Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Jeff Brown column: McKay knows how to network
As I listened to a very bright young coach Tuesday morning, I couldn’t help but compare basketball to baseball. Apples to oranges?
Maybe, but I couldn’t help but think about one of La Crosse’s best minor-league sports franchises — the La Crosse Catbirds — and the success they had.
The Catbirds were tabbed the “model franchise” of the CBA for a number of years, and for good reason. They sold out the La Crosse Center. They had highly popular players (i.e. Vince Hamilton, Richie Johnson, David Rivers), they had corporate support, they had the town buzzing.
They won two championships.
You could say the same about the La Crosse Loggers. They are one of the Northwoods League’s top organizations — maybe even the best one. They have put together a first-class game day program. They have secured a solid corporate sponsorship. They have been second to Madison in attendance all five years of their organizational life.
Yet, unlike the Catbirds, they have yet to win a championship. In fact, the Loggers are 148-182 (.448 winning percentage) in their five years of existence.
Did the Loggers’ braintrust — owner Dan Kapanke and GM Chris Goodell — take a big step toward changing that on Tuesday with the hiring of highly-successful Sacramento City College head coach Andy McKay?
Is it the equivalent of the Catbirds hiring Flip Saunders in the summer of 1989, then winning a CBA championships in Saunders’ first season (1989-90), then a second one two years later (1991-92 season)?
Only time will tell, but Saunders was an extremely focused, extremely driven, bright young coach when he was hired by the Catbirds’ front office. McKay’s credentials are by far the most impressive of any of the four managers the Loggers have hired, and that’s not a knock against Rick Boyer, Adam Sadler or Estevan Valencia.
What is equally impressive to me is that Kapanke and Goodell have taken a long look in the organization’s mirror, and realized their shortcomings.
“We owe our fans more wins,” Kapanke said in a point-blank manner at Tuesday morning’s video conference where McKay was introduced. “We sense that (fans want a championship) and our fans have been very forgiving. We have not been as successful on the field as we would have hoped.”
McKay certainly appears to have all the coaching tools necessary to change that. His 302-113 record, which includes more postseason wins than any college baseball program in California, is concrete proof he can coach. He’s coached in the Cape Cod League and the Alaskan League, so he’s no stranger to summer collegiate baseball.
That’s all fine and dandy, but what appears to bode well for McKay isn’t just his x’s and o’s. It’s his network of college coaches that he talks to frequently. Coaches that will recommend, and permit, players to come to La Crosse for the summer.
You need horses — healthy and talented horses — to win the race.
“I will be involved (in recruiting) as much as Chris (Goodell) will like me to be involved,” McKay said. “ I think one of the things that may have attracted him to me was I have created a pretty good network of coaches out there at the four-year level because that is what I do. I develop players at the junior college level to get them ready for the four-year level.
“I have a very good reputation with a lot of these schools for developing players and I would think that having them send players to us for the summer is something they would be interested in. Ultimately, Chris is responsible for the recruiting and I think my role is going to be to help him and maybe open up some contacts for the Loggers that the Loggers haven’t had.”
These kind of connections could wrangle some GMs and perhaps create a power struggle within, but Goodell insists that won’t be the case.
“His connections are very wide and very close,” Goodell said. “He’s got a high connection level that we didn’t have before. He understands all aspects of our organization. He is cognizant of all things and understands the big picture of the Northwoods League concept.”
In other words, McKay understands how important the business side of the Loggers is. He understands balance sheets are as important as batting averages, yet you get a sense that this guy will focus his energy in two areas: recruiting, and coaching, and keep his nose out of the areas that Goodell and Kapanke excel.
And, you get the sense that he will do well in both on-field areas. Will that equate to a championship?
“I would like to sit here and guarantee we will win this thing, but that would be kind of pointless,” McKay said, matter-of-factly. “That’s what we want to do. But I really can guarantee you a level of expertise and and an energy and a passion that will be there every single day. The winning usually takes care of itself.”
Beginning next summer, we’ll see if he’s right.
Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com
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