榴莲视频

The old coach lives in Kirkwood with his two dogs, one cat and a room full of memories.

He calls it his game room聽鈥� there is a pool table in the middle聽鈥� but the room, really, is a museum of Bob Nelson鈥檚 life. Ol鈥� 鈥淢ad Dog.鈥� He鈥檚 86 now. His most recent wife died in 2019, shortly after she threw him a surprise 80th birthday party. He鈥檚 in mourning starting every morning. But he finds smiles while walking around the house聽鈥� and in the old game room, where the framed photos come to life as Coach Nelson passes by.

鈥淚 walk in here pretty often,鈥� Nelson said Sunday. 鈥淚t reminds me of how much I enjoyed coaching.鈥�

Nelson was the first basketball coach at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park in the late 1960s. He coached the men鈥檚 team for 19 years and then the women鈥檚 team for six. Won around 500 games combined. And he taught physical education at the school for 35 years. Later served on the school鈥檚 board of trustees. He was inducted into the Missouri 榴莲视频 Hall of Fame in 1992.

鈥淒uring the years I was at Forest Park, I was able to place 125 guys at four-year colleges,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat's the best part of it. Just to see them succeed聽鈥� a lot came right out of the city.鈥�

Inside the house, Willie paces around the hardwood like a coach would. Nelson doesn鈥檛 know what kind of dog Willie is聽鈥� 鈥渇ound him out on the street鈥� 鈥� but Daisy, nipping at my leg, is a yellow Labrador. Soxy is upstairs. This cat came into his life at an old rental property on the corner of Minnesota and Potomac.

鈥淚 walked through the building, opened the closet door, and there was this little cat, all shriveled up,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淚 got tears in my eyes. I couldn't help it. I picked that cat up and took it straight to the Kirkwood Animal Hospital. Got all its shots. And now, every night, she gets up there in that bed with me and puts that cold nose right on my face.鈥�

Inside the game room, Nelson walks slowly, cautiously. During the old days, he got the nickname 鈥淢ad Dog鈥� for storming up and down the sideline during games. Some former players even got him a red satin jacket that says "MAD DOG" on the back in blue. On the walls are plaques for winning conference titles and shelves with trophies for placing in tournaments. Faded photos feature faces that make him young. As he names players, he always follows up with their heights: 鈥淏ob Wade, 6-7 ... Booker Brown, 6-3. ... Vic Tinsley, 6-5.鈥�

And each name comes with a story.

Wade followed Nelson from Knoxville College in Tennessee as they both gave this new St. Louis junior college a try in the late 1960s. Wade ended up playing for SLU.

Brown could jump so well he could touch the top of the backboard square, but he couldn鈥檛 shoot well ... so Nelson taught him how to use, yup, the backboard. Brown practiced angled bank shots over and over and over聽鈥� and got so good he earned a scholarship to Boise State.

And Tinsley? He was from a town in the United Kingdom called Plymouth. In 1970, the town held a 350th anniversary celebration for the Mayflower鈥檚 trip overseas. There were parades, shows and even sporting events. They asked Tinsley for a suggestion of an American basketball team to come and play. So Nelson raised the money and flew the Forest Park squad overseas to play 14 total games (they won 11). Some of the players had never even left the St. Louis area.

The basketball lifer Nelson was raised, fittingly, in the state of Kansas. He played junior college ball for a small school out of McPherson. His brother was a great hooper and got recruited to Kansas State. Nelson got to go, too聽鈥� he became the assistant freshman coach in 1960. The head coach was Tex Winter, the renowned innovator of the triangle offense.

So Nelson became a disciple.

For years, Nelson coached the triangle to his teams at Forest Park. Winter later became an assistant for NBA coach Phil Jackson, who utilized the triangle offense, famously, with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

And so, Nelson said, he was invited five different times to Chicago to help coach with Jackson and Winter. Nelson even got Jordan鈥檚 autograph for his mother.

Nelson stayed in touch with the legendary Jackson, who won titles as a player with the Knicks and a coach with the Bulls and Lakers. In 2010, Nelson ran for St. Louis County Council. He received a $1,500 donation from Jackson, then in Los Angeles.

But the most famous hooper Nelson ever met? Barack Obama.

鈥淛ust after he was elected, he came to Fox High School,鈥� Nelson said of the 44th president and avid basketball player. 鈥淚 said to him, I said, 鈥榊ou know, I've watched you shoot your jump shot聽鈥� and you don't straighten your arm out on the follow through.鈥� He cracked up. ... He said, 鈥楢re you a basketball coach?鈥� I said, 鈥業'm a retired coach.鈥� He said, 鈥業鈥檝e got to bring you to Washington and have you help me with my jump shot!鈥欌��

Nelson deals with sciatica, so he takes a seat in his game room on Sunday. His neck is really hurting him, too. He says a doctor is going to 鈥渋nject a thing into my neck and kill the pain.鈥�

Coach turns 87 in June. All morning, he keeps telling stories. His full-circle moment of sending two Forest Park players in the late 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s to play for Kanas State. How his lone granddaughter paints wonderful art, which is on display in the TV room. And how he met his late wife Tina聽鈥� they began talking from their cars at a red light outside of Plaza Frontenac.

I finally shake his hand and say goodbye to the old coach, who lives in Kirkwood with his two dogs, one cat and a room full of memories.