Unscripted Ernie Johnson Jr

Unscripted Ernie Johnson Jr. Reviewed by Judy Zimmerman

About the Author – Ernie Johnson Jr. is a three-time Sports Emmy Award winner and host of TNT’s Inside the NBA with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. He is the studio host for NBA TV’s popular Fan Night and a studio host for Turner and CBS’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship coverage. He is the lead play-by-play announcer for Turner’s coverage of Major League Baseball and the PGA Championship. Johnson has also covered the National Football League, the British Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics.

About the Book

This is the untold story; the one Ernie has lived after the lights are turned off and the cameras stop rolling. Whether you’re a sports fan, a person touched by cancer, a father or son, an adoptive parent, a caregiver to a person with special needs, or just someone who loves stories about handling life’s surprises with grace, Ernie’s story will illuminate the beauty of the unscripted moments in your own life.

”Ernie is not perfect and has not done everything right in his life, but he has a deep desire to live a purposeful life that honors God.” – John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves Pitcher, Hall of Fame 2015

In 2015 a journalist from ESPN asked Ernie to do a profile on his family; a family with 6 kids (4 adopted – 3 of which have special needs and one with the fatal disease of muscular dystrophy). This story was shared in 2015 on the E:60 News-Magazine Show.

Ernie has been broadcasting for 40 years and has made a living on television for the last 38, most of those as a Sportscaster. As host of the “Inside the NBA”, it gives you a picture of what he does, but does not necessarily tell you who he is! Ernie was hesitant to share his story but he and his wife asked, “What if his story struck a chord with parents considering adopting, or who have a special needs child?” What if it encouraged someone going through chemotherapy?” “What if it helped mend or strengthen a relationship between a father and son?”

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Blackberries Little League Baseball for 8-9-year old’s has great opportunities to learn ‘life lessons’. Ernie’s life lesson was from his Dad, and the story he tells many times over about ‘blackberry moments in life’. Ernie Johnson Jr. loved to tag along with his father, Ernie Johnson, Sr. The blackberry moment was told by the greatest story teller ever!

“A game that features a blackberry delay struck a chord with my dad. And oh, by the way, I have no memory of how the rest of the game turned out. From that point on, it simply became the ‘blackberry moment’.”

“In many ways that story has become central to my perspective on you name it: work, relaxation – shoot life. It’s a kind of parable about not being afraid to step away from the game (translated the job, the meeting, the conference call, the list of emails, the seemingly pressing matter at hand) to appreciate the unexpected, unscripted moments.”

1998 Ernie was doing track and field play-by-play at the World Cup finals in Johannesburg, South Africa. What he remembers most from that trip was NOT the 100 and 200-meter gold medals, but rather a visit to Soweto a day or two before the runners ran! As Ernie looked out the window of the van at what looked like a village built on a landfill, he saw the smiles on the kids’ faces as they waited for the athletes to arrive at their new sports center.

“That’s what unscripted blackberry moments do. We just need the eyes to see them, the ears to hear them, and the hearts to detect them. All that stands in the way is the busyness of life. We’re all so focused on sticking to the script from one day to the next, one meeting to the next, one sales call to the next, that we blow right by the unscripted moments that can profoundly impact not just our lives but also the lives of those with whom we share the planet, the workplace, or a home.”

A Father and Son “The greatest teaching didn’t come on the field or in the booth. It came on the walk from the field to the press box.”

“My dad wasn’t lecturing me about respect; he was demonstrating it. He wasn’t preaching to me about humility; he was modeling it.”

7 Lessons learned from Ernie Johnson Sr.: 1. Be Yourself 2. Don’t think you’re special because of the job you have 3. Never think you’re bigger than the game 4. Treat everyone with respect 5. Be loyal 6. Once you’ve done your best, to heck with it 7. Take the high road

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“Like every other on-air personality, I’ve taken more than my share of shots from viewers, especially in this social media age, and it always serves me well to remember my dad’s words.”

“And those blackberry moments, if we get too tied up in what we’re doing in our jobs, in the game, in whatever it is, we miss them, and when we do, we’re missing out on so much more.”

Someone Who Makes You Better Cheryl “Sometimes you are captured, even on a scratchy telephone line halfway around the world, not by the words you’re hearing but by how they are spoken.”

Michael “We were determined to do what we had set out to do in the first place – make this child’s life a better one than what he had before.”

“In as understanding a tone as I could muster, I would explain that we had adopted Michael not with an eye on what he would become but for who he was, a neglected, forgotten child who deserved another chance.”

Coach Coach Phil Bollier was the varsity coach for the newly opened Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Georgia (just a few miles away from Ernie’s home) and was Michael’s school.

Phil wanted Michael to be on his basketball team. Why? Because he wanted his players to learn two things from this kid in a wheelchair. One was maximum effort. He knew how limited Michael was physically but also noticed that he used every ounce of energy he had just to get around. And he wanted them to learn what it meant to have a heart for others. “Love you too.”

“When Phil wasn’t coaching, he was teaching, and in all of his classes, he would talk about this kid Michael Johnson and his fondness for those three words. He talked about sign language and how for a lot of students there is just one sign and it involves the middle finger. Phil said he had another one that should replace that. “I Love You”.

Inside the NBA Broadcasting solo for almost 25 years, Ernie was joined by Kenny Smith, a two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets. In 2000 Ernie and Kenny were joined by ‘Sir Charles’, (aka Charles Barkley). Charles immediately changed the landscape of sports television, not by creating some on-air persona but just by being himself. Shaquille O’Neil joined the show in 2012 who also showed his real self.

“The best moments of the show were those that were unscripted. What made it work for so long is that none of us take ourselves too seriously. We’re all able to laugh at ourselves.”

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“The show we do is not about me; it’s about everybody on the crew who shows up night in and night out and busts their butts to make the show what it is.”

Inside the NBA, because of its unscripted moments, is a distraction from all the real-life stuff we’re bombarded with from the internet and daily news. We are afraid to watch the news some nights because things have gotten more and more out of control. But then you know that later that night you can turn on “that basketball show” on TNT, escape for a few hours, and laugh. A Bump in the Road 1995 saw Ernie having the opportunity to broadcast the PGA Championship. Although Ernie was most familiar with NBA sports, he took the challenge on!

“After a thirty-minute baptism into the world of televised golf, even with the mistakes, I left the golf course with a feeling that wasn’t quite satisfaction but also with encouragement. I knew not only that I could do a better job the next day but also that I would.”

In 2003, Ernie was at home preparing for the first NBA All-Star Game on TNT. It would be Michael Jordan’s last All- Star game, and Ernie and his team were excited about having it on air. Then came one of those unscripted moments that turn into a life-changing episode.

“I could be having a great day off, hanging with the family, but there was this gnawing feeling that something wasn’t right. And let’s be perfectly honest here. I was scared, and deep down inside I don’t think I wanted to know if there was a serious problem.”

“When I looked at the play-off schedule, I saw a big-time conflict. If the Mavs and the Spurs went the distance, the seventh game in San Antonio would fall on Saturday, May 31. The high school graduation of my firstborn, Eric, was scheduled for…. wait for it….Saturday, May 31.”

“You feel like you’re doing a pretty good job navigating that often tenuous highway called balancing family and work when you come to a fork in the road.”

Ernie learned one of the most valuable lessons from his father: his work ethic. Another was loyalty. Ernie Sr. had an unwavering loyalty to his job and the organization that had given him the opportunity, and he never took it for granted.

“I am a dad who happens to be a sportscaster. Not the other way around.”

“You see, in the course of being a parent, there have been times I’ve felt overmatched or simply not qualified for the job. “ Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma In 2003 Ernie was diagnosed with cancer.

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“Dr. Lewis got her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and went to med school at Emory, graduating from both magna cum laude, and I am certain that somewhere along that path she aced a course in doctor-patient relations, if there is such a thing. Or maybe she’s just Mother Teresa with a stethoscope.”

“Nothing prepares you for the look on your kids’ faces when you say, ‘I need you guys to have a seat. There’s something we need to talk about as a family’.”

4 things Ernie knew: 1. This wasn’t about him, but rather about the family 2. It’s about all of them pulling together to get through it 3. If there was worry from the kids, they needed to talk to him, not hearing horror stories from friends 4. He knew no matter what, they would get through it

FAITH 1997 A Spiritual Birthday. A Blackberry Moment.

“Cheryl and I were busy raising four kids, and I was busy trying to make a name for myself as a sportscaster on the national level. In all honesty, the latter is what was driving my very existence. My identity was tied more to that career quest than my status as a husband and father.”

“I was leading such a me-centered existence that naturally I viewed myself as the provider, and I was all about the next thing that would make me happy – something I would buy, some recognition of my work that would let me throw back my head and puff out my chest and say, ‘Look at me’!”

There was this gnawing feeling that Ernie felt that there had to be more to his existence than his job and its stranglehold on him. He sat with his pastor who said four words Ernie still remembers to this day, “You’re a prayer away.” It was a prayer to turn a me-centered life into a Christ-centered life. Took about twenty seconds to say a prayer that changed Ernie for eternity. Blackberry.

“But when breakfast was done, we get down to business. And that means helping a brother through a tough time, or holding each other accountable to stay on the right path.”

Sitting in the coffee shop with his friend, mentor and pastor Kevin Myers, Ernie talked about his fears and struggles. Kevin responded with this: “EJ, this whole thing is about this: trust.” “Is it going to be trust with a question mark? Is it going to be ‘I’ll trust God if the next test comes back the way I want it to’? Or is it going to be trust. Period.”

Ernie’s email signature looks like this: Ernie Johnson Jr. Trust God…. Period.

Ernie went public with his diagnosis and the outpouring of support and encouragement was staggering. Book Review: Unscripted Volume 5 P a g e 5 | 7 Issue 6

Every Day is a Gift How many of us have heard this or said these things ourselves: “Oh, I’m so slammed right now. I just need to get through Wednesday, and I’ll relax.” “I’m just thinking that tomorrow afternoon at this time this will all be finished.” “This is our busiest time of the year. I’m just trying to make it to the end of the month.”

Once life brings on that whole ‘health scare’, or moment when you were not sure about tomorrow, we really don’t want time to speed up!!

“So in that respect, I did gain a new appreciation for what every day might bring and was grateful to be given each and every one of them.”

“When I’m rushed and focused solely on my agenda, I drive right past the family of four broken down on the side of the road in ninety-degree-heat.”

“Hurry is the great enemy of life.”

Father of the Bride 2012 was the summer when the two oldest Johnson kids got married. Not to each other.

“And now dads, here comes the tough part. Preparing yourself for that day, which at this point is still months away, when you will walk your daughter down the aisle and hope you do not ruin the moment by being a total sniffling, boo-hooing mess.”

Early on if life, as Ernie’s daughter was trying out for cheerleader as a young middle school kid, Ernie gave her a card that simply read, “Relax. God’s in charge.” Throughout life, Ernie asked his daughter to ‘read the card’.

“My Best Man. My Best Friend. August 21, 1982”. “My Best Man. My Best Friend. August 31, 2012”

“That evening I stood shoulder to shoulder by my firstborn son, now a grown man, and wondering if anything could make a dad feel prouder.”

The pride of a father as he prepares for his son’s wedding was: “A snapshot that proved once again that of all the forces of nature, love is by far the most powerful.”

Your Blackberry Moments Blackberry moment n 1. An unpredictable moment that makes life extraordinary 2. An unforeseen moment that catches you off guard and marks you forever 3. A moment so sweet that you savor the taste for a lifetime 4. A moment when God winks and you can swear you hear Him whisper, “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

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