Reuters- Loyola Players Dog Davidson

[bobmckellar]

Loyola Players Dog Davidson
Reuters - Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:45am EST

The bizarre strategies did not end when time expired Tuesday night at the Davidson-Loyola basketball game played in Davidson's Belk Arena. Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos had kept two defenders on Davidson's point guard Stephen Curry the entire game, holding the nation's top scorer in college basketball to zero points.

That left the rest of Loyola playing defense three-on-four. By halftime, Loyola was down 20 points and it was clear that the strategy was not working. Despite outcry from the fans, Patsos continued the three-on-four defense, becoming increasingly angry and physical with his players. Loyola finally lost by 30 points as the rest of Davidson's team stepped up and scored 78 without their most famous teammate. Stephen Curry remained double-teamed until the last second on the clock and beyond.

In a bizarre move, the two players who had been guarding Curry followed him to the Davidson locker room after the game.

"I kinda said to them, 'Uh, guys, the game's over. What are you doing here?'" related a bemused Stephen Curry in an interview this past Thursday night. "They followed me right in after the handshake line. They just didn't want to leave."

The two players, unnamed at the request of Loyola College, then confronted Davidson's head coach, Bob McKillop. "I found the whole thing difficult to understand," McKillop said by phone before his Thanksgiving lunch. "I'm not sure what it is Coach Patsos was trying to do with his players, but it seems like the communication broke down somewhere."

However, it seems that the Loyola players were not adhering to any game plan when they followed Stephen Curry, Davidson's number 30, off the court.

"They were asking me if they could stay," said McKillop. "They said they saw how I worked with my players and how my players handled themselves, and they wanted to be part of that. They wanted to leave Coach Patsos."

The majority of the Davidson basketball team was sympathetic. "I don't blame them," said Steve Rossiter, #23, who lead the team in assists. "I mean, that guy was all over the place. Really out of bounds, man."

"I just felt really bad for those guys," said Bryant Barr, #24. "They didn't even get to play the game. All they could do was stand there."

Despite feeling sympathetic, Coach McKillop had to turn the Loyola players away. "I can't take another coach's players," he said somberly. "I understand what they must be going though, but I cannot step in. It would be inappropriate."

McKillop asked the Loyola players to leave the Davidson locker room. The Loyola players complied, but apparently did not return to their own locker room to prepare to depart with their team.

"Barr and I walked out to head back to our room, and the two guys were hiding in the back of Belk [Arena]," Curry revealed. The Loyola players were watching their teammates embark on the bus to drive back to Maryland, and asked Curry and Barr not to tell Coach Patsos where they were. "They asked if we knew any good hotels around, and if they could get a ride," Curry said.

Barr spoke up. "I said, 'Guys, we got a futon. Just come on back with us.' I think Steph was a little surprised that I said that, but come on, we had to help these guys. Patsos is one crazy [expletive deleted.] Crap, don't quote me on that."

The two Loyola players gratefully followed Barr and Curry back to their dorm room for the night, although they were allegedly bothered by Curry's desk lamp as he finished some homework.

"I feel kinda bad," said Curry. "I mean, Bryant's used to it, but it was almost 3am and I hadn't finished that assignment yet. My professor had already given me one extension so I had to get it in. I guess I could have gone to the 24 hour room, but man, it's cold in there. I already had my pajamas on."

The two Loyola players apparently adapted to the difficult sleeping arrangement and rebounded the next day, accompanying Curry to his weekly volunteer work at the animal shelter. Curry and several of his classmates take time out of their busy collegiate schedule to acclimate stray or rescued animals to human contact. The Loyola players entered into the spirit of altruism with gusto, playing with puppies and kittens for nearly an hour and a half before they were tragically interrupted.

"I didn't believe it at first," Curry admitted. "I heard yelling in the lobby and all of a sudden Patsos busted through the door, yelling and making that stupid triangle sign. The Loyola guys were really startled. They looked kinda terrified, actually, and all the animals freaked out. The puppy I was holding pissed all over me."

Patsos had apparently tracked down his players, and came to urge them to return to Loyola College. Despite Curry's best efforts to defuse the situation, the Loyola players left with Patsos. Curry was able to arrange for the last-minute adoption of one of the puppies, and the Loyola players accepted the impromptu gift with heartfelt thanks.

"I'm gonna miss hanging out with those guys," Curry said. "They didn't say a whole lot, but they were cool, man. They were in a bad situation but they were just cool."

Sources say that the Patsos and the Loyola players returned safely to Loyola College in Maryland. The players named the puppy after Patsos, and are apparently training it to be an assistant coach for the Loyola basketball team.

"Douchenozzle is doing really great," reported a fellow assistant coach who did not wish to be named. "He's really got what it takes to be a coach here. Really determined, really feisty. He's barking at those players constantly, and just this morning he bit our point guard on the leg."

The puppy may have the chance to rise quickly through the ranks, as there are rumors that the head coach position will soon be vacant.

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OK, OK, this is not a real Reuters dispatch. It came from the Pink Hair Nonsense News Service (PHNNS).

I'll bet she had you for a few paragraphs, though.