0:00 [Music]
0:05 tar fatel here from SB live another
0:07 episode of Southern section sit down
0:09 coming your way and we've got a big one
0:11 in that's right it's Mr Tom Simmons the
0:15 assistant commissioner of the CIF
0:17 Southern section 26 years in the office
0:20 Mr Simmons congratulations to you that
0:23 is quite the tenure I'll start off with
0:25 this on the on the 26 years front does
0:29 it feel like it's gone by pretty fast oh
0:32 yeah it feels like it's jumped by you
0:34 know I every day it's very well every
0:36 year is very cyclical you get into fall
0:39 and then fall turns into winter and
0:40 winter turns into spring and then the
0:42 summers are no longer exist you probably
0:45 just get July for the most part summer
0:47 wise because schools are starting
0:49 earlier and early they're ending later
0:51 and later we had schools that started uh
0:54 their first year week of football
0:55 practice in Late July um schools playing
0:59 in Hawaii
1:00 the first two weeks of August so you
1:04 know zero week in football was August
1:06 18th I I don't remember in my time it's
1:09 ever been that early usually what first
1:11 week of September was for the most part
1:13 I mean when I was in high school yeah
1:14 you didn't start until after Labor Day
1:17 yeah that times have certainly changed
1:19 and I think when you think about 20 plus
1:21 years servicing the high school sports
1:23 Community Tom you know again
1:25 congratulations to you what what to you
1:28 and we'll get to the heavier stuff later
1:29 but I on a kind of a macro level what do
1:31 you has changed the most uh good bad
1:34 ugly you know when you man you wake up
1:36 it's like I've been doing this 26 years
1:37 and what do you remember from the 90s
1:39 compared to here in 2023 that's so
1:41 different well it's become more of a
1:43 business I mean there's more of a
1:45 business aspect I mean we're look where
1:47 we are right now doing what we're doing
1:49 and and you know then if you see nil and
1:52 you look at all of that and um you know
1:55 these kids are they've they're finding
1:58 new ways to
2:00 make what they do not only something
2:03 they love to do but they can profit off
2:05 it and that was never the case when I
2:07 started in this office that besides that
2:09 there we had fax machines and I what
2:12 about pagers we had P we had pagers we
2:15 know cell phones oh that's funny yeah
2:17 and I was only one of two people that
2:19 had a computer you know desktop in the
2:21 office talk about the growth of the
2:23 office obviously more schools in 26
2:26 years Tom can can you touch on that a
2:28 little bit Yeah well I there were 487
2:30 schools in the CI Southern section now
2:32 they're
2:33 565 um we had 18 Varsity Sports we have
2:38 29 now wow um there's been an influx and
2:42 and we're very proud of this a very very
2:43 huge influx in in female Athletics and
2:47 uh we we think that that's nothing but
2:49 positive providing these young ladies
2:51 the opportunity to go out there and and
2:54 participate in the sports they love just
2:55 like the boys do and it's it's it's been
2:58 an exciting time but you know it's also
3:00 been a time of a lot of change in the
3:03 office know we've in the last 2 months
3:06 we've had 67 years of uh combined
3:09 experience and friendship walk out the
3:10 door and Rob W God Riner wolf and Anita
3:13 FMA so you know that part of it has been
3:16 tough we've had a couple of losses you
3:18 know lives Wise from uh some co-workers
3:21 and when you're in an office of 17
3:23 people you're not just friends and
3:26 co-workers you're family and uh that's
3:30 the hardest thing when you're looking at
3:32 26 years and you're seeing the people
3:34 that you've lost the people that you
3:36 worked with and that are no longer here
3:39 and that part of it is always the sad
3:42 part um but you know change from for a
3:45 lot of people is a dirty word and you
3:47 just you have to put your head down and
3:49 and fight through it I think I've
3:51 actually heard you say um that you have
3:54 thousands of kids and you can you know
3:56 and you talk about the southern section
3:57 and and all the kids that are partic
3:59 participating participating in
4:01 education-based
4:02 athletics what to you is so challenging
4:06 about your job when it comes to the vast
4:09 numbers I believe the largest section in
4:11 the state um I don't know maybe the
4:13 largest section in all of the country
4:16 and when it comes to schools and numbers
4:18 it it just sounds like a lot if we were
4:20 our own State Association we' be the
4:21 ninth largest in the country just just
4:23 on our own um the state of California is
4:26 the largest uh Association in across the
4:29 country they have over, 1600 schools uh
4:33 Texas would be closest next and they
4:35 about another two 300 schools less than
4:37 what California so it's a big job it's
4:40 got a lot of
4:41 responsibility when you are thinking
4:44 about high school sports we think about
4:47 community and you're someone that has
4:50 kind of overlooked a community of of
4:51 high school sports in Southern
4:52 California the southern section have you
4:55 seen the impact of some of these
4:57 programs kind of reach Beyond what
4:59 you're talking about and talk about the
5:02 growth of some of the programs in the
5:03 section that you seem to think to
5:05 yourself man that that's that's pretty
5:06 impressive like a Saint John bosow or
5:08 modern day that travel all around the
5:10 country and they kind of put High School
5:12 football excuse me Southern California
5:14 high school football on the map per se
5:16 you must take pride in a section team
5:18 going and representing like that you
5:20 know I I always say the same thing I
5:22 take pride in uh in in those schools and
5:24 those schools that achieve at a high
5:26 level I you know um Notre Dame
5:29 basketball you know they do a great job
5:31 Harvard West like baseball they do a
5:33 great job and they succeed at a high
5:34 level and they pump out some high level
5:36 student athletes but again my focus is
5:38 on the 775,000 that will never ever wear
5:41 their uniform again and that's really
5:43 where my my love and passion goes to
5:46 when I'm putting on a championship I'm
5:47 thinking about the Sixth Man on the
5:49 bench I'm thinking about all the way
5:51 down to number 15 I'm not usually
5:53 thinking about the top five simply
5:54 because they're going to have their day
5:57 next week they're going to have their
5:58 Day next year but for some of these guys
6:00 especially in our
6:02 championships this is the last this is
6:04 their Super Bowl it's their World Series
6:06 it's their NBA championship this is
6:08 their last opportunity to to be in the
6:11 Limelight and have this amazing chance
6:14 to participate and so we always tried to
6:16 you know we try to get the best venues
6:18 we're at the Rose bow last year we be at
6:20 the Coliseum this year you know put on
6:23 the first class events um always try to
6:27 give these student athletes what we
6:29 consider to be the ultimate moment in
6:32 the Sun for them you kind of mentioned I
6:35 think it's a good segue you're alluding
6:37 to transfers the a the B the C analogy
6:40 it seems the numbers have climbed at
6:42 least in the past 10 years and so on but
6:44 before we get into the last couple years
6:46 or even this year right now I'm actually
6:48 curious 26 years ago what was what was
6:51 transfers
6:53 as was there as much Limelight
6:56 limelight's not the right word was there
6:57 as much attention on transfers 26 years
7:00 ago where kids transferring for
7:02 different reasons just the transfer in
7:05 general what's so different between now
7:06 and 25 years ago well what's different
7:09 is as you if you transferred that was
7:11 strange that was not the norm if you
7:14 transferred you you know from a modern
7:17 day to a bosow or a BOS to a poly or
7:19 something like that scratcher yeah
7:20 people would they were like what is this
7:23 person doing the transfer what is the
7:26 largest misconception when it comes to
7:28 the off office if you could for the
7:31 viewer run through kind of talk to us
7:33 like we're five I think that's fair run
7:35 through I'm student athlete a mom and
7:38 dad want to move me I'm putting in my
7:40 paperwork take us from that point to
7:43 getting on the field or on the court
7:45 what's the general basis process yeah so
7:47 we have a an administrative tool called
7:49 cfss home and that's how we communicate
7:52 with our membership that's how we uh
7:54 deal with any kind of paperwork between
7:56 the schools um it's really been life
7:59 changing and uh it's provided us with a
8:02 lot of easy access and opportunity
8:04 because before again we had two fax
8:07 machines and the receptionist desk and
8:09 they so it was all real paperwork it was
8:10 all real paperwork and I remember to
8:12 this day one day uh the receptionist at
8:15 the time she looked at those and things
8:17 and said she's 27 years old and she
8:20 said why do you have two printers in in
8:24 my office and we had to explain to her
8:26 what a fax machine was she'd had no idea
8:29 so um but the the the paperwork comes in
8:34 there are alpha cuts for each
8:35 administrator so there's a through M
8:39 there's so on and so forth for all the
8:41 administrators depending on what school
8:43 that is in their Alpha cut got it they
8:45 get the paperwork and they start going
8:46 through it now there are several
8:48 different ways you can transfer number
8:49 one this what called the valid
8:51 residential change where Mom Dad the cat
8:52 the dog everybody moves out of public
8:55 Area High School attendance area a into
8:57 B and they give up all right you and
8:59 enjoyment to the previous residents they
9:01 have to do that with permanent attent
9:03 which means they have to they can't have
9:05 the ability to go back there on weekends
9:07 and it's for 12 months 12 consecutive
9:09 months you have to give up like I said
9:11 right using enjoyment of that previous
9:12 residence that would be what would be a
9:15 valid residential change the next thing
9:17 is if you're not moving you have what's
9:18 called a sit out period which is 50% of
9:21 whatever sport it is that you're
9:22 participating in that date is a date
9:24 certain everybody thinks oh it's 30 days
9:26 it's 45 days no it's a date certain it's
9:28 half half the season
9:29 and the last is one that we've kind of
9:32 narrowed down over the years when we
9:34 especially when we went to the SOP uh
9:36 transfer and that's a hardship and a
9:38 hardship is anything that's
9:39 unforeseeable unavoidable uncorrectable
9:41 act recogition that is non-athletic in
9:43 nature so if I'm a student athlete and I
9:46 have let's say I have cancer and I have
9:48 to go to the City of Hope every week and
9:51 the school that I was going to was St
9:54 Paul but now isua is
9:56 closer if you can prove and provide
10:00 evidence and documentation that that is
10:02 a hardship then you would get your
10:03 hardship approved and you would have
10:05 immediate Varsity eligibility and I I
10:07 think the most important thing and I
10:09 know we'll probably touch on this at
10:10 some point is in the 111 year history of
10:14 this organization our staff has never
10:16 made a single bylaw there it's 276 pages
10:19 of the blue book that is done by the 88
10:22 leagues who meet three times a year that
10:24 is done by the athletic administrators
10:25 the principles the ads they come
10:28 together as a as leagues and vote on
10:30 legislation they it's proposed by them
10:33 it's debated by them and it passes are
10:35 fails by them we have no vote nobody in
10:38 the office I don't have a vote and I'm
10:40 certainly not getting rich I'm driving a
10:42 Ford Escape 2012 Ford Escape so you know
10:46 every time I hear someone say oh modern
10:48 day just gets this transfer taken care
10:50 of we'll touch on that I got they're
10:51 taking care of the CIF under the table
10:54 if only I app I appreciate the cander
10:56 and the humor too Tom I I think there
10:58 are so so many opportunities to kind of
11:00 set the record straight so many
11:02 questions especially on social media we
11:04 talked a little bit before the show and
11:05 there's a lot of misinformation out
11:07 there and what is believed to be true
11:09 and I think we all can agree if you
11:11 begin to think something over and over
11:13 again is is going on even if it's wrong
11:16 you're going to start to believe that's
11:17 what's really going on and I think you
11:19 coming on to the show and talking about
11:20 those things I is is good for everybody
11:23 and so when you talk about the valid
11:25 change of residence people always think
11:28 about okay well how how are people like
11:31 closing how are people selling their
11:32 house and closing escrow on another
11:34 house so fast that's one example oh they
11:37 must be forging the paperwork so on and
11:40 so forth please touch on that but also
11:42 there's a part of it that is uh up to
11:45 the schools there's there's a school
11:47 aspect to the policing of these
11:49 transfers can you touch on those things
11:51 please you know and this is a prime
11:53 example especially when we've we've been
11:55 talking about this no gallis thing
11:57 lately I know that's very much in
11:59 everybody's Minds what people don't
12:01 understand is because they get tied up
12:02 into the idea that we approved valid
12:05 residential changes that's not how it
12:07 works the CI of Southern section office
12:09 does not approve valid residential
12:10 changes we receive them from the school
12:13 the school has a right responsibility to
12:16 do its due diligence and make sure that
12:18 it's going out there it's checking house
12:21 and High School attendance area a to
12:23 make sure they' vacated and checking
12:25 High School tenant area B house to make
12:27 sure that they are living in there they
12:29 got stuff in the closets they've got
12:30 beds they've got their pillows they've
12:33 got everything plates dishes whatever
12:35 that's the school's responsibility so
12:38 especially when you're talking about
12:39 these kids from
12:40 ngalas we never approved any of their
12:43 valid residential changes what we did is
12:46 we received them from nalis who said in
12:49 their testimony on the paperwork they
12:51 signed that they are validating that
12:54 these are true and accurate valid
12:56 residential changes so what we do if we
13:00 come across information after the fact
13:03 then what we want to do is we want to
13:05 minimize the damage as much as possible
13:07 and the first thing that we do is we put
13:09 these kids under review or we find them
13:12 academic or ineligible based on whatever
13:15 the facts State we do that not because
13:19 we want to hurt one or two kids who we
13:21 find ineligible we do that because we
13:24 want to protect the 50 other kids in
13:26 that locker room cuz if those kids play
13:28 you're going to deal with forfeits maybe
13:29 they have the year of their lives oh
13:31 sorry you got to take it all back yeah
13:32 and that's exactly true if we can
13:34 minimize that damage then we minimize
13:37 the damage to the psyche and the mental
13:38 health of you know 50 other kids in that
13:40 lock room and I think that's what gets
13:42 missed especially in Twitter oh the CIF
13:45 they're just so is that your favorite
13:47 place I just don't understand there are
13:49 so many people go on that go on that
13:52 that site sure and state things as if
13:57 they know these to be 100% accurate and
14:00 infallible okay so the paperwork from
14:02 the school is submitted they're supposed
14:04 to police it themselves you get it what
14:07 is a good example of something that
14:09 might tip you off or the section off
14:12 that something might be a little fishy
14:14 about the paperwork or not correct what
14:17 is the action of the office then well
14:20 one good example of that would be when
14:21 you find a guardian listed under
14:24 multiple transfers to different schools
14:27 the same name the same address something
14:30 like that
14:33 another I guess piece of evidence would
14:36 be you're looking at where they're
14:38 coming from and where they're going to
14:40 they're moving from a five-bedroom $1.5
14:42 million house to a one-bedroom apartment
14:46 in a town in a part of the city they
14:48 probably wouldn't find themselves in
14:51 those are all red flags and they need to
14:53 be investigated and so the problem that
14:56 people don't really fully understand is
14:59 we're not the NCAA we do not have an
15:01 investigative Wing right in in the
15:03 office I said there's 17 of us in there
15:05 and you know we got 565 schools so we
15:09 don't have time to send out an army of
15:13 lawyers and in private investigators to
15:16 go and look at these different valid
15:19 residential changes that's why the CIF
15:21 Southern section and all the sections in
15:23 the CIF are self-policing
15:25 bodies they have a responsibility when
15:28 they join the membership to abide by the
15:30 bylaws and when they find out
15:32 information where things are not being
15:34 abided by they have a responsibility
15:37 both for themselves and for the
15:40 membership to make sure that they're
15:42 letting us know you know what they know
15:45 and providing evidence and most
15:47 importantly signing their name to
15:49 whatever it is they provide another
15:51 example that I think people got up in
15:54 arms about per se the Santa Margarita
15:56 Santa Margarita uh transferred from
15:59 Orange Lutheran a quarterback transfer
16:00 from Orange Lutheran and in the same
16:01 week or roughly thereof 10 days or
16:03 something became eligible at Santa
16:05 Margarita excuse me played in that game
16:07 played against bishop amont and there
16:09 was a notion out there that the section
16:13 office kind of picks and chooses what
16:16 paperwork they'd want to file
16:19 through prior explain how you take on
16:23 the cases if that's what you want to
16:24 call them and uh how you get to one is
16:27 it is it first come first sered and
16:29 explain that process a little bit for
16:30 those that don't know yeah so when
16:32 paperwork comes into the office it's
16:34 taken as it's provided to us we don't
16:37 put anybody up ahead in the line because
16:38 they're from Orange County we don't put
16:40 anybody up ahead in the line for the
16:41 modern day we take everything as it
16:44 comes on an intake basis they stay at
16:47 the top of the pile unless there's more
16:49 evidence and more information than we
16:50 need then we will move them down until
16:53 we can get to the next one and see if we
16:56 can't clear that one faster it's always
16:58 about trying to this is the one thing
17:00 that is so tough being in this job
17:04 especially as time has gone by we are in
17:07 the high school eligibility business we
17:10 are not in the high school ineligibility
17:13 business right if we can find a kid
17:15 eligible and we can find a kid eligible
17:17 as soon as possible that's what we want
17:19 to do now it has to be done via the
17:22 bylaws it has to be done via the rules
17:26 but if we can we're going to find kids
17:28 eligible that's the most important thing
17:30 now with regard to the Santa Margarita
17:32 kid that's a valid residential move I
17:35 don't approve valid residential move
17:37 Santa Margarita did they said they did
17:38 their due diligence they said they went
17:40 to the houses and they verified that
17:42 that that move is taken place unless
17:45 someone has some evidence to prove
17:49 otherwise and the mortgage company
17:51 wanted to do a 10day me esir yep those
17:54 do exist they exist no question about
17:57 that so
17:59 the nature of your
18:01 job it's so um polarizing I think the
18:07 office with so many transfers so many
18:09 kids moving this kid's eligible he has
18:10 to be an sop oh NOP he's ineligible why
18:13 aren't they investigating that oh that
18:15 one went through super easy it seems
18:17 like that's more of your job now than
18:21 some of the other things that I would
18:22 think you were probably more passionate
18:23 about you know is that an unfortunate
18:25 part of this uh you know job that you're
18:27 in Tom in some ways it can be you know I
18:30 I would I much rather be on a football
18:32 field or a baseball field or a
18:34 basketball court or you know on a a pool
18:37 deck yes for that question that's the
18:40 fun part of that
18:41 job but you know when I took the job
18:44 back in 1997 this was part of the job
18:47 too and you know you take the bidder
18:49 with this with the SED and and that's
18:51 kind of what you have to how you have to
18:54 attack this job is part of your job is
18:56 to do things that are that can be
18:58 unpopular they can be misunderstood they
19:01 can be hurtful and damaging to kids um
19:05 and you don't want to do that you that's
19:07 never your intention I didn't go into
19:09 this job to to do that went into this
19:12 job because I love sports and I love
19:14 education-based Athletics and I love
19:15 High School sports and I want to be a
19:17 part of that but you know there has to
19:20 be a governing body the win atall cost
19:23 mentality is a good set way to talk
19:24 about some of those Powerhouse programs
19:26 and because the trans transer Market Per
19:29 Se it's probably a bad way to put it but
19:31 because the transfers are so rampant in
19:32 such a high clip those kind of the rich
19:35 get richer it seems sometimes Tom and
19:38 then you got these programs that feel
19:39 like they have to kind of play that game
19:42 too if they don't want to get blown out
19:44 by 35 every Friday night or by 30 on the
19:47 scoreboard in basketball is there a way
19:50 to to fix that um you know if if you if
19:53 you had a magic wand to kind of swirl it
19:55 it whether it be you know changing some
19:57 of the transfer rules or the way schools
20:00 might operate is there a fix for that
20:02 for me that's not that's not a topic I
20:05 can touch and I and I'll simply say that
20:07 to you because again it's the will of
20:10 the membership if the membership wanted
20:12 to to do something about that sure
20:14 there's an easy fix one year no
20:15 eligibility whenever you transfer that
20:18 that that that's one way you could go
20:20 and and talk about and and for the
20:22 viewer that might not know when you talk
20:24 about membership agreeing to do that
20:25 you're C can you explain a hypothetic Al
20:28 if they wanted to make that rule okay
20:30 you transfer you got to sit out a whole
20:32 year how would that go about well you
20:34 would go to again the council which is
20:36 we talked about your league would make a
20:38 proposal at the council level and like I
20:40 said they make they meet three times a
20:41 year and they're comprised of the 88
20:43 leagues that make the membership they
20:45 vote on all legislation if they wanted
20:48 to uh you got to remember now that
20:50 because transfers are a Statewide rule
20:53 you would have to go not only at the
20:55 section level but you'd have to go at
20:56 the state level too so the state
20:57 Federated would have to weigh in and
20:59 vote on this as well but if it got out
21:01 of the section level and you know the
21:04 majority and it doesn't have to be
21:05 2third or just it be a simple majority
21:07 if the majority of those leagues wanted
21:09 to change it change it it gets changed
21:11 then it goes to the state Federated and
21:13 then all 10 sections and then what we
21:15 call Allied organizations would would
21:17 vote on it so like capso and csada and
21:20 you know these different or
21:21 organizations that have votes on that
21:23 state Federated council is it a little
21:25 bit similar to how girls flag football
21:27 came about kind of just like one section
21:28 then it goes to the state level then
21:29 kind of everybody votes on okay it's
21:31 sanctioned so kind of the same process
21:33 per exact same governance okay okay not
21:35 any different okay and so when it comes
21:38 to making that
21:39 change why is it you think more membered
21:42 schools or membership the leagues why
21:44 why don't you think there's more of a
21:45 push to try and change that I don't
21:48 think that the membership really wants
21:50 to penalize kids like that you know
21:53 let's let's just take for example I I'm
21:56 going to school in Seattle Washington
21:58 and my dad gets a job at Boeing right
22:01 and Boeing transfers him to Long
22:03 Beach should he be penalized because Dad
22:06 got a new job right I don't think so the
22:08 problem people always then make out is
22:11 okay what the there's got to be a
22:12 reasonable distance okay so what's the
22:15 reasonable distance is it because
22:17 they're moving from
22:18 Fresno or is it because they're moving
22:21 from the valley you know that's what
22:25 people can't come to an agreement on
22:28 what is a reasonable distance to
22:30 consider that a kid who makes a valid
22:32 residential change should be able to do
22:34 that and do that without penalty because
22:37 you know we're talking 14 15 16 17 18
22:40 year old kids and they don't have the
22:42 choices they their parents are making
22:44 those choices for them if in in many
22:47 instances so should they be penalized in
22:50 certain situations
22:54 yeah playoff system little the the
22:58 football playoff system the cow preps
23:01 rankings the the computer system you
23:04 know people seem to have issue with that
23:05 is there a misconception on that that
23:08 maybe you'd like to address well it's
23:10 funny because we just had you know this
23:12 first reading for 2425 at Council where
23:16 we're talking about going to that system
23:18 in all sports and one of the the
23:21 mathematicians that we had that came in
23:23 and spoke to the council he had this
23:25 graph and the graph which was showing in
23:28 all the different sports where schools
23:30 using the two-year model were so wildly
23:34 misplaced in terms of the division that
23:36 they could compete in and football was
23:39 an exact replica of perfection in terms
23:43 of the teams that were winning division
23:45 one championships were competing in
23:47 division one championships belonged in
23:49 division one championships all the way
23:51 down to division 14 it was just these
23:55 perfect
23:56 blocks that that's because they're based
23:59 on what's Happening Now not when you've
24:02 had a once- in a generational team two
24:04 years ago who that now have taken your
24:06 number and risen it up that's the thing
24:10 that I think people uh are looking
24:12 forward to because they see the value in
24:14 that they see the value in making sure
24:16 that we have a competitive balance
24:19 throughout all of the sports and all the
24:21 divisions and that can't happen if again
24:23 you're using two years of data that's
24:24 just that's not realistic and it's not
24:27 fundament feasible and so we believe
24:30 that by
24:31 2425 with the help of our friends at
24:33 scorebook live we will have a data
24:36 driven system that will allow us to
24:40 create that uh that perfect that perfect
24:44 system that couple other things and then
24:46 I think we'll kind of start wrapping up
24:48 I wanted to touch on one thing and
24:50 that's the um athletically motivated
24:53 transfer can can you doesn't exist okay
24:55 it doesn't exist that that's what I
24:57 thought so it used give us the history
25:00 on athletically motivated to answer
25:01 please when we went through to from uh
25:04 you know the different bylaws for for
25:07 valid residental change and hardship and
25:08 we instituted sop the very first thing
25:11 that we took out was athletically
25:14 motivated transfers the only thing with
25:17 regard to athletically motivated
25:18 transfers that still exists is if you
25:20 follow a coach within 24 months got it
25:22 so I'm at school a and my new coach gets
25:25 a job at school B and I transfer to
25:28 school be that's an athletically
25:30 motivated transfer so is that why that
25:31 verbage is still in the book in the only
25:34 place that it's there is that one L I
25:35 feel like people have kind of just seen
25:37 that and it's out of context and they
25:39 run with it like it still exists I'm
25:40 like I'm pretty sure that was gone a
25:42 while ago I can trans hard to prove
25:45 right is that there's an element of that
25:46 too Tom sure I can transfer that was why
25:49 we got one of the reasons we got rid of
25:50 the the bylaws because if you just kept
25:52 your mouth shut yeah you you could never
25:54 be in violation of the bylaw but as soon
25:57 as you open your mouth and you said hey
25:58 yeah this was a better opportunity for
26:00 me to play football at school B and
26:02 that's why you were done yeah it's in LA
26:04 Times or it's an you know Daily News you
26:06 know blah you know simple little quote
26:08 it's like okay you're not playing yeah
26:10 and it didn't make any sense for us to
26:12 Institute a baa that basically you
26:15 couldn't win right could can't prove
26:17 that you can't prove it okay so okay so
26:19 doesn't exist anymore for everybody out
26:21 there the public private public private
26:25 I think certainly privates have more
26:28 resources than
26:30 Publix you know I think a lot of people
26:32 suggest hey you know let's split up the
26:34 divisions go public ver and private I
26:36 believe Texas does that has there ever
26:38 been conversation of that at the office
26:40 and again I I think I feel like you're
26:42 going to go back to the the the
26:43 membership but may maybe your opinion on
26:47 how maybe there are pros and cons to
26:48 that system well this is what I tell you
26:51 is there are the membership is split
26:54 almost 6040 public
26:56 private since I've been doing uh
27:00 statistical analysis this goes back to
27:02 the 80s the number of championships won
27:07 by public schools is around 60% and the
27:09 number of championships won by private
27:11 schools around 40% so in proportion to
27:14 membership they're winning as many
27:16 championships as they should they're not
27:17 outside of the bounds of that
27:19 statistical anomaly the other part of
27:22 the equation is for every modern day and
27:24 every St John bosow and every Notre Dame
27:27 there are 16 Public Safety acms there
27:29 are 10 Riverside community churches
27:32 there are 15 Le laay there are 12
27:36 Flintridge Sacred Hearts I think the
27:38 last couple ones we'll touch on maybe on
27:40 a lighter note is just I I've been
27:43 asking the guest this are you still
27:45 having
27:46 fun you you still having fun doing this
27:49 job you know I think that this job is
27:54 again we talked about it in other terms
27:56 it's a very cyclical as well well for me
27:58 and has been um I lost uh and my
28:03 assistant of 26 years who retired but I
28:07 gained someone who I think is going to
28:09 take that position to Greater Heights
28:12 than I could have ever
28:14 imagined so I'm kind of coming out of a
28:18 state of mourning having lost my best
28:21 friend in the world Rob WOD the former
28:22 commissioner probably my second best
28:24 friend in the world rer wolf ass
28:26 commissioner and who was basically my
28:28 work wife for 26 years and so that's a
28:31 lot of loss in a two-month period but
28:34 again I'm so excited and she's not on
28:37 camera but maybe she will be on camera
28:39 at some point we'll get her on camera
28:41 but I'm excited about the opportunity to
28:44 start with this new young lady and build
28:46 something that I think will be of great
28:49 benefit to the membership and will
28:51 provide what I think is something that's
28:54 very very lacking with the with the
28:56 death of newspaper
28:58 and that is more coverage about high
29:01 school and education based Athletics
29:03 that's why you're I'm excited to have
29:04 you as part of scorebook live it's why
29:06 I'm excited to have her in our office
29:09 that's why I think that uh this the
29:12 visual medium is going to take over the
29:13 print medium and it's going to be
29:15 something that's going to be far greater
29:17 and it's going to get more people
29:19 excited so am I still having fun you
29:21 know if you asked me a month ago
29:23 probably not but I'm starting to have
29:25 fun again you know and and hopefully you
29:28 know my my team and I will will continue
29:32 to make what we do what it should be and
29:35 it should be fun I think I think that's
29:36 an underrated word I think people they
29:39 think as fun is like that's so secondary
29:43 you know and and I think there's an
29:44 element to it that that's needed you got
29:45 to thread something in there and and of
29:47 course the wonderful addition to your
29:49 office is Taylor Martinez who helped put
29:51 this set together so thank you Taylor
29:53 thank you Taylor but you know I I wanted
29:55 to ask you that because I think when
29:57 you've been around long enough you've
29:58 seen The Good the Bad and the Ugly and I
30:02 think right now kind of like what you're
30:03 alluding to things are things are get
30:05 there's a lot of miscommunicate
30:07 misinformation out there and it makes
30:08 your job a little bit more difficult but
30:11 I think an opportunity like this to set
30:12 the record straight and be transparent I
30:15 think I think the high school sports
30:16 Community is going to appreciate that so
30:18 the last question I'm going to ask you
30:19 is if he had that magic wand and you
30:23 could kind of swirl it around how would
30:26 you like to see the the the health of
30:28 high school sports is is there is there
30:29 maybe an example you could give me that
30:32 that it's like that's the high school
30:33 sports realm I want to
30:35 see well just talking about her she in
30:38 the last Taylor in the last couple of
30:40 days has brought me several different
30:42 articles about story ideas that she
30:44 really wants to look at and it's story
30:46 ideas that I never knew existed and
30:49 they're Feelgood story ideas you know
30:52 one kid's been playing football he's got
30:54 one leg you know um
30:58 the thing that I that gets me jazzed and
31:00 makes me want to keep coming to work
31:03 every day are those stories those kids
31:07 their what what means something to them
31:10 and gets them jazzed and so if I had a a
31:14 magical wand that I could wave and and
31:17 change it would be to get the business
31:20 aspect out of it and let's get back to
31:22 the pure joy of of doing something we
31:25 love it's just you know that's what it
31:28 is it's kids being kids and if we could
31:31 just have more of
31:32 that then that would be pretty
31:35 cool ladies and gentlemen Tom Simmons
31:37 Tom thanks for coming in I hope you had
31:40 a little fun you know I know sometimes
31:41 the topics can get a little a little
31:43 jarring and and they can challenge but I
31:46 think transparency is really important I
31:47 think that's why you came on here and I
31:49 think that's I think people are going to
31:50 appreciate your explanation of just some
31:53 basic rules that they actually seem
31:55 pretty black and white there's not a lot
31:57 of of you can't really get around them I
31:59 think the way you put it is just hey
32:01 this is the way it is and this is the
32:02 way our our office operates and I know
32:04 that if something else comes up um
32:07 you're easy to get in touch with so
32:08 thanks again for coming on well I
32:09 appreciate you having me and anytime I
32:12 can come on and set the record St
32:14 straight I'm happy to do so yeah would
32:15 love to have you that's another edition
32:17 of Southern section sitdown I'm tar
32:19 fatel thanks for
32:20 [Music]
32:24 watching
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