Coach Cool

A personal memory of how a single incident can change life’s trajectory.

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Many years ago, I stopped into Roederer’s Tavern in Burlington, Iowa, for a quick Pabst. To my surprise, sitting there at the bar was the former Burlington Junior College basketball coach Ed Sparling. Back in the late 1960s, I had been his student manager. 

No coach I ever knew approached the game quite like Sparling.

He loved to keep opponents off balance. Sometimes he’d run plays that looked as if they’d been invented on a neighborhood playground. 

One of my favorites came at the opening tip. Instead of sending out his tallest player, he’d have our shortest player jump center against the other team’s giant.

The opponents would always grin, point and giggle. 

What they didn’t know was that our “little guy” had been a state high jump champion. More often than not, he’d win the tip. 

That brief moment of embarrassment set the tone for the entire game.

Even more than his creativity, I admired Coach Sparling’s effortless cool. 

He always wore black-and-white saddle shoes, carried a Zenith transistor radio that played rock and roll nonstop, and chain-smoked Pall Mall cigarettes. 

You usually heard him before you saw him; the music announced his arrival and a cloud of smoke marked his territory.

Eventually, his coaching career took him to UTEP as an assistant to the legendary Don Haskins. 

Oddly enough, I played a small part in how he got there.

One of our JuCo players, Dick Gibbs, was a feisty 6’5” small forward who was heavily recruited by Iowa coach Ralph Miller. 

Dick was expected to join star JuCo guard “Downtown” Freddie Brown, who would later enjoy a remarkable career as Big Ten champion at Iowa and NBA champion at Seattle. 

Dick asked me to drive him to Iowa City for his official meeting with Coach Miller. Unfortunately, my well-worn, cherry-red 1962 Corvair had other ideas. 

It broke down in Columbus Junction. Dick missed the meeting and with it, the athletic scholarship. 

Instead, he and Coach Sparling ended up heading to UTEP together as a package deal. After college Gibbs played in the NBA. 

Years passed I had lost track of Coach Sparling and was surprised to see him sitting at Roederer’s that afternoon. 

I sat on the barstool next to him and said hello. He beamed when he saw me and frankly I was surprised that he remembered my name. 

Before long, I asked where he was coaching now.

“Penn State,” he answered without hesitation.

I was truly impressed.

He lit another Pall Mall, smiled that familiar smile, and said, 

“No, Donnie Baby… not the university…the penitentiary.”

I laughed so hard I nearly spit my beer across the old wooden bar.

When I finally caught my breath, I asked, 

“So how do you like it there?”

Without missing a beat, Coach leaned back, took a slow drag on his cigarette, then grinned.

“I love it for two reasons.”

He paused just long enough to make sure he had my full attention.

“No road trips.”

Another drag.

“And no recruiting.”

That was vintage Ed Sparling.

Decades later, I still laugh every single time I think about that afternoon in Roederer’s Tavern. 

Some coaches win games. A few become legends. Ed Sparling simply became unforgettable as a coach and and just being cool. 

I sure do miss him.

By Don Gardiner

From: United States