2 in a row

Dawn (my sister) just left a message on my cell phone to tell me that the Tennessee women lost to Kentucky tonight, which is kind of startling news in light of the 20+ point trouncing they got at Duke on Sunday. Even more intriguing to me, though, is that Kentucky's coach, Mickie DeMoss, was also my coach at Tennessee--she was Pat's assistant for 18 years--and we all ADORED her.

Mickie masterminded so many small adjustments, many of which won us games, like deciding to play in front of rather than behind those gigantic twins from UVA. She was the one who wisely advised me to never let Pat see me cry unless it was because we just lost, and who would even stand in front of my face (out of protection) if I happened to be upset after a victory.  Mickie was our out-of-state recruiter, which meant she went after the big guns, the Ms. Michigan Basketballs, or the Chamique Holdsclaws. She recruited almost every All-American at Tennessee.

Even though Mickie was a wisp of a woman, she was in charge of coaching Tennessee's post players, the big gals. I moved in between post and guard, which meant that on occasion I would get all 110 pounds of her plus a big blocking pad, the kind designed for football, pushing me from behind during offensive drills. She liked to eat big garlicky lunches in the arena cafeteria and would suck on halls cough drops to try to mask the odor. Sometimes I thought this was to make her seem more brutish.

She was, in other words, charming in ways that the head coach can't be. And so I'm curious about her as a head coach: is she still able to maintain levity with players, or does she have to be all business? Or is my notion of what a head coach can and can't be skewed by my small data set (one high school coach and Pat Summitt, both very serious, intense, and, well, sometimes just plain mean)?

I'm sure Pat and Mickie hugged after the game, but I wish I could have seen how they really responded to each other, these women who worked together for so many years, who developed a system together that only Mickie could devise a plan to defeat (okay, Mickie and the Duke women, and as my colleague Joe Valente insists with his exquisite trash talking, UConn women at the end of the day).

I just have a hard time picturing Mickie without the coughdrop or the blocking pad, but I think I'll probably have my chance come tournament time.

Comments

[senioritis]

Alas that this game wasn't on TV. We were glued to the tube Monday night, and sorely disappointed with the way the game went. Indeed pretty stunning that they dropped this one, too. Beloved Partner says that's the first two-game loss for UT since 1997!

When tournament time arrives and I get to see Mickie DeMoss on TV, all I'll be able to think about will be the garlic and the Hall's.

[Big sis]

Unfortunately for us, (and Coach Summit, perhaps) the camera did not catch the way they responded to each other at the end of the game. I, of course, was on my feet- 2 inches from the TV to see "the meeting". The media immediately swarmed around Mickie DeMoss, who displayed much class and grace after a tremendous win for Kentucky. I felt happy for her, but sad for the Tennessee players.

[Aunt Lisa]

Brad called me on my cell today to deliver the big news. Congratulations to Mickie and the UK girls.

[dhawhee]

I feel sorry for the UT players too, and the first thing I did was look at the calendar to see how long before the next game. I guess there's a calculus about how much a coach can punish through running without suffering diminishing returns if the next game is too close; practices after a loss frequently started late because Pat was consulting with our trainer to see just how far she could push us. If I were a player, I would rather the Bama game be on Saturday instead of Sunday, and so today was probably a little rough. But not as rough as a loss with a week or more between games, like after the SEC tourney and before NCAAs. That stretch feels endless.

But I'm also with you, Lisa, it's a great thing for Mickie.

[Paula Walters]

I STILL CAN`T BELIEVE MICKIE LEFT US. I DIDN`T START GOING TO THE UK GIRLS GAMES UNTIL SHE BECAME OUR COACH. I DON`T KNOW YET IF I`LL GIVE UP MY SEASON TICKETS, THERES STILL A COUPLE PLAYERS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE PLAY BUT IT WON`T BE THE SAME WITH OUT MICKIE WALKING BACK AND FORTH IN FRONT OF THE BENCH.