I became an NBA fan when the Blazers were mediocre. I loved them all the same.
But then the Blazers brought in some kind of whipper-snapper new coach, made some good draft picks, and things really started looking up. (When he was replaced with his assistant, Rick Adelman, the team even made the NBA Finals a couple of times.)
Living through that has put me in a rare category of NBA fan: People who remember that Mike Schuler was once named Coach of the Year.
I saw him in a press room in Philadelphia a while ago, and I think most of the people there had no idea who he was. Noboby was talking to him. He was just eating a salad, solo.
Part of me wanted to jump on a table and say: Lookie here, people, that's your 1986-87 Coach of the Year sitting right there eating a salad! So what if he fell out of his chair at the press conference introducing him as head coach? So what if he was replaced, at Rice, by a guy called Tommy Suits? So what if sullied his reputation by agreeing to take over the miserable Clippers. Give the man a high-five or something!
But then I got a phone call, and there was a long line for food, so I decided not to jump on that table.
Anyway, Dwight Jaynes used to cover that team, knew Schuler well, and has this funny tale on his blog:
When Mike Schuler was coaching the Trail Blazers (it seems like eons ago) the team was still traveling on commercial airlines. That meant that the media would travel with them. In those days, media meant the broadcast crew and me. And during these flights, Schuler would often buttonhole one of us for a private conversation.
There were times, particularly coming off a short night, when a nap would have been preferable. But for the most part, I appreciated his openness. And to this day, I call Mike a friend I wish I could see more often. He'd trust you enough to tell you a few things off the record and often ask for an opinion about an opponent or even one of his own players. Mike was more basketball-centric than anyone I ever covered. "Dwight," he used to say, "I pay no attention to anything but basketball. I'm serious now -- what was Watergate? I mean, I know it had something to do with Nixon, but honestly, I don't know what it was."
