Don Tollefson is one of Philly's favorite sports broadcasters and all around nice guys. Since 1995, he has been a member of the FOX news team. Aside from his work in sports broadcasting, Don Tollefson heads up the charity One Child Saved, a non-profit motivational program which benefits disadvantaged children. Despite having a minor accident the other day, he was kind enough to take the time to chat with us about himself and his thoughts on our Phillies—though he warned that there is no chance he will be pitching for the Phils (or even a softball beer league) any time soon. Don's news special Phillies Season Opener: Play Ball airs this Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. on WTXF FOX 29.

You grew up in California, attended Stanford University, and started your broadcasting career in San Francisco. What brought you East?
Actually, I was hired when I was going to Stanford by ABC Sports in 1974. They were doing a nationwide talent search in 1974 to find sideline reporters and I actually, along with Jim Lampley, was the first of the college football reporters for that season in 1974. So that brought me from Stanford back to New York where I did college football for the first season I was in T.V.

As you were forming the decision to enter the world of sports broadcasting, who or what were some of your biggest influences?
Well what was so interesting about being hired by ABC Sports is that I actually was trained and mentored by three guys that I had greatly admired when I was first deciding to pursue a career in this business and they were Keith Jackson, who has just retired and is the most legendary football play-by-play announcer of all time; Jim McKay who is ironically a Philadelphia native who was really ABC's voice of the Olympics for so long; and then Howard Cosell—God rest his soul—who of course was synonymous with Monday Night Football. So I went from watching those guys, trying to learn from watching those guys to actually being trained by those guys during 1974.

You've spent the majority of your career here in Philadelphia. What does the city mean to you?
To me Philadelphia in a sports sense is by far the most knowledgeable and passionate sports fan city in the country. I think sometimes people only talk about the passion, but I think the level of knowledge of the fan here is second to none in the country in terms of people think in the national perception that Philadelphia fans are just really tough and incredibly passionate—and that's true—but I think a lot of that passion and toughness comes from and is combined with great knowledge of the sports. And I think that in a much broader sense, that kind of incredible passion for life and real, almost intensity for life is such a big part of the Philadelphia mentality beyond sports.

What is the most memorable sports story or interview that you ever did?
Well, you know, it's so interesting, I get asked that question, Ange, a lot and I have so many great professional sports memories and college sports memories, like Villanova winning the National Championship which hopefully they do again in ten days this year. But of all the things I've ever done in all the years I've been covering sports in Philly, I always hearken back to my very first year here when I did a Special Olympics event with some of the Philadelphia Flyers interestingly enough. And in that event there was a white kid and a black kid and one of them fell down because he couldn't run very well. The other kid went back during the race and picked that child up and gave up winning the race so he could walk the other kid and make sure he was okay the rest of the way. That to me is a much more defining moment of what sports is all about. It's about, obviously, individual accomplishment, but also putting the team ahead of the individual and having a color-blind attitude. In all seriousness, and I've said this since 1975 when it happened right after I got to Philly, nothing in pro, college, or big-time Olympic sports could ever top that. It's amazing, and a real quick footnote is that in all the years I've related that story to audiences, no one has ever asked me which kid was which, and that kind of underscores the point. No one's ever said, "Well was it the black kid who helped the white kid or the white kid who helped the black kid?" because it doesn't matter. And had the roles of who fell and who picked him up had been reversed, same thing would have happened, which is really the essence of what sports should be. And still to this day it is most of the time, it's just the negative stuff I think just gets sometimes overly publicized.

Can you tell us a little about your charity work?
My charity is One Child Saved. For many, many years it was known as Winning Ways and we just changed it about a year ago to reflect the new website and really speak to exactly what it is that we try to do. What we do is we use athletes and entertainers and people in the television industry to talk to disadvantaged children in this tri-state region about three, to me, very important things, one of which is anti-hatred curriculum, one of which is anti-violence curriculum, and then the third one is a constant connection with the motivation for careers. And we're about to launch our biggest initiative this summer and at the start of the fall school year called "1000 Kids, 1000 Jobs" where once a month we're going to bring together adults who have a thousand different jobs and they're going to meet with a thousand inner-city kids to get them interested in the world of careers.

That's a great initiative.
Yeah we're really excited about it and I think one of the things we're going to be able to do is hold some of the events with the two thousand people at some of the sports venues. So we'll be able to tie in all the jobs in sports because we're also telling the kids that you may not play professional sports, although we're not going to extinguish that dream, but why don't you also get enough education so you can be an announcer like I am in sports or an orthopedic surgeon or a ticket manager. So these are going to be really exciting career days that we're going to hold starting this summer.

Okay, well be sure to let Phillyist know and we'll be happy to help in whatever way that we can.
I really appreciate that because I think you guys are doing great stuff and I definitely will take you up on that.

Now in anticipation of your upcoming news special, we'd like to ask you some Phillies questions: First, how important is a hot start, especially this year?
I think, believe it or not, it's still very important and in past recent seasons there's been so much attention focused on it. There was a theory that maybe the guys were pressing too much, but I think given the momentum that existed with winning at the end of last season, even though they got swept in the playoffs, I think a fast, quick start this year really makes not just the players themselves but the fans who were so important realize that this really is going to carry over and it wasn't just a fluke. This is a fundamentally sound excellent baseball team.

Definitely. Speaking of those fans, is this the year the fans finally get off of Charlie Manuel's back?
I certainly hope so. And I really think that the criticism of him over the years that he's been here has been, in large part, unfair. And obviously one of the great beauties of baseball for all of us who are fans is that, given its pace, you can second guess decisions because they're made much slower than they are in football, basketball, and hockey by coaches and managers. And I really think that even though you might have disagreed with some of Charlie's decisions, he overall did an excellent job and the proof is in the results. Also I really felt it was unfair and in fact mean-spirited for people to make fun of the fact that he's a country person. He grew up in the country; he's proud of the fact that he grew up in the country, and why should we act in this kind of holier-than-thou superior-to-you way of thinking that just because he has an accent and he doesn't speak the exactly the way most Philadelphians do that somehow that's something to make fun of. And I always thought that was unfair and I'm really glad that has stopped happening.

What do you think of Chase Utley? Is he 100% healthy, and if so, can he make it three MVPs in three years?
I think Chase Utley is not only possibly going to do that I think he's likely to do that. Having spent time with the team in Clearwater during Spring Training and just watching the way he's moving I think he's in excellent health and he's fully recovered as much as sports medicine can enable you to be. Unfortunately we're going to find out pretty soon with his shoulder but he got the best medical attention and he looks fine. The thing about Chase that I think really puts him in a good position for a possible third MVP in a row for the Phillies is that the guy does everything well. You can win an MVP, you can be an All-Star if you do some of the things extremely well and the rest decently, but he does everything offensively and defensively very, very well. And I think that just puts him in a position where he's got a great shot at it.

How will Brad Lidge fare at Citizens Bank Park and how will the fans react the first time he gives up a decisive home run?
The fact is that even if he had eighteen shut-out innings and struck out the side in like, let's say, his previous two outings, we know what the reaction will be when he gives up a home run, because people—and we love 'em for it—people who are Philadelphia sports fans have short memories and high standards and expectations. But having said that, I think the Phillies are doing the right thing bringing him along a little bit slower than he even wanted and when he is able to pitch I think this idea that the ballpark is going to be really in his head, I think what's going to be more in his head is this is a fresh start and things had gone so well in Houston, and then they didn't go so well. In all the years I've covered sports I think there are times in most players careers when they just benefit from what is, in essence, a second chance and I think Lidge will take full advantage of that here.

Finally, what's your prediction for how well the Phils fare overall this season, or do we have to wait to watch the special to find that out?
No, I'll tell you right now, and I feel very strongly about this, I'm not sure they'll win a hundred games, I think they'll be in the mid-nineties and if I had to pick a number I'll go with ninety-three let's say. But I think that a more important factor is the pressure on the Mets. You know you talk about, as we did earlier, the Phillies need for a quick start, and trying to prove that all they accomplished last year was substantive in the long term. I think given the way the Mets collapsed, given the basic assumption that (Johan) Santana's going to win twenty plus for them automatically, I think the pressure is so enormous on the Mets that I don't see how they can live up to it. And I think Santana's a great pitcher, I think he'll have a good year. I have questions about the rest of their pitching staff, especially an older pitcher like Pedro (Martinez) but I really think that the Phillies are going to be a steady consistently good ball club that wins ninety-three and wins the division because I think the Mets are going to be way up and down and all over the place.

Okay thanks, that's all the questions we had and we really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Thanks so much.
It was my pleasure—just don't make me pitch with this shoulder anytime, okay?