SECOND THOUGHTS: Coach tucks towel to save jeers after pants rip during game

Providence Coach Ed Cooley had to lead the second half and overtime of the Friars’ 76-66 loss to Villanova
in the Big East Championship game Saturday with a towel tucked into his waist and draped over his backside after ripping his pants.
Providence Coach Ed Cooley had to lead the second half and overtime of the Friars’ 76-66 loss to Villanova in the Big East Championship game Saturday with a towel tucked into his waist and draped over his backside after ripping his pants.

Ed Cooley received some in-game relief to the heat of coaching in the Big East Tournament championship game Saturday night.

The Providence coach ripped the back of his suit pants during the second half of his team's 76-66 overtime loss to Villanova at Madison Square Garden in New York. He covered the hole by cramming a Gatorade towel into his waist and draping it over his backside. He coached the rest of the game that way.

"When I sat down I felt the great breeze in the crack," Cooley said. "My pants ripped."

Villanova Coach Jay Wright said he didn't know about Cooley's wardrobe malfunction until Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman told him after the game. He didn't see it but plans on checking out what all the fuss was about.

"I didn't even notice it," said Wright after winning a second consecutive crown. "I didn't know. I never look at the other coach. I really don't. Because I love Ed Cooley. So I don't want to -- God knows what he's doing down there. I don't want to see anything crazy. I never saw it. I never saw anything. I have no idea. I'll watch the video, though.

Wright, known for being one of the sharpest-dressed coaches in the country, had a different idea of how he'd deal with a rip in his own pants.

"I don't know what I would do, man," he said. "I think I would try -- I think I would try to fake like it didn't happen and hold my coat over it, I think. Thank God I haven't had that yet."

EARLY WALK-OFF PRACTICE

Bryce Harper pantomimed a swing, flipped his imaginary bat, pointed to where the home dugout would be and trotted around the bases while the 100 or so Washington fans surrounding the practice field roared.

Spring training is a time for practicing the little things. On Saturday in Nationals camp, that meant rehearsing walk-off home runs.

"It's going to happen," first-year Manager Dave Martinez told the players. "One of you guys are going to hit a walk-off home run."

Washington position players began their day with baserunning drills on one of the Nationals back fields. Before heading to an adjacent field for batting practice, each position player had a chance to practice one game-winning trip around the bases.

"I tell them, just like everything else, we work really hard, I also want them to have fun," Martinez said.

Some players took their swings, pretended to lay the bat on the plate, and casually made their way around the bases.

First base coach Tim Bogar extended his hand to its highest point, forcing 5-foot-9 minor league catcher Jhonatan Solano to sprint and leap to deliver a proper high-five.

And then their was veteran Howie Kendrick, who re-enacted the celebration from his Aug. 13 grand slam that defeated San Francisco in 11 innings last season.

Kendrick released a primal scream as he headed toward first base, gave a leaping high-five to third base coach Bob Henley, and raced to the plate where he celebrated in a scrum with teammates.

"Howie was all in," Martinez said. "I loved it."

Recounting the hypothetical at-bat, Kendrick said he blasted an imaginary hanging breaking ball into the seats.

"It's something fun," Kendrick said afterward. "Kind of mind games, I guess."

QUIZ

Where was Providence Coach Ed Cooley's first Division I head coaching job?

ANSWER

Before being chose to lead Providence in 2011, Cooley was the head coach at Fairfield University from 2006-11.

Sports on 03/12/2018

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