NSAA Newsletter
In the fall of 1964 Don Smiley, who was working at the Glendale Post
Office at the time, sent one of his co-workers around to my folks' house to pick up some
football sheets. Not knowing what to expect, I was somewhat taken aback when a helmeted guy
named Bill Wallner, dressed in a leather jacket, levis and motorcycle boots pulled into
the driveway on a loud Harley. First impressions mean a lot, they say, but in this case
they couldn’t have been more misleading.
Jimmy Bond in reality,
was about as far from a biker as any dude could be. He turned out to be a very conservative
individual with interests that ran from football pools, to horse racing,
to sandlot softball and flag football. And he worked most of his life in a suit and tie at
an insurance company after starting things out with a short stint at the Naval Academy.
That gig kept him on the rolls as a member of the US Navy and he was able to avoid the
unpleasantness in Viet Nam because of it.
Jimmy went on to play 341 NSAA softball and 55 football events (in documented
attendance) and many more than that in the early years before records were kept.
He ended up at #21 on the All-time list, and #6 in flag football.
He also suffered two of the most frightening injuries in league history. On Jan 18, 1969 he
broke his nose in a football game which resulted in the most blood ever spilled at an NSAA event.
Then, on May 10, 1976 at a softball game, also on the college upper, he mysteriously
collapsed on the field and we couldn’t get him up. The paramedics were called and he
ended up in emergency surgery for a looped artery in his neck that got tweeked on a wicked
ground ball to second base, thereby cutting off (as some opined) the supply of Coors
to his brain. Yes, JB was known to enjoy a brewski from time to time.
In 1973 tired of his boring BS office routine, he quit and moved to the
shed row at Santa Anita race track to take up, of all things, horse training. Working side-by-side
with long time SoCal trainer Cliff Sise, he lasted about a year living in tack rooms and needing a shower before jumping back
into a business suit down in San Diego. Just in time, as it turned out, to host the first
ever Del Mar junket (for Commish, Eddie Lee, Combs and Whistler) at his SD digs. Over the years, he
went on 19 Del Mar junkets in the 20th century and 9 more in the 21st. Then came the 34
infamous Bush Track junkets where a bunch of us NSAAers toured western states searching for
small tracks with less sophisticated horse players to fleece. Fleecing was accomplished alright but not to the
intended victims.
A bigger Doors fan never existed. Right column please ----> |
After a 37 year batchlorhood in 1980 he finally
took the plunge and married Gloria McElroy (a gal with a million dollar smile) right
there in Glendale. Proudly, I got tapped as the Best Man but botched the gig totally
when I could not even come up with the traditional, humorous preamble. All I did was hand over
the ring. (Seriously, if you need a BM, I'd look elsewhere.) The couple lived in Diamond Bar for a
while then moved down to Rancho
Penasquitos. Although the marriage eventually dissolved, they ended up with
two highly rated sons, Kevin and Brian, to show for it.
In 2001 JB had earned a 3 month sabbatical from his
employer and could think of nothing better to do with it than to head off to Canada in a midnight
blue Ford Mustang with your humble correspondent. With the intent of slaying every bush track we
could find up there, we had a great time puntin’ the ponies and living out of cheap
motels and camping tents for 5 weeks-- before I had to head home. Jimmy kept going
for another 2 months, however, and ended up running amok thru most of British Columbia and
Alberta before returning home with a great love for Canada. For a long time he intended
to go back in a big RV after retirement and do it up right. But the fates took a different turn.
In 2006 while back at the daily grind, he met and
married a gal named Barbara Vilbrandt down south. He moved into her condo in north San
Diego and they lived there for a number of years.
Joy turned to sorrow shortly thereafter however, when Barbara took seriously ill and
passed away at the tender age of 68. At about that same time, Jimmy’s health began
faltering too. We were all shocked when, down for one of the Del Mar reunion junkets,
we found him in a walker. A head scratcher for sure, as even his doctors never could come up with
excactly what ailed the boy. A few years later he sold the condo and moved up to
NorCal in Santa Rosa into a series of assisted living places. After getting bounced out
of two of them for too much screaming in the stretch, he ended up at Brookdale. a more tollerant place
where he set up what became known as the Jimmy Bond Sports Book. A spot with TV sets, computers,
outrageous snacks and adult beverages where one could bet every racetrack in America. I frequented the place
on many a weekend, right up until his death on February 18th. Jimmy was a great
NSAAer and good buddy to all who knew him. He will be sorely missed.
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