The Fire This Time

For Coach Kay Yow...

In my time in Philly there have been moments that have left me speechless. Sitting VIP watching Jill Scott rock the house to unexpectedly seeing Venus Williams on a Sunday shopping trip to Steve and Barry’s, none of these encounters matched the euphoria I felt after seeing Coach Kay Yow at the Temple match-up in the Liacouras Center. For those of you who don’t know your history or just live outside of the Tar Heel state, Coach Yow is a legend. She has been at the helm of the Lady Wolfpack for 33 years and has garnered over 700 wins and secured a place in the women’s basketball hall of fame.

I have admired her since I attended the Kay Yow basketball camp as a star struck seventh grader. I remembered the fire in her eyes and the careful attention she gave us campers, although we were far from recruiting age or skill. She ran up the court with zest and wasn’t afraid to scold one of us for committing a fallacy that she detested — giving up. Today that feeling came back. It is moments like this that I wish I had the descriptive writing finesse of Post columnist Dana Milbank. Hopeful my own words will due justice.

Coach Yow stood courtside in black and red Nike Presto-style sneakers with Velcro straps gripped tight over black socks. Her hair, a winter white with grey streaks, was cut closer than her trademark short and coiffed do. She wore her customary game day attire: blazer, turtleneck sweater, and black slacks with a small pink ribbon pin on her lapel. The fire in her eyes still blazed when her team ran a play to the ‘t’ and she was still quick to jump in the face of any player or unsuspecting referee. She looked like the Kay Yow I remembered from so long ago. That alone was breathtaking.

The last time saw I Coach Yow in-person she could hardly get to the hardwood on the court and she leaned on her assistants to get in her seat in the coaches’ box. Her hair was cut so close it resembled an army buzz. She struggled to elevate her voice past a whisper to tell her point guard to keep fighting after getting knocked to the ground. No fire.

This Coach Yow was fighting her own battle, against breast cancer. When she announced to the public of her diagnosis last November many in the Triangle immediately thought of Jimmy V (goggle him, if you dare not know his name). And though Coach Yow has always been a fighter, whether from the battlegrounds of Reynolds Coliseum or leading the U.S. women’s team to Olympic gold in Korea, it looked to many that she may have met her match. Rivalry lines are drawn deep in ACC turf but we were all rooting for Coach Yow. In the spirit of Jimmy V, Coach Yow “never gave up.” She underwent intense chemo by day and made sure to be in her seat by night to help her players fight against the opposing team. She was amazing.

The courage and endurance she displayed last season ignited her team — the perennial underdogs of the ACC prior to last season — who shocked everyone in college basketball by making it to the Elite Eight while knocking off top contenders like Carolina and Baylor. For them, just a flicker of Coach Yow’s fire was enough to make history. Well, today I am proud and misty eyed to report: the fire is back.

She shuffled up and down the court with ease, argued with refs, and gave insolent players a stare that could break down any stoic. Her assistants, still there to handle some of the yelling in order to be heard over the temple pep band, assumed their positions in the back seat and let Coach Yow steer the Wolfpack to an amazing, nail biting win over an impressive Owls team.

As I waited my turn to snap a picture with Coach Yow I felt like that nervous seventh grader while fidgeting with my camera strap. I stood close and heard her tell a former player whom she coached during her years at Elon College that earlier in the week she had her rounds of chemo and the night before she’d taken some medicine so she would be able to travel with the team.

My eyes twinkled when I looked at our picture together as I walked slowly out of the stadium. I looked out at the bustling streets of a city that I have been reluctant to call home and thanked Coach Yow for giving me the fire to fight my own battles.

*the pic is trapped in my camera give me a day