There's no way to describe quite the mixed emotions I'm feeling right now about two men whom I had gotten to know quite well during my years of covering the Ann Arbor sports scene.
On Tuesday morning, I learned that
Richard Chenault, Gabriel Richard's longtime girls track and cross-country coach was among six members of
the University of Michigan Survival Flight team killed when their plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Milwaukee. Chenault was one of my favorite coaches in Ann Arbor. Softspoken and unfailingly polite, he deeply appreciated any kind of coverage that his small team received. Small but successful team, I might add. Just two days before his death, his team had finished a surprising second at the Division 3 state finals, the best finish in school history. He was to be recognized Monday night as track coach of the year in the Catholic League.
It's truly amazing that a man like Chenault existed in this day and age. Here was a man who spent so much effort and time to save lives as a transplant specialist at the University of Michigan hospital, working tirelessly to increase organ donation rates across Michigan while going from city to city to pick up much needed body parts And that could have been enough, in terms of good karma. But the 44-year-old former Eastern Michigan athlete also spent 18 years with Gabriel Richard, genuinely caring for his kids in a way that few coaches do. Uncomplainingly, when five members of his track team also wanted to play soccer this spring, he adjusted their schedule so that they could do both.
I'll miss you Richard. And so will a lot of other people.
The other big news was far happier. New Michigan basketball coach John Beilein has hired
Brian Townsend to be his new director of basketball operations. Since 2003, Townsend has been an assistant at Ohio University. But before that, as those in Ann Arbor remember, Townsend was a University of Michigan football player and basketball coach at Pioneer, the Ann Arbor high school that stands diagonally across from Michigan Stadium.
Townsend coached Pioneer to its first and only state title in 1999, but stepped down in 2003 so he could pursue a career in college coaching. Thanks to the intercession from Bo Schembechler, his former coach. Townsend landed a meeting with then U-M hoops coach Tommy Amaker. Ostensibly, the meeting was for Brian to get some advice from Amaker – but he was also hoping Amaker, who had a vacancy on his staff, would want to hire him. The day before the meeting, Brian called me up to ask what how he should present himself to Amaker. Having covered the Wolverines coach for more than a year, I told him what I could. Not only did I truly like Brianas a person, but I felt that the job would be perfect for him. Through hard work and dogged determination, Townsends had developed a well-deserved reputation as an excellent X's and O's coach – something that Amaker desperately needed, most U-M fans agreed. The meeting turned out to be perfunctory and disappointingly brief, Townsend told me afterwards. Basically, the equivalent of "don't call us, we'll call you." And shortly afterwards, Townsend headed down to Ohio – though he really wanted to stay in Ann Arbor and help his alma mater.
Four years later, he'll finally get that chance. It sure will be nice to see his smiling face in Tree Town again.
I just wish Richard Chenault's smile was around too.
