Solid D
01-31-2005, 11:58 AM
From SI.com
'She's fired'
ABA owner dismisses fires first female coach
Posted: Sunday January 30, 2005 3:23PM; Updated: Sunday January 30, 2005 3:23PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Ashley McElhiney, the first female coach of a men's pro basketball team, was fired Saturday after an on-court dispute with the co-owner of the Nashville Rhythm of the ABA.
Co-owner and CEO Sally Anthony was unhappy that McElhiney was playing Matt Freije after Anthony instructed that he be benched.
The argument over the former Vanderbilt star's playing time began during the third quarter and apparently escalated when Anthony attempted to remove McElhiney as coach during the team's 110-109 win over the Kansas City Knights. Anthony was eventually restrained by security guards and taken off the floor.
"I called my coach a couple of hours before the game and said 'I don't want him playing,"' Sally Anthony told The Tennessean after the game. "She ignored me. I walked onto the court and said I'm her boss and she needed to bench him."
McElhiney declined to comment when reached at her home on Sunday by The Associated Press. The team is 17-7 so far this season under the 23-year-old, a former point guard for Vanderbilt. McElhiney was selected in the third round of the 2003 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, but was released before playing a game.
Anthony, a singer who also has her own record label and a Web site promoting female artists, said she was just trying to protect her players.
"My co-owner and my GM decided to pay Matt Freije to have the name here," she said. "He came in for two games. Our players are struggling financially."
According to Anthony, Freije, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer, was paid $10,000 to play two games for the Rhythm.
Anthony also said she would not accept any second-guessing from anyone on or involved with the team.
"If they're willing to stick their neck out for Ashley, and that would be dumb, I would fold the team right now," she said. "If I say no it should be no. She's done. She's fired."
According to the newspaper, Anthony also got into a dispute after the game with the brother of an injured Rhythm player, shoving him, cursing at him and making an obscene gesture.
'She's fired'
ABA owner dismisses fires first female coach
Posted: Sunday January 30, 2005 3:23PM; Updated: Sunday January 30, 2005 3:23PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Ashley McElhiney, the first female coach of a men's pro basketball team, was fired Saturday after an on-court dispute with the co-owner of the Nashville Rhythm of the ABA.
Co-owner and CEO Sally Anthony was unhappy that McElhiney was playing Matt Freije after Anthony instructed that he be benched.
The argument over the former Vanderbilt star's playing time began during the third quarter and apparently escalated when Anthony attempted to remove McElhiney as coach during the team's 110-109 win over the Kansas City Knights. Anthony was eventually restrained by security guards and taken off the floor.
"I called my coach a couple of hours before the game and said 'I don't want him playing,"' Sally Anthony told The Tennessean after the game. "She ignored me. I walked onto the court and said I'm her boss and she needed to bench him."
McElhiney declined to comment when reached at her home on Sunday by The Associated Press. The team is 17-7 so far this season under the 23-year-old, a former point guard for Vanderbilt. McElhiney was selected in the third round of the 2003 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, but was released before playing a game.
Anthony, a singer who also has her own record label and a Web site promoting female artists, said she was just trying to protect her players.
"My co-owner and my GM decided to pay Matt Freije to have the name here," she said. "He came in for two games. Our players are struggling financially."
According to Anthony, Freije, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer, was paid $10,000 to play two games for the Rhythm.
Anthony also said she would not accept any second-guessing from anyone on or involved with the team.
"If they're willing to stick their neck out for Ashley, and that would be dumb, I would fold the team right now," she said. "If I say no it should be no. She's done. She's fired."
According to the newspaper, Anthony also got into a dispute after the game with the brother of an injured Rhythm player, shoving him, cursing at him and making an obscene gesture.