I was not going to write my blog today. I was planning on just chilling as this wretched year comes to an end. However history was made, and I cannot let it go without comment.
Becky Hammon made history Wednesday by becoming the first woman to act as head coach during an NBA regular-season game. The San Antonio assistant coach filled in for head coach Gregg Popovich after he was ejected in the first half of the Spurs’ 121-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Hammon is in her seventh season on the Spurs’ coaching staff. She was a six-time All-Star in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars. She is well respected by the playyers she coaches, because they know how hard she worked to make herself a great player and because they see how hard she has worked as assistant coach for the last seven years. Expect to see her named as a permanent head coach somewhere in the NBA in the next few years.
I have watched with disgust the end of the game brawl between the Tulsa and Mississippi State following today’s Armed Forces Bowl game. This was an ugly brawl that should not have happened. During pre=game warm-ups when the players were not in pads, there was a scuffle between the two teams. This should have been a wake-up call to the coaches, bowl administrators and game officials to make sure the teams did not get together following the game. The players are the ones who screwed up and they should be held accountable. However, the coaching staffs of both teams along with the game officials and the bowl administrators should also be held accoutable for their lack of preventive action. There is no place for this type of behavior in sport.
Michigan’s men’s basketball team remained undefeated tonight with their 11 point victory over Maryland. It was one of the better games a Michigan team has played in a long time. They were clicking on both ends of the court, especially with their second half defense. I am going to enjoy their success while it lasts.
I don’t know how I missed this. Bob Miller, one of the former Philadelphia Phillies’ “Whiz Kids” who went on to be the longtime head coach of Detroit Mercy baseball, died on Saturday November 27, 2020 at the age of 94. Miller coached the Titans from 1965-2001, leading them to 25 winning seasons in 36 years, a 1965 NCAA tournament appearance and winning the first-ever Mid-Continent Conference title in 1997. Coach Miller as I called him, had two sons who coached high school baseball in the SE Michigan. I would periodically run into Coach Miller at games I was umpiring. The first time I met him was when he came up to me after a game to congratulate me and my partner on how we handled a very unusual play that occurred during the game. He told us, we were the first high school umpires he ever saw who handled the play properly. From that point on, whenever I umpired a game where he was in attendance, I always sought his feedback following the game. He loved the game of baseball and he loved anyone who also loved the game. He was a champion for the game.
Quote of the Day: .”Becky played, and any player who knows the history of women’s basketball knows what she meant to the sport,” “You don’t think twice about it. She’s one of us. When she speaks, we are all ears.” San Antonioa Spurs guard Demar DeRozan