A Battle of Brothers
Nobody wants to get beat by his brother. Emotions don’t get much deeper. Often the tighter two brothers are, the harder they go at it. They have a license. It’s their business and nobody else’s.
And again, nobody wants to get beat by his brother.
That’s what last night’s two hour and 47 minute marathon between Wake Forest and Xavier reminded me of, brothers going at it. As a result it was the most intense game of the season by a long shot. Professionally speaking, Chris Mack and Pat Kelsey of Xavier and Dino Gaudio, Jeff Battle, Dave Wojcik and Walt Corbean of Wake Forest are brothers. All got their start in the business through Skip Prosser, the coach at Xavier and Wake Forest for whom the 10-year series between the schools is named. The threads that bind them are strong and intricately intertwined. Their families are tight. They vacation with each other. They swap coaching ideas, or at least used to before the institution of the Skip Prosser Classic.
Neither coach wanted the game, won by Wake Forest 96-92 in double overtime, and both were in at least one sense relieved when it was over.
“It was a tough game for many reasons—for many reasons,’’ Mack said afterward. “The first of which, I wish the game wouldn’t have to be played.”
Gaudio closed his post-game media conference with an unprompted explanation of what the night was like.
“Coach Mack’s wife Christi, and (Gaudio’s wife) Maureen, we vacation in the summer and go together,’’ Gaudio said. “I think (Gaudio’s daughter) Kaylan might have picked Christi up at the airport. So she was over at our house when I come home from our shoot-around, before I left for the game. So I leave for the game and Maureen is in the kitchen and I hug her and kiss her. Christi is in the kitchen. I hugged her. I don’t know many times when the head coach for one team hugs and kisses his wife and then hugs the wife of the other coach before he heads out the door.
“It’s hard for me because I feel it’s almost like lose-lose.’‘
Don’t for a second forget that these are highly competitive, driven individuals. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be coaching college basketball. And once the game began they battled like, well brothers. Kelsey, who just this season left Wake Forest’s staff to become associate head coach at Xavier, yelled something at L.D. Williams of the Deacons during a break, and Williams stared back long enough that both were assessed technical fouls. This was long after the officiating crew of Jamie Luckie, John Cahill and Mike Kitts had told both teams to knock it off, that they weren’t talking with anyone anymore. Kelsey and Williams are two of the most super-charged, competitive people I’ve ever known, so I’m not surprised they got into it. My guess is they hugged each other last night after the game. If not, they probably will the next time they meet.
I was close enough to catch some of the repercussions of the incident where Jordan Crawford of Xavier drilled a 3-pointer right in front of the Wake Forest bench and then woofed at Gaudio and the Deacons as he was running back upcourt. Kitts ushered Crawford over the Mack, and had him standing there when he told Mack that he would assess a technical the next time Crawford tried to show anyone up.
“Don’t do that Jordan,’’ Mack told his star guard. “These are my friends down there. Don’t do that.’‘
I could see the toll the strain and emotions had taken on both coaches afterward. But when I saw Gaudio out in the hall after the post-game conference, I couldn’t resist.
“You’ve only got nine more of these Dino,’’ I cracked.
Dino said `I don’t know if I can stand it.’‘
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By Dan Collins on 01/04/2010 (2:34 pm)
Comments
Really nice work, Dan.
Buddy on 01/05/2010 (3:28 pm)
At this point in the season, I would just assume that we remain outside the top 25. Despite the fact that the team has a few seniors, I don’t want this group feeling like it accomplished something merely by being ranked in January (see last year’s collapse after being ranked number 1 for a week).
Regarding last night’s game, it clearly was a struggle for the coaches and some of the players to contain their emotions. Nevertheless, I think that the Skip Prosser Classic is a great idea, the value of which will be even more evident as time passes and it becomes more important to remember what a great man he was. And while I respectfully acknowledge that people handle the loss of loved ones differently, I think that the game will become more cathartic for those involved as well.
In the mean time, perhaps the coaches ought to consider waiting until after the game to have the players give speeches about what Coach Prosser means to them. It’s not possible to tell whether the emotional nature of this game was responsible for the stupid fouls and inept free throw shooting, but the connection between strong emotions and the ability to concentrate seems logical enough to me. I just hope that the players don’t give speeches on choking before the start of an NCAA tournament game…
DC on 01/04/2010 (9:46 pm)
Colleen, to be honest, I expected Wake to crack the Top 25 this week. The Deacons’ case is strong, given their only two losses are at No. 4 Purdue at at home to William & Mary. And the way the Tribe has played this season has taken much of the sting, and stigma, off that setback. The win at Gonzaga was described as one of the best road wins this season by anybody. Right now, at this particular time heading into the resumption of conference play, the team is climbing, riding a seven-game winning streak. But ultimately, every season is made in late February and March, and not December and early January.
Dan on 01/04/2010 (7:33 pm)
Hey Dan!
How many more wins do the Deacs need to secure enough votes to climb into the top 25? Their RPI jumped about 20 notches on Sunday after the solid wins last week.
I am sure that our William and Mary loss is still a factor, but when I checked out the RPI, William and Mary was in the top 10. Maybe our loss to the Tribe won’t look so bad by season’s end.
Just curious as to your thoughts on the Deacs’ position in the polls.
Colleen on 01/04/2010 (7:02 pm)
I appreciate both schools playing that game to honor Coach! It was a wonderful thing to do for his family and most fans. I am glad the Deacs pulled it out! But it was awfully tough on the coaches from both schools as well as the die hard fans of both schools. As the remembering and honoring of Coach have been done, I personally wish Mr. Wellman and the Xavier AD would cancel the rest of the contract for the remaining games. These games are not something the coaches and this die hard Wake fan need to experience again! Ordinarily, I don’t mind playing any D1 school but yesterday was just too tough mentally and emotionally on all involved! The conference games are tough enough as it is!
Ken Green on 01/04/2010 (6:00 pm)
Free throws are a very “mental” thing. Once you have good technique and you practice that technique enough, the third aspect comes in…confidence and concentration. I know Dino must be beside himself with the FT’s. I hope the kids get over the mental hump with them before ACC play because if we shoot them like we did last night, we are going to have a long season. I do love their courage as they have shown it at Gonzaga and against Richmond and Xavier. Courage, along with composure and concentration on FT’s and we’re going to “steal” some away games in the ACC.
Jim on 01/04/2010 (5:06 pm)
I think the person who had the toughest game last night had to be Kitts (at least I think it was Kitts). The guy couldn’t quit blowing his whistle - against either team! He also loves to make the flamboyantly-delivered momentum-changing-call. He must have been really winded.
Nonetheless, you can’t spell Classic without Class and both programs did a wonderful job representing Skip’s memory.
John on 01/04/2010 (4:57 pm)
Hi Country!
My only comment after the suspense of the last two games is that I would expect the rate of cardiac arrest will rise in the WFU community. Especially if the remaining games are this close…
My only request @ this time is for free throw practice be extended…
T. Willis on 01/04/2010 (4:09 pm)
Good color, Dan. It was a great game to watch. I’m glad we have several days off before our second conference game of the year. My guess is it may take 24-48 hours to wind down from that one. . .
Chris on 01/04/2010 (3:25 pm)
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