Mikey and Me

Michael Robert Fratello was born on February 24th, 1947 in Hackensack, New Jersey. His father, Vincent, was a champion boxer. I don't know much about his mom except that she listens to Mike's Monday night show from inside her car because the radio in the house doesn't pick it up. Even though Mike is "only" 5'7" (still taller than myself!), he played football, baseball, and basketball for Hackensack High School. After graduating from Montclair State University, Mike began his journey to the NBA. He coached at his former high school, and then moved through various college coaching positions. Finally in 1978, Hubie Brown asked Mike to be his assistant coach of the Atlanta Hawks. Mike later made a move with Hubie to the New York Knicks before being named head coach of the Hawks in 1983. At age 36, Mike was the youngest active head coach in the NBA. That's because he rules, just like I said earlier. Mike coached the Hawks through four straight 50-win seasons and five playoff appearances in seven years, and was named NBA Coach of the Year for 1985-86. The saga continues. People thought that my Mikey was too short to coach an NBA team, but they were so wrong. You might think it looks odd when he's on the court surrounded by guys almost twice his size, but he's just a helluva coach. He proved all of those jerks wrong. Anyway, Mike's contract expired after the 1989-90 season, and the Hawks didn't offer him a new deal. (Dumb, dumb, dumb...) Mike decided to work for NBC as a color analyst for their NBA broadcasts. People loved him, (of course) and he became known as the "Czar of the Telestrator." Then a wonderful thing happened. On June 17, 1993, Mike took the job as the Cavs' head coach. He led them to the playoffs during his first three seasons. He's built the team up, and made them something special. In 1995, Mike was runner up for Coach of the Year (second only to Phil Jackson), and I'm really hoping to see him get that award this year. He drives a Chevy Blazer. I know this because my boss and some other people saw him driving it after a game. I'm quite jealous of this particular 'Mike Sighting.' You see, I was at the same game, and I ran into my boss and his entourage afterwards. So I walked out of Gund Arena with them just minutes before this happened. His group went to the left towards their parking garage, and my friend Betsy and I went right, to ours. If only we'd parked in the same place as them... Oh, but it wasn't meant to be that night. I would trade in the time I met Sally Struthers to meet Mike any day. I have gotten to talk to Mike on the phone twice though. The first time I talked to him, I asked him about the Phoenix first round draft pick that the Cavs got this year. It was very exciting. I'm sure you're thrilled for me. Well, that's all I'm going to say about my pretend husband today. But I'll add to this page until A: Mike sees it and tells me to take it away. B: Mike and I get married. C: The day I die. Thanks for stopping by, and GO CAVS!!!

On February 17, 1997, I MET MIKE!!! It was absolutely the best day of my life. When I found out that Mike would be doing the post-game radio show "Cavsline," I was so excited. But then I found out that it was on a Monday night, and I always have to work on Mondays. Thanks to my wonderful co-workers, I was able to take the night off and head to Cleveland. Betsy and I bought $10.00 tickets and left the game at halftime so we could get a good seat in Gordon's Sports Bar where the show was to be held. After the game the place filled up, but we had seats right in front of Mike's table. I thought I was going to explode waiting for him to come out. Finally everyone started clapping as Mike came through the door. He made his way to the interview table and I was taking pictures as fast as I could. Soon, some people came in and sat at the VIP table which was right beside ours. It was Cleveland State University basketball coach (and good friend of Mike's) Rollie Massamino. During a commercial, I went up to Mike and gave him a small gift and got his autograph. He told me to stay after the show so we could have our picture taken together. During all this, Betsy had made friends with Coach Massamino, and when the show was over he took her to the front of the line to meet Mike. After everyone cleared out, we each had our picture taken with Mike, and I took a cute picture of Mike and Rollie. They were very nice to take all of that time with us. When I got the pictures back I sent a letter and a 5X7 of the Mike and Rollie picture to Coach Massamino. Three days later he sent autographed pictures back to Betsy and I. We figured that was the end of our friendship with the coaches, but a month later I came home and found an envelope from the Cavs. Mike and Rollie had autographed the 5X7 of them and sent it back to me. Mike called Betsy and I "the greatest fans ever." That means a lot coming from the greatest coach ever. Thanks Mike. We love you!!

Who do you think the best coach in the NBA is? Vote carefully, all three of the contestants are excellent choices. The nominees are:

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport

I am not an employee of, or otherwise affiliated with the NBA, it's teams, players, coaches, or popcorn salespeople. All pictures and information on this page are probably the property of the NBA, and I wish to not be sued by them, thus this disclaimer.

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F.O.M. (fRiEnDs oF mIkE)

ajs@tusco.net
dOvEr, OH