Ready To Watch "Never Give Up" Today?
The closing credits of the film “Never Give Up” mention my name three times! One is “Technical Advisor on Deaf Culture,” the other is “Thanks for providing the deaf tennis history,” and the last shows a picture of Brad Minns and me.
This movie begins and ends with the Men’s Singles Championship match of the 1985 World Games for the Deaf between the 20-year-old University of Toledo Sophomore BRAD MINNS versus 25-year-old JEFF OSBORNE of American River College of Sacramento, CA, who became the first American to win the same event four years earlier in the 1981 Games in Cologne (Koln), Germany while providing flashbacks of it on Brad Minns throughout;
(1) Becoming deaf at the age of three.
(2) Being bullied by school classmates.
(3) Learning that high school tennis coaches were not interested in him.
(4) Winning a walk-on spot on the Toledo tennis team.
(5) Being teased by Deaf girls using sign language.
(6) Saying, “What’s that?” after his college coach mentioned the ‘World Games of the Deaf.”
(7) Getting pranked by tryout participants
(8) Being forced not to use hearing aids while playing in any tennis events for the Deaf.
Deaflympics - Regulations
DG2. GENERAL INFORMATION
11. not using hearing aids or external cochlear implant aids during any Deaflympics event.
“God, help me,” whispered Minns while being one lost point away from losing the last game in the third set after losing the first two sets. It was the first-ever prayer of his life. He won that game and the following three sets in this five-hour match.
~~~~~~~~~~ Watch the Trailer ~~~~~~~~~~
Note: The World Games for the Deaf were renamed the Deaflympics in 2001. In that 1985 match in Los Angeles, I was the Technical Tennis Director for the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD.)
How to buy/rent the “Never Give Up” movie?
Click on the following:
Great American Pure Flix (wait until it becomes available)
“Even just booking a movie called ‘Never Give Up’ meant a lot to me. It describes my career in a lot of ways. Then, when it ended up being a movie about tennis, the whole thing was very symbolic.” — Actor Frank Acierno, playing as Brad’s first tennis coach.