In addition to new-found fame and his first career NCAA Tournament victory, Georgia State Coach Ron Hunter will take another keepsake with him whenever the Panthers' postseason run comes to an end.
He is keeping the rolling blue office chair he tumbled off Thursday while celebrating his son, R.J.'s game-winning three-pointer that toppled third-seeded Baylor in the West Region.
"That chair has more protection than the President of the United States right now," Hunter told reporters in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday. "I want that chair back. I don't know where they got it from, but that chair, it will stay with me for the rest of my life. Whenever we leave, I'm taking that chair with me. Win, lose or draw, that chair is going to be in my house with me the rest of my life."
The Georgia State coach tore an Achilles tendon celebrating the Panthers' victory in the Sun Belt title game Sunday. Though Hunter tried seven or eight different chairs, including one specially made for people with Achilles injuries, the old blue office chair that Georgia State's trainer brought him proved to be the best option.
The chair now has its own Twitter handle (@RonHunterschair) and apparently is a subject of superstition for the coach.
"No one sits in the chair, including R.J., the wife, seniors," Hunter said. "That's my chair. I don't get a lot out of this. I think I got one goody bag from the NCAA since I've been here, but I'm taking that chair with me."
The elder Hunter actually blamed his team's early deficit in part to having to get used to sitting instead of standing.
"I've never sat down my entire life in coaching," Hunter said. "That's not who I am, and I couldn't bark out the signals like I wanted. I couldn't get comfortable. ... I didn't want this to be difficult for the players. I can sit down if it's just for me, but they're used to their coach coaching a certain way, saying certain things. I think you could tell they were turning and looking and didn't see me at a certain spot."
Mayor chimes in
The attitude toward the Dallas Cowboys in the wake of Wednesday's Greg Hardy signing has drawn sharp rebukes.
A local sportscaster started things by blasting the Cowboys for adding a guy who missed most of last year because of domestic violence charges. Now the local government has chimed in.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the signing was disappointing to him: "As a Cowboys fan, this was a shot in the gut."
"I'm a big Cowboys fan. I love them to death and I want them to beat the Eagles every time they play," Rawlings said. "But at some point, being a sports fan gets trumped by being a father, husband, wanting to do what's right for women, so this is not a good thing.
"It is something that I heard about and immediately called the Cowboys this morning. I had a couple of conversations with them because I wanted to hear their side," Rawlings said.
He said the team told him they "took this very seriously," saying their background checks and the structure of Hardy's contract offered some degree of protection and/or incentive for their newest addition to stay out of trouble.
The mayor said he's still a fan, but "that doesn't mean I have to agree with every play that's called and every person that's hired, and in this case, I don't."
QUIZ
Before 2015, when was the last time Arkansas' men's and women's basketball teams won games in the same year of the NCAA Tournament?
ANSWER
- The Arkansas men defeated Nebraska before losing to Utah. The Arkansas women defeated Hawaii on their way to a Final Four run where they lost to Tennessee in the national semifinals.
Sports on 03/21/2015