Scenes at the Baton Rouge Holiday Inn, where the Demon basketball team is staying during the LSU Invitational...
... also lodged here Friday night, a fascinating pairing: the Southern football team (they stay here before every home game) and the Grambling band, before tomorrow's epic Bayou Classic at the Superdome
... the Centenary and Troy basketball teams are here, too. Tough 64-58 loss to LSU tonight for the valiant Gents, who got to shoot 3 free throws to 19 for LSU. Ouch.
... as radio voice Patrick Netherton and I pulled up in the Netherton Cruiser to check in Friday evening, Troy coach Don Maestri was standing out front, waiting on his sister to arrive. The gregarious Netherton, who had volunteered to run in and see where in the world room 217 was, stopped to visit with the affable Trojans' veteran coach, a New Orleans native.
It quickly evolved into a 15-minute visit. A few of the highlights:
1) Maestri was relieved Coach Mike McConathy got win No. 500 Friday against Alcorn. He laughed and said he didn't want his team facing a Demons' squad eager to breach that milestone.
2) He expressed much admiration for McConathy, whom he's known for many years during his 27 seasons in college hoops, some as an assistant to Wimp Sanderson at Alabama.
3) He told a story about a pre-season meeting at Alabama when Sanderson told the staff the Tide's goal was a fifth-place SEC finish. Maestri questioned his boss. Wimp pointed out that a fifth place finish in the SEC would earn an NCAA Tournament trip, maybe a national ranking and a contract extension. Then Maestri understood.
4) Maestri also recalled being a little boy growing up in New Orleans, trick-or-treating down the street on Halloween Night, 1959, and suddenly hearing people screaming in joy and streaming out into the street. The next house he visited, he was told why. He's one of the few people I've met remembering Billy Cannon's legendary run who was NOT in Tiger Stadium ... or so they claim!
Doug Ireland, SID
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