Morton’s Lady Potters 51, Limestone 22.
At halftime, when Morton led, 40-11, a friend sent a text: “Are you bored?” My reply: “So far the most exciting thing I’ve seen is that Bob Becker’s tie talks – or plays Christmas music – he just held it up to a player’s ear – full investigative report to come.”
What happened is that the Potters’ coach went into his closet this afternoon to choose a tie for tonight’s game in the Potterdome. It’s winter. It’s practically Christmas. He saw a red tie with a snowflake pattern. “It was just hanging there,” he said. “I don’t know how long I’ve had it. There’s stuff in there that’s been there a long, long time.”
If I were to put an age on Becker’s tie, I’d say it’s something the young Santa Claus might have rejected as too old to wear to his senior prom. It’s kinda dullish and kinda wrinkly. It’s for sure older than any of Becker’s players and perhaps two of his assistant coaches. It’s the kind of tie sportswriters wear because its look will be improved by mustard stains.
The coach’s wife, Evelyn, cited her man’s history of wardrobe malfunctions: 1) the Inside-Out Sport Coat that he couldn’t get fully off in protest of a zebra’s utter blindness, and 2) the Two Pair of Cheap Pants ripped in the backside area by vigorous sideline maneuvers. She mentioned those cases by way of disclaiming any responsibility for The Tie That Maybe Sings Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Evelyn Becker said, “I don’t know anything about it.”
Four minutes into the game, with Morton up 7-0, one of Becker’s assistant coaches, Megan Hasler, was seen laughing on the bench. She said something to the boss about hearing music. Was his tie making music? To which the coach said what any grown man would say when told his tie was a jukebox. He said, “Huh????,” only he said with maybe five question marks because he had heard nothing.
Becker then turned from the action and held the end of the tie up to the ear of the nearest player on the bench, the junior guard Peyton Dearing. She was seen smiling and afterwards she reported, “Music, like, Christmas carols.”
Apparently, as Becker paced in front of the bench, he had brushed the tie flat against his shirt and in the doing had pressed a music button sewn into the tip of the tie. Soon enough, through various experiments, the coach learned that each time he pressed the button, the tie played a different Christmas carol. He held it against my ear and I believe I heard it say, “Be cool, Bob. It’s only Limestone.”
A 15-0 run at the start of the second quarter put Morton up, 32-6. The run began with back-to-back 3’s by Tenley Dowell and Maddy Becker that suggested it might be another Culver’s FREE CUSTARD! night. Alas, no freebies this time, for those were the Potters’ only 3’s. (With no official shot chart, I’m guessing Morton went 2-for-23 on 3’s.) In that run, Dowell and Becker scored all 15. (After Katie Krupa scored the game’s first seven, Dowell with 16 and Becker with 11 scored the next 27.)
Playing less than half the game, Dowell led Morton’s scoring with 18. Becker had 11, Krupa her 7, and Dearing 4. Five Potters scored 2: Lindsey Dullard, Courtney Jones, Raquel Frakes, Megan Gold, and Kathryn Reiman. Bridget Wood had 1.
The Potters are now 11-1 for the season and 5-0 in the Mid-Illini Conference where they have won their last 38 league games. Limestone is 1-4 in the conference and 4-8 overall.