Prep Impressions: March 12, 2011
ABOVE: Fontana Summit's Devon Alexander, right, steals the ball from Peninsula's Andrew Menard in the last few seconds, clinching Saturday's victory. / Photos by Rodrigo Pena Photography
Moments after Devon Alexander almost single-handedly lifted Summit to a 79-74 come-from-behind victory (follow the link above), Hickey answered an Alexander-themed question from The Sun’s T.J. Berka with “He’s got big balls. Big fuckin’ balls.”
Unfortunately for writers and readers alike, it’s the sort of comment that is unprintable in any daily newspaper in the world. But no holds are barred in the blog-o-sphere. Which isn’t to say that my intent to mock the speaker. To the contrary. FOMB celebrates such a tremendous choice of words.
And Hickey was at his best on Saturday night, riding a wave of adrenaline and honesty all the way through his post-game press chat. When asked about the defensive play of Reese Morgan-stopper Chris Baker, Hickey said, “He bugs the shit out of me so I knew he’s do a good job on him.”
But it’s not necessarily the words, so much as the way Hickey says them. He leans forward and inflects the best parts of his speech. His words have intent. He absolutely speaks what he feels, and that’s rare.
Too often you’ll find coaches mincing their words, spouting prepared answers or coach-isms. It’s refreshing to see a coach with his thoughts and emotions on his sleeve, administrators be damned.
And why not? Prep sports in Fontana Unified School District are on the chopping block. The school board tabled discussion on the subject last week but it’s going to be revisited. And with an annual budget in the millions, the FUSD board may see few alternatives to gutting athletics amid the state’s budget crisis.
This could be Hickey’s last best shot, and he may go down. But he’ll go down verbal guns blazing.
INLAND FIELDHOUSE 