Monarchs Blog and Q&A

Bee staff writer Melody Gutierrez grew up in Twentynine Palms. At 14-years-old, she decided to combine her two passions -- sports and writing -- when she became a special assignments reporter for the Desert Trail, her hometown weekly newspaper. Melody headed to Northern California in 2000 to attend Chico State and has remained in the region ever since. She earned an internship with The Bee and subsequently became a staff writer in 2004 and has covered virtually every sport, starting with high schools, up through college and then the pros. Melody took over coverage of the Monarchs last season and chronicled the team's pursuit of a second straight league championship -- a quest that fell just short.

Melody welcomes your questions and will answer as many as she can as the season progresses.

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August 20, 2007

This season's winner for best P.R.

After voting for Dan Hughes for Coach of the Year this morning, I reread an email I was sent last week by the Silver Stars organization. If there were awards for best promotional material for the annual WNBA honors, San Antonio's Top 10 reasons to vote for Hughes would surely be my pick.

Top 10 Reasons Dan Hughes should be Coach of the Year, according to his team.

10. He tore his right Achilles "to better understand the player experience." He is currently trying to live up to the "Chantelle Anderson Rehab Standard."

9. He traded for Ruth Riley and Becky Hammon; signed Erin Buescher and drafted Camille Little and Helen Darling (dispersal).

8. He has Gregg Popovich on speed dial.

7. First coach to take three different WNBA franchises to the playoffs

6. He has a lifetime backstage pass to Styx concerts

5. Under his direction, San Antonio goes from perennial lottery team to championship contender

4. He has a Beatles tie.

3. He set a franchise record for road wins and tied the franchise mark (San Antonio and Utah) for overall wins in a season.

2. He is the only coach in the league rocking fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror of a green Lincoln Continental (submitted by Kendra Wecker).

1. He inherited one player from the Utah days, carried over two starters and two bench players from the 2006 roster (plus an injured, should-have-been-out-for-the-season Anderson) and added six new players, yet somehow managed to achieve instant chemistry. He put five all-stars together and they followed his lead to become a team without ego. Three-time all-star Marie Ferdinand-Harris came off the bench for him without complaint. When key players went down with injuries, others stepped in, seamlessly filling the holes. Finally, seven wins in 2005, 13 wins in 2006, 20 and counting in 2007.

Honorable Mention as submitted by players...

He came to my wedding. He knows more about Elvis than he knows about his wife and he's the only coach to ever walk around a folk festival in Charlotte wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt and drinking • Diet Coke.

- Shanna Crossley

He uses fewer four-letter words than Bill Laimbeer.

- Ruth Riley

He's the only coach to count one-two-stars!

-Becky Hammon

He's the only one who encourages me to bring my SpongeBob Squarepants pillow on road trips.

-Camille Little

Posted by Bill Bradley, August 20, 2007 03:18 PM

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