A Grip on Sports: January can be cold and dreary but it is always filled with memories, especially of one old basketball coach
A GRIP ON SPORTS • If anyone asks what we think were the all-time best TV shows, so many come to mind we stumble through, trying and failing to put together a concise list. The Rockford Files, Game of Thrones (except the end), Cheers, The Wire, any of the new Star Treks and on and on. M*A*S*H is always on there too. And there is one episode of M*A*S*H we think about a lot this time of year.
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• The episode is titled “Old Soldiers.” It ran in 1980. It made us cry then and we didn’t cry in those days. Now, it makes us tear up just thinking about it. Mainly because it is about friendship. Death. Remembrance. The friends you make when you’re young and the ones you make every day as you walk down the path from here to eternity.
We think about that M*A*S*H episode on a cold January night each year.
Why? Because a group of always-getting-older folks gather at a South Hill tavern, order some pizza and beer and share memories of Dan Fitzgerald, who passed 14 years ago.
Many of you know Dan only as Gonzaga’s longtime basketball coach, the man whose eye for coaching talent brought Dan Monson, Bill Grier and, yes, Mark Few, to Spokane. Or as the school’s one-time athletic director. Or have some fleeting knowledge of some NCAA issues that caused the ties between the university and the guy who help turn the basketball program into something special to be severed.
The people who gather at the Park Inn every year knew him in those ways too. But in a myriad of others as well.
Yes, basketball was at the center of it. Always. Dan was an old-school basketball coach and not in the way you might think. He loved the game deeply. And would have taught it for free. Heck, he often did. Giving a coach $10 million to get in a gym with college kids? Well, sure. Who is going to turn that down? But spend a couple hours each week in a dingy gym with a kid from, say, Brewster, teaching him how to attack the rim against bigger, more athletic, opponents? Dan would do that too.
You love the game? He loved you. It’s why he loved everyone who gathers in that room each January.
Why us, personally? Dan watched one of our AAU games. Saw how our team played. Asked after if we would be willing to coach at one of his basketball camps in the spring. We answered yes. And that was that. Each year he would ask us to coach, give us the big guys and tell us to drill them. Suggestions? Sure. But mainly he watched, tossed in a couple words, left us alone. Told us once that, for a dumb-%#@ sportswriter, we knew what we were doing. How were we ever going to say no after such high praise?
He also called us occasionally. Mainly to talk hoops. And when we headed down to Pullman, to cover WSU late in our journalism life, those calls got more frequent. During basketball season, about once a week. We would talk about the Cougars, how Dick Bennett was doing, what Tony was emphasizing at practice, how each assistant coach was faring, how every player handled their role, things like that. He wanted to learn.
We met Bill Raferty one time in Tucson. He was there to broadcast the Cougars game with Arizona. He looked us up. Because his old buddy Dan had told him to. We talked hoops for an hour.
That was our connection. Others in the room this week had different ones. Tom Psomas, the guy who puts the gathering together, was Dan’s confidante for years – and a friend. Don Monson was part of the Inland Northwest’s college coaching fraternity – and a friend. Our longtime colleague John Blanchette covered Fitzgerald’s Zags before they were what they are today – and a friend. Former broadcasters, coaches, players, buddies – all friends. The core group is consistent. Others come and go each year.
Everyone connected through Fitz. His memory. His legacy. His personality.
He is gone. Has been for more years than seems possible. But he is not forgotten. Not in certain circles.
Yes, there is a toast. It’s only appropriate. That was part of Fitz as well. He held court in more PI-like establishments than we’ve stepped into in our lifetime. And it was during that toast Wednesday night we thought of the M*A*S*H episode.
Unlike fiction, the toast wasn’t with an ancient brandy. Heck, for some like us, it was nothing stronger than water or Diet Coke. But the sentiment is the same. To remember an old soldier, so to speak, who shared a love of a game, its battles, its camaraderie, its lessons, all of those things and more.
To remember Fitz.
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WSU: One thing about Pac-12 basketball this season, at least for the women. There are ample opportunities to post “wow-would-you-look-at-that” type of wins. Washington State had one last night. But the Cougars, playing at 11th-ranked USC, couldn’t seem to get started. A fast finish wasn’t fast enough and the Trojans prevailed 70-62. … Colorado is in Beasley today, hoping to defeat the Cougars and sweep the weekend in the state. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has a mailbag in the S-R, one that has a lot of what’s-next questions. … John Canzano has a long column sharing with us the feelings and thoughts of many current athletic directors. Their job has changed markedly. … The job of being a fan has changed too. … Oregon State’s women, ranked 25th, posted one of the bigger upsets of the season in Gill Coliseum, topping visiting Colorado, the nation’s third-ranked team, 68-62. But the surprise still doesn’t measure up to the one posted Thursday night when the men, unranked and unimpressive, topped No. 9 Arizona on a last-second 3-pointer. The Beavers host Arizona State today. … The Oregon women led No. 16 Utah at the half but fell 58-48. … No. 2 UCLA hosted Washington and rolled to a 62-44 victory. … Sixth-ranked Stanford had no trouble at Arizona State, winning 80-50. … Arizona got back home and back on track, stopping California 66-55. … There was one men’s game last night, with Cal winning the battle of the Bay Area 73-71 over Stanford. … Washington needs to shore up its defense. … Oregon has a freshman that has been better than advertised. The Ducks host Arizona today, hoping to solidify their hold on first place. … Utah has struggled on the road all season. … USC and UCLA go after it in L.A. tonight. … In football news, next season may not be an easy one for Washington in the Big Ten. … Oregon won’t play at Hawaii in the fall. And maybe not play the Rainbow Warriors in Eugene either in 2031. … Shilo Sanders had finger surgery.
Gonzaga: The Zags play tonight. On the road. In Stockton. Against a Pacific squad that was thrashed Thursday 76-28 – yes, 28 – at Saint Mary’s. Theo Lawson has a preview and a look at the key matchup. … Before then, however, we can’t forget the big home win over San Francisco. Jim Meehan takes another look at their 77-72 hang-on victory.
Whitworth: Not that we thought the Pirate men would go through the Northwest Conference schedule undefeated but we didn’t have losing at Pacific on our bingo card. But they did, 89-74 in Forest Grove, Ore., last night.
Preps: Dave Nichols spent his Friday night in North Central’s not-young gym, as the Wolfpack and Gonzaga Prep boys battled for second place in the GSL. The Bullpups prevailed 58-51. Dave has the story. … Dave also put together a roundup of the rest of Friday’s action.
Chiefs: Down the road from where Dave was watching basketball, Spokane was riding Berkly Catton’s two goals to a 4-3 victory over visiting Prince George.
Kraken: Games like last night, in which Seattle once led St. Louis by two goals but lost 4-3 in overtime, might be costly come playoff-seeding time. We’ll see. … The suspension is over. Yanni Gourde was back in the lineup.
Mariners: Robbie Ray may not pitch for the Giants until midseason. When he does return, he intends to be loud about it. As always. It’s a blessing – and his curse.
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• After the gathering the other night broke up, we left and headed up the South Hill. Not for home. We stopped, along with a couple others who were there, and went into a gym. Spent 90 minutes coaching basketball. Middle school kids. It just seemed right. Until later …