Good Luck, Bill Bayno

Bill Bayno resigned as head men's basketball coach at Loyola Marymount Monday. Bayno has not coached at all this year, sidelined with what the L.A. Times called "work-related depression issues." TigerBlog wishes Bayno all the best.

TigerBlog also remembers sitting next to Bayno in the 1998 NCAA tournament pre-tournament meeting in Hartford. Princeton was the 5th seed, and then-UNLV coach Bayno was preparing his 12th-seeded Runnin' Rebels for a first-round matchup with the 26-1 Tigers.

The pre-tournament meeting is exciting the first time you go to it and then becomes more and more tedious everytime you go back. Basically, there's a checklist that the tournament's on-site director goes down, making sure everyone knows what color uniforms they're wearing, what locker room they have, who goes first in the post-game interviews, etc.

For the lacrosse tournament, the checklist includes two of TigerBlog's favorites: the question of whether or not the teams will be using headsets like in football (no one ever has) and the moment the head referee asks the coaches if they certify that their players are properly equipped (they are), they know how to use that equipment (they do) and they know what to do if that equipment becomes defective (maybe 1 in 10 actually knows the rules).

At the 1998 basketball meeting, Bayno was dressed in his UNLV warm-up suit, listening intently to what was going on. When the meeting ended, he turned to person on his right, who had been identified as the Princeton sports information director when introductions were made, and uttered words TigerBlog has never forgotten:

"You're the Princeton SID?" Bayno said. "My team has no chance."

The final was Princeton 69, UNLV 57.