Coaches can never turn off their instincts, even and especially when they’re watching their children play. This was especially true for George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan.
He joined Washington DC’s 106.7 The Fan’s “The Junkies”, not only to talk Colonials hoops, but as host Jason Bishop asked, “Speaking of your kid, someone texted me that you got kicked out of your daughter’s game last night at St. John’s. Is that true?”
By the way, this is a JV game that he’s referring to.
Here’s how Coach Lonergan replied.
“That could be a little exaggerated. I rush over to St. John’s to catch the Seton JV game. Middle of the third quarter, my daughter — they’re down like four — so start of the fourth quarter, she gets a foul called, and the scorer’s table hits the horn and says she’s got five fouls. So my wife, she’s sitting … near me in the bleachers, I said ‘she doesn’t have five fouls.’ She said ‘no way she has five.’ So my daughter goes to the bench, bawling, she’s crying, so I look over, I say ‘Hey, do you have five?’ She said ‘No.’ So, I thought I was discreet, I waited till the next timeout, and I went over to the scorer’s table and I asked the little young lady that was sitting there, from St. John’s, I said ‘Hey, how many fouls does No. 13 have?’ She said ‘Well, I only had her for four.’ So some middle-aged loser at the scorer’s table starts yelling at me, asking me who I am. I said, ‘I’m nobody. I’m just, my daughter’s down there crying, I know she doesn’t have five fouls and I’m just curious why, you know, you got her for five. And then he called over a policeman — who I knew, I used to play basketball with [him] — so I just went into the hallway and talked with him, and then I just said ‘Well I better get out of here.’ So that was a little embarrassing, to say the least.”
Gotta love coaches, right? The Colonials are on the right side of the bubble at the moment in the crowded A-10 conference, having already beat Virginia at home this season and being ranked in December, but it’s pretty safe to say we know what Lonergan’s reaction will be if the Colonials aren’t dancing in March. Imagine that memes that could result from this…
If you want to listen to the full interview, you can do so here:
[CBS DC]
