Coach's Corner
By Andy "Coach" Cotton, Fri., June 11, 1999
Concurrently over on NBC, the Spurs, almost run out of town a few months ago, were beating the shit out of a clearly demoralized Portland Trailblazer team. A few days earlier, I was present for the single most exciting moment in sports I've ever personally witnessed. I was stunned at how many people who never watch, let alone talk about sports, couldn't stop talking about Sean Elliott's unlikely shot in the Alamodome. It was a transcendent moment for the franchise, long known for losing only when it really mattered. Tonight the Spurs overcame a most suspicious rash of non-fouls to key players to slaughter the Blazers in The Rose Garden, the league's toughest place to win. The Old Coach required a late-night cocktail and half a Valium for sleep. A good night.
Saturday: The French Open. 18-year-old Martina Hingis can't see her name without the words "cocky," "petulant," "spoiled," and "arrogant" -- the identical adjectives, by the way, that were once used to describe American tennis icons Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. McEnroe's cocky, arrogant attitude, along with who he is, are what makes his commentary so on the money. I wish he might have noted this commonality with the young tennis prodigy -- experiencing a total emotional meltdown on center court -- absorbing boos and hoots of derision from 18,000 spectators who forget that's just a teenage girl down there. Her "attitude" is largely responsible for the four Grand Slams she's already won, and why she'll win many more. That "attitude" is exactly what made this match with the stoic Steffi Graf so riveting. Her "attitude" is exactly why women's tennis is so much more entertaining than the men's counterpart. Hingis, along with other young female stars, exudes not just great talent, but emotion and personality. I'm a big Graf fan. I'm glad she won. Still, I felt for Hingis. Here's some unsolicited advice: Don't change, just learn. Understand that the reason you're #1 and Meike Babel is #100 isn't because you have a better forehand. It's what's between your ears. Graf won because she understands that when the shots aren't dropping and nothing's going right, that's when champions mentally hunker down and wait out the storm. Watch the tape -- see how she absorbed debilitating punishment but kept composed and eventually stole a championship that, by all rights, was yours. Learn, don't change.
Knicks/Indiana: There's a thin line between veteran and just old. The Jazz and Pacers, both conceded a free ride to an old-timers title series, have silently crossed this line. I'm stunned, each game, at how bad Indiana looks. Slow, confused, and out-of-place describes the Pacer performance against the eighth-seeded Knicks. Even when they're winning, it seems like they're losing. On this night the "veteran" team makes so many ludicrous -- wretched! -- mistakes while praying they don't lose an eight-point lead in the final minutes, it was flat-out pathetic. Sure, NY was lucky, but did Indiana deserve to win? I think not.
4:30:The Belmont Stakes. I'm not a race fan, but the Triple Crown is a rare thing. A horse like Charismatic, the equine equivalent to a mutt, with a chance to win is even more singular. I wanted to see this. A terrible pall was cast over the race when in the last few yards of a courageous but losing effort, Charismatic broke down. As racetrack personal surrounded the panicked horse, trying to soothe its obvious pain, anyone watching feared the worst. If you saw this poignant moment and watched jockey Chris Antley's obvious distress, you won't question the attachment between these tiny 100-lb. athletes and the magnificent 1,200-lb. animals they ride. Charismatic's racing days are over but he'll be okay.
Sunday:The French Open. I watched enough tennis yesterday. I didn't really care about Agassi whipping up on the 100th-ranked player in the world. I thought I'd just check in. It was almost over in less than an hour. Agassi was getting creamed. Then, just a point from victory (are you still reading, Martina?), Medvedev imploded. Andre -- a champion -- understood that it's not about groundstrokes. And he knew that his 100th-ranked opponent didn't understand that.
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