Oct. 16, 2008
Kansas City, Mo. -
Last Tuesday evening legendary Mizzou Head Coach Norm Stewart hosted the first annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City's Sprint Center. Stewart emceed the event along with Nate Bukaty of 810-AM WHB and the event's featured speakers were Mizzou Head Coach Mike Anderson, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self, Kansas State Head Coach Frank Martin and UMKC Head Coach Matt Brown.
There was a nice turnout for the gathering, which began at 4:30 p.m. with a private reception for the event's sponsors and then opened to the general public at 5:30 p.m. The speaking portion got underway at 6:30 p.m. and in true Coach Stewart fashion, he stole the show with his witty one-liners and great stories.
He talked about a 1997 loss at home to Coppin State and Head Coach Fang Mitchell. Of course that Coppin State team turned out to be pretty good and beat No. 2-seeded South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15-seed, but he recalled walking across the floor to shake Coach Mitchell's hand and said "Great game, Coach. Congratulations". But as he walked away, he tracked down Coach Mitchell one more time: "You weren't supposed to win the Gosh Darned game (not Gosh Darned, but you get the point). We are supposed to get the win, you just get the darn (again, he didn't same darn) money."
Coach Self told a story about guarding Jeff Strong in a game and how Strong may have "accidentally" slipped and hit his head in front of the Missouri bench. Coach Stewart yelled at Self, called him over and said "Self, you are the dirtiest player in this league."
Coach Stewart quickly responded at the podium, "Well you were, and we always had to put our best defensive player on you ... when we wanted him to rest". - typical Coach Stewart.
And Coach Anderson didn't hesitate to add to the Bill Self dog pile saying: "Guard Bill? Heck, he was easy to guard, he never got off the bench."
Frank Martin: "I never had a chance to see Bill and Mike play in college, but I have to admit, I didn't watch a lot of Tulsa and Oklahoma State games when I was in the fifth grade."
The crowd erupted in laughter at the exchange and for a few hours, fans had a chance to see these fierce competitors on the hardwood share their compassion, generosity and time for Coaches vs. Cancer, a foundation Norm Stewart started in 1993.
While the coaches shared laughs, each had their own personal stories of cancer and how it's affected their lives. Coach Brown's sister is battling a rare form of cancer as we speak in Maryland and unfortunately, there is no treatment ... "yet".
Coach Self had family friends lose a 13-year-old to the disease.
Shortly after he arrived in Manhattan, Frank Martin was hospitalized and told he may have a rare form of Pancreatic Cancer. Fortunately it was later diagnosed as pancreatitis, but while alone in his hospital room he used his cell phone to look up survival rates of Pancreatic Cancer and saw a number of 4%. Although he found out the next day he avoided that prognosis, he went to bed that night thinking of himself as a future statistic and as he said, "it's life changing".
And of course our own Mike Anderson has seen the effects of cancer up close and personal. Growing up in Birmingham, Mike Anderson fulfilled a lifelong dream by returning home to coach the UAB Blazers. His mother lived in Birmingham and she never missed a game. Home games, she was there. Conference Tournament games, she was there. It was the experience of a lifetime for any favorite son, to return home and take the local team to unprecedented heights.
In 2004, Anderson directed the Blazers through the NCAA Tournament and to the Sweet 16. In just his second season, Anderson led a team that had won 13 games the season before his arrival and won 22 games, including a win over the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky.
Life was at its pinnacle. Just a few days before that Sweet 16 contest, Coach Anderson's mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. A few months later, she was gone.
It wasn't Anderson's first experience with the disease. Shortly before being hired at the University of Arkansas, Nolan Richardson's daughter, Yvonne, was diagnosed with Cancer. Just a two short years later, she was gone.
The stories, the tragedies, but more importantly the hopes of some of the region's most idolized and revered men were told last Tuesday night at the first annual Coaches vs. Cancer Season Tip-Off Cocktail reception. What began as one man's quest in 1993 has turned into one of the American Cancer Society's most visible avenues in the fight against Cancer. To date the organization has raised better than $40 million.
While the fight is still on-going, what a proud moment for everyone at Missouri to know that this organization, which is on the forefront of Cancer Awareness, has its roots in Black & Gold Country.
And as Coach Stewart said Tuesday evening, "Go out and help someone in need, whatever the cause, not just cancer. It's okay to make yourself feel good and lending a hand makes us all feel good in the end."
