Reconnecting with 70s Demons

Turns out Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean had a former Demon who helped him climb the career ladder.

Crean worked on the coaching staff at Alma College under Ralph Pim, who was an assistant coach at NSU under Tynes Hildebrand in the late 1970s.

Pim is now intramural sports coordinator at the United States Military Academy. Yes, at West Point, where every cadet not involved in intercollegiate athletics is required to participate in intramural activities each weekday afternoon at 4.

Pim spent breakfast Saturday at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center with Demons coach Mike McConathy and staff, remembering his days in Natchitoches and talking basketball. He was extrememly disappointed to learn that Friday's blizzard denied him the chance to reconnect with former Demon assistant coach Derwood Duke, whose plans to attend the Marquette tournament were scrapped by the storm.

Pim and trainer Ed Evans spent time telling Eugene Christmas stories. Pim left in 1978 and Evans arrived as a graduate assistant trainer a year later.

Pim and Crean stay in contact. Pim flew in for the weekend tournament to see four good games and to check out the Demons.

Also during breakfast, the Demon coaches visited with a couple of their counterparts from North Dakota State, which will play Marquette tonight in the tournament championship game. There were naturally some strategic exchanges since NDSU beat Princeton, who the Demons face this evening, and conversation about the vast contrast in styles in the two semifinals. NDSU doesn't attack, but Princeton simply plods with its pass-heavy, screening offensive sets that chew time off the clock. After watching that game, the NSU-Marquette contest looked like it was in fast forward mode.

BTW, Marquette staffers and media covering the Golden Eagles were surprised and impressed by the Demons. Surprised that NSU would run and press against Marquette, and impressed with the depth, fearlessness, tenacity and athleticism the Demons displayed. Pim and the NDSU coaches echoed those sentiments Saturday morning.

Former Demons forward Rob Sutherland (1973-76), a Hales Corners, Wis., native and resident, was behind the NSU bench for the Marquette game. He visited Shreveport last year to attend the wedding of former NSU teammate Bill McKellar's daughter, and met Coach Mike at the event. When the Demons showed up on the Marquette schedule, Sutherland got in touch with McKellar and then McConathy and was impressed with the depth and athleticism of the Demons in their game against the nation's No. 8-ranked team.

Sutherland was recruited to NSU by Jack Hearron, another Hildebrand assistant. Hearron works at the Oklahoma School for Math and Science in Norman, and reunites with the Demons each time NSU plays at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Hearron became close with the McConathy family when he recruited Mike, albeit unsuccessfully, in the early 1970s. Hearron played for legendary coach Henry Iba at OSU, just as his dad did.

There IS such a thing as ...

… a free lunch.

The Demon basketball team found out the nice way today, thanks to the havoc created by Milwaukee’s worst blizzard in two years.

The storm passed, ironically, just after the Demons were the beneficiaries of kindness from the Wisconsin Laywers, the state bar of Wisconsin. The group was hosting a tax law seminar at our hotel, the Hilton City Center, but hardly anyone who was supposed to attend could make it.

The bar association had a wonderful buffet luncheon set up outside its meeting room. The few folks who were able to attend enjoyed their lunch. Meanwhile, the Demons rolled back into the hotel lobby after their midday shootaround at the Bradley Center, site of tonight’s game.

Timing is everything. Somebody around the front desk asked our coaches if the team would want some free food that was going to be otherwise thrown away, and explained the circumstance. It wasn't a tough decision.

Our very gracious hosts were Dennis Price, the media coordinator for Wisconsin Lawyers; Timothy A. Clark, the group's program attorney; and administrative assistant Anita Klan.

It was an unexpected surprise that filled the gap created when the tournament luncheon, scheduled for noon, was cancelled due to the storm.

It was more enjoyable to meet some wonderful Wisconsin folks whose kindness came out of the blue -- er, white drifts of snow blowing through downtown.

The Demons were very relaxed at their shootaround and had a great practice Thursday morning before leaving Natchitoches. Let's hope it translates into a super game tonight against Marquette!

Blizzard Warning

The phrase "Blizzard Warning" is what the Demons awoke to this morning.

The very biting, cold wind had been replaced by what local news stations are referring to as the worst storm in more than two years in Milwaukee. Schools are closed, businesses closing and the snow is falling at 1-1/2 inches per hour. The wind is hitting 40 mph and the wind chill is 15 degrees.

The picture at the top is a shot from my hotel window in downtown Milwaukee early this morning. I hope you can see the snow falling vertically like rain.

The good news for the Demons as they get set to take on Marquette tonight is that the Bradley Center is just a few blocks away, so if necessary, we can slide our way over there, literally.

The National Weather Service just issued a warning saying that "if you go outside, you go at the risk of your own life."

Wow.