great sense of humor. He was a great teacher too. He was one of the few guys who could really grasp, you know, involving the students in the, in the lessons. So he was one of the few guys that I really enjoyed. I would say that's it was true for Merle Stone as well. Oh yeah, loved his class. Yeah, and I was not a good student. My background wasn't, you know, education acclimated. Those guys.
Speaker 1:I'm going to switch this a little round now. I did not even know you coached girls. Back in my early days I coached a school called St Charles and I was their psych director and our girls coach quit. And so I coached the girls at the time A-team, 7th and 8th grade team and I'm thinking, oh, this is going to be boring as heck, we're going to score four points.
Speaker 1:I had no confidence in girls playing basketball. We get in there and we start playing and we're doing all right, and we lose a game like 22 to 20 or something. And after the game's over I'm going to talk to the girls. They start crying. Now you know it meant so much to them and they felt it was so disappointing. And I'm going you know, guys never do that, you know they just kind of brush it off but it meant. That means it really meant that much to the girls and I had a whole new appreciation for the girls game and the girls athletes, because I said, you know what it does matter and they wear their emotions a little more. So what was your transition, going from coaching boys and your style to now coaching girls? What, what, what I mean? How did you? What did you? What'd you discover about all that?
Speaker 2:So my, my daughter was on the team. I mean, she had put this team together and handed it to me and, like I said, they were all outstanding athletes in multiple sports and I knew some of their parents and some of their siblings that were really good athletes Also. But did?
Speaker 2:they know you and your style at the time they got to find out. But I toned it down a little bit. You know, I was getting older, I was a little more mature, I prayed. I was Because I started coaching the girls in 1997. So I'd been on the fire department for almost 16 years, so I'm kind of feeling things out and I'm, you know the whole thing. I teach them fundamentals and these girls are catching on and, uh, they actually I will tell you, this is that kind of like we were saying, craig is that? Uh, they took they, they hated to lose much more than the boys teams did. Um, and they were more motivated.
Speaker 2:One of my, one of my best ballplayers uh, we were playing, we're going to be playing Burbank, and her mom calls up and says hey, she's got 103 fever and this was the day before the game. And I go well, let's all be hoping she gets better by tomorrow morning. And so the next morning she calls us well, she's a little better, but she's still kind of got a fever. And I go you're the mom, you do what you need to do, um, and that girl says I'm going to school and I'm playing. So we get out to the court that night and I just go. How are you feeling she goes, I am fine, I just go, okay. And she played great and then collapsed after the game.
Speaker 2:But it's just. I think they were more intense than any of my boys' teams. They just, like you said, they hated to lose. And you know, like you said, they hated to lose and you know, like Natalie played college basketball, one of the other girls played college softball, so I had girls that could play and so I mean they were a machine. The sad thing is is when they got to the varsity, they'd won two championships in a row and the coach at the time changed the offense, changed everything and it wasn't quite the same.
Speaker 3:I actually had the privilege of coaching a girls team. We were the Heartbreakersers play on the name. Um, and I can mirror what you just said because they were super competitive, uh, hated to lose, gave me a thousand percent every time out. It was never a question of effort. Um, there was a lot of jump balls. You know there was. It was a scrap, you know.
Speaker 1:They were really very fiery yeah, they may not have the same skill set as the boys do, but they have a different type of skill set.
Speaker 3:You know and it, and it's more you know controlled, and it's more you know analytical and stuff I would say now, if you watch the wnba, the women's game has evolved considerably, both athletically and just the nuance of the intelligence part of the game. But the way the women play now, compared to how they played before huge, huge incremental up so much better.
Speaker 2:And they're much more disciplined. I mean we ran a little bit of a modified UCLA high post offense and I mean they ran it better than my boys' teams did, I mean, and they would get it to the second or third option. And you know they, just like you say, they really loved the game and paid close attention to what they were supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1:You're talking about the UCLA high post offense and that means you were a fan of John Wooden and it was a pretty big success and all those things. High post offense and, uh, that means you were a fan of john wooden and I know the premier success and all those things. But but were you a you know wooden disciple? Now, once again, he was not the uh, the fiery guy, he was a very controlled person, but but fundamentals, like you were talking about, fundamentals were the most important thing in his world.
Speaker 2:The thing is see, because he'd been coaching so long and he was so successful that he was very intense, but he knew how to use that intensity. If you ever really studied him on the sideline, he would roll up the program and he would bait officials. He would quietly say things to officials when he didn't like things going on. It was more he would take care of. Like there's a thing on Bill Walton that I watched and Walton it was that love-hate relationship but Johnny Wooden wasn't going to take anything from hey there's the door.
Speaker 2:You don't like the way this place has gone, but I mean he was so analytical but because he was so successful he got the best ballplayers in the United States. I can't believe he did not recruit me, but it was one mistake. But because he had the best ballplayers in the United States he could afford to really look at the nuances of the game. And if you really watch him, sometimes he would roll up that program and he would use it as a very focused megaphone and he would tear a referee, a new rear end or sometimes even zone ball players. But at timeouts you would see him way more intense but kind of deadpan when he was just sitting there on the seat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, nothing like talent when your freshman team can beat the varsity and the varsity is the number one team in the country. I mean, when you have those kind of options, you have a little more leverage with your players in terms of my way or the country.
Speaker 1:I mean when you have those kind of options, you have a little more leverage with your players. You know, in terms of my way or the highway, what have you? You know we've been lucky. We've both been coaching a long time, you know, and we're coaching currently. But how much have you seen the game whatever sport basketball you know, let's talk basketball. How much have you seen the game whatever sport basketball, you know, let's talk basketball. How much have you seen the sport change as far as coaching and the way attitudes are now and with players and all this stuff? And I mean I think we've lost a lot of our foundation, you know, and sports lost a lot of their foundation and how it's taught and how it's played because of, you know, players and their attitudes and social media and all the stuff going on now. Do you think your coaching style would work now the way it did back then?
Speaker 2:No, I've seen a lot. I mean, to me humility was always important and it's flipped the other way now. I mean I coached my oldest grandson. I coached him in the Burbank League when he was coming up, through elementary school and junior high, and I told my ballplayers hey, you don't get in the face of another ballplayer. All these other teams were doing it and I could understand why my guys were a little bit frustrated that I did not let them do that.
Speaker 2:But it's interesting, when I was playing I would watch college basketball, but I really didn't watch the pros that much. And now I mean you know they're supposed to be role models. Most pro basketball players aren't anything but a role model and so they don't have those people they can look up to. Once in a while you get a guy it's like it's like Grandson plays football, and you know I told him I go Emmitt Smith when he used to. You know, like I have to look it up in a book, but when he would score a touch and just drop the ball in the end zone and run right back out and the guy says, don't you want to push it? Hey, I've been there, I don't need to do anything.
Speaker 2:And so if I was still coaching? I mean, like when I was coaching, parents never questioned the coach. I remember a few times when I would have to get up close and personal to the ball player and the player's parents go thanks, coach, my kid. My kid needed that, and now it's. I'm going to take my kid off your team unless you play more. My kid needs to start. That would drive me nuts. I don't know if you guys are having to deal with that stuff.
Speaker 3:We really don't deal with that. No, I think we've set up parameters. I've been doing it long enough that I really don't even entertain it. I think I make that apparent at the parent meeting from the get-go Because, I agree with you, the humility factor is probably the biggest changeover. Kids want the spotlight. When we were playing, we didn't really want the spotlight. We garnered more satisfaction from seeing our teammates do well. Right, there was a lot of that.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of the problems nowadays also is with the, of course, parents. You know everybody gets a trophy and all those things, but I also think it's the private coaching. These parents are spending a lot of money to send their kids I'll get you into college, I'll do this, I'll do that, and they teach them things that aren't part of the team. You know codes, and I think that's what's hurting the game nowadays too, and hurting kids and all that and hurting all sports. So I think that's a huge problem. In the old days, the team was it. All you had was the team. So I think that's changed a lot now.
Speaker 2:I was coaching my grandson's basketball team and we were playing a game at Verdugo Park one day and after the game we'd beat this team that was a club team. So they're playing a Burbank league, but they were a club team. So this young man comes over to me afterwards and goes, hey, you've got a couple of really good ballplayers on your team. And I, oh thanks. And he gives me his business card. He goes you know, I could you know work with those two guys? And I go, really, I said, so what's your background? And it was sorely lacking and I said, well, I think right now they're getting everything they need from our practices. So, but, thank you very much anyway, but yeah, it's like mercenaries.
Speaker 3:Yeah, very much so, business, you know it's a. Mercenaries yeah, very much so, business, you know it's a, and they'll tell kids pretty much what they want to hear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, I'm sure you know, especially in baseball. I mean I've got a, I've got a grandson that's a really good baseball player and he lives out in the heart district and and it's nuts. I mean they're playing three games on Saturday and three games on Sunday and then all the parents are going. I wonder why my kid's elbow's sore. Well, let me explain it to you. But there's so much over. And the other sad thing is back when you guys were in school, is that it wasn't just one sport. You got to play two, three sports and now you become the specialist.
Speaker 2:And one of my nieces was an extremely good soccer player, played a CV, got a full ride. She had played since she was six years old. Club teams Every weekend, every, you know, two nights a week. It was just crazy. Thousands and thousands of dollars poured into the girl and the traveling and all this stuff. She gets a full ride to Long Beach State After three weeks she goes. Hey, I'm burned out, hey, I'm burned out. So then my one of my friends got her into, uh, azusa Pacific, which is a little bit. You know different, you know NAIA and stuff. She lasts there for too much. She goes. I'm just done with soccer. I can't take it anymore and it's just sad. So all of that, years and years of soccer, and then when she gets to to college, it I'm done and uh, and I think that's the fear I have for, you know, my grandkids, is that let them just experience different sports and and remember that sports should be fun, it shouldn't be a drudgery. Oh, it it's Wednesday night. Oh, let me guess it's practice, Right?
Speaker 3:I think too, when we were growing up we didn't have games all the time and an umpire and a coach. We navigated a lot of that stuff on our own. I think that's where you develop the true love of the game. I kind of feel like kids don't get out and do those type of things enough.
Speaker 1:They don't get out and do those type of things enough. Yeah, they don't get on their bikes and go to elementary school and start playing over the line and stuff yeah, I think video games and all that is. And I think there's a lot of hesitation by parents to let their kids you know, 12, 13, 14-year-old kids go out and do things without saying where are you? I've got to watch you, you know. I know our society has changed a little bit, but I'm not so sure it's changed that much in Burbank to a point.
Speaker 2:I've got. One of my son-in-laws is a Burbank police officer. Stuff goes on. When I was a kid I lived two blocks from Verdugo Park. I would walk the two blocks and go to the gym three hours at the gym almost every day and I would. And then I carry my converts home because I didn't want them to get dirty and but it was safe. Back then, you know, you knew that you were okay, and now you would like to think in Burbank we're okay now and I see kids walk into school, around my house and stuff to an extent. But uh, sadly it's just not the same. You know society that we had when we were growing up yeah, uh, you know.
Speaker 3:Even going back to your shoes, um, I know that routine very well. Now you wanted to get your. You know, take care of your wood, your wood shoes versus your cement shoes, um, but I'm constantly finding gloves and equipment at the field and, um, I think it goes back to, you know, games were on very seldom back in the day. You had to hope your team was coming on that week. Now it's saturated. You can find a game anytime you want and, ironically, I ask my players quite often hey, how many guys watch baseball? Less than half the hands go up. So you know assimilation matters, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think a lot of in a lot nowadays I'm even hearing that a lot of high school sports may become just club sports and get away from the high school thing. Because high school sports may become just club sports and get away from the high school thing Because high schools are no longer funding their sports anymore and everything else. I know right now in Burbank, the high school level. All they pay for is basically your field to be there, which they don't do a good job maintaining, and they pay a couple coaches and that's it. They don't even pay for your buses anymore. Nothing, really, not a thing. Everything has to be raised by the team. They have nothing, really, not a thing. Everything it has to be raised by the team. They have how many teams in school and how many sports and how many people are out there really to give that kind of money to facilitate?
Speaker 2:so it's, it's, it's, you know, it's, it's bad, it's sad in a lot of areas well, I know in my own life, if it had not been for athletics I would have been, you know, probably in prison someplace. But it kept me on a fairly straight and narrow and uh, you know, like you say, these kids are playing video games all day, all this different stuff. There's so much social media that that just gives kids anxiety and stuff and uh, it's just sad. I mean, nobody just goes out.
Speaker 1:Well, you just wonder. I'm not going to get into society's problems, but with so many mass shootings and it's always been some kid has been bullied or something else and they don't go out, they don't have a sport, they don't have an activity, and we didn't used to have that back when we were all growing up, and now you do. So you wonder is it because of media and the fact these kids have all these video games and they don't go out and they don't do things anymore, they don't hang out with their friends anymore? You have to wonder. I.
Speaker 3:I don't know, but even in southern california we used to go to the beach quite often oh yeah my guys never go to the beach, very rarely, very rarely. Yeah, because I think it's. You know craig was saying about the fear thing. You know parents are uncomfortable turning them loose. I was 10 years old riding a bike to on zapalvita to go to santa monica beach. Van eyes, you know I mean, yeah, it was a different world, yeah, yeah all through junior high, me and my buddies, we jumped on the bus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we would take the bus all the way to Santa Monica.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know we did that a lot.
Speaker 3:Man do we sound like old guys, or what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, used to ride a little stingray to. Dodger Stadium on Sundays for Sunday games. Oh yeah, I mean yeah, that's what you just did back then.
Speaker 3:You found a way to do things that was actually my first job was Dodger Stadium, working for Coach Sherwood and Mike Rosefo, danny Goodmans. Yeah, they had some basketballs and all that. Yeah, nicola Program Took the bus, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, so let's talk about today. Retirement is good, I assume, and you enjoy your retirement and all that, and you got all the grandkids and everything else going on. So what do you do nowadays? What's on your activity schedule?
Speaker 2:So it's like, yeah, retirement's great. I mean I still. You know, terry and I. Thankfully both of us got our health still, unlike a lot of my firefighter buddies that are really struggling or have already died. So I'm thankful for my health and so me and Terry Terry, more than me, just really does a lot of things with the grandkids, and so we do that, we invest in them. Terry and I still go to Calvary Bible Church right over here on Main.
Speaker 3:How long have you been married? Lou, We've been married 45 years.
Speaker 2:She long have you been married, lou? We've been married 45 years. She still likes me Well, she tolerates me still, but I'm very thankful. But yeah, so 45 years. So we do a lot of stuff with our church, and then I still ride my mountain bike up on the mountain, probably three days a week, and it's not an electric bike.
Speaker 3:It's a real bike. That's impressive Okay.
Speaker 2:So I do that and I go to the gym still, and things like that, and we travel a lot and stuff like that too. So I say we're thankful.
Speaker 1:So retirements have actually been good for you.
Speaker 2:So far, so good. It's been great. Like I said, I'm thankful to the city of Burbank for what they provided for us. You know, it's like I told the guys back when I was the union president you're never going to get rich, but you'll always have a secure job and you'll always have a secure job and you'll always have. You'll always be taken care of financially and it's come to pass for me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You know it's the old adage, you try to leave it better than you found it and I think you've done that by far. There's every. You know you've touched a lot of people. You know, I know you touched me at a young age and imagine all the kids you touched as a coach and you know and bob's going to tell you the same thing absolutely. I mean, we're the some of our experiences and it's the those experiences that help shape us into what we are today. So I appreciate we did for you way, way back then and those are great memories for me.
Speaker 2:So I appreciate it well, it's just they turn it around. When you guys were hanging around Stevenson, when I was your age, at that time I was hanging around Luther with Raleigh Bigby, and Raleigh Bigby is probably the reason I went into teaching and coaching, because I had such huge respect for that man and he was I mean, he was tougher than nails and I appreciated that. And he I still go to breakfast with him once in a while and stuff, and he is just, he was truly the person who pointed me in the direction of becoming a teacher and a coach. So we just, you know, pay it forward. We really do.
Speaker 3:It's funny, you never realize who's going to have the impact on your life when you're young you're not that aware, obviously. But even tom angle yeah, in that same capacity, he said something one time and it probably wasn't even true, but it stuck with me and I kind of fell for it and I believed in myself because if he told me it was, I was the best third baseman he'd ever seen. And I'm thinking to myself okay, I'll you know. But it meant something, because when someone believes in you, you know you can, uh, you're a little bit more powerful. I think I think the lesson I I you know, I take very seriously with my own players. I want them to know that I pull for them. We talked about it the other day. You know, we're never disappointed in them. Sometimes we're disappointed for them a little different, you know. So, um, those relationships mean the world to me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean, that's uh, we'll have that in common Every, every desire to ever coach again in anything. Or are you? Are you? Are you done? Take the fork in you, are you? Are there something left, maybe?
Speaker 2:you know, uh, like I said, I've coached one of my grandsons now in basketball for probably four or five years and, uh, we'll see. You know, um, but I still you know the fundamentals. The game is still the same, uh, so as the other kids get older, maybe I'll, you know, come out of retirement, but we'll have to wait and see. If I still remember how to yell an official, then I'll do it.
Speaker 1:Well, now that he's yelled an official, who knows? You know, the skin's not as tough as it used to be with officials. Yeah, they used to, you know. Ask for respect. There was respect even though he was yelling.
Speaker 3:Yep, don't you have anything else? No, it's just great to see you.
Speaker 2:It's you guys, really good to see you yeah, you know and I watch, you know I follow you and your, your team and stuff and just great to see you know we have good years and bad years, but we try to do the right thing well, yeah, but I mean it's, it's, it's heartwarming yeah yeah, appreciate it well, lou stone, thank you so much for coming by.
Speaker 1:We we really appreciate it. We talk about bringing guests in that are kind of the heart of Burbank and people respect and get to catch up on. Like I said, I don't think a lot of people really realized your sports background. They just saw you as a first responder and somebody who went in and saved the day. But there was that other aspect of you that that we both knew and I thought it'd be a great beat to ask yeah, I can get him as a guest. I said, what a great guest and you were and we appreciate that.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, you know we always talk about getting people here with integrity that are humble. You kind of fit that bill pretty good.
Speaker 2:Well, I greatly appreciate it. I just, you know, just getting the invite was very nice, so thank you guys.
Speaker 3:Great to see you.
Speaker 2:Good seeing you guys.
Speaker 1:Well, we appreciate you coming in For Bob Hart. This is Craig Sherwood saying. Thank you very much for listening. We will see you on the next edition of Coach's Corner.