Brink's bag of tricks seals most memorable holiday

By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- The gameplan would work, and Springfield High boys basketball coach Jeff Brink knew it.
He hadn't drawn one up this well in a long time.
The setting was Christmas 2001 and Brink was ready to make his move. He had prepared for the defining moment. He had to stay calm and execute the plan with a perfect touch.
"She wanted a CD player, but she wasn't sure if I was going to get her one," Brink said. "I wrapped up a big, empty CD player box."
The box contained a CD with a song that had special meaning for Brink and his fiancee, Brenda Tipple.
"She opens it up and says, 'What's this?' " Brink recalled. "I said that I didn't get you a CD player, but I thought this song would express how I feel about you.
"She's like, 'Yeah, yeah. It's a nice song. Whatever.' "
As the song played in the background, the engagement ring appeared, and Brenda was frozen.
"I was so completely shocked because I had no indication it was going to happen any time soon," Brenda said. "He kept a secret and nobody knew. He didn't tell a soul."
The Brinks were married in August at Simon Road Church of God in Boardman, and they honeymooned in Jamaica.
And today, they're spending their first Christmas together as a married couple.
"After last Christmas, anything I do now [with gifts] is a letdown," Jeff laughed. "Now, we'll be getting faucet items and a garage door opener."
Love for history
Brenda, 30, grew up in Dorset, on a farm in Ashtabula County, and graduated from Jefferson High School. She went to Youngstown State and is now a court reporter for Nagy-Baker in downtown Youngstown.
Jeff, 34, coaches and teaches at his alma mater but is also the assistant principal there. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Youngstown State.
They first met with the help of a friend, Jim Vivo of New Middletown, who brought them together one night at the English Pub in Poland.
"He told me he was a history teacher, and that was my favorite subject in high school," Brenda said of her first encounter with Jeff. "We talked for hours."
They dated for nearly two years before the wedding. It was during that time that Jeff explained the nature of coaching to his future wife.
"I told her that going out with me is not the easiest thing in the world," he said. "My life is very hectic, it's time consuming and very stressful."
And losing can be rough on a coach.
Thing was, in the first year of their courtship, Springfield went 20-0 in the regular season and played Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary -- and LeBron James -- for the district championship in front of 6,000 fans at Beeghly Center.
"She's like, 'This is fun. You guys win every game,' " Jeff said. "I told her that it's not really like that and you can't take it for granted."
The next season, Springfield went 18-2.
Down the coaching road
Coaching consumes most of Jeff's life. In fact, the Brinks had to plan their wedding in August because it's one of only two months that Jeff has free from basketball.
"You just have to be open-minded and realize it takes up a lot of time," Brenda said.
How understanding is Brenda of her husband's job? She travels with him to scout opponents and can be seen charting shots, and she rarely misses one of Springfield's games.
"Usually that's our date for the night," she said. "We'll go to scout and then we'll go out to dinner."
On game days, Brenda often sits six or seven rows behind Springfield's bench, entertained by her husband's sideline antics.
You see, Jeff gets excited. He paces. He yells. He puts his hands on his hips and glares. He knows how to fire up his team.
"Sometimes it makes me laugh because he's so different [on the court]," said Brenda, who then attempted to describe "that face he makes" while coaching.
"He's intense," said Springfield senior guard Jonathan Vivo, Jim's brother and Jeff's neighbor. "We're used to it. We've been coached like that our whole life. That's what sets us apart from other teams."
Christmas cheer
Christmas at the Brinks is kind of like a Springfield basketball game -- it can be loud and crazy. But they wouldn't want it any other way.
"It can be intimidating if you're not prepared for it," Jeff said.
Jeff, the son of Robert Sr. and Lucille Brink, is the youngest of seven children; he has four brothers and two sisters.
"Getting together at the holidays is important to me," Jeff said. "My brothers and sisters are all grown up, and I didn't get to spend much time with some of them."
So today, Jeff and Brenda will be at Jeff's parents in New Middletown celebrating the holiday with family.
"It's a lot of people," Brenda said of the Brink gathering. "It was just my mom, dad, sister and I [growing up], so it was hard to keep track of all his nieces and nephews. I have it down now."
When Brenda opens her gifts this Christmas, there will be a touch of nostalgia, as she remembers the scene of a year ago.
The holiday will always have an added meaning.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing," she said of the Christmas engagement. "Now, just being together will mean a lot. I don't care what he gets me. It doesn't matter."
richesson@vindy.com