"Off The Air" THANKS, COACH Matt Fulks

Despite the fact that I grew up in Kansas City, I had this dream, a prayer really, to play baseball for Coach Ken Dugan at Lipscomb University. Heck, I even made the 560-mile trek alone to Nashville each summer for four years to attend his baseball camps for a week (I wouldnÕt even go to church camp less than 45 miles away with friends for a weekend). One of my biggest thrills before graduating from high school was getting a phone call from the man himself to discuss my hitting -- OK, it wasnÕt completely unsolicited, I had sent him a tape and asked for his advice -- thatÕs when I knew for sure that I wanted to be a Bison.

Last Friday morning, February 18, at the age of 64, Coach Dugan passed away in a Nashville hospital. For several years he had been battling ParkinsonÕs Disease and calcified lungs, which even five years ago had left him at 50-percent breathing capacity. The news of CoachÕs passing didnÕt get much ink outside of Tennessee, but it should have, because not only the Lipscomb community, but the baseball world, lost a great friend. Dugan, who coached his alma mater to two NAIA national championships and 1,137 wins in 37 seasons, was an innovator. He introduced the idea of a fall baseball schedule to colleges east of the Mississippi River.

Coach always had a secret desire to be a sports writer ... therefore, he authored four baseball books, one physical education book, and several freelance articles, before other coaches turned writing into a profitable hobby.

As LipscombÕs athletic director, he pushed for the addition of a womenÕs basketball team in the early 1970s -- that program, like DuganÕs baseball teams, has been one of the elites in the NAIA. Through his longevity at Lipscomb, among several future professional players, CoachÕs roster included his brother, and his two sons. Dugan was a coach by which all coaches were measured. He built teams that were used as models by other programs -- not only small college, but prominent NCAA teams, as well.

One of CoachÕs friends was legendary Oklahoma State head coach Gary Ward, who wrote in the preface to DuganÕs 1996 teaching bible, Coaching Championship Baseball, "The true teacher is like the burning candle -- while consuming itself, it lights the way for others. Thanks again Coach Dugan for lighting my path." DuganÕs teams, seemingly easy at times, won. They won games; they won championships.

But winning on the field was not an obsession for Dugan. His family talks about how, when Coach came home on a spring evening, they couldnÕt tell whether the team had won or lost. Coach simply was happy to be home. He wanted to be considered a winner with his family, his friends and in his spiritual walk. He succeeded.

A comment during DuganÕs funeral service on Monday was the fact that he didnÕt mind asking his friends for favors because he knew that they loved him and would do anything for him. True, but the feeling was reciprocal. Personally, I know he was the type of friend that if you wanted to talk, he was there. If you needed a last-minute guest on your Saturday morning radio show, he not only agreed to do the interview, he drove 20 miles to the station to join you in person, instead of on the phone. ThereÕs a line toward the beginning of Rocky III when Rocky Balboa tells his brother-in-law, "Friends donÕt owe; they do because they wanna do." (Maybe not the most poetic line ever said, but you get the point.) So it went for Dugan. In this business, there usually isnÕt time to develop good friendships with coaches. Play-by-play announcers that follow the same team for several years have that luxury.

The part of those coachÕs shows that arenÕt heard on the air are extremely special. I was blessed enough to develop a unique friendship with Dugan and his family as a play-by-play announcer, camp instructor, writer and student. In fact, I can publicly say that Dugan was the original coach that eventually evolved into my first book, Behind the Stats. When a freelance story about him was offered to me, I felt I knew Coach so well, that I could write a book about him. Eight other legendary coaches were added. There are so many different stories and personal memories that people have about Ken Dugan.

I will always remember going to lunch with him at Burger King once a month. He was with me when I proposed to my wife on-air. The proposal was supposed to be during a Bison baseball game in Memphis. The game was canceled because of rain, but Coach agreed to do a 30 minute "special" show (we never did off-day shows) to help execute my plan. Things turned out better with him there because his dry sense of humor was able to calm my nervousness. Now I couldnÕt imagine proposing any other way.

Shortly after Tony Muser became the manager of the Kansas City Royals, I saw Coach and told him that I was going to Kansas City to see a game. (Dugan had gotten to know Muser a year earlier.) Coach told me, "Go to the game early, go down toward the Royals dugout, and when you see Muser, donÕt yell ÔMuserÕ or anything like that, yell, ÔKen DuganÕ and heÕll turnaround." As usual, Coach was right. I later met Muser while I was working on a book with the Royals broadcasters. I told him the Coach Dugan story. He laughed and agreed with CoachÕs scheme.

Fortunately, that prayer of playing for Dugan didnÕt pan out for me. I wasnÕt offered a scholarship and didnÕt make the final cut to be a walk-on in 1988. Instead, I was given a unique friendship for which I always will be thankful.

A friend of mine suggested to me last week that God must be putting together a title-caliber football team, with Walter Payton leading the offense, Derrick Thomas controlling the defense, and Tom Landry as the head coach. Today IÕm convinced that God is getting ready for spring by assembling His championship baseball team. He certainly has started at the top with Ken Dugan. Thanks, Coach, and take care ... we know that youÕve already made a teamful of friends up there.

--Matt Fulks, was the radio play-by-play announcer for Bison baseball during Ken Dugan's final six years at Lipscomb. He has authored four books, including "Behind the Stats: Tennessee's Coaching Legends," a book which featured Dugan. Fulks latest project, "CBS Sports Presents: Stories from the Final Four," hit bookstores this week. For more information on Matt's books, visit MWFCommunications . Feel free to email your favorite Coach Dugan memory to Matt at comments@mwfcommunications.com. If you would like, your story will be forwarded to the Dugan family.

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