Fate is Cruel Sometimes

[FromWayDowntown]

A few weeks ago, the college world was celebrating the successes of Jamie Dixon, head men's basketball coach at Pitt, and his sister, Maggie Dixon, head women's basketball coach at Army. They were the first brother and sister duo to lead teams into the postseason tournaments in the same season.

Last night, three weeks removed from such success, Maggie Dixon died at age 28. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=2400335)

Say whatever you will about women's basketball, but the story strikes me as heartbreaking. I'm sure there are many other similar heartbreaking stories that don't involve high-profile basketball coaches -- they're all sad.

[degenerate_gambler]

Man, that's just shocking period...

Condolences to the family and the Army team.

[JMarkJohns]

It is very sad. Sometimes it's forgotten just how human these sporting figures really are. Then something like this happens and we're gripped by the cold reality that they, like any of us, aren't guaranteed a thing in this life.

28 is way too young. Just tragic...

[tlongII]

That sucks.

[Horry For 3!]

That is sad as she was fine one day and then just all of a sudden not doing well and in the hospital then died. I heard them talking about her in the hospital the other day on ESPN. It is sad.

[tlongII]

Unfortunately I have arrhythmia as well.

[T-Pain]

i couldnt believe it when i heard the news of her passing. i thought she was gonna make it out ok because of her young age, but sometimes it doesnt work out that way. my prayers are out for her and her family.

[boutons_]

April 8, 2006

Maggie Dixon, Army Women's Basketball Coach, Is Dead at 28

By FRANK LITSKY

Maggie Dixon, who coached the women's basketball team at Army to its first N.C.A.A. tournament last month, died Thursday at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. She was 28.

Dr. Millard J. Hyland, the Westchester County medical examiner, performed an autopsy yesterday and said afterward that the cause of death was, in part, an enlarged heart with a mitral valve that was not shutting properly.

Jamie Dixon, Maggie's older brother and the men's basketball coach at Pittsburgh, said she collapsed Wednesday while having tea at a friend's home.

She was taken to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point and was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. He said that she had an arrhythmic episode, an irregular heartbeat, and that she had no history of heart problems.

The Dixons were the first brother and sister to coach in the N.C.A.A. tournaments in the same year.

After five years as an assistant at DePaul, Maggie Dixon became the Army coach in late September, 11 days before the first practice. She inherited a team with players who take up to 24 credits a semester in subjects like engineering, physics and calculus and have limited time for sports.

Her team started the season 5-7, including losses by 39 points to Connecticut and 17 to Baylor. She told her players that losing so badly would turn out to be a good thing. Three weeks ago, she recalled that speech for The New York Times this way:

"We're just in the spot where we want to be," she said she told the team. "Look, we've played some of the toughest teams in the country — UConn, Baylor, Princeton — and we've played well, even though we lost. We're just coming together as a team. We're learning to play with each other. We're gaining confidence."

Her team won the Patriot League regular-season championship for the first time. It then won the conference tournament, and its automatic N.C.A.A. Division I tournament berth, for the first time.

After a 69-68 victory against Holy Cross in the Patriot League tournament final, Dixon was carried around the arena by Army football players. When she entered the dining room for dinner, she received a standing ovation from the corps of cadets.

In the first round of the N.C.A.A. tournament, her team was routed by Tennessee, a perennial national power, 102-54, and finished 20-11. In that game, Candace Parker of Tennessee made the first dunk in women's N.C.A.A. tournament history (she had two).

After the game, Dixon said: "I'm looking forward to the future of Army basketball. They have accomplished too much to feel bad about this season."

Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said she was impressed by Dixon's work. "You love the game and you love to teach the game, which she did very well," Summitt said.

Margaret Mary Dixon was born May 9, 1977, in North Hollywood, Calif., and grew up there. At the University of San Diego, the 5-foot-11 Dixon won four varsity letters in basketball and was the captain her senior year. She graduated with a degree in history in 1999. In May 2000, she was cut by the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association and later talked her way into an assistant's job at DePaul.

In addition to her brother, Dixon is survived by her parents, Jim and Marge Dixon of North Hollywood, and a sister, Julie.

Cara Enright, a guard on Dixon's team, said yesterday: "I just loved the energy that Coach brought to practice every day and the way she never gave up on us, always believed in us. She would tell us to use what you've learned here at the academy and apply it to basketball."

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company