http://scarletknights.com/basketball-women/news/release.asp?prID=5999
No. 6 Rutgers Rolls Past Temple, 70-34
Scarlet Knights Notch Fourth Straight Victory
Posted on 12/30/2007 4:38:13 PM
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Three players scored in double figures as the No. 6 Rutgers women’s basketball team picked up its fourth straight win, a 70-34 home victory over Atlantic 10 opponent Temple Sunday afternoon at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
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Now, Frau has season tickets to the RU women’s games. She’s a subway alumni.
(No connection to the University. Just live in the neighborhood. We’ve been going since before they went “big time”. Frau played semi-pro and was just born a decade too soon. What could have been? And, she thoughly enjoys the game of basketball and especially when the “girls” — some of them are well past that label — play well. They don’t have to “win”; just play well.)
Now I’ve seen more games than I care to count. And, the other day I was surprised.
(Not Casablanca style shocked, just absolutely surprised.)
Many teams have the routine when the starting line up is announced the started runs over to the opponent’s huddle, and shakes someone’s hand as a sign of something. Usually, some assistant coach, like a George job, steps out and represents the coach.
Now Temple’s coach, Dawn Staley, is something of a celebrity. She’s an icon of women’s basketball. Great career in college. WNBA. College coach. One could imagine that to a current player she represents what they would like to become. So I would imagine that shaking her hand would be something extra ordinary.
So, ready for the surprise?
When the RU starters were announced, who comes out of the Temple huddle to accept their symbolic handshake?
None other than Dawn Staley herself.
I pointed that out to the clique of season ticket holders around me who are like a pseudo family. And, for each of the five players who came to shake her hand, she held it for a second and presumably said something to them. One even got a hug! I could be imagining things but them seem to leave that handshake with just a little more spring in their step. As I say, I’ve seen a lot of these, and this one was exceptional.
That’s an exemplar of what sport’s icons should be.
It would have been easy for her to blow that off. But she didn’t. And, maybe in the grand scheme of things, it’s a small matter than no one will notice. I did, and thought that it should be noted. And immortalized in some small way.
I think how we treat these little opportunities gives us an insight into people’s souls. I’m sure that the Universe has special things in store for a special person like Dawn Staley.
http://owlsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/staley_dawn00.html
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In just seven seasons at the helm, Dawn Staley is well on her way to shaping the Temple women’s basketball program into the national powerhouse that she promised when taking over on April 12, 2000. The 2004 and 2005 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and 2005 Regional Coach of the Year, Staley has won 151 games, becoming the fastest coach in Temple women’s basketball history to reach 100 wins. She has led the Owls to their first-ever A-10 Tournament titles (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), five NCAA appearances since 2002 and a first-ever Top 25 National Ranking. In 2006, Temple won its third straight Atlantic 10 title, a feat that has been accomplished just one other time in A-10 history. The Owls have won four of the last six Conference titles and are ranked 31st on the nation’s list of most wins over the last seven years. She also helped to produce Temple’s first-ever WNBA First Round Draft Picks, when Candice Dupree (’06) and Kamesha Hairston (’07) were drafted by the Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun, respectively. All of this hard work has not gone unnoticed. In the summer of 2007, Philadelphia’s favorite daughter was voted Philadelphia’s “Best College Coach” in Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best of Philly” edition.
Most of these accomplishments occurred while Staley maintained her highly publicized “summer job” as an All-Star player for the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets. Staley retired from WNBA competition following the 2006 season but not before leaving quite a legacy in the 10-year league. During the 2006 season, she was voted an All-Star for the fifth time, becoming the first player in WNBA history to play for both the East and the West squads. She also edged Katie Douglas, 17-16, to win the WNBA’s first-ever Three Point Challenge. Staley was also honored as a member of the WNBA’s All-Decade team. Chosen from among 30 nominees by fans, a panel of national and WNBA-market media and the league’s current players and coaches, the WNBA All-Decade Team recognized the 10 players who have contributed the most to the overall success of the WNBA. Consideration was given to on-court performance and ability, leadership, sportsmanship and community service, as well as to their contribution to team success and the growth of women’s basketball. As if all of this wasn’t enough, Staley now has an award named in her honor. Beginning in 2007, the WNBA will present the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community in which she works or lives.
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Sounds like someone who has talent as well as class.
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Reinke Faces Life 