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Mike Monroe: D'Antoni remembers Marshall tragedy
Web Posted: 12/16/2006 11:48 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
At about the same time the Phoenix Suns were taking the court at ARCO Arena on Saturday night seeking a 14th consecutive victory, moviegoers at some San Antonio cinema complexes were exiting theaters. More than a few of the filmgoers likely were dabbing at tears after seeing a sneak preview of the emotion-packed film "We Are Marshall."
The movie, scheduled for general release Friday, stars Texas Longhorns superfan Matthew McConaughey. It tells a 36-year-old tale about Marshall University's football program in the aftermath of the crash of a chartered Southern Airlines DC-9 on Nov.14, 1970. The crash, as the plane approached Huntington, W. Va., Tri-State Airport in drizzle and light fog, killed all 75 people on board: 37 Marshall football players, 12 coaches and members of the team support staff, five flight crew members and 21 townspeople from Huntington.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni hasn't decided if he will see the film. If he does, he is not apt to weep. He shed his tears 36 years ago, when he was a standout sop re point guard on the Marshall basketball team.
There is an image seared in D'Antoni's memory from that November night, one of those moments that can return on occasion with no prompting, even 36 years later.
"Plane down at Huntington Airport ... details to follow."
D'Antoni's older brother, Dan, was an assistant basketball coach at Marshall in 1970. Dan D'Antoni lived in a small rental cottage behind the home of Dr. Ray Hagley, a successful Huntington physician and Marshall booster. Hagley had helped recruit both D'Antoni boys to Marshall after their outstanding high school careers in Mullens, W. Va.
"My brother and I were watching TV at his place when one of those scrolls flickered across the bottom of the screen," Mike D'Antoni said, somberly, a few days ago, his mood otherwise cheery because his Suns were winning game after game. "It said something like ... 'Plane down at Huntington Airport; more details to follow.'
"Dan immediately turned to me and said, 'That's the team plane.'"
Hagley and his wife, Shirley Ann, had six children, the eldest an 8-year-old daughter. The D'Antoni boys were looking after the kids that weekend while the Hagleys made the trip to North Carolina, aboard the team's plane, to see the Thundering Herd's game. Eighteen children in Huntington lost both their parents that night. The D'Antoni brothers happened to be baby-sitting six of them.
No pressure either Mike or Dan D'Antoni would face in the successful coaching careers that would follow for both of them has matched the enormity of that tragic moment. Mike D'Antoni isn't certain how they managed the immediacy of the situation.
The emotion of the days and weeks that followed was nearly overwhelming. To this day, Dan D'Antoni has difficulty talking about the tragedy.
"It was just so monumental you couldn't deal with it all," Mike D'Antoni said. "You knew so many of the people who died. Being 19 years old, I couldn't put anything in perspective."
Rick Tolley, the head football coach at Marshall who was killed in the crash, had played basketball at Mullens High School for D'Antoni's father, Lewis.
"He grew up down the street from us," Mike D'Antoni said. "The whole town of Mullens was devastated."
Marshall continued its football program the next season, and "We Are Marshall" focuses on the 1971 season that produced two victories, including one in the Thundering Herd's first home game.
D'Antoni remembers well being in the stands that day and the feeling that swept over the stadium after Marshall's victory over Xavier. He recalls even more vividly helping his team win its annual Christmas basketball tournament, roughly 36 years ago this week.
"We'd had a Christmas tournament for years," D'Antoni said, "but they renamed it the Marshall Memorial Tournament to honor the memory of everyone killed in the crash. We wanted real badly to win it, and we did."
D'Antoni hasn't decided if he will see "We Are Marshall," but recent promotion of the film reminded him he owes a call to Jack Lengyel, the coach who took over the Marshall football team after the tragedy and who is portrayed by McConaughey in the film.
"He lives in Sun City, outside Phoenix," D'Antoni said. "I owe him a call. I've got to get him out to see the Suns play."
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Wow, quite an inside story on the Marshall U. disaster from Mike D'Antoni. He and his brother were babysitting six children...suddenly without parents.
We saw the movie Friday (Sneak preview). We liked the movie. If you choose to go see it, I'd recommend you stay through the photos shown during the final credits.
He had a fine performance in a key role.
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