While We’re Young (Ideas) | On Howie Schwab

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – I first met Howie Schwab in September of 1977, long before he would become the ESPN cult hero, nicknamed Stump the Schwab – a must-watch TV show that aired from July 8, 2004 to September 29, 2006. Schwab was a classmate at St. John’s University in New York and from that very first day when freshman orientation at the Queens campus of St. John’s called for the playing of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,”from the Rumours album, Howie Schwab was a friend while being an encyclopedia in the “Never Stop” world of college and pro sports.

With the guidance from upper classmen Frank Racaniello and Bill Rodriguez, the two sports editors of the student newspaper, The Torch, we all tried to find our niche in the sports industry. Whether it be as writers, researchers, CBS Sports loggers, sports information directors, we tried and sought out opportunities. Schwab and StanGoldstein (one-time front office man for the New York Knicks and guru of all things Bruce Springsteen). Schwab and Goldstein split the St J men’s basketball beat and did a terrific job. (I had the baseball beat which included a 1980 College World Series team).

Goldstein told a story for all on Facebook: “Funny story,” Stan began, “at the height of ‘Stump the Schwab.’ Howie and I went to a San Francisco Giants-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. I felt like I was at the game with Bruce Springsteen. Everyone recognized Howie and wanted a picture and an autograph. Howie made sure to accommodate everyone. I felt like I had to be his security guard. We went to Legal Seafood for dinner and there was a line. They recognized Howie and seated us immediately. People kept coming up to the table to get Howie’s autograph. It was something.”

Kindness, hard work, treating others with respect and volunteerism was key. Everyone in our class, at the encouragement of the late St. John’s Athletic Administration Dean Bernie Beglane, volunteered to help at any and all New York area sporting events. Schwab, as knowledgeable as anyone in the Felt Forum (a part of New York’s Madison Square Garden), helped out at the NBA Draft by running the draft cards from the team tables up to Matt Winick of NBA Operations seated up on the dais. Let’s just say, Ralph Sampson (No. 1 in ‘83), Steve Stepanovich (No. 2 in ‘83) Hakeem Olajuwon (No. 1 in ‘84), Sam Bowie (No. 2 in ‘84), Michael Jordan (No. 3 in ‘84), Patrick Ewing (No. 1 in ‘85) and even St. John’s own Chris Mullin (No. 7 in ‘85) would not have made it to the NBA if they didn’t go through Howie and his work on the trading floor that is the NBA Draft, handing the official card from team to league so the players could be selected.

Schwab was the head of research for ESPN and settled into Bristol, Connecticut for much of his career, feeding nuggets of information to the on-air talent, making them and ESPN look better and smarter everyday. He was particularly close with the great Dick Vitale and they both settled in Florida as the sunset on their ESPN careers, each fighting health issues.

The praise from his fellow ESPNers was amazing: “So sad to learn of the passing of my loyal dedicated buddy ⁦Howie Schwab,” wrote Vitale, who had Schwab as part of his own internal team after Schwab was let go from ESPN in a massive corporate cutback years ago. “He was recently at my home,“ Vitale wrote, “(and) had various health issues but was feeling good when he visited.May he please RIP.”

“Honored to have been one of the many handed a bit of research, often on a card, from the great Howie Schwab,” said Mike Tirico. “So glad the audience eventually got to see his brilliance and personality on tv. An original and one of the best you could ever meet. He made so many of us better. Holding his family and friends in our hearts,” concluded the classy Tirico who now anchors for NBC Sports.

Doug Gottlieb, who was a basketball analyst for ESPN before branching off to his own sports world, wrote: “My second day at ESPN, fall of 2003, I met Howie Schwab,” remembered Gottlieb. “I was walking into Building 4 and a fairly frumpy man stopped me, (and said) “Doug Gottlieb, 943 assists 7th all time – played at Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, lost to Duke in ‘98, Auburn in ‘99 & Florida in ‘00. A great passer who couldn’t shoot … Howie Schwab, nice to meet you.”

The dean of delight for many of us who interacted with ESPN is Dan Patrick who hosts the best sports talk show in the business. Patrick opened his show, stating: “Before we get started, I want to say goodbye to a lifelong friend who just passed away over the weekend, Howie Schwab,” Patrick said emotionally. “I’ve known Howie for probably over 30 years … Howie was sports Google before sports Google. Google would have Googled Howie Schwab. He’s the smartest guy that I ever met when it comes to sports knowledge, trivia, information.

“When I first started at SportsCenter, I was lucky to have Howie Schwab there, because he made us all better,” Patrick continued. “He loved the bottom line, and that is getting the information from wherever he is finding it, to you while you’re still on the air.”

Patrick concluded his tribute by calling Schwab, “A generous, wonderful person.”

And that’s where I can pick it right up.

Aside from out mutual love, understanding and misery following St. John’s basketball, Howie was such a great guy that he honestly took pride – not in his own successes, but of others. We often spoke about the NBA, Chris Mullin and I always asked about his parents (who sat adjacent to us in the St. John’s basketball season ticket layout).

Howie’s Dad passed away a couple years back, but his Mom is still doing well and had the saddest of assignments for a parent in burying a son. The service for Schwab, held in Baldwin, Long Island – his hometown – was dignified and very well attended. Plenty of his peers spoke so fondly of him and the many memories he’s left behind, especially in “Stump the Schwab,” the great ESPN show that was once anchored by the late, great Stuart Scott. (Note: Link above for an archive of the service).

My personal memory of Howie is from a message left on my (private) home number answering machine, the one dominated by political calls, robo calls, and messages from our town weather/flood/storm notification system.”

“Terry,” he said, not identifying himself and knowing that I would know his voice. “I have a crazy situation and I know you’re a “Marriott guy.” I bought a time share in Aruba and there’s no way we can use it. The bad news, it starts later this week.

“All you have to do if fly down to Aruba, and I’ll take care of everything else. It’s all paid for and I’d love for you to use it for a little break.”

Surely, Howie had called others before leaving that wonderful, kind, thoughtful message for me, and I was thrilled to call him back to thank him for the offer, which so sadly, we could not take advantage of at the time.

It was, however, Howie Schwab in all his glory – trying to help others while never asking for a thing back.

Howie was not a text message guy. He was not an email guy, unless he was forwarding good information. He was a “call you on your home phone number” kind of guy and that’s what I loved about him.”

Go Johnnies. For Howie.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Another all-time great passed this week, in NHL broadcaster The NHL sent out a statement from Commissioner Gary Bettman which said it all, “Bob Cole’s voice was the iconic and incomparable soundtrack of ice hockey across Canada for more than 50 years,” said Bettman. “From countless winter Saturday nights on Hockey Night in Canada to the 1972 Summit Series to multiple Olympic Games to dozens of Stanley Cup Finals, his distinctive, infectious play-by-play made every game he called sound bigger.

“Over a legendary career that began in local radio in his beloved home province of Newfoundland and inevitably went national beginning in 1969, Bob transcended generations by sharing his obvious passion for our game and his stunning talent for conveying hockey’s excitement and majesty with both eloquence and enthusiasm.

“The National Hockey League mourns the passing of one of the true greats of our game, who long ago joined his idol Foster Hewitt in the pantheon of hockey broadcasters. We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends and the millions across Canada for whom the sound of Bob Cole’s voice was the sound of hockey.”

To this columnist, there are only six other non-playing ice hockey people held on a such a high pedestal and they are:

Roger Doucet (1919-1981) – (link)

“The Big Whistle,” Bill Chadwick (1915-2009) – (link)

Bill Torrey (1934-2018) – (link)

Al Arbour (1932-2015) – (link)

Frank J. Zamboni (1901-1988) – (link)

And, thankfully and importantly – still with us at age 77 – Mike “Doc” Emrick, the voice of hockey to the fans of the USA (link).

INFORMAL POLL: This wasn’t a poll conducted by Quinnipiac and it won’t be reported by MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki, but a Digital Sports Desk poll of favorite Boston Red Sox players is heavy on retired players or those who’ve moved along and very short on the current crew.

The poll is conducted on a short walk from the Fenway T Station to the ballpark. Every single Red Sox uniform is noted, and the results show a love for the past and not so much love of the present. Here are the results:

1. David Ortiz
2. Mookie Betts
3. Yaz
4. Xander Bogaerts
5. Dustin Pedroia
6. Chris Sale (with the replicas purchased before they were on Sale)
7. Rafael Devers*
8. Jarren Duran*
9. Enrique “Kiki” Hernandez
10. Brayan Bello*

* for current roster player

COLLEGE PROPS: According to the D-1 Ticker, the New York State Gaming Commission’s Chairman Brian O’Dwyer went on record with NCAA President Charlie Baker as they both endorsed a nationwide ban on prop bets on college athletes. O’Dwyer wrote: “With the commencement of legal sports wagering in our state, the New York State Gaming Commission made a policy determination to prohibit individual athletic-based proposition betting within any collegiate event, as we shared the same desire to insulate student-athletes from potential harassment regarding their performance. We are pleased that many states have followed our lead and have since adopted such a similar restriction. As regulators of the largest sports betting market in the United States, we continue to believe the prohibition of college proposition betting on student-athletes is appropriate. New York State appreciates your efforts to help implement this important protective measure nationwide.” … The obvious issue was well documented within the case of the NBA banning x Porter for life for his gambling activities. He was investigated and proved to have meddled with prop bet lines on his own game, asking out and pretending to be injured in order to stay under the prop bet line.

NUGGETS AND TIDBITS: The 2024 Hall of Fame Awards Presentation will paint Cooperstown with a decidedly historic shade of red during Hall of Fame Weekend, as in Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione will be presented with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox will be recognized on the 20th anniversary of their historic victory at the July 20 Awards Presentation, which will be held at the Glimmerglass Festival, located just north of the Village of Cooperstown.

The special tribute is scheduled to include Castiglione, as well as appearances by Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez and David Ortiz, two Sox heroes of that reverse-the-curse Red Sox team. The late Gerry Fraley will be honored with the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for writers at the event, which takes place in the Alice Busch Opera Theater. A limited number of tickets for the public are now available for the Awards Presentation at baseballhall.org/hofwknd.

Castiglione, who has called Red Sox games on the radio for a record 41 seasons, was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Castiglione is the longest tenured broadcaster in Red Sox history and has called historic moments that have included both of Roger Clemens’ 20-strikeout games and four no-hitters as well as the Red Sox’s four World Series titles in a 15-year span from 2004-2018.

Fraley formed relationships with players, coaches, scouts, executives, and umpires that made him one of the most trusted voices in the industry. Fraley, who died in 2019 at the age of 64, covered the Phillies, Braves and Rangers and was a pioneer in the advent of daily notebooks as part of beat coverage. Longtime columnist for the Southern California News Group, Mark Whicker, will speak on behalf of Fraley at the Awards Presentation.

Hall of Fame Weekend will feature the 2024 Induction Ceremony when Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer will be inducted as the Class of 2024 on Sunday, July 21, on the grounds of Cooperstown’s Clark Sports Center. The 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be broadcast live exclusively on MLB Network and more than 50 Hall of Famers are expected to return for Hall of Fame Weekend, with the full list of returnees to be announced in early July, to honor the Class of 2024.

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook – June 18, 2023

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Asks All to Remember Our Guys

By TERRY LYONS

NEW YORK – This columnist often wonders how the three of them would’ve fared on September 11, 2001. The odds were terrible for firefighters from the outer boroughs. The odds were terrible for everyone anywhere near the World Trade Center that terrible September day, a day that began with postcard blue skies and a day when the polls opened at 6am for both Democratic and Republican primaries in NYC.

It had rained cats & dogs the night before, a Monday night when the Broncos beat the New York Giants, 31-20, on Monday Night Football. I can’t remember a thing about the game because I was stuck on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport after nearly a day of flying back from Brisbane, Australia and the 2001 Goodwill Games.

The next day, the game didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered, except to mourn the victims of a terrorist attack on United States soil – murder at its worst – at the Trade Centers, at the Pentagon and out in Somerset County, Pennsylvania where the closest town was Shanksville, PA – population 175.

Spin the calendar back a few months. Eighty-six days separated two dates of disaster for the FDNY in 2001. The date of September 11th is obvious to most, but many forget a date we promised three guys that we’d never forget. That – call it “other” – terrible date was 22 years ago to the exact date of this column being written.

June 17, 2001 was the date of the “Father’s Day Fire,” a five alarm blaze that engulfed a hardware store in Queens.

The fire began when two young boys were playing and knocked over a gasoline container at the rear of the store. The gas leaked under a backdoor and was eventually ignited by a hot water heater with its pilot light glowing so innocently. One thing led to another, as fires in hardware stores often do, and propane tanks and dozens of gallon-sized paint cans started exploding.

It was 2:20pm on a beautiful, lazy day Sunday. When the fire fighters arrived and began their dangerous work by 2:40pm, all hell was breaking loose in a pair of two story buildings built in the 1930s. Smoke was billowing and the men who run into the burning buildings were doing what they were trained to do.

A massive explosion did the unspeakable damage, trapping three firefighters in rubble and debris in the back of the store while blowing other FDNY clear across the street in the front of the buildings. Reports showed 48-90 firefighters and a couple of civilians injured.

“What was a quiet Sunday turned into a terrible tragedy very quickly,” fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen told the Associated Press that terrible afternoon.

Firefighters Harry Ford, 50, and John Downing, 40, were outside the building opening windows to ventilate it when the explosion occurred. They were crushed to death when the roof and facade tumbled onto them.

Firefighter Brian Fahey, 46, was inside the store. He fell into the burning basement and was trapped for hours, officials said. Dozens of firefighters, some wielding pick axes and chain saws, cut through the rubble but Fahey died before they could reach him. It took some four hours to recover his body and soul.

Ford, a father of three, was a 27-year veteran who was decorated nine times for bravery. Downing was an 11-year veteran and father of two. Fahey, a father of three, was a 14-year veteran.

These deaths were not because of rookie mistakes. There was a combined 52 YEARS of experience. Then, so suddenly, there were eight children without their fathers.

• Harry Ford, 50, from Rescue 4: Ford joined FDNY in 1974. He received the Thomas Crimmins Medal, and learned to rollerblade and snowboard because of his children.
• Lt. John Downing, 40, Ladder 163: Downing joined FDNY in 1989. He enjoyed barbecuing, telling and listening to jokes, home improvement and was a sports fan.
• Brian D. Fahey, 46, Rescue 4: Fahey joined FDNY in 1987. He was a volunteer with the Hempstead Fire Department Engine Co. 4 and a deputy chief instructor with the Nassau Fire Service Academy. In his spare time, he taught others how to fight fires.

Aside from the devastation of the loss of three brave public servants who I think of often for the last 22 years, just what was my personal bond with three men I never met and did not know anything about before they perished?

My children were born in 1997 and 1999. They were still toddlers on June 17, 2001, as they learned about the tradition of Father’s Day, and they loved the idea so much. I was relating to the fallen lads as a Father, not just a fellow New Yorker. We didn’t watch the TV news that June night, but eighty-six days later, living on the UES of Manhattan, the devastation of 9/11 was inescapable.

On June 17th, I bonded – spiritually – with three guys – father-to-father – and mourned the loss of the brave men and women who protect us all.

On September 11th, I wondered what a terrible world we had brought forth for my two daughters to live their lives.

I still wonder. And on Father’s Day, I’ll remember them once again with a prayer of Rest in Peace and hope for their families as they’ve carried on for 22 years.

Note: What can you do? A prayer for the Firefighters and their Families is appropriate or maybe a donation. If you’d like to do something for the FDNY or the Boston FD (Marathon domestic terror attack), you can show your support HERE or HERE.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The hammer came down on Memphis Grizzlies All-Star guard Ja Morant and it fell hard and to the tune of a 25-game suspension without pay which estimates to a $7.5 million on his 2023-24 contract of $33.5 million. … In case you didn’t hear about the incident resulting in the suspension, Morant posed with a firearm in a car during a live-streamed video on May 13, less than two months after he was suspended eight games without pay for the live streaming of a video on March 4 in which he displayed a firearm while in an intoxicated state at a Denver area nightclub. Morant received an eight-game suspension in March,

On the more recent infraction, the NBA League Office’s investigation found that, on May 13, Morant intentionally and prominently displayed a gun while in a car with several other individuals as they were leaving a social gathering in Memphis. Morant wielded the firearm while knowing that he was being recorded and that the recording was being live streamed on Instagram Live, despite having made commitments to the NBA and public statements that he would not repeat the conduct for which he was previously disciplined. On May 16, Morant issued a statement taking full accountability for his actions.

Morant’s suspension begins immediately and will remain in effect through the first 25 games of the 2023-24 NBA regular season for which he is otherwise eligible and able to play. He’ll be required to meet certain conditions before he returns to play and will be ineligible to participate in any public league or team activities, including summer league and preseason games, during the course of his suspension.

“Ja Morant’s decision to once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting given his similar conduct in March for which he was already suspended eight games,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “The potential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct is particularly concerning. Under these circumstances, we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clear that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated.

“For Ja, basketball needs to take a back seat at this time. Prior to his return to play, he will be required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”

Silver is a staunch advocate of the league working with its players on the players’ mental health as he recognizes the pressure and stress placed upon the league’s players, young and older. Silver addressed the situations in depth at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2022.

Not surprisingly, the head of the NBA Players Association balked at the length and severity of the suspension.

“Ja has expressed his remorse and accepted responsibility for his actions, and we support him unequivocally as he does whatever is necessary to represent himself, our players and our league in the best possible light,” NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said in a statement as reported by multiple media outlets. “As to the discipline imposed … we believe it is excessive and inappropriate for a number of reasons, including the facts involved in this particular incident, and that it is not fair and consistent with past discipline in our league.”

The NBPA said it would explore “all options and next steps” with Morant.

Recognizing that the Players’ union must back-up its membership, the larger issue to the NBPA is the damage done to their own player marketing efforts, as the Union took back rights from the NBA years ago and formed Think450, an agency headed by Que Gaskins, noted rep of former NBA All-Star and MVP Allen Iverson.

In addition, former New Jersey Nets All-Star forward Jayson Williams served a 27-month sentence for accidentally wielding a 12-gauge shotgun and killing his limo driver, Costas “Gus” Christofi, on February 14, 2002. Williams was indicted for aggravated manslaughter and witness and evidence tampering, among other charges.

After issues with the trial and a hung jury, Williams pled guilty to aggravated assault in February 2010 and was sentenced to a five-year term, serving time only until April of 2012.

The NBA has repeatedly addressed the issues of gun violence and weapon safety in its longstanding Rookie and Player orientation program, dating back to 1987 when Boston Celtics great Tom “Satch” Sanders was asked to head-up the new department by the late NBA Commissioner David Stern.

TID-BITS: Former Charlotte Hornets team owner George Shinn scraped together $32.5 million dollars to secure the expansion team in 1988. On Friday, NBA legend Michael Jordan sold his majority shares in the club to fellow shareholders Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall with the franchise value at $3 billion. That a cool $2.968 billion increase in value over 35 years in the NBA. … Think Shinn should’ve kept hold of his asset?

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – There are two days on our calendar that bring hope and optimism wrapped-up in a ball. First is New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day which comes with a ball that falls so gradually in Times Square as hundreds of thousands, maybe millions count down the final ten seconds of the year. Resolutions are made, but rarely kept as the New Year rolls in. Couples kiss and wish each other “Happy New Year” with hopes for a great year ahead. It’s a wonderful day.

Then, there’s Opening Day in Major League Baseball. Nothing brings hope like the first crack of the bat, the sound of the umpire or some promo winner screaming, “Play Ball,” or the sights and smells of the ballpark, the beautiful green grass of Fenway Park and 29 other ballparks across the USA and Toronto, Canada – all the envy of any homeowner and weekend gardener.

We experienced Opening Day at Fenway this week, complete with pregame ceremonies with F-16 jet fighter fly-over, a giant-sized American flags, a roster full of brand new Red Sox players along with a pitching crew that needs to make some resolutions of their own.

While Opening Day for the Red Sox resulted in the Big “L” there was excitement in the chilly New England air as the game went right down to the last at bat. The second game of the season brought on sheer joy of loyal fandom for the Sox faithful who hung-on to witness a game-winning home run by OF Adam Duvall, lined right into the first row of the Green Monster seats. It came after oft-injured SP Chris Sale spotted the Baltimore Orioles a 7-1 lead after three innings, so the hope of MLB’s Opening Day can go only so far in New England. Sox fans will have to judge their team on one and only one criteria this season: They won’t give up.

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Local, State and Federal law enforcement agencies all refer to an open school campus as a Soft Target. This week, the soft target consisting of 50,023 students at Michigan State University and they were attacked when an assailant walked right into buildings made of brick and steel. Yes, a crazed gunman, a mass murderer to be, walked into the back door of Berkey Hall, home to the College of Social Science, the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, and the Department of Sociology, and opened fire on unsuspecting, innocent students.

He exited Berkey and walked to the Michigan State University Union, passed by Spart’s Express, and emptied a handgun to kill at random. The Student Union was his second Soft Target on the 5,300 acre campus in East Lansing, Michigan. A short time later, as he was about to be arrested, the gunman used the handgun to end his own life, just as he killed three promising students only minutes before. The shooter also seriously wounded five others, four still listed in critical condition and one stabilized three days after being shot.

He huffed and he puffed and the strong building of brick and steel became the most recent soft ratget. Only 50,020 souls are left to mourn.

To their credit, law enforcement responded quickly and emergency protocol for an active shooter was immediately put in place. EMS and medical staff were able to access Berkey Hall quickly as eye witness accounts assured authorities the shooter exited the building on foot. Then, soon after, there were additional reports of an active shooter at the Student Union and the systems were put in place again.

“Secure-in-Place immediately,” read an emergency text message to all students, faculty and staff of the school. “Run, Hide, Fight.”

The damage was done, however, as the assailant walked away, leaving the campus as easily as he walked in. He had no connection to the University. He had no apparent motive, as far as police and FBI investigators could identify in short order. The crime – which killed juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner at Berkey and sophomore Brian Fraser at the Union while seriously injuring five others – might’ve come at a Soft Target made of brick and steel – but it sent speeding bullets into soft human tissue, bones and organs. Hand guns and high-powered bullets have a way of doing that these days.

Less than 24 hours after the gunman fatally shot the three Michigan State University students and critically wounded the five (yet to be identified) others, the students at the East Lansing campus and many others elsewhere in Michigan and across the nation are rallying around each other, conducting prayer vigils and rallies.

Why is this Sunday Sports Notebook delving into the senseless, dark and controversial topic of gun violence in America? Maybe because of two or three direct, first-hand connections to the school. Maybe because of similar crimes at Virginia Tech in 2007 which killed 32 people. Maybe because of recent shootings in Monterrey Park or Half Moon Bay or Evalde where they shot 21 kids and wounded 15 othrs, or Orlando or 100 other places in recent years.

Almost immediately in the aftermath of the mass murder, Michigan State announced that the school was to cancel classes and all extracurricular events, including sporting events, the life blood of the Big 10 school. Among the events cancelled or postponed was the home men’s basketball game against Minnesota. Instead, the face of that basketball team and maybe the man most recognized by the entire nation, Coach Tom Izzo, took part in a Wednesday night vigil on campus.

Izzo and Earvin “Magic” Johnson are direct connections while former St. John’s and Georgetown Sports Communications executive Michael “Mex” Carey is my third man at Michigan State and he posted on social media accounts that he knows the city and school will “get through this.” It’s a tight knit community in East Lansing, always has been and always will be, but one has to wonder if the mass murders Monday night, reported as the 67th of 2023, will be the cause of any changes in national gun laws.

The uniquely American obsession with guns – more guns than people in many places – is defended by a majority of law-makers who cite the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. A few local and national politicians, including President Joe Biden, called out for change.

You see, the senseless murders Monday night fell as a nation mourns the fifth anniversary of 17 students and staff being shot dead at Florida’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on February 14, 2018. Not long before that, a madman with a high-powered machine gun positioned himself on the top floor of a Las Vegas Casino hotel and opened fire on concert goers directly in the range of his weapon. That resulted in 60 people killed and 800+ injured. Before that, another shooting known around the world when a crazed gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and killed 26 people with 20 being six and seven year old children.

Whether 2012, 2017, 2018 or 2023 – NOTHING has been done to curb gun violence. As the Biden administration just passed the midterm mark, the charge is to institute universal background checks and to limit or eliminate high-powered assault weapons and their 30+ round ammunition cartridges.

Advocates from the student body of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas H.S. are calling for action – across both major political parties – to ban the manufacturing and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, then creating a buy-back program. They seek to end the online sale of guns and ammunition; they hope to address too many suicides by hand gun; and they are adamant on requiring background checks for all gun sales while “adequately” funding the universal background check system nationwide.

Since Monday, another five mass shooting incidents were reported, killing one person in Sweetwater, Tennessee while incidents in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania resulted in 17 gun-related violence injuries. The number, tracked by Gun Violence Archive, is sure to rise by the time you read this Sunday morning. On Wednesday night at a food court in El Paso, Texas, an argument turned violent between two small groups and all hell broke loose in a shopping mall, bullets sprayed like a graffiti artist on a city street. Not to be finished, nine people were shot in Maryland on Wednesday, as well.

After taking Thursday as an off-day, another nine people were shot in Georgia on Friday while six people were shot and killed in the rural Mississippi town of Arkabutla where a gunman shot his ex-wife and five others.

Saturday? There were more. Four people were injured from a mass shooting in Loris County, South Carolina where the search for the motive and the overall investigation have just begun.

What can be done?

Since the senseless killing of little children at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, CT, there’s been nothing. President Barack Obama tried and his actions were halted in an NRA influenced Congress.

The young students from Parkland mobilized. They and the parents of the deceased had an audience with President Trump. Three years later, after pointing fingers and blaming others, he issued a statement that covered his ass but did little to address the issue, other than a tap on the fogged-up windows of the Congressional leaders who grease their re-election campaign funds with money from the gun lobby.

Back at Michigan State, sporting activities returned Friday night. The men’s and women’s basketball teams each had weekend games while students will return to class next week.

“You have to figure out a way to honor the people who were senselessly killed, and our way of being able to do that is to play the game,” Izzo said to ESPN. “The players felt that if they played it would help not only themselves [but] maybe help the campus heal a little bit,” Izzo said. “…we also know everybody grieves differently and everybody processes trauma in a million different ways.”

Let’s hope Coach Izzo and leadership in Michigan and at Michigan State, along with “Magic” and “Mex”can work some magic to influence more law-makers to take-on the NRA and other gun lobbyists to make changes while the 117th Congress is in session. Clearly, the overwhelming majority of American voters support smart, effective reform. But, no one will do a blessed thing to stop the senseless killing of our children, our students and our neighbors. One thing is for sure, as time goes by, the gunman will be at YOUR school or at YOUR shopping mall or in YOUR neighborhood, or God forbid, at YOUR house. Only then will your thoughts and prayers turn into horror. The steps to do something about it are clear. It’s time to take them – one small step at a time – and you had to be impressed with the unity and classy efforts of the Wolverines toward their cross-state rival Spartans.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: With such a serious downer of a lede, the column will swing in the opposite direction with a story about Providence Friars basketball coach Ed Cooley who sat down with CBS Sports Clark Kelloggfor a deep dive into Cooley’s upbringing in the tough town in which he coaches.

“Us. We. Together. Family. Friars.” is Cooley’s mantra at Providence as the coach believes his club is in hot pursuit of something very special. The Friars (12-4 in Conference) are only a game behind current Big East leader Marquette (13-3). Regardless of their place on the ladder, once the BIG EAST Tournament rolls around (March 8-11) and then again when the NCAA March Madness tournament takes over the U.S. sports landscape un til the Final Four (March 31-April 3) in Houston, Texas.

Cooley has created an incredible culture at Providence, one so many teams try to replicate. He does so with a real connection to the Providence College and local community and it spreads to his staff, players and the great fans from the city and surrounding Rhode Island neighborhoods.

The Friars have seven 20-win seasons in 12 years Cooley’s been the team’s head coach.

At BIG EAST Media Day last fall, it was noted that seven of the 11 BIG EAST men’s basketball programs were led by African-American/Jamaica-American coaches. That’s a major statement by a major basketball conference.

SIGNS OF SPRING: The very second The Super Bowl is completed, it seems the talk moves to baseball, fantasy baseball, pitchers and catchers reporting and a few other – more obscure – baseball happenings.

On the North Shore of Long Island, the folks at Strat-o-Matic celebrated their opening day on Friday of this week. It’s a tradition for the cult-like fans of the old-skool boardgame soon to be digitized like the rest of the world.

The 2023 Strat-o-Matic game cards were issued and are now on sale for fans of all ages.

Unlike the 2020 MLB season, we won’t need Strat-o-Matic to simulate the big league with their game. This year, the Majors begin March 30th but the Strat-o-Matic games can begin today.

Meanwhile, the good people at TOPPS have issued their 2023 Series 1 (set) at $360.00 and a 2023 Hobby Box at $89.00 and a relic box at a more affordable $25.00. All provide a mid-winter glimpse of springtime and Opening Day for Baseball 2023.

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | February 19th appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

While We’re Young (Ideas) Examines “The Garden”

By TERRY LYONS

NEW YORK – Do you have a reuooooommme? (a.k.a. a room or, in German, zimmer).

I have a favorite reuoooooommme in New York City. It’s located atop Pennsylvania Station, 31st-to-33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue. It comes with a view and memories. More memories than the human mind can hold. It’s the World’s Greatest Arena and that’s no exaggeration. From when we all can remember as a little kids, the boxing publicity and great Public Address man, the late John Condon, reminded me of the fact. Condon was right every time.

Madison Square Garden is my favorite place in the world, edging out Fenway Park in Boston and the towns of Chatham and Osterville, and my home sweet home near Boston, Massachusetts. Fenway Park is a gift, one of only two neighborhood and old-time ballparks remaining with Wrigley Field in Chicago being the other.

Fenway is my happy place, whether the Red Sox are World Series Champions or cellar-dwellers. You can count on Fenway and you can count on baseball every spring and summer. Sometimes Fenway Park switches from baseball to college football or to its Summer Concert Series. If you can see the likes of Paul McCartney on a nice summer night at Fenway, just do it.

The high ratings for the two Cape Cod towns is self explanatory for anyone who has set foot on our sandy jewels, on the coast. The only place that can compete in the Northeast is Ditch Plains in Montauk.

But that brings us back to New York and the Garden. In fact, you can step on a Long Island Rail Road train in the town of Montauk and ride all the way (117 miles) to the engineering wonder of Penn Station and The Garden. Even on the coldest day of winter, if you run from your car to the train, you don’t even need a coat, as you can take a series of escalators and steps right to the ticket windows at MSG. State the same for hundreds of other routes – whether they be Metro North, Subways from the Bronx to the far reaches of Brooklyn or Queens – fans can get to The Garden.

Which brings me to this week’s notes column and Friday night’s Billy Joel Concert. The Garden just announced that this July’s concert by the Bronx-born, Hicksville, Long Island reared Joel is scheduled to be his 92nd monthly and 138th all-time performance at Madison Square Garden. He’s been playing his monthly residence at The Garden since January 2014 – nine years ago – and says he’ll keep playing “as long as the demand continues.” The shows sell out utilizing every inch, never mind seat in the building and come complete with “Garden-sized” ticket prices ($97.00-to-$1,090.60+) and $20.00 a beer pops to the wallet which ring-up more money in one night than Joel made in many of his years climbing to a 1999 Rock Hall of Fame inductee.

He’s won everything from Grammys to TONYs to Kennedy Center honors to American Music Awards, among many others.

So why all the fuss about Billy Joel in a Sports Notes column? Joel has played Citified, Yankees and Shea Stadiums, the latter the venue for a terrific show (and DVD), “The Last Play at Shea.” He’s played Fenway, Wrigley and Camden Yards. He’s even played the Notre Dame Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Grounds in Australia. You name the ballpark, and he’s sold-it-out and some. Throughout 2023, he’ll play a series of outdoor shows with Fleetwood Mac’s siren and songstress, Stevie Nicks, including a summertime stop at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. His only European stop this summer will be at Hyde Park in London.

Joel’s Friday night show at MSG joins a long list of personal favorite moments at a personal favorite place.

But, taking it a step further, here’s a couple listings of my personal favorite moments at MSG, a list that might fluctuate, depending on my old but vivid memories “from when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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TL’s List of Favorite Madison Square Garden Memories: Yes, I was there!

• The 1971 National Invitational Tournament is a great way to start my two lists as it was the first time I stepped foot in the “new” Garden which opened in February 1968. St. John’s and 15 other highly ranked college basketball teams played first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, all at MSG. We attended most sessions, with my oldest brother, the late Timothy Lyons usually driving to Queens Plaza in Elmhurst and then taking the subway (now the “R” train) into the City. We saw a young Julius Erving and UMass, a strong Providence Friars with Coach (the late) Dave Gavitt and Ernie D (DiGregorio), and semi-finalists Duke and St. Bonaventure along with finalists Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina with Coach (the late) Dean Smith with LI Lutheran’s Bill Chamberlaingaining NIT MVP honors for Carolina. (March 1971)
• A year later, St. John’s reached the semi-finals of the 1972 NIT once again but lost in a two-point heartbreaker to Niagara while Tom McMillen took MVP honors for NIT champion Maryland, 31-point winners over Niagara in the final. (March 1972)
• The Concert for New York stands out as a tremendous night. The show-stoppers were The Who with Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, bass John Entwistle, drummer Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son) and pinch-hitting keyboardist Jon Carin performing the greatest rock n’ roll set of the night and maybe a performance that can stand up historically to Freddie Mercury and Queen at Live Aid or Prince practicing at his Paisley Park studios on a Tuesday afternoon, not to mention his work center stage at Royal Albert Hall, playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” in a tribute to The Beatles’ George Harrison. At the 2001 Concert for New York, only a month or so after the attack on the Twin Towers, The Who were forced to play mid-way through the show because Entwistle had previously booked a solo show at B.B. King’s in Times Square. There was no foolin’ around as The Who player four of their best songs, rocking a sold out Garden and providing thousands of Fire Fighters, Cops and other first responders a chance to sing, dance, applaud and smile for the first time since the night of September 10th that year. They played:
  • Who Are You?
  • Baba O’Riley
  • Behind Blue Eyes
  • Won’t Get Fooled Again

John “The Ox” Entwistle passed away suddenly in June 2002.

• The 1998 NBA All-Star Game at The Garden is mostly remembered for then 19-year old Kobe Bryant (RIP) challenging game MVP Michael Jordan, but it’s on this list for a different reason. At the break, the NBA pulled off one, if not THE greatest sports halftime show of all-time when they shutdown Broadway and had the cast of every theatrical hit musical on hand and in full costume to do an incredible medley of songs. An impossible sound engineering miracle, it will never be repeated and was a “shake your head in disbelief moment” as King Wally, Mike Walczewski introduced The Broadway All-Stars. (MUST visit HERE).
• A total luck-out delivered my all-time favorite New York Rangersmemory when longtime NYR goalkeeper, Eddie Giacomin, was waived by the team. As fate would have it, Giacomin was picked-up off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings and they were scheduled to play the Rangers at The Garden on Sunday, November 2, 1975 – two days after the waiver claim. Long before that, we had acquired four tickets – in the Greens – to the Red Wings at Rangers game. Giacomin, wearing a red No. 31 instead of his usual home white No. 1 for the Rangers, started in goal and the Rangers’ fans let it be known who they were rooting for that night. Giacomin led the Red Wings to a 6-4 win over the NYR while the MSG crowd rooted for Detroit all night long, even booing the Rangers who scored. As an Islanders fan, it just made my day.
• St. John’s vs. Duke in a midseason double overtime thriller (January 24, 1999) became the best regular season game many of the players had ever competed in, and both coaches – Mike Krzyzewski of No. 2 Duke and the overmatched Mike Jarvis of the No. 8 Johnnies said the same. St. John’s swingman Bootsy Thornton was unstoppable, totaling 40 points but Duke, with Elton Brand (16-12 and 7) and company taking a 92-88 national televised victory back to Durham.
• Syracuse defeated UConn (127-117) in a Six Overtime BIG EAST tournament nightcap which took 3 hours and 46 minutes to complete. The quarter-final victory vaulted Syracuse to a win vs. West Virginia on Friday night and to the Big East final when they lost to Louisville. The Orange did make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA’s before losing to Oklahoma. (March 12-13, 2009)
• St. John’s won the 1983 BIG EAST Conference championship and Madison Square Garden became the home of the BIG EAST forever. The first year, 1980, the BIG East staged its conference tournament in Providence, much to the ease of Commissioner Dave Gavitt’s home office. Syracuse took the honors. The following two years, the season ending tourney was held at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse and the Hartford Civic Center, respectively. When Chris Mullin and the Johnnies won at The Garden, everyone in the conference knew something special was on hand. The BIG EAST tournament has been at MSG ever since and the long list of incredible games and memories is far too long for this column. It is – no doubt – my favorite event of the year.
• More Concerts than I can even Remember: Yes, I feel both spoiled and fortunate at the same time, but concerts – like the 12-12-12 event for Sandy Hurricane relief, multiple shows featuring Eric Clapton, including a once in a lifetime CREAM show with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, both since passed away, tons of Bruce Springsteen, U2, multiple shows by the greatest band, The Rolling Stones (RIP Charlie), The Grateful Dead (once with Bruce Hornsby on the keyboards), R.E.M., Dave Matthews, Phil Collins, and, of course, The Allman Brothers.
• The show that stands out the most? It’s U2 with a series of shows from October 24-27, 2001, 43 days after the terrorist attacks that took down the World Trade Center, Pentagon and killed good, innocent passengers and crew of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Ohio. When Bono grabbed his guitar, draped his microphone stand so delicately with the USA Flag, we knew it was coming. The simplest gesture of scrolling the name of every person killed by the terrorists on a black screen to the tunes of ONE which led into WALK ON brought us all to tears. U2 repeated the tribute at the 2002 NFL Super Bowl. It was powerful on the global stage, but seemingly intimate at The Garden. The greatest place in the world.

TL’s List of Favorite Madison Square Garden Memories: Seen on TV:

• New York Knicks team captain Willis Reed limped out to the court to join his teammates in warm-ups, then start Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Championship. Reed hit his first two jumpers against Wilt Chamberlainand the Los Angeles Lakers sending The Garden into a frenzy never seen before or afterwards. Reed led the Knicks to a one-sided 113-99 victory, not scoring again in the game but lifting guard Walt Frazier’s confidence enough for Frazier to score 36 points with 19 assists and seven rebounds. (May 8, 1970)

@NBAHistory

“I think we see Willis coming out!” On May 8, 1970, Willis Reed fought through injury to start Game 7 in the @nyknicks‘ NBA Finals-clinching win over the Lakers at MSG. #NBAVault

7:30 PM ∙ May 8, 2020

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234Likes41Retweets

• After losing the first game of the 1973 NBA Championship Series to the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks took four straight games, including two at The Garden. The defensive-minded Knicks with six Hall of Fame players on the roster and Red Holzman as coach, won 87-83 and 103-98 to win the title, the first for Jerry Lucas and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. (May 6 & 8, 1973)
• The Knicks scored the final 19 points of the game with a 19-0 run to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, 87-86. Earl Monroe led New York with 22 points as the Knicks outscored defending champion Bucks with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 29-to-12 in the final quarter. Afterward, NYK forward Bill Bradley said it was the first and only time in his life he could see “sound” as The Garden crowd rocked and prompted the victory. (November 18, 1972)
• Smokin’ Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in “The Fight of the Century” at a jam packed, sold out Garden. (March 8, 1971)
• New York Islanders forward J.P. Parise scored a goal (4-3) against the favored Rangers 11 seconds into overtime to eliminate the Rangers and advance the Isles in their best of three 1975 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff series. (April 11, 1975)
• The many tremendous Knicks vs (then) Baltimore Bullets playoff series games, as a whole, stand out amongst my greatest memories of the NBA, and the Garden. Home court advantage mattered.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Geez? With the list above, do we even need “Notes” this weekend?

NFL POWER RANKINGS for the PLAYOFFS: Here’s my final list of the season and with it, are predictions for the 2023 Super Bowl participants:

1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Buffalo Bills
4. Cincinnati Bengals
5. Dallas Cowboys
6. Philadelphia Eagles
7. LA Chargers

That’s where we’ll draw the line.

PITCHERS & CATCHERS: We can begin the 30-day countdown. A notebook in the next 2-3 weeks will be dedicated to Major League Baseball, the Boston Red Sox, Free Agency thoughts and – maybe, just maybe a VERY early set of predictions.

Parting Words & Music

With the sudden passing of the great guitar legend, Jeff Beck (1944-2023), readers of this column will not be surprised that this week’s Parting Words & Music section of the weekly notes is dedicated to him. Beck died from a fatal case of bacterial meningitis, a dangerous disease which attacked the membranes of his brain and spinal cord. He was 78 years old.

Beck’s guitar influence is far reaching. He was made famous by joining the Yardbirds to replace the current greatest living guitarist and whole package, Eric Clapton and later when he teamed up with Rod Stewart in the Jeff Beck Band.

There were dozens upon dozens of essential Jeff Beck songs to choose from, each with guitar perfection. As you might expect, there’s a connection between the notebook leading this column and the song selected for this segment. “I couldn’t let the night go by without doing something by Jeff, said Joel as he played this gospel induced epic by Curtis Mayfield on Friday night, January 13, 202 at Madison Square Garden, my Roooooommme.

While We’re Young (Ideas) is a weekly Sunday Sports Notebook & Column, written by Terry Lyons. Each notebook harkens back to the days when you’d walk over to the city newsstand on Saturday night around 10pm to pick-up a copy of the Sunday papers. Inside, just waiting, was a sports-filled compilation of interesting notes, news, quotes and quips. TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – brought to you by Digital Sports Desk.

A “reeeuuucooooommme” with a Dog:

Guten Tag

The post TL’s Sunday (Mostly) Sports Notes appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – I had a dream. No, I’m not ripping-off the historic civil rights speech of August, 1963 by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because I really had a dream this week. It was nowhere near as visionary as Dr. King’s speech and its plot was not prophetic. In fact, the dream speaks as much of times gone by but it might illustrate hopes for the future.

I rarely remember my dreams. They are always as clear as Cristal Brut Champagne upon my awakening, but then, the scene and story is gone in an instant. Some say it’s what those who suffer from dementia or amnesia experience everyday of their lives. That complex and fragile human brain of ours, it’s as frightening as it is amazing.

Tuesday, I awoken fresh from a scene of a major motion picture being played out with only once screen in the world, in my sleepy but active mind. I was at the airport and ready to board a plane, a connection home from being on Air Force One where I sat with former First Lady Michele Obama. President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama were attending to other things as we (an NBA entourage) returned from staging another international exhibition game and a series of Basketball without Borders clinics.

The location wasn’t clear but from the mood on AF1, it was quite a successful trip.

We were all in the present, but the scene invoked personal memories of days of future past, days that don’t seem possible with recent foreign relations gone so bad between the United States and China and with Russia versus the countries of the free world. Not all that long ago, we experienced great days of government diplomacy side-by-side with sports diplomacy.

Ping pong diplomacy began in the very early 1970s and continued until 1972 when thenUSA President Richard Nixon made a trip to China in an attempt to establish relations and gain leverage toward negotiating a peace settlement in Viet Nam. The NBA joined the effort in 1979 when the then-Washington Bullets – the reigning NBA champions – accepted an invitation from China’s leader Deng Xiaoping to play two summertime exhibition games in Shanghai and Beijing. The trip came just months after then-USA President Jimmy Carter made efforts to ease tension in the region. The Bullets/Wizards celebrated the effort 30 years later with a return to China spearheaded by franchise governor Abe Pollin.

The NBA continued its efforts for international relations with multiple players association summer trips to conduct clinics and the NBA reciprocating with a full month-long training effort with the 1985 NBA China Friendship Tour, a combination of practices led by Red Auerbach, Pete Newell, Ed Badger and Bill Blair, along with a full schedule of scrimmages featuring the Chinese National Team against NBA clubs,  including an early glimpse of a rookie named Michael Jordan, during training camps.

Now, with Russia at war with Ukraine, it seems impossible and so long ago that the NBA was helping young basketball players representing the then-USSR National Team mature inviting six players to attend the Atlanta and Los Angeles summer leagues to team-up with franchise owner Ted Turner’s Atlanta Hawks in the summer of 1987, a few months before the NBA staged its first McDonald’s Open exhibition in Milwaukee with the same USSR National Team, Tracer of Milan (Italy) and the host Bucks.

In 1988, it was the Hawks, once again, furthering the Glasnost efforts of Russia’s with the late Mikhail Gorbachev a few years before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and eventual independence for Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia in the Baltics, along with dozens of other break-away countries, many with basketball players who once competed for the USSR.

It seemed the NBA’s version of glasnost was paving the way for Soviet glasnost and players such as Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Bazarevich, Yaroslav Korolev and Andrei Kirilenko found there way to NBA rosters soon after. Volkov, the minister of sport for the Ukraine, is now enlisted in the army and fighting for his country.

By 2001, the NBA and FIBA (the International Federation for Fasketball) worked together to reunite the provinces which made up the former country of Yugoslavia – a national team that played as one in the 1988 McDonald’s Open in Madrid, Spain. During that time, a war tore apart Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Macedonia. The 2001 Basketball without Borders camp reunited the young campers with NBA players who had not competed together since the 1990 FIBA Worlds.

A year later, the same concept worked to bring together players from Greece and Turkey, at a July 4-7, 2002 camp staged in Istanbul.

By 2004, it was back to China for the historic NBA China Games with 7-4, No. 1 draft pick Yao Ming playing for the Houston Rockets. By 2006, the LA Clippers played a pair of games in Moscow, an exhibition now impossible to imagine.

When you total it up, the NBA has played 155 exhibition games against international teams and 33 regular season games outside the US and Canada. There’ll be another this season when the Bulls and Pistons head to Paris on January 19th.

The 188+ games certainly spread the basketball gospel around the world, helped fuel enough talent to make-up 25% of the NBA’s players while driving the league’s television and consumer products to a global audience of fans.

Looking back at Tuesday’s dream, one can only hope it was the return trip of a world peace conference rather than merely a basketball game or clinic. But as Dr. King said in his famous speech, “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you, my friends, we have the difficulties of today and tomorrow.”

With just a little help of a bouncing basketball, unrealistic as it is, the wish for 2023 is for WORLD PEACE to ring throughout the Continents this New Year.

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As WABC-TV great Roger Grimsby might say … some general and sports business notes to bring in the New Year of 2023.

LOOK BACK AT 2022 FROM WWYI: Here’s just a few key things we were writing about in 2022:

January 2022:

• Jan. 2 – Happy New Year
  • Lucky “7” DIGGIES of Sports
  • Fix/Six for MLB
• Jan. 9 – Beijing ‘22
  • NBA LaunchPad ‘22
  • Willie O’Ree Jersey Retirement
• Jan. 16 – FIBA InterContinental Cup
  • NLL Records (Dan Dawson)
  • SONY Open – PGA Tour
• Jan. 23 – Tribute to NYI No. 9 – Clark Gillies – RIP
  • Bob Fishman Retired
• Jan. 30th – Tom Brady Retired from NFL (only to return)

February 2022

• Feb. 6 – 10th Year Anniversary of Linsanity
  • Jose Paneda Won National Sports Media (1st ever Hispanic)
• Feb. 13 – Bruins G Tuukka Rask Retired
  • LA Rams vs Cincy Bengals Super Bowl Preview
• Feb. 20 – MLB Lockout Becomes Reality – No Spring Training
  • Greatest Voices in Rock History
  • March Madness Preview
• Feb. 27 – Russia Invaded Ukraine; Ex-ATL Hawks forward Volkov off to War

March 2022

• March 6 – PGA TOUR Player Impact Program
  • Brittney Griner Detained in Russia
• March 13 – BIG EAST Tourney at MSG
  • Winningest Coaches (Gregg Popovich Joins List)
• March 20 – “Winning Time” Loses
  • Jerry West defended from Coast-to-Coast
• March 27 – March Madness
  • Move4Heather – Efforts to Raise $ for Cs Veep Heather Walker

April 2022

• April 3 – Baseball is Back
  • *Coach K Retires from Duke
• April 10 – Red Sox Home Opener/Boston Marathon
  • The Masters
• April 17 – Sox Fans Hit Panic Button (They were correct!)
  • Kareem Enters Full Time Writing Gig
• April 24 – Grim Reaper Hits NHL: Gillies, Bossy and LaFleur – RIP
  • Rumble Ponies!

May 2022

• May 1 – Team Bullpen Perfect Games
  • Lefty vs The PGA Tour
• May 8 – NBA Playoffs – NO More Bubble
  • Run for the Roses
• May 15 – Big Bob Lanier – RIP
  • Sox in Basement
• May 22 – SBJ Sports Business Awards
  • Anniversary of Jeffrey Goldberg’s 2019 Johns Hopkins speech

June 2022

• June 5 – Boston’s Al Horford leads Celtics; Seeks Ring
  • Pro Sports Franchises = $2-$4 billion+
• June 12 – Steph Curry/Coach Bob McKillop
  • NHL Stanley Cup to Colorado
• June 19 – GS Warriors earn 2022 NBA Championship
  • PGA Tour vs. LIV golf rivalry and plot thickens
• June 26 – 50th Anniversary of Title IX
  • SCOTUS Turn USA sports upside down

July 2022

• July 3 – NBA Salary Cap – “Damn the Pandemic, Full Speed Ahead”
  • Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
• July 10 – Red Sox Season At the Half
  • Greg “The Shark” Norman in Shark-Infested waters with LIV
• July 17 – MLB All-Star Game
  • The Open
• July 24 – Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions
  • JJ Reddick Doubles Down on knucklehead viewpoint/ “Plumbers and Firemen” comment
• July 31 – State of Boston Sports Report
  • MLB Trade Deadline

August 2022

• August 7 – Bill Russell Passes; NBA Mourns
  • MLB Mourns passing of the great broadcaster Vin Scully
• August 14 – Serena Williams – The GOAT At the US Open
  • 20 Year Impact of the USA Basketball Dream Team
• August 21 – NWSL franchises Approach $100m value
  • PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs Come down to the Final
• August 28 – Red Sox 2022 Season is In the Dumps
  • Russian athletes blocked from Competitions

September 2022

• September 4 – LIV in Boston
  • Boston College Football Season Lost in Week 1 (Rutgers wins at The Heights)
• September 11 – Basketball Hall of Fame Inducts Manu Ginobili, others
  • Dick Ebersol Tribute at Basketball Hall of Fame
• September 18 – Sports for Fun Weekend
  • Suns’ team owner Robert Sarver fined $10m and suspended
• September 25 – The ‘window” to win a title
  • Robert Sarver of Phoenix meet Ime Udoka of Boston – Bye-bye

October 2022

• October 2 – Ranking of NFL Fan bases
  • Various Basketball Halls of Fame / FIBA
• October 9 – BC’s Red Bandana Legacy
  • Sports and Rock’s Most Underrated
• October 16 – NHL Season Preview
  • Brentford futbol and “Hey Jude”
• October 23 – Memories from 1969
  • NBA Preview and Predictions (Yes, GS was in there)
• October 30 – NBA Discipline & Players, Teams
  • Dustin Johnson Pocketed $18m

November 2022

• November 6 – College Basketball Preview
  • Houston Astros – World Series Champions
• November 13 – MLB Free Agent Market
  • RIP – Jane Gross/Fred Hickman
• November 20 – Giving Thanks in Sports
  • Willett’s Point NYFC Project – Good Luck in the Muck
• November 27 – Sports Acronyms
  • MLB Free Agency Signings Begin

December 2022

• December 4 – College Football Playoff Set
  • World Cup Preview – Qatar Concerns
• December 11 – WNBA’s Brittney Griner Return to USA
  • BC vs BU Ice Hockey Rivalry
• December 18 – Massachusetts Sports Gambling – Lawmakers Keep Waiting
  • Minnesota Vikings Record NFL Comeback
• December 25 – Merry Christmas | Shelby Strother Message\
  • NBA Franchise Valuations
  • Record cold weather for NFL weekend

*STORY of the YEAR 2022 – The Retirement of Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski

The post TL’s New Year’s Sports Notes | Jan. 1 ’23 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

JERSEY CITY – (Staff Report) – New Jersey City University students, faculty and staff spent time on Sept. 30 with NBA Cares Ambassador and NJCU alumnus Bob Delaney, who shared the message of his new book, Heroes are Human: Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines (City Point Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster).

“It was great to be back on campus speaking with students pursuing noble careers in nursing, law enforcement, firefighting, teaching and other service-oriented professions,” said Delaney, an elite NBA referee for 25 years before his retirement in 2011, and prior to that a New Jersey State Trooper whose dangerous undercover mission inside the Mafia in the 1970s was chronicled in his first book in 2008, Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob.

Delaney, a member of the NJCU Sports Hall of Fame, presented his message of self-care and trauma awareness – one he has been delivering for four decades with the military, first responders and many other groups. That message was showcased in Delaney’s second book, 2011’s Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope Into Post-Traumatic Stress.

Heroes Are Human, written with the co-author of all three books, veteran journalist Dave Scheiber, tells the stories of members of the healthcare community who have been at war with an “invisible enemy” – sharing lessons on how caregivers can navigate the resulting stress and potential burnout through an uplifting message of self-care and post-traumatic stress education.
Delaney and the NBA “gifted” books to students, faculty and staff, allowing the important topic of what he calls “mind health” to be discussed on the NJCU campus.

“Not all wounds bleed ” is a common theme presented by Delaney, who earned his criminology bachelor of science degree from New Jersey City University, and later learned about post-traumatic stress first-hand from his three-year undercover investigation of the Mob. His riveting talks about his experiences underscore peer-to-peer conversations as a first line of defense when dealing with trauma.

Dr. Richard Mollica, Director Harvard Global Mental Health Trauma Recovery Program, wrote of Delaney in the Heroes are Human foreword, “His down-to-earth style, charisma and honesty – delivered by a man who has walked the walk connects universally with his varied audiences.”

The post Students Learn: Heroes Are Human appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

“I’ll be alone each and every night
While you’re away, don’t forget to write,

“Bye-bye, so long, farewell
Bye-bye, so long

“See you in September
See you when the summer’s through.”

– The Happenings but written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards for The Tempos

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – August, just like its namesake Caesar Augustus, is in the rearview mirror. We’ll See you in September.

It will be a September without 2021 U.S. Open women’s tennis champion Emma Raducanu who lost her first round match to France’s Alize Cornet (6-3, 6-3) on the evening of August 30. It will be a September without two-time U.S. Open champions and multi-Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka who lost her first round match at Flushing Meadows to No. 19 seed Danielle Collins of America.

We’ll start September’s college football schedule with St. Francis of Pennsylvania at Akron (6pm, ET) but progress to match-ups like Central Michigan at No. 12 Oklahoma State, West Virginia at No. 17 Pittsburgh, and a tough B1G Ten opener for Penn State at Purdue. That’s just Thursday’s schedule.

We’ve already witnessed a Week Zero of college football with Northwestern upsetting Nebraska, 31-28, in Ireland, Illinois spanking Wyoming in similar style to Liz Cheney‘s recent primary defeat, 38-6.

We’ll have a lot to look forward to this weekend when college football really begins. On the local scene, Boston College opens with a “must win” at home vs the B1G Ten’s usual doormat, Rutgers. No. 11 Oregon will travel to play No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta, not Athens and No. 5 Notre Dame is getting (+17) when they play No. 2 Ohio St. before 102,780 fans at Columbus (7:30pm ET, September 3)

We’ll have to wait until Thursday, September 8 for the NFL to begin, but thankfully the NFL preseason is in the books and the regular season Week 1 awaits, complete with the AFC’s Buffalo Bills heading west to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to face the defending Super Bowl champion Rams.

The NFL will start without Jon Gruden coaching in Las Vegas but with Jimmy Garrapolo quarterbacking in San Francisco (really Santa Clara). Gruden’s coaching career went up in flames when an NFL investigation into then-Washington football executive Bruce Allen unearthed a slew of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language in emails which first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article last Oct. 8. Strangely, of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL internal  investigation, the lawsuit contends, Gruden’s were the only ones made public. Go figure?

The New England Patriots leave training camp behind but face a tough September schedule that just might leave them 0-3, or maybe 1-2. Anything better than that and the team is improved over that of last season and might have a chance. Both the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins stand in the way in the AFC East. The toughest thing many overlook, the Patriots close-out the regular season with games vs. Cincinnati and Miami and at Buffalo on a sure-to-be ice COLD January 8th. Those August days will be a long lost dream when the Bills and Pats tee-up the kick-off that day.

The Red Sox are happy to leave August (and July) in the past, but doubt the month of September will treat the club much better. In Rich Hill they trust.

With Rory McIlroy coming back from six strokes down to defeat Scottie Scheffler and company at the TOUR Championship last weekend, the 2021-22 PGA Tour season is behind us with only a few Fall tournaments, the President’s Cup and a few silly season events (think Skins Game) awaiting until the January 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions starts off the PGA Tour schedule. In the meantime, we have a LIV Golf on-going in Boston (Bolton, Mass) where dozens of former PGA Tour golfers have jumped ship in an attempt to earn fortunes of Saudi Arabian bucks to the tune of some $4 million for the tournament winner, plus team bonuses.

Golf will never be the same, as the two Tours duke it out for best players, key dates, qualification to the Majors and Ryder Cup teams and just about everything else worth fighting for … or should it be “fore?”

One thing is for sure as the days grow shorter and the sun sets earlier, come September 1 or, maybe on Labor Day in the USA, everyone seems to think the Season of Summer is over but like so much in the world these days, that is “misinformation.” Summer in the USA lasts until September 21, or the end of Week 2 for you NFL fans, Week 3 for NCAA football fans. In fact, in the northeastern USA, the weekend of October 1-2 is often one of the most beautiful of the entire year.

See you in October.

Musical Note: “See You in September” is a song written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards. It was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal group The Tempos. This first version peaked at No. 23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular take on “See You In September,” by The Happenings in 1966, reached No. 3.

The post See You in September appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – It was a tumultuous week to say the least.

Starting with a wonderful, quiet and restful Father’s Day, finishing Sunday with a White Mountain Creamery mint chocolate chip ice cream treat after enjoying an entertaining U.S. Open golf tournament right up the block at The Country Club in Brookline, the week started off fine.

The week continued, we had three games of the NHL Stanley Cup Final, with Game 4 a series-swaying overtime win (3-2) by the Colorado Avalanche at Tampa to take a 3-games-to-1 series lead back to Denver where they hoped to close it out. But, the Tampa Bay Lightning did not go down, winning Friday’s Game 6, 3-2, to keep Lord Stanley’s Cup in its case and volley the series back to Tampa-St. Pete Sunday night (tonight).

The Golden State Warriors had a victory parade. The NBA held its annual Draft. Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer were the latest two PGA TOUR professionals to jump to the LIV Golf, accepting zillions for sure. … College Baseball is closing in on the winner of the 2022 College World Series with Oklahoma and Ole Miss squaring off on Sunday and Monday.

Thursday was the most important day of the week as the sporting industry celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal law that changed the world for women’s athletics and evened the playing field for girls in youth programs, elementary school, high school and college while building the foundation for women playing sports with a goal to become professionals.

June 23, 1972 was the date, and the sporting emphasis of Title IX was packed nicely into a larger list of educational reforms for any program seeking federal funding. It was monumental in many ways legally and ground-breaking for the pioneers of women’s sports. Professionals like tennis legend Billie Jean King, long distance runner Kathrine Switzer, tennis great Althea Gibson and basketballer Anne Meyers Drysdale led the way and the multitude would follow.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

According to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation reported in The New York Times, high school participation rose from 294,015 in the 1971-72 school year to 3.4 million in 2018-19. At the collegiate level, participation at N.C.A.A. schools rose from 29,977 athletes in women’s sports in 1971-72 to 215,486 in 2020-21. Men’s sports reportedly had 275,769 athletes competing in 2020-21. Talk about evening the playing field.

The landmark legal proclamation was a major step for education and women’s sports but for those experiencing Title IX while in high school, the law was less important than the statement it was making: That being “it’s cool for the girls to play sports” – all sports – and “it’s just as cool” for the boys to support their classmates, attend home games, travel to away games and root hard for the girls’ teams.

At Holy Trinity, it was about Debbie Basel grabbing an offensive rebound with a quick put-back or Clare Krummenacker knocking down a shot with a stroke as silky as Jamaal Wilkes’ jumper.

At St. John’s, it was watching Trinity grad Laura Edney swim through the water like a Chris-Craft cruising the Long Island Sound.

There might’ve been some pushback from old-school coaches and athletic administrators who didn’t want to give-up their sacred gymnasium time, but the student body spoke. Let them play! Game On!

As time passed by and Title IX paved the way in many different sports, the competition brought forth serious competitors like Summer Sanders-Schlopy, the most decorated Olympic swimmer at the 1992 Summer Games. Sanders-Schlopy, once an anchor for NBA Inside Stuff and a regular TV commentator and show host, took home two gold, a silver and a bronze for a USA Women’s swim team that just ROCKED the ‘92 Barcelona Olympics.

Around the hoop, the results of Title IX became quite apparent on the USA Basketball Women’s World Championship and Olympics front, especially between 1996 (See the new ESPN 30-for-30 “Dream On” currently streaming) and 2020 when the “Supreme Team” won seven consecutive gold medals, and five of the last six World Cups of Basketball behind a team full of Title Niners.

The women’s basketball team of ‘96 led the way, along with the gold-medal winning women’s gymnastics team at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics that the women dominated in terms of awareness, event attendance and fan affinity.

There were Title IX benefits off the playing field as well, as women took their rightful places in sports administration on the community, high school, collegiate and professional levels as the Boomers of 1972 grew-up with sports and the sports industry grew-up with them.

Yet in 2022, there is still more to accomplish to balance the playing field, the job opportunities, coaching and administrative salaries and pay in sports where women generate revenue to great lengths, like the USA women’s national team in soccer, grand slam tennis and LPGA golf. Basketball and ice hockey are well on their way, the WNBA in its 25th year of existence.

“Across the board, we’ve all won,” said Dr. Courtney Flowers to The New York Times. “But sometimes, we have to recalibrate and make sure that in the next 50 years we’re not saying the same thing and advocating for the same thing and figure out what does equity look like now?”

“Title IX — in many ways — has defined my life,” said Teri Schindler, a former colleague at the NBA. “As a member of the University of Notre Dame women’s swim team that took the program to varsity status and earned All-America honors for me and my teammates to stints setting up the Big East Conference television network, covering the University of Connecticut undefeated women’s basketball teams and with the National Basketball Association and nascent WNBA — it offered me ways to compete and opportunities to learn and work that were unprecedented.

“My mother started this effort with me when she set up our community’s first softball league for girls – I hope I have furthered it. I am certainly richer for it and it has infused everything I’ve done since … here’s to this Title IX anniversary and all the women who compete, on and off the field,” said Schindler.

DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE: While Title IX was being celebrated across the land, the Supreme Court of the United States came down with two rulings that crashed the Title IX party like an unwelcome drunk at an outdoor wedding. First, on Thursday, the SCOTUS struck down a New York handgun-licensing law that required New Yorkers who want to carry a handgun in public to show a special need to defend themselves. The 6-3 ruling, written by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, is the court’s first significant decision on gun rights in over a decade. In a far-reaching ruling, the court made clear that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right “to keep and bear arms” protects a broad right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. Going forward, Thomas explained, courts should uphold gun restrictions only if there is a tradition of such regulation in U.S. history.

The landmark SCOTUS decision came six weeks after a gunman killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, and a couple weeks after 21 people – 19 children and two teachers – were shot to death at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Under intense pressure, the Senate Republicans relented and reached an agreement on bipartisan gun-safety legislation that is the first federal gun-control legislation in nearly 30 years. The 80-page bill requires tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21 and provides more funding for mental-health resources. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law upon it arriving on his desk, Saturday, June 25.

One branch of government was easing the ability to carry concealed weapons in New York, while other branches were taking baby steps to curtail access to guns. None, mind you, addressed the main issue of assault rifles, such as the AR-15 and its 30-Plus capacity ammunition magazines, which gunned down the 19 children in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th nor the mass murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018 which took the lives of 17 students while injuring 17 others nor the December 12, 2012 mass murder at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut when 20 of 26 victims were children aged six and seven. Of course there were many others, in night clubs at concerts in Las Vegas, movie theaters, shopping malls and churches. The list goes on and on.

While the New York gun law reversal was a stunner, mainly since it dated back to 1913, the SCOTUS wasn’t done.

On Friday, as they often do when trying to bury an unpopular decision, the SCOTUS went against some 66% of USA voters’ opinions when they reversed the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. The decision sent shock waves across the United States, as the 5-4 vote to overturn the 50-year law was largely due to three recent SCOTUS appointees by President Donald Trump. The confirmation of those associate justices was largely done by men.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued a statement regarding the decision (Mississippi: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization):

“The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom should be protected. We will continue to advocate for gender and health equity, including ensuring our employees have access to reproductive health care, regardless of their location.”

The three Democratic-appointed justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented while Chief Justice John Roberts joined the justices to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law, but Roberts criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe v. Wade. They were Republican-appointed justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — who all supported Justice Samuel Alito’s 5-4 majority opinion to reverse the standing law, and toss the decision-making to the elected officials in each State.

The tumult of protestors began immediately as the ruling was tipped when a draft of Alito’s opinion was leaked to the world weeks ago. The hypocrisy of celebrating women’s rights one day and turning them upside down the next is not lost by women who will head to the voting machines this November, nor will the SCOTUS ruling to ease gun laws while mass murders are taking place by the week. The Senate took a baby-step, largely to say they did so come campaign time.

The end-game will be decided in New York where 8-in-10 Democratic voters believe the gun laws should be more strict as opposed to the SCOTUS ruling. That comes in a largely Democratic-leaning State. Add the 50+ percent of women to the anti-Supreme Court trend, and there could be major issues in the 2022 mid-term elections this Fall.

One thing is for sure, the Title IX girls of voting age, women, mothers – both urban and suburban – are pissed.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Both the men’s and women’s USA Basketball 3×3 teams took losses this week. The women to Canada in the quarterfinals and the men lost to host Belgium in the qualifying round and then were eliminated by Lithuania in the quarters. … USA Basketball added center Will Davis II (College Park Skyhawks) will join the July 2022 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team in Miami, as the team prepares for a pair of World Cup Qualifying Games this week in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Davis was a member of the November 2021 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team. In one game vs. Cuba, he recorded four points, four rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes. Davis also played in one game in the FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying February 2021 games, helping the USA to a win over Mexico (95-76) with 10 points, five rebounds and one block in 20 minutes. … To close the 2021-22 season, Davis played 19 total games in the NBA G League with the South Bay Lakers, Raptors 905 and the College Park Skyhawks. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 10.0 minutes.

The USA squad, coached by Jim Boylen, opened training camp Friday night in preparation for the third competition window of 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games that will see the USA (3-1) face Puerto Rico (2-2) in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 1, and Cuba (0-4) in Havana on July 4.

For additional information on the USA World Cup of Basketball qualifying, visit HERE.

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | June 26 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – In the 2007-08 college basketball season, I watched from afar and in amazement as Davidson College in North Carolina plowed through their Southern Conference schedule with a 20-0 record. Davidson coach Bob McKillop told me all about a sophomore guard and miracle worker, Stephen Curry, right from the first time he set eyes on him.

McKillop, born in Queens and a real Long Islander in the way rock and roll star Billy Joel loves his Downeaster’ Alexa, was once the head varsity coach at Holy Trinity High School on Long Island. He was also my history teacher and the instructor of the very first sports administration course I was fortunate to take, “Sports in Society.” From 1977 and onward ‘til this day, McKillop is a mentor for many of us and the common denominator as the great sport of basketball forged a lifelong friendship and deep bond. We speak often. We text less.

When a TV viewer watches Davidson play a game, one sees a coach, hair turned Irish white, calmly coaxing the very best from his team. He is known by anyone and everyone in college basketball as perhaps the best coach in the whole shooting match. Just this week, Jeff Goodman – the highly respected college basketball reporter from Stadium – ranked McKillop as the No. 2 most under-rated coach in the game. I shook my head in wonder why he listed Kelvin Sampson, coach of the University of Houston (via Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana (see five year show cause penalty), via Milwaukee Bucks assistant, via Houston Rockets assistant) as the No. 1 underrated.

All that time, as Sampson bounced around, McKillop was coaching and teaching his players at Davison College, first in obscurity down in the Southern Conference but then with brighter lights as his wildcats joined the Atlantic 10.

This Fall, McKillop (71), will coach his 34th season and he’ll begin the year with a prior Basketball Hall of Fame nomination in his portfolio. But, in all that time and all the success (he’s one of only nine coaches in history to coach 1,000 games at one school), McKillop is no longer referred to as “Coach McKillop.” He’s been upgraded to become “Steph Curry’s coach,” and it’s a tag he wears proudly. The two men remain incredibly close, but McKillop has a knack of keeping in touch, forging that bond that he built with all of his past players and students who – over the years – become friends rather than pupils. In that area, McKillop works more 1,000 more miracles than Curry.

McKillop will be at the pivotal Game 5 of The Finals in San Francisco Monday night, watching live what he sees often on TV or DVR – Steph Curry dominating a basketball game, as that’s what happened on Friday night when his student of the game dropped 43 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists on the Boston Celtics in a 107-97 Golden State Warriors win at the TD Garden. The game tied the NBA Finals at 2-all, setting up a best-of-three to decide the 2022 NBA champion.

Curry shot 14-of-26, with 14-of-26 field goal shooting including 7-of-14 from downtown and an easy 8-for-9 at the line. Curry was nursing a sore foot, a condition suffered in Golden State’s Game 3 loss to the Celtics. Yet, at this time of the season, anyone and everyone still standing in the NBA postseason in banged-up.

“The heart on that man is incredible,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said of Curry post Game 4. “The things he does, we kind of take for granted at times, to go out there and put us on his back.”

“He wasn’t letting us lose. That’s all it boils down to,” said Warriors veteran and mix-it-up man Draymond Green. “I could tell in his demeanor, last couple of days, even after Game 3 that he was going to come out with that kind of fire.”

That’s what McKillop saw when he first set eyes on Curry, in a game when Curry didn’t play well but kept his composure, looked his coach in the eyes and never complained or pointed a finger at another.

I was told in 2006 what McKillop told everyone. “Steph is something special.” That was out of ordinary for Coach McKillop as he rarely gushes over one single player and he never exaggerates.

When we sat in the Players’ Lounge area at the 2009 NBA Draft, McKillop wasn’t his coach anymore. Steph was joining the rest of us in having a trusted mentor in his corner, one that will tell you the truth, tell you how to be a better player, better person. Maybe, he’ll tell you something funny or a good story about something or someone he reconnected with on a recent scouting trip.

At the NBA Draft that year, and ever the worrier, I was concerned if Curry’s lack of size would catch-up with him in the big time NBA, where players are much bigger and stronger than at any college program. “Can he get his shot? Can he defend? Can he adjust? Can he handle the physical nature of the NBA?”

When the No. 5 and No. 6 pick came up that June 25, 2009 night at Madison Square Garden, and the Minnesota Timberwolves had not one but the next two selections in the NBA Draft, I was sure Curry would be packing his winter coat for Minneapolis.

Nope.

The Timberwolves selected Spain’s Ricky Rubio who came with legendary status and stories dating back to his teenage years, scoring and entertaining fans with a Pete Maravich-type flair. The Timberwolves’ need for a scoring guard was filled and Curry dropped from what many thought would be a Top 5 selection. But, then the shocker, with the No. 6 pick, Minnesota selected Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn. Incredible!

Stephen Curry fell right into the lap of the Golden State Warriors at No. 7. It was perfect for the Warriors, perfect for Curry and it became the cornerstone of a rare air dynasty in the NBA, anchored by Curry and built by GM Bob Myers, team president Rick Welts, all-star players Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and a host of others from the front office, to Ray Ridderand the PR department to the athletic training room. Add a strong collection of complimentary players and other stars like Kevin Durant and Andre Iguadola, and the wins began to flow, some 73 Dubs in the 2015-16 season when they fell short in the Finals (Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-games-to-3).

The architect who placed the cornerstone will remain his under-rated self when he sits in the stands for Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals at the brand new Chase Center in downtown San Francisco this Monday. It will mark the sixth time the Golden State Warriors will compete in the NBA Finals in an eight-year span. People will point in McKillop’s direction, and say, “That’s Steph Curry’s Coach.”

The post Steph Curry and His Coach appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.