HOBOKEN, NJ – Grinding Ax Wednesday? When our version of Gaius Lucilius needs a personal day, I’ll always be available. With the Final Four teams ready to finish a memorable March Madness, I have decided to write about my favorite coach of the past decade, Francisco Jose Martin aka Frank Martin, of those fighting Gamecocks from The University of South Carolina. Martin is the son of Cuban political exiles. He comes off as a tough no nonsense bad ass with a crazed look in his eyes when the ball is tipped.
His path to this historic run is definitely interesting. He was a bouncer in a Miami club after graduating from Florida Atlantic University. I’m sure cracking a few heads was up his alley, but coming under gunfire by a couple of ” bounced” patrons coaxed Frank to find a safer gig. He started in high school, then made his way to Northeastern then on to Bob Huggins Cincinnati staff . A perfect match! From there, Martin followed Huggins to Kansas State where he would get his first crack at head coach. Huggins was offered the job at his Alma mater, West Virginia. The sound of banjo playing the theme song from Deliverance was simply too alluring for Huggins. This opened up the job for Martin at Kansas State.
The legend of a foul mouthed crazed disciple of Coach Huggins had begun. Frank was known to hurl expletives at players during games when they missed free throws or after common mistakes. He was forming a reputation of scaring a team to success. The problem is, most of today’s athletes cannot handle the hard truth from an In Your Face coach. The exodus began and even though K-State was willing to ignore theses traits and offer more payola, Frank Martin could not resist the lure of his Cuban Ancestors favorite pastime. Cockfighting!
These Gamecocks have been trained to scratch and peck their way into the final stages of this year’s Dance. My money is on South Carolina!
Never have I seen a team that strips the ball as adeptly as a Manhattan pick pocket. They will be matched up with number 1 Seed Gonzaga, who are the odds on favorite in this Final Four. The Zags were outplayed by another scrappy team…..The one coached by Martin’s mentor, Bob Huggins. I’m thinking that these Cocks will pee on Gonzaga’s dream of a championship. After North Carolina takes out the Oregon Ducks, Monday’s final will be reminiscent of the 1983 contest. Underdog South Carolina will claw their way to a NC State-like upset of the TarHeels. Frank Martin raise the trophy as he accomplishes what his mentor (Huggins) has failed to do in his lengthy career….Roy Williams will seek therapy as his team drops their second straight final when favored!
Stop back tomorrow for another Spanish Cock Fighting Icon… Buddy Diaz. Please feel free to chime in below check us out at @GrindingAxWalt & @MeetTheMattson Twitter… Instagram @MeetTheMatts and Facebook Meet The Matts.
Final Note: We all send our condolences to longtime MTM contributor Grote2DMax and his family on the loss of his Mom.
