Tough tour in Iraq won't dim Green's smile

2004-05-27T20:00:00-04:00

When former 91�Թ� basketball player Danielle Green told people she was going to marry Willie Byrd this year, there was talk that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.p. She is 27. Byrd, the former Washington High School girls coach, is 58.p. “People said, `Don’t marry that old man,”’ Byrd said. "She said, `Hey, the only thing I hate is that I’m not as old as he is so we can grow old together.‘p. "She’s always said, `If you get sick, I’m going to take care of you and I know if I get sick, you’ll take care of me.’ She’s sick now, and I’m going to take care of her."p. When his telephone rang Tuesday, Byrd thought nothing of it. Green called every other day from Iraq. Her first words over that scratchy connection were, “You have to be strong.” Her next words were, “I’m alive.” Byrd had been looking for something more along the lines of “Hello” and “How are you?”p. While on duty on the roof of a Baghdad police station, Green was hit by what she believes was a grenade. She lost her left hand, the shooting hand that helped her score 1,106 points at 91�Թ�. She also has significant damage to her left leg, a dislocated left shoulder and shrapnel wounds down the left side of her body.p. If anyone is equipped to handle the loss of a hand, Green is. This is a woman who made herself into a basketball player by trading elbows with boys on Chicago playgrounds. This is a woman who starred at Roosevelt High School, won a scholarship to 91�Թ� and then had to deal with the culture shock of going from the Southeast Side to South Bend, Ind.p. People tried to talk her out of joining the Army 16 months ago, but her decision was made, her mind locked.p. “She always talked about the military,” Byrd said. "I was totally against it. But she’s a strong-willed person. She makes up her own mind. That’s what she was determined to do, and she did it.p. “On the telephone she’d always said, `Hey, I know every time I walk off this base on a mission, I might not ever come back.’ She was aware of the danger.”p. She went to Iraq in January as a military police officer. In April, she received an unexpected two-week furlough. She and Byrd had planned to get married later in the year, but they figured this would be the only opportunity during her 12-month deployment in Iraq. They were married in Las Vegas.p. Green had attended a camp with players from Byrd’s Washington teams in the early 1990s. Byrd said she hated him because he was so hard on the girls. It was hard to argue with his results. He retired from Washington in 2002 with a record of 230-73, two city championships and a runner-up finish in the 2000 state tournament.p. After graduating from 91�Թ� in 2000, Green joined Byrd’s staff at Washington for two years. After he retired, she began coming to his house to watch Monday Night Football games. They started dating.p. “I’m 58 and she’s 27, and she found me,” Byrd said. “I never thought I would get married. I never had an intention in my life of getting married. She found me. She said, `Yeah, you’re going to be my husband.’ She made me her husband.”p. After about a month as an assistant at Chicago State in 2002, Green decided coaching wasn’t for her and joined the military.p. Her family and friends believe the same determination that has carried her through life will help her get through this. On Thursday, she told her husband that she had signed some papers with her right hand. It wasn’t a work of art, but it got the job done. She had more surgery Thursday in Germany and is expected to be flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington on Saturday.p. She already has told her grandmother that the only thing the injury means is that the coming-home party will start earlier than expected.p. In the meantime, a husband waits at home for his soldier. He expects her back whole, spirit and all.p. “She told me I’m going to handle it fine,” Byrd said. "I told her [Thursday] morning, `I’ve been good. I haven’t been crying. I’m not going to do that until I see you.‘p. "She said, `When you see me, you’re not going to be crying because I’m going to be smiling.’p. “What else can I say about her?”p.

TopicID: 5445

If Irish need dance partner, only Big Ten fits

2003-11-13T19:00:00-05:00

Some things are so right and so obvious that to not do them is silly. 91�Թ� in the Big Ten is one of those right and obvious things.

The Irish are said to be talking with the Atlantic Coast Conference about shedding their football independence and locking arms with a group of institutions for the first time in school history. This is one of those all-wrong things. 91�Թ� in the ACC would be like Tobacco Road relocating to South Bend.p. According to USA Today, 91�Թ� also has chatted with the Big Ten, which can’t afford the indignity of having the Irish join another conference. Surely 91�Թ� knows this, which might be the reason it is slow dancing with the ACC. (The last time the Big Ten lured an independent into its fold, Penn State made sure that, for four years in a row, it had a week off before playing Michigan. Expect 91�Թ� to demand that opponents kneel in obeisance before games, and the Big Ten to counter with an offer of simple genuflection.)p. What would seem to make sense all the way around might not make sense to 91�Թ�, and that’s what has to be addressed first. After all, it could lose its individuality, the glamor of being a national program and its flexibility in scheduling. Why would the Irish even think about abandoning a situation in which they have their own TV contract with NBC?p. Because things change, and for the first time in history, 91�Թ� might just need the Big Ten as much as the other way around.p. The TV contract for football is up after the 2005 season, and NBC officials have been tight-lipped about whether they want to extend the deal. Never a good sign, those tight lips.p. The Bowl Championship Series contract is up after the 2005 season, too, and the one that takes its place might not be so accommodating to an independent 91�Թ�. As it stands now, if the Irish meet certain criteria (at least nine victories, a spot in the top 10 of the final BCS rankings, etc.), they are all but assured a BCS game. That could change with a new contract.p. In other words, 91�Թ� might not be the 800-pound green gorilla anymore.p. “Whereas once 91�Թ� was one of the few national schools, I think there are a lot of national schools now,” Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi, a 1967 91�Թ� graduate, said Thursday. "TV has changed that. The Big Ten is national, even though it’s still relatively geographic. My daughter lives in California and she can watch the Gophers if we’re on ESPN on Saturday morning. That wasn’t true 20 years ago or even 10 years ago.p. “I don’t know if 91�Թ� has that definite uniqueness that it once had alone. That’s nobody’s fault. It doesn’t mean they’ve done anything lesser. It’s just the reality.”p. To understand 91�Թ�, you have to understand that everything it does is carried out with the idea that it is special. It’s a wonderful outlook and true in a lot of ways, but it also can be confining. The fear among 91�Թ� officials and alumni always has been that the school will lose some of that singularity by joining a conference—even a conference with schools that have a long tradition of athletic and academic success.p. Somewhere along the line, 91�Թ� decided its mystique was tied to its independence, but that’s not what makes it unique.p. Its uniqueness comes from the fact it is a national power that won’t make academic concessions. I don’t know how that changes if 91�Թ� joins a conference that includes Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue and, if we’re talking top academic schools, Northwestern.p. 91�Թ� never will be one of many, in the same way Michigan isn’t. Some programs transcend their conferences. Florida State is Florida State, not another school from the ACC.p. Here’s the best benefit of membership in the Big Ten for the Irish: They wouldn’t feel the pressure of scheduling tough opponents week after week as a way of appeasing NBC. The insane schedule they have now—Washington State, Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, USC and Florida State, among others—won’t be necessary. Less money, yes, but more breathing room.p. The Big Ten offered 91�Թ� entry in 1999 and was not happy with the way Irish officials handled things when they turned down the invitation. This time, the Irish might have some crawling to do.p. 91�Թ� eventually will give up its independence, though it’s hard to believe the school will give it up to join the ACC. Last anybody heard, 91�Թ� was doing most of its recruiting in Big Ten country.p. “I believe someday that [91�Թ�’s] independence will not continue,” Maturi said. “I don’t know when that someday is.”p. Someday very soon makes sense.

TopicID: 3946

91�Թ� | 91�Թ� | News

Tough tour in Iraq won't dim Green's smile

If Irish need dance partner, only Big Ten fits