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McElhiney Back in Coaching Job

By DAVID BRANDT
dbrandt@jacksonsun.com
Feb 4 2005

Gleason native will bring her team to hometown Saturday

GLEASON - The potentially huge headache on his hands had high school principal Randy Frazier a little bit irritated Thursday afternoon.

But about 2 p.m., the call he'd been waiting on finally came after five days of hand-wringing and speculation.

Coach Ashley McElhiney and the ABA's Nashville Rhythm are still coming to play a professional basketball game Saturday at Gleason High School.

McElhiney, the former Gleason and Vanderbilt basketball star, was reinstated as the Rhythm's coach Thursday after a bizarre on-court incident on Saturday left her job in limbo. Part-owner Sally Anthony took to the court and tried to fire McElhiney in the third quarter of a 110-109 victory over Kansas City. Anthony later had to be subdued by security.

Ashley's father, Danny McElhiney, said he couldn't comment on specifics of her reinstatement.

''I'd love to tell you more about it - I really would,'' Danny McElhiney said. ''But all of her lawyers and agents have told me not to say much. All I can say is I'm really excited to see Ashley in Gleason, and she will coach on Saturday.''

The Rhythm released an official statement saying Ashley McElhiney was back with the team, but didn't give many details regarding her return except that Tony Bucher, who is Sally Anthony's husband, is taking over as the Rhythm's chief executive officer.

''We understand any disappointment and anger our fans felt from the incident,'' Rhythm general manager Daniel Bucher said in a statement. ''But we now ask them to please put this in context with the whole season and show their support for our coach and the team.''

Frazier is in charge of bringing the pro basketball game to Gleason, and he said it's a good thing McElhiney was reinstated because no Ashley meant no game as far as he was concerned.

''To be honest, if Ashley wasn't coming I don't think anyone would have shown up,'' Frazier said smiling. ''We're happy she's back with the team, but no matter what she decided, we wanted her to do what was best for herself.''

Tickets are back on sale for Saturday's game at the new Gleason gym. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $12 and seating is first-come, first-served. Frazier said he expected nearly all 1,450 tickets to be sold.

Several hundred tickets had already been sold before McElhiney's job troubles, and Frazier wasn't sure what would have happened had the game been canceled.

''Obviously, we would have had to do something to make the situation right,'' Frazier said. ''But I haven't been in contact with the Rhythm all week. It's been very frustrating for me trying to figure out what to do.''

The 23-year-old McElhiney is the first female to coach a men's professional basketball team. She has led the Rhythm to an 18-7 record in her first season as head coach.

Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at Gleason High School or by phone at (731) 648-5351.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Visit talkback.jacksonsun.com to share your thoughts.

- David Brandt, (731) 425-9636

About Ashley McElhiney

02/03/05 - American Basketball Association (ABA) Nashville Rhythm

The Nashville Rhythm announced today that Ashley McElhiney will continue to be the head coach of the team. On Saturday, January 29, 2005, one of the three team owners announced the firing of Ms. McElhiney. The majority owners and the team General Manager have since confirmed that this action was taken without their consent.

Team General Manager Daniel Bucher issued the following statement: "As our last press release stated, the owners regret the incident and want to apologize to Coach McElhiney, the team, our fans, Lipscomb University and our sponsors, all whom have supported the team throughout the season. We have had a very successful season with a record of 18 and 7 and have worked hard to provide a good value to our fans. We understand any disappointment and anger our fans felt from the incident. But we now ask them to please put this in context with the whole season and show their support for our coach and the team. The Rhythm needs our fans to help us finish the season successfully." Coach McElhiney added, "I am committed to moving forward with the Rhythm and ask our fans and the city of Nashville to continue to support our team"

Regarding the Rhythm management structure, Tony Bucher will assume the CEO position going forward. Daniel Bucher will report to him as General Manager.

Gleason Expecting to Host Rhythm with McElhiney as Coach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. It looks like Ashley McElhiney will be coaching the Nashville Rhythm again at least for one more game.

02/02/05 - American Basketball Association (ABA) Nashville Rhythm

Los Angeles, CA – In a statement released on behalf of Ashley McElhiney by her agents at BiGGSHOT INTERNATIONAL, and in response to a statement issued this morning by the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Nashville Rhythm, Ms. McElhiney has not yet reached an agreement with Rhythm management as to whether or not she will continue as the Rhythm’s head coach for the remainder of the ABA season. Ms. McElhiney, who is known as the first woman hired to coach a men's professional basketball team, was fired on January 29, 2005, by Sally Anthony, co-owner and chief executive of the ABA's Nashville Rhythm.

Ongoing communications between Ms. McElhiney and Rhythm management concerning her status with the team are currently being facilitated by her attorneys and agents, Gilberto Garcia, Jr. and Daniel Prince. Ms. McElhiney is handling this situation in a manner that demonstrates grace, dignity and respect. She believes that providing any further comment on the matter, while communications are still in progress and until a final determination is made, would be premature at this time.

Wednesday, 02/02/05

Rhythm Issues Blanket Apology

By BILLY BYLER
Staff Writer ~ The Tennessean

The Nashville Rhythm issued an apology yesterday for the courtside disturbance created by co-owner Sally Anthony during a game last Saturday but shed little light on what the future holds for the American Basketball Association team.

Anthony confronted Coach Ashley McElhiney on the bench in the third quarter of Saturday's game between the Rhythm and Kansas City Knights at Lipscomb University and was restrained by security officers. Anthony fired McElhiney after the game.

The team e-mailed a two-sentence statement to various media outlets yesterday:

''The ownership of the Nashville Rhythm would like to apologize to Ashley McElhiney, our fans, Lipscomb University, the city of Nashville, and our sponsors for the incident that occurred during the Nashville Rhythm game on Saturday January 29, 2005. The organization is reviewing the sequence of events and will have a decision on a course of action as soon as possible.''

McElhiney's agents released a statement on her behalf saying that they have ''not yet reached an agreement with Rhythm management as to whether or not she will continue as the Rhythm's head coach.''

Attempts to contact Anthony, the other Rhythm owners, General Manager Daniel Bucher and McElhiney were unsuccessful yesterday. ABA Chairman Joe Newman said he considers the team still in operation.

''I can't imagine them still (deciding to fold),'' Newman said. ''I have 30 people that would step into Nashville in a minute.''

Newman said the ABA has received ''easily 1,000 calls and e–mails'' from people who attended the game or who saw media coverage of the incident.

He said the league has no plans to take disciplinary action against the Rhythm, which is in its first season of operation.

''The league is not going to provide any sanction or fine, but because of the incident, the league and the team are going to donate red, white and blue balls to Nashville youth leagues,'' he said.

As for McElhiney's status with the Rhythm, Newman had an opinion of his own.

''I think they're going to do what they can to bring her back,'' he said. ''She's coached one of the best teams in the ABA and has proved to be an excellent coach. I can't speak for them, but if I had a top-caliber coach and it were not my decision, I'd rather have Ashley than not have Ashley.''

The Rhythm is 18-7 under McElhiney, the first woman to coach a men's pro team.

Yesterday she was selected as an assistant coach for East team in the Feb. 14 ABA All–Star Game in Las Vegas.

''She deserves to be the (all-star) coach even if she turns out not to be the (Rhythm) coach,'' Newman said.

''If she would like to come as an assistant coach, she is more than welcome to.''

The Rhythm is slated to return to action against St. Louis on Saturday night in Gleason, where McElhiney went to high school. Source: The Tennessean.

Rhythm Owner off Key in Firing McElhiney

Stephanie Sturgis - Sports Editor, Weakley County Press

Ashley McElhiney deserves better. Plain and simple. She also de-serves a huge public apology.

McElhiney, the pride of Gleason who made headlines last summer with her hiring as the first female head coach of a pro men's basketball team, was unceremoniously fired in a mid-game explosion Satur-day night by her apparently delusional team co-owner, Sally Anthony. It was as classless and clueless an act as anyone has ever witnessed on a basketball court.

And that includes Dennis Rodman's antics during his multi-hued hair heyday and Mark Cuban's crazy rah-rah rooting. Matter of fact, Nashville Rhythm co-owner Anthony's exploits were more bizarre than anything the Worm ever tried to pull off.

Anthony rushed onto the court and confronted Mc-Elhiney on the sideline while her team, the Rhythm, squared off against the Kansas City Knights in ABA action. The screaming co-owner had to be escorted off the court by a Rhythm assistant coach and arena security. Before leaving the arena, Anthony, a self-proclaimed music "entrepreneur" and "role model" according to her own Web site, went on to verbally confront the brother of an injured player, flashing an inappropriate hand gesture in his direction. And we're not talking Larry "Bird" here.

According to reports of her comments during and after the game, Anthony had issue with McElhiney playing recent signee Matt Freije. Anthony had earlier ordered the former Gleason Lady Bulldog to bench Freije, the all-time leading scorer at Vanderbilt. Freije went on to score 14 points in the second game of his two-game contract and totaled 44 points in his weekend appearance with the ABA franchise.

Let's see, signing a local hoop standout to an exorbitant for the ABA $5,000-per-game contract, then demanding that he be benched and firing your coach, who has guided the team to an 18-7 record, in front of everyone in the stands during the game. Not so priceless.

What sense does that make?

Game reports reveal the tirade caused Rhythm fans seated courtside to plead with the refs to whistle a technical against the disruptive owner.

Not only did McElhiney classily brush aside the mid-game controversy, she went on to coach her team to a come-from-behind win over the visiting Knights. It was a pure McElhiney moment. As she has her entire hoop career, she set aside all distractions, focused on the game and brought home a win.

Showing plenty of cool, McElhiney has refused to join the verbal fray Anthony began.

Those who have commented include players from her team who have given their coach a verbal vote of support.

She also got a standing ovation from Vandy fans when she was recognized during a Commodore game Sunday.

As of Monday, the Rhythm's scheduled game with St. Louis was still on to be played in Tater Town Saturday night.

It's a chance for Weakley Countians to let Anthony know how they feel, whether McElhiney is on the Rhythm sideline or not. Source: Weakley County Press.

Sometimes it's Hard to be a Woman

By Brenda Crowell, February 1, 2005

When I was about 12 years old, the only thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a sports writer covering the Philadelphia Flyers.

But that was back in the mid-70s, and girls just didn't grow up to be things like sports writers. I should have known better; I spent my pre-teen years taking piano lessons instead of playing hockey with my brother — the whole "girls don't do that" thing.

Nearly 30 years later, it's still not easy being a woman in the sports field. Every so often, I'll still take a call that goes something like this:

Me: Sentinel sports, this is Brenda.

Caller: I'd like to speak to the sports editor.

Me: He's not in tonight, but I'm the assistant sports editor. Can I help you with something?

(long pause)

Caller: Uh ... is there a guy there I can talk to?

Then there was the time when a fan of a certain high school wrestler e-mailed me and accused me of sleeping with her wrestler's rival because the rival was named our Athlete of the Week — probably not something the male members of the department have to contend with.

Actually, being female in The Sentinel sports department isn't bad, considering that 50 percent of our full-time staff is female, plus one intern, one part-time writer and one clerk. Not like my last job, where — even if I'd just gotten back from covering a game — I still had to answer the phones, take care of anything that needed to be typed, etc., while the guys got back from their games, wrote their stories undisturbed and were done. And where the boss's girlfriend, who worked as a copy editor in the news department, was so threatened by the presence of a female in an otherwise male department — and working in close proximity to the object of her obsession — that she forbade me to speak to him. (And eventually bullied me into quitting, which actually ended up working out a lot better for me than for her.)

Having gone through all that, I take a lot of pride in the accomplishments of athletes like golfers Michelle Wie and Annika Sorenstam, tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, and hockey players Manon Rheaume and Hayley Wickenheiser, along with female sports journalists such as the AP's Janie McCauley, Jenna Fryer and Nancy Armour (just to name a few). Women get in-depth for ESPN and cover Monday Night Football. Girls are getting it done in sports.

So when I heard that the American Basketball Association's Nashville Rhythm had named former Vanderbilt point guard Ashley McElhiney as the first female coach of a professional men's basketball team, I was pretty happy.

Until Sunday.

Naturally, I was pretty bummed to learn that McElhiney had been fired. But that was nothing compared to how I felt when I heard the story behind it.

Of all the people to fire McElhiney, it had to be Rhythm CEO and co-owner Sally Anthony. Yep, another female in sports.

If McElhiney had posted, say, a 3-19 record with Nashville or otherwise shown little evidence of coaching ability, her firing would be understandable.

Instead, Anthony's actions fulfilled the same negative stereotypes of women in sports management that the witchy, power-hungry bimbo Indians owner did in "Major League."

Under McElhiney, the Rhythm are 18-7 — that's a .720 winning percentage — and are in third place in the ABA's Blue Division. In that fateful game Saturday, they trailed Kansas City by 18 points before rallying for a 110-109 win ... with McElhiney behind the bench.

The 23-year-old seems to know what she's doing. Except that Saturday, she did something Anthony didn't want her to do — she played Vanderbilt all-time leading scorer Matt Freije. Anthony wanted Freije to sit on the bench.

According to Anthony, "My co-owner and my GM decided to pay Matt Freije to have the name here." She claims to not have known about Freije's signing, yet happily extolled his addition at a press conference last Thursday.

Freije signed to play two games for $10,000. Saying her players were "struggling financially," Anthony decided he should be benched.

So when Freije hit the court Saturday night, so did Anthony, who started yelling at McElhiney during the third quarter. Real professional.

Even afterwards, when Anthony had had time to get her emotions and temper under control, there was no remorse, no apology, no accountability, no sanity — just more shrewishness.

"If (Rhythm players and staff) are willing to stick their neck out for Ashley, and that would be dumb, I would fold the team right now," Anthony said. "If I say no it should be no. She's done. She's fired."

I'm glad women like Anthony are a very small minority in the sports world. Otherwise, I'd probably still be at my old job watching the guys get all the good assignments while I got the leftovers in between typing and answering phones and being pushed around by the boss's girlfriend.

Of course, just like the guys, sometimes women in sports deserve to be fired. This time was one of them.

Except they got the wrong woman. Source: The Sentinel

Ashley McElhiney Saga

By Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press

NASHVILLE - Adam Sonn and his Nashville Rhythm teammates want to keep Ashley McElhiney as their coach and hope the owners of the ABA franchise reverse a decision to fire the first female coach of a men's professional team.

Co-owner Sally Anthony walked onto the court during the third quarter of a game Saturday night and fired McElhiney after the coach refused to bench a player. Sonn, who has a broken foot, was sitting beside McElhiney on the bench at the time.

''Why (Anthony) would pull something like this is beyond me, and it was embarrassing for all parties involved,'' Sonn said Monday. ''I just think that things are going to settle back down, and you know later this week things will get back to normal.''

The firing has been national news, and Sonn even received an e-mail from a friend touring in Japan who read about it on the Internet.

''Everybody's terming it a sports soap opera,'' Sonn said. ''It's pretty much holding up to that standard right now until something more definite comes out, which should be in the next day or two.''

Anthony and her husband, and co-owner, Tony Bucher didn't return messages left Monday By The Associated Press. Rhythm general manager Daniel Bucher, Anthony's brother-in-law, also didn't return multiple messages. The team's third owner, Justin Christian, could not be reached for comment.

Anthony, a pop singer who has her own record label, helped the expansion Rhythm make a national splash last May with the hiring of McElhiney, then 22. Nashville is 18-7 under McElhiney.

Saturday's argument involved the playing time of Matt Freije, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer who was signed last week after being released by the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. Anthony wanted Freije, who made a reported $10,000 for two games, to be benched. McElhiney refused. That's when Anthony fired her.

Assistant coach Scott Flatt had to help restrain Anthony, and security guards eventually kept Anthony from returning to the sideline. Guards escorted her from the building after the game.

''I can't explain it,'' Sonn said. ''I've never seen anything like that. For someone to storm on the court while the game is on and threaten to take Ashley out of there, it's just ridiculous.''

He gave McElhiney credit for helping the Rhythm rebound from an 18-point deficit in that game and beat Kansas City 110-109.

''That just shows greatness on her and just a testament to her - how well and classy she handled the situation,'' Sonn said.

After the game, Anthony went into the locker room and told the Rhythm she had fired McElhiney and they could support her or Anthony would fold the expansion team.

''She's an owner. I give her that, and she's the face of ownership. But she's not what she thinks she is,'' Sonn said.

McElhiney has declined to comment. She received a standing ovation Sunday when she appeared at a Vanderbilt women's game.

The Rhythm are scheduled to play Saint Louis on Saturday night in McElhiney's old high school gym in Gleason.

Anthony, a pop singer who has her own record label, helped the expansion Rhythm make a national splash last May with the hiring of McElhiney, then 22. Nashville is 18-7 under McElhiney.

Saturday's argument involved the playing time of Matt Freije, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer who was signed last week after being released by the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. Anthony wanted Freije, who made a reported $10,000 for two games, to be benched. McElhiney refused. That's when Anthony fired her.

Assistant coach Scott Flatt had to help restrain Anthony, and security guards eventually kept Anthony from returning to the sideline. Guards escorted her from the building after the game.

''I can't explain it,'' Sonn said. ''I've never seen anything like that. For someone to storm on the court while the game is on and threaten to take Ashley out of there, it's just ridiculous.''

He gave McElhiney credit for helping the Rhythm rebound from an 18-point deficit in that game and beat Kansas City 110-109.

''That just shows greatness on her and just a testament to her - how well and classy she handled the situation,'' Sonn said.

After the game, Anthony went into the locker room and told the Rhythm she had fired McElhiney and they could support her or Anthony would fold the expansion team.

''She's an owner. I give her that, and she's the face of ownership. But she's not what she thinks she is,'' Sonn said.

McElhiney has declined to comment. She received a standing ovation Sunday when she appeared at a Vanderbilt women's game.

The Rhythm are scheduled to play Saint Louis on Saturday night in McElhiney's old high school gym in Gleason.

Commentary on the McElhiney Firing

By STEVE WILSTEIN
The Associated Press
Feb 1 2005

Rhythm's owner joins list of characters associated with ABA

Sally Anthony's antics fit perfectly in the colorful, crazy history of the American Basketball Association, the red-white-and-blue ball league where fans once hanged an owner in effigy.

It's not clear yet whether Anthony, co-owner of the fledgling Nashville Rhythm, is to be ridiculed or pitied, much less figuratively lynched, for her bizarre rant on court against the groundbreaking woman she hired to coach a men's pro team.

What possessed Anthony to shout and swear at Ashley McElhiney for playing popular newcomer Matt Freije, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer?

Anthony was all for Freije last week, when he was signed for a two-game deal for $10,000. Now Freije was playing his second game on Saturday night against the Kansas City Knights and Anthony ordered him benched.

What drove Anthony to fire McElhiney and deliver an ultimatum to the players, threatening to fold the team if they didn't like it?

McElhiney, the 23-year-old former point guard at Vanderbilt, had proved herself a credible coach, leading the Rhythm to six straight wins to start the season and an 18-7 record that put the team third in the ABA's Blue division and sixth overall among 33 teams.

McElhiney's age and sex didn't matter. The players, to a man, liked her and respected her. They're in this minor league, with roots that go back to Julius ''Dr. J'' Erving, hoping to get a shot at the NBA. They think McElhiney can help them get there.

''We definitely want Ashley to be the coach,'' the Rhythm's Adam Sonn said. ''She's done a phenomenal job. Sally totally overstepped her boundary, without even talking to the other owners about why she would do this. It's a mystery to us, a ridiculous soap opera.''

Anthony, a singer who owns the team with her husband, Tony Bucher, and his business partner, Justin Christian, hired McElhiney to great fanfare last spring.

''My goal was not only to put a competitive team on the floor, but to give qualified females opportunities they are not normally afforded,'' Anthony said at the time.

''I'll be at every game and if I see anyone give Ashley a hard time, I don't care if it's some big 6-foot-8 guy, I'll walk right out there and yank him off the court. ... I wouldn't care if we both got technicals. I will not let Ashley be disrespected by anyone.''

Anthony, who last year put out a rock CD called ''Vent,'' and appears on the cover as if she had a bruised cheek, saw her team and others being a stepping stone for a woman someday coaching in the NBA.

Instead, Anthony stepped all over McElhiney in front of her team and fans.

In the third quarter against the Knights, with the Rhythm trying to come back from 18 points down, Anthony charged onto the court to confront her coach.

''She lit into Ashley, saying, 'You work for me, I pay your salary, you need to pull (Freije) off the floor,''' Sonn said.

McElhiney, who has declined to discuss the incident, tried to ignore Anthony and continue coaching. Security guards eventually led the owner off the floor.

The Rhythm came back to win 110-109. McElhiney didn't go into the locker room, but Anthony did - to deliver her ultimatum to the players.

''We don't even know Sally Anthony,'' Sonn said. ''She's one of the owners of our team, the face of the ownership, but has never been in contact with any of us about anything.

''Nobody answered her. We just wanted to get out of there. It was crazy. I've never seen anything like this happen in my life. This was just an out-of-control thing, stemming from something that nobody really knows about.''

McElhiney's firing is all the more perplexing since the Rhythm's next game is Saturday night against St. Louis in McElhiney's old high school gym in Gleason.

At some point after the incident, The Tennessean reported, Anthony wound up at Vanderbilt hospital.

''I tripped on some stairs and hit my head last night,'' Anthony told the newspaper Sunday. ''Some people think that I did it on purpose, but I just tripped.''

She declined to go into further detail.

On the same day, Anthony told The City Paper in Nashville that she was bit by a dog and her back was hurting.

She also said she knew nothing of the efforts to sign Freije, yet she appeared at a news conference last Thursday to praise his addition.

McElhiney told The Associated Press that she did not want to discuss the matter at the moment, but would have something to say ''in a few days.''

By that time, the Rhythm players hope, she will be back on the job.

''We're confident things will be resolved,'' Sonn said. ''We're feeling good that Ashley will be reinstated as the coach. The other owners will overrule Sally.''

The old ABA had all sorts of characters. Virginia owner Earl Foreman, who sold off Erving, George Gervin and Swen Nater within a year, was hanged in effigy nightly by furious fans.

The league had a coach named ''Slick'' and players named ''Fatty'' and ''Goo.'' It had Marvin ''Bad News'' Barnes, who disappeared from time to time.

Sally Anthony, welcome to the club.

Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org

21. Lest you get the wrong idea about Anthony, according to her Web site: "This talented performer, entrepreneur, pioneer and role model continually demonstrates that there are no limits to what one can achieve."

22. By the way, after the game, this talented pioneer and role model reportedly shoved the brother of one of the players, flipped him the bird and swore at him. Because, you know, that's how role models do.

23. Retorted the brother of the player: ''She's delusional and she thinks she's bigger than she really is."

24. According to sources, she's about 5-foot-6 in heels, which means she must think she's at least 5-9.

25. But she's not out to hurt anyone. Quoted in a story on her Web site, here is Anthony's outlook on life: "It's not like I hate on guys. I just think people should be looked at as people, not man or woman, black or white, gay or straight."

26. By the way, we journalists live for this stuff. You can't make up quotes like that.

27. So, I imagine, do comedy writers for late night shows. Somewhere in New York, a dozen writers are furiously scribbling, as no doubt, is my esteemed colleague Bill Scheft. The smart money here is on the phrase "rhythm method" playing into an inordinate number of the jokes.

28. On a serious note, it's a shame that this had to be the way that McElhiney made national news. The fact that she had coached a team of young men, many of whom are older than she is (she's 23) and all of whom I'm guessing are taller, to a 17-7 record is pretty damn impressive. Realistically, that's a great story in itself.

29. Which is why, apparently, Anthony was originally such a supporter of her coach. In a May 2004 Daily Herald  story about the hiring, Anthony was quoted as saying: "I'll be at every game and if I see anyone give Ashley a hard time, I don't care if it's some big 6-8 guy, I'll walk right out there and yank him off the court...I'm serious....I will not let Ashley be disrespected by anyone."

30. Unless, of course, it's by her.

31. In which case it's OK, because, you know, she's being disrespected by a pioneer and a role model.

32. By the way, to give perspective on how good the ABA is: Kobe Bryant's dad, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, who is the player-coach of the Boston Frenzy, scored 23 points in a game earlier this season.

33. Jellybean is 50 years old.

34. Actually, I don't care how bad the ABA is. That's pretty freaking impressive. If I'm playing ping-pong competitively at 50 I'll be happy. Said Bryant after that game, "These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess."

35. Not sure exactly what that means, but man does it sound good. Must remember that for future use during recreational basketball. After hitting a sweet fadeaway, run down court yelling "Bishop takes rook, Beeee-yatch!"

36. Again, back to the story at hand. It is now Sunday night at midnight and no further news. But I have an inkling Monday will bring some further reporting. Stay tuned....

It's now Monday morning, and here is what we learn from the Nashville Tennessean

37. The situation is still in complete disarray. McElhiney doesn't know whether she's still the coach, the players have no idea what's going on and Anthony still hasn't spoken to either of the co-owners or the GM about the firing.

38. This might strike some as unusual because, reportedly, one of the co-owners is her husband.

39. Anthony also told the paper that she was defending the players when she fired McElhiney on Saturday because they were resentful of Freije coming in and taking all the minutes and getting paid so much. Ah, here is one disgruntled player, Adam Sonn. Adam, the paper asked, do the players resent Freije. 'Not at all. That's why stuff just does not add up,'' Sonn said. ''She'd been talking all week about how signing Matt Freije was a priority. You've got an open roster spot and an NBA player available, so why not?"

40. Now that's resentment!

41. Oh, and finally, this tidbit: at some point yesterday, Anthony ended up in the hospital.

42. After she tripped and fell down the stairs of her home. ''Some people think that I did it on purpose," she told the paper. "But I just tripped."

43. Breaking news: Alan Dershowitz is going to represent the stairs in a gazillion dollar lawsuit!

44. Just kidding. But I suppose Dershowitz representing McElhiney wouldn't be that far-fetched.

45. That's all for now, as of Monday mid-morning. But I have a feeling we haven't heard the end of this. I, for one, will be happily following along. You gotta love America.

Source: Chris Ballard - The Daily Blog - SI.com

Sunday, 01/30/05

Rhythm Owner Fires McElhiney

By Billy Byler
For the Tennessean

A 110-109 Nashville Rhythm win over the visiting Kansas City Knights last night was overshadowed by the firing of Coach Ashley McElhiney.

Rhythm co-owner Sally Anthony fired McElhiney following an on-court disagreement between the two regarding former Vanderbilt star Matt Freije's playing time.

''I called my coach a couple of hours before the game and said I don't want him playing,'' Anthony said. ''She ignored me. I walked up to her. I walked onto the court and said I'm her boss and she needed to bench him.''

The discussion began during the third quarter. Anthony came onto the court during play and attempted to remove McElhiney as coach of the team. Anthony was eventually restrained by security guards and taken off the floor.

The distraction drew the attention of several fans, and Rhythm Assistant Coach Scott Flatt was drawn away from the bench to assist in the matter. McElhiney, meanwhile, shrugged off the incident and went on to coach the Rhythm to victory.

Anthony said her actions came in her attempt to protect her players.

''My co-owner (Tony Bucher) and my GM (Daniel Bucher) decided to pay Matt Freije to have the name there,'' Anthony told The Tennessean after the game. ''He came in for two games. Our players are struggling financially.''

Freije, who according to Anthony earned $10,000 for the two games, started and played most of the game last night. Anthony said it was McElhiney's decision to play Freije.

''She looked me right in the face and said she wouldn't do it,'' Anthony said ''She's fired as of now. The thing with us has always been women can do it just as much as men can. She will answer to no man, but she won't answer to me either.''

The conflict went beyond just Anthony and McElhiney when Anthony presented her players and staff with a choice.

''If they're willing to stick their neck out for Ashley, and that would be dumb, I would fold the team right now,'' Anthony said.

''If I say no it should be no. I was overruled. She's done. She's fired.''

After the game, Anthony also got into a conflict with Jason Sonn — the brother of injured Rhythm player Adam Sonn.

Anthony shoved Jason Sonn, used foul language, and directed an inappropriate hand gesture toward him.

''She's delusional and she thinks she's bigger than she really is,'' Jason Sonn said of Anthony.

After the game, McElhiney immediately left Allen Arena without talking to players or media.

The Rhythm is scheduled to play Feb. 5 at St. Louis. The next scheduled home games won't be until Feb. 11 and 12. Source: Tennessean.com.

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