Nothing I write will do justice to the trip to Hawaii.
Nothing I write can do enough justice to our team that went there.
Nothing they did in the last two months of 2005 will mean as much as it should if they don’t ?get ?er done’ in the ramped up Southland Conference race over the next two months and change.
Nothing’s fair.
Which brings us to the Phantom Point.
Which according to Coach Mike, was nothing worth worrying about at the time.
Except that the final box score sitting in front of me says two things I know not to be true: 1) Iowa State was 16-for-16 on free throws and 2) the score was tied at the end of regulation play between those very talented Cyclones and our ready for prime time Northwestern State Demons.
See above. Nothing’s fair.
Iowa State’s Curtis Stinson, one of the finer guards in college hoops, nearly air-balled a free throw with 10:27 left in the second half of the epic battle between the Demons and Cyclones Dec. 22 in the semifinals of the 42nd Annual Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. The shot nicked the front of the rim and dropped straight down like the brick it was.
Yet, a daydreaming scorekeeper inexplicably marked it down as a made shot. Evidently she told the equally distracted scoreboard operator to give Iowa State its 46th point. Incredibly, the otherwise alert stat crew also input the shot into their computer as a make. In the Aloha State, the catchphrase is “hang loose,” and they mean it, bro.
Immediately, the error was pointed out and a correction was requested by NSU assistant coach Mark Slessinger, who knows some of these folks well due to his friendship with Hawaii assistant coach Bob Nash.
“We know, we’ve got it, don’t worry,” Sless was told. But when eventually, the scoretable crew decided to let the referees know about the blunder, the referees said too much time had passed and the Phantom Point had morphed into what the zebras call “a non-correctable error.” Never mind that the referees were wrong there, too.
As the esteemed columist Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertiser wrote, “Anybody want to imagine the chair toss record Bob Knight might have set in similar circumstances?”
But our hero Mike McConathy, a great basketball coach and a peerless person, listened to the officials’ long overdue explanation, shrugged his shoulders, said “that’s what I was trying to tell you six minutes ago,” offered a chagrined smile, walked back to the NSU bench and told his Demons, “let’s go to work, guys.” Nothing he said was going to change anything.
Two overtimes later, justice didn’t prevail. But nobody in the Stan Sheriff Center doubted they had just watched the end of a classic battle between, as Iowa State forward Tasheed Carr said, “two teams that are going to be in the NCAA Tournament come March.”
Which is why Ferd Lewis wrote “McConathy might not have got the victory he and the Demons had their hearts set on. But they put the accent on ?class’ in the Rainbow Classic.”
So NSU didn’t pick up a second win over a Big XII Conference power, a day after whipping a solid Oregon State team into actual submission ? down by 11 points with two minutes left, the Beavers did not press, did not play the foul game and conceded the outcome. Let’s see, wins over teams from the Pac 10, the Big XII and the SEC before Christmas? No wonder I confused the Main Island with Fantasy Island.
While I won’t approach the number of snapshots taken by the Demon players during those seven days in paradise, there are a few scenes worth sharing:
? Senior manager John “Snack” Smith stealing the show and winning the dance contest, delighting the Demons and the rest of the 1,000 guests at Geraldine’s Luau with his hipster hula moves (ask Voice of the Demons and photo snapper Patrick Netherton to show you the video). Snack was very pleased to represent his “hoop squad” on stage on a picture perfect evening (see Patrick's photo, above) next to the not so placid Pacific surf.
? Senior guard D.J. Ross, who thanks to a redshirt season is the only Demon player ever to make two trips to Hawaii (he was a freshman in 2001-02), by chance (he swears) meeting the same girl he met four years earlier in Hawaii.
? The honor of meeting Admiral Ronald Hays, USN (Ret.), who played for the Demons alongside Bernard Waggoner and Coach Mike’s oldest uncle, Leslie, in 1945-46. Hays was accepted into the Naval Academy the next year, setting the stage for a 38-year career which concluded with him in command of all 375,000 American military personnel stationed from California to Africa. The Honolulu resident spearheaded fundraising that provided for the restoration and creation of the Battleship USS Missouri memorial, with the historic ship overlooking the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor, and now is working to raise $50 million for an aviation museum at Hickham Army Air Field. Admiral Hays hosted the Demons in the captain’s quarters of the Missouri, fielding questions from the team just 15 feet from where World War II ended with Japan’s surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. My uncle George Kapp graduated from the Naval Academy a year before Ron did in 1950 (they didn’t know each other). I was named for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific Theatre, whose signature was the last applied to the surrender document.
? I disobeyed one of the Admiral’s “orders.” Try as I might, I could not bring myself to call him “Ron.” No, sir.
? He told the Demons about growing up in Urania, in LaSalle Parish, about trying out for the Demon squad and making the team, and what he told people during his naval career when they asked where Urania was located: “I’d tell them it was smack dab between Tullos and Olla.”
? The unabashed joy Admiral Hays showed while sitting on the bench as an honorary coach for the Demons’ games in the Rainbow Classic. He was so very impressed with our players and coaches, and particularly the leadership of Coach Mike.
? I can still hear the gleeful chatter of the players as they made their way among the stunning beauty of the coral reefs in the Keyhole Lagoon of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, vastly understated as “one of the most spectacular natural resources in Hawaii.” No, that wasn’t a whale, that was just Kerwin “Fat Daddy” Forges chasing a sea turtle.
? There was constantly gracious hospitality shown by our hosts from the University of Hawaii, and particularly our team hosts, Kent and Dora Youell. It also must be said that the planning and local knowledge provided by Coach Sless, the Demons’ travel coordinator, has never been better, which is saying a lot, because it’s always good.
? Being greeted before the Oregon State game by the broad grin of Lester Inouye, father of former Lady Demon softball assistant coach Melissa Inoye, a Honolulu native. Mr. Inouye was decked out in his Demon T-shirt and NSU cap and earned his stripes in the stands as an honorary Prather Punk.
? I haven’t even mentioned watching the dolphins swim at dusk in their private pool at the luxurious Kahala Mandarin Oriental resort adjacent to Waialae Country Club, site of the upcoming PGA Tour’s Sony Open ... the shrewd driving style of my van captain, Coach Dave Simmons, who played in the Rainbow Classic in 1981 ... the crashing 10-15 foot waves near the University of Hawaii Marine Research Station on the north shore of Oahu ... savoring a sushi feast for $18 across Kalakaua Avenue from the incredible scenery on Waikiki Beach, which may not be where the bikini was created, but certainly where the bikini has been perfected.
The evening before the tournament began, I sat sipping a mai tai (what else?) at the Sheraton Waikiki’s Mai Tai Bar watching the best sunset west of Cane River and enjoying a luau for the teams in the Aloha Bowl football game on Christmas Eve.
As I said, with apologies to each of you who weren’t there with us ... nothing’s fair.
But if these Demons do what I know they can in the next 10 weeks, I’ll have to change my tune. Then our newfound best buddy Doug Gottlieb of ESPN.com will have been proven right, and the No. 12-seeded Northwestern State Demons will have one, at least, of those NCAA Tournament wins that resonates for years; or despite not capturing the SLC’s automatic berth in the tournament, the Demons will get a much-deserved at-large invitation, and still a 12-seed, and still a nice run in the Big Dance.
Valpo. Butler. Hampton. Kent State. And yes, Gonzaga.
Why not us? Why not now?
Now, that would be fair.
Let’s all do our part. I’ll see you in Prather Coliseum soon! Book it, Danno. Aloha!
