THE MONSON STORY: FIRE A COACH AND WATCH HIM REACH THE TOURNAMENT
THE MONSON STORY: FIRE A COACH AND WATCH HIM REACH THE TOURNAMENT
There’s no better revenge against a dismissive university than by winning the Big West tournament, which is how Monson and Long Beach State responded to his dismissal as March Madness continues
Before Dan Monson, none of us could pronounce Gonzaga without blanks, blurs and stutters. He was the original mid-major coach who proved he could reach the Elite Eight at a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Wash. The year was 1999.
If he stayed, he would be Mark Few today. He left for Minnesota, and for the last quarter-century, America’s elite young coach couldn’t stop crashing. He cleaned up a repulsive academic scandal and resigned under pressure in 2006, escaping to Long Beach State, which decided to call itself “The Beach.” For 17 years, he went 275-272 and entered the season with one NCAA tournament appearance in 2012. Last Monday, Monson was fired by athletic director Bobby Smitheran, who suggested a rampant revision of a program whose best-known recent player is Bryon Russell. You remember him as the Utah guard, pushed slightly by Michael Jordan before a wrist-suspended jumper led to his sixth NBA title.
“A change in leadership creates an opportunity to re-envision the future of our storied men’s basketball program,” Smitheran said. “We are committed to finding the right person for the job — one that can harness the incredible energy of this community, build meaningful connections and elevate this program to the next level.”
Little did he know that the right person for the job was … Dan Monson.
In an industry that doesn’t care how a man once performed, he and his team accepted the news and flung themselves into the Big West tournament near Las Vegas. The Beach, or 49ers, kept playing games and kept winning. Saturday night, they needed a victory over UC Davis. Many of the seats were empty. A dude named Roxy was broadcasting the game on ESPN2. Would a program with a canned coach somehow save the man for more March Madness?
Call it sex on the Beach. Monson carries on, with resumes floating around the country, when college basketball burns coaches in flames. His advantage is a berth in the big tournament, which should remind lost souls that he can coach a team. At 62, he still wants a gig with another program, and why the hell not after a 74-70 victory? And you think the AD should have waited until after the season was over?
“God has blessed me with a great career and these kids have been awesome to coach. When Jim Harbaugh says who's got it better than him, somebody needs to tell him Dan Monson,” he said as his players celebrated in the stands.
Why not simply accept the grace and move on? His celebrated pal, Few, seemed to suggest as much in a text. “I got the '99 run at Gonzaga, but, as Mark Few texted me ‘Why don't we have a run in the first year and a run in the last?’ But I don't think this is my last year,” he said. “I love coaching. I love teams. I need a new challenge. It's life. It's onto the next chapter.”
Can Long Beach State, which has dealt with leakage in a 20-year-old campus pyramid, do any better with someone else? UCLA, coached by Mick Cronin, didn’t make the tournament. Nor did USC, which lost to Monson this season despite the presence of Bronny James. Stanford fired its coach. California went 13-19. Yet here is Monson, who better make sure he still has insurance, ready to keep winning and making money. A few days earlier, he said it was “time for a new voice.”
Maybe it’s him. “Being in it is one thing. Winning it is another and we're happy,” Monson said. “We feel like we deserve it, but we're not done. We didn't come here to get to the championship game. We came here to go to the NCAA tournament. These kids have been awesome to coach. They’re great people.”
His players felt horrible that he’ll lose employment. In hindsight, maybe Smitheran spurred a big rally. “It was a silent moment for everyone when we heard. The guys became motivated,” said Lassina Traore, who scored 25 points. “We know that firing him is not his fault. We lost the games. The leaders agreed, we had to have his back. We weren’t going to let him down.”
Said Traore’s brother, Aboubacar, who had seven points and 13 rebounds: “The main thing was, we were helping the coach. For us, it would be really bad for him to leave without winning a championship. He has been a great mentor for us. He could have easily said, all right. But he wanted to do his job to the end. He still wants to win. So we’re gonna do the same thing because he’s not giving up.”
Not once did Monson rip the school. He was filled with class. “What a great week. What a great week,” he said. “What a privilege to have a team that has the kind of character to figure out a way to win three straight days. We said we were in Vegas. We said we were in a heavyweight fight. I am so proud of them and I’m lucky to ride with these guys. I’ve been to the NCAA tournament. My wife says she’s never had drugs in her life, but it’s got to be a similar feeling. It’s a high I’m expecting these guys to enjoy. It’s a team that can win games in this tournament. We’ll find out.”
Wisely, someone asked Monson how he’d like to be remembered. “He did it the right way on and off the court,” he said. “It’s not just about wins and losses. It’s doing it with principle. It’s a tough business. I’m OK with whatever other people do, but I have to look in that mirror. I tell parents to trust me with your young man. In four to five years, I’ll give you a grown man. I’m proud of all that.”
Stanford works. Vanderbilt works. Why not Louisville, which needs a cleanser?
With another victory or two, consider it a massive job promotion for a man who deserves much better.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.
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Booklist
My current booklist, with a little over 200 books total, some of which I am currently reading and two that I've finished. Everything will be in alphabetical order and below the cut because this is gonna be a long one.
Please also keep in mind that there may be issues with the listed writers or books that I don't know (I don't really inhabit spaces where I'd find this information out and googling every book or writer I find to see if they're controversial is depressing and I'm not doing that). I'd still like to know though so if you see someone on my list give me a heads up.
A
🤎 A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa
🤍 A Magic Steeped In Poison by Judy I. Lin
🤎 A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
🤍 After the Sun by Jonas Eika
🤎 Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
🤍 All Flesh Is Grass by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell
🤍 All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami
🤎 All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thompson Mathews
🤍 Annhilation by Jeff Vandermeer
🤎 Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum
🤍 August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
B
🤎 Before the Coffe Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
🤍 Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
🤎 Borne by Jeff Vandermeer
🤍 Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
🤎 Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
🤍 Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
🤎 Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
C
🤎 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
🤍 Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka
🤎 City by Clifford D. Simak
🤍 City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer
🤎 Cold Enough For Snow by Jessica Au
🤍 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (COMPLETED)
🤎 Coraline by Neil Gaiman
🤍 Crying in H Mart by Michell Zauner
D
🤎 Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer
🤍 Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano
🤎 Devil House by John Darnielle
🤍 Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
🤎 Dishonored: The Corroded Man by Adam Christopher
🤍 Dishonored: The Return of Daud by Adam Christopher
🤎 Dishonored: The Veiled Terror by Adam Christopher
🤍 Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
🤎 Don't Say We Didn't Warn You by Ariel Delgado Dixon
E
🤍 Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
🤎 Edenville by Sam Rebelein
🤍 Edge Case by Yz Chin
🤎 Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin
🤍 Enchanted Pilgrimage by Clifford D. Simak
F
🤎 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (COMPLETED)
🤍 Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
🤎 Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
🤍 Fire Season by Leyna Know
🤎 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
🤍 Flux by Orion Carloto
🤎 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
🤍 Funny You Should Ask by Elisa Sussman
G
🤎 Ghost Forest by Pik Shuen Fung
🤍 Ghosted by Jenn Ashworth
🤎 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
🤍 Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
🤎 Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang
🤍 Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation #1 by Mō Xiāng Tóng Xiū
🤎 Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
H
🤍 Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
🤎 Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
🤍 Heaven's Official Blessing #1 by Mō Xiāng Tóng Xiū
🤎 Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
🤍 House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
🤎 Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky
I
🤍 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
🤎 I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-Hee
🤍 Idol, Burning by Rin Usami
🤎 If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
🤍 Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
🤎 Insatiable by Daisy Buchanan
🤍 Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flynn
J
🤎 Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang
K
🤍 Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto
🤎 Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
🤍 Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
🤎 Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
L
🤍 Laserwriter II by Tamara Shopsin
🤎 Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
🤍 Letter to a Future Lover by Ander Monson
🤎 Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
🤍 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
🤎 Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
🤍 Loteria by Cynthia Pelayo
🤎 Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park
M
🤍 Made to Kill by Adam Christopher
🤎 Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
🤍 Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
🤎 Memorial by Bryan Washington
🤍 Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow
🤎 Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West
🤍 Mister N by Najwa Barakat
🤎 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
🤍 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. by Robert C. O'Brien
🤎 Ms. Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami
🤍 My Year Abroad byChang Rae-Lee
N
🤎 Never Whistle At Night by Shane Hawk
🤍 Night Film by Marisha Pessl
🤎 Nobody Is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey
🤍 Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
🤎 Normal People by Sally Rooney
O
🤍 O Beautiful by Jung Yun
🤎 Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
🤍 Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by Sing Shong
🤎 Our Wives Under the Sun by Julia Armfield
P
🤍 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
🤎 Paradise Rot by Jenny Hual
🤍 People From My Neighborhood by Hiromi Kawakami
🤎 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
🤍 Popisho by Leone Ross
🤎 Postmarked the Stars by Andre Norton
🤍 Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagin
Q
R
🤎 Revival Season by Monica West
🤍 Ringworld #1 by Larry Niven
S
🤎 Saltwater by Jessica Andrews
🤍 Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada
🤎 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
🤍 Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow
🤎 Send Nudes by Saba Sams
🤍 So Bright the Vision by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 Solo Leveling #1 by Chugong
🤍 Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
🤎 Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin
🤍 Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina
🤎 Stories from Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Rofena
🤍 Strange Weather In Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
🤎 Supper Club by Lara Williams
🤍 Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa
🤎 Swimming In the Dark by Tamasz Jedrowski
T
🤍 Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel
🤎 Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki
🤍 Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima
🤎 The Vietri Project by Nicola DeRobertis-Theye
🤍 The Beast You Are: Stories by Paul Tremblay
🤎 The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
🤍 The City Inside by Samit Basu
🤎 The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
🤍 The Deep by Rivers Solomon
🤎 The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
🤍 The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada
🤎 The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
🤍 The Fallen by Thomas E. Sniegoski
🤎 The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
🤍 The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
🤎 The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oli
🤍 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
🤎 The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
🤍 The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada
🤎 The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
🤍 The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Davila
🤎 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
🤍 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
🤎 The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
🤍 The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
🤎 The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
🤍 The Local by Joey Hartstone
🤎 The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
🤍 The Midcoast by Adam White
🤎 The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
🤍 The Nakano Thrift Store by Hiromi Kawakami
🤎 The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected In the Water by Zen Cho
🤍 The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
🤎 The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin
🤍 The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
🤎 The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
🤍 The Rig by Roger Levy
🤎 The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado
🤍 The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mō Xiāng Tóng Xiū
🤎 The Secret History by Donna Tart
🤍 The Stange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer
🤎 The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
🤍 The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
🤎 The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
🤍 The Visitors by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber
🤍 The Werewolf Principle by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 The White Book by Han Kang
🤍 The World After the Fall by Sing Shong
🤎 They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
🤍 They Walked Like Men by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
🤍 This One Sky Day by Leone Ross
🤎 This Weightless World by Adam Soto
🤍 This World Is Full of Monsters by Jeff Vandermeer
🤎 Those Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
🤍 Time and Again by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri
🤍 Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist
U
V
W
🤎 Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
🤍 We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
🤎 Weather by Jenny Offrill
🤍 Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
🤎 Welcome to Nightvale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
🤍 What Is Not Your Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
🤎 What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
🤍 When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo
🤎 When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill
🤍 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
🤎 Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes
🤍 Where the Evil Dwells by Clifford D. Simak
🤎 Why Call Them Back From Heaven? by Clifford D. Simak
🤍 Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
🤎 Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
X
Y
🤍 You Have A Friend In 10A by Maggie Shipstead
🤎 You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
🤍 Yvinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
Z
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