Best of Kornacki: Top 10 Stories from 2018
12/28/2018 9:00:00 AM | General, Features
With 2019 approaching, MGoBlue.com feature writer Steve Kornacki has selected 10 of his best stories from 2018. The series begins Monday (Dec. 17) with No. 10 and the "Best of the Rest" before continuing the countdown through Sunday, Dec. 23. The final three stories will be re-released Dec. 26-28. Kornacki has added a postscript for each story, sharing background and his own feelings on what made the subject special.
April 1 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: John Beilein had taken a team unranked in January, when it received not one single vote in the Associated Press poll, and had them in the Final Four final, and I spoke with his players and wife, Kathleen, about how this man of remarkable spirit and conviction had done it. He summed it up best: "You just do everything you can to be the best coach, the best mentor, the best teacher, the best husband, the grandfather, father, every day, and you go do it again. And that's all I want to be."
I've been fortunate to spend time around some of the greatest coaches in the history of sport, and none has impressed me more than Beilein.
Oct. 19 // Football
Kornacki Reflects: "What sticks in my mind is not so much the record," Dan Dierdorf said. "It's Ron Johnson. Ron Johnson was, and is, an extraordinary man." Dierdorf was one of Johnson's blockers back when he set the school's single-game rushing record in 1968, and now he was reflecting on his good friend who had been battling Alzheimer's Disease for 10 years.
He helped connect me to Ron's wife, Karen, his college sweetheart at Michigan, who spoke about him with such deep love and admiration about the life they had and family they raised. I wished Ron had been able to talk with me, but that was no longer possible. Two weeks later, Ron died, leaving behind a legacy well beyond football.
Feb. 27 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: Hatch survived two plane crashes that claimed his entire immediate family, and he fought against terrible injuries and great odds to play one basketball season for the Wolverines before settling into his role as a student assistant. He graduated, got married to volleyball star Abby Cole, and was hired to work in the front office at Domino's Pizza.
It was a fabulous four years, and I cherish that we became friends. We sat and talked for one hour about it all, and he said his father, Stephen, would've been his best man on June 16 if he'd survived. Then he said, "Abby is the reason I'm still here. I really believe that." There are unforgettable people, and then there's Austin Hatch.
Feb. 21 // Football
Kornacki Reflects: I sat in the family room of their spacious home in Saline with Jim and Bev Plocki, the strength and conditioning coach and his legendary gymnastics coach wife, to discuss their ongoing battle with Leukemia along with their children, family, friends and countless athletes they've touched. And how now they had touched them back in so many special ways.
Bev said, "Jim never realized prior to this the impact that he had on people's lives. This has been one of the eye-opening things. People reached out with calls, texts, baskets, whatever, and it made Jim realize his impact." This fall, he was back at Schembechler Hall, working in a different capacity for the football team and still finding a way to impact the team he loves.
March 18 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: I stood on the hardwood, probably 25 feet from Isaiah Livers as he heaved the pass that began the play that ended with Jordan Poole swishing a 32-footer as time expired to beat Houston. Later, Poole read me the text message from his father, Anthony, back home in Milwaukee: "You remember that I told you that you would hit a shot like Trey Burke. Love you. Enjoy the moment."
His father was referring to the three-point shot from 30 feet out that Burke hit against Kansas with 4.2 seconds remaining to force overtime in the NCAA Sweet 16 game that Michigan pulled out before eventually advancing to the 2013 Final Four. Lightning had struck twice.
March 5 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: Moritz Wagner's mother, Beate, flew from Berlin, Germany to watch her son win the Big Ten Championship and the Most Valuable Player award at Madison Square Garden. "It's really special," said Moe. "But my favorite part will always be hugging my mom in the confetti, and then giving her the trophy. It's awesome, just awesome." Beate cradled the trophy, saying her son wanted her to have it, and her eyes were red from all the joyous crying she had done. "He gave it to me to take home," Beate said.
Jan. 18 // Men's Soccer
Kornacki Reflects: Francis Atuahene, an electric soccer player who scored the dramatic goal that made the Wolverines Big Ten champs, was raised by his grandmother, Adua Amoma, who sold vegetables and tomatoes to support him and four other cousins who lived in a one-room dwelling in Ghana. He made it to America after being selected to the Right to Dream Academy to play soccer and attend a quality boarding school on East.
And now he was going to be a high draft pick in the MLS, and go pro. He sat and talked about the whole journey, and said: "You can achieve all of your goals here. Anything is possible for you as a Wolverine. For a kid from Ghana to come to Michigan and connect to all of this, I will be forever grateful." What struck me was how Atuahene won more than games. He won you over with his smile, unassuming nature and grit.
May 24 // Men's Golf
Kornacki Reflects: Kyle Mueller lost his mother, Monica, during his sophomore year when she died in an automobile crash. Two years later, having become very likely the greatest golfer Michigan has ever had, he reflected on how she's 'watching from above" as he plays 18 holes.
On Mom's lasting lesson: "It was PACE: Positive Attitude Changes Everything. It was a little acronym that she used, and it drove me crazy whenever she would say that. I would be in a bad mood, asking why something happened, and she would always say: 'Kyle, PACE. It's going to be all right.' Now, it's a source of great comfort to me."
Jan. 25 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: I'd watched Glen Rice score the last of his 2,442 points with 31 in Michigan's 1989 national championship victory over Seton Hall in Seattle, and now he was back on the court at Crisler Center, handing a ball commemorating Katelynn Flaherty passing him as the school's all-time basketball scoring leader.
Rice said, "How can you get so many points being unselfish? But she is. It's not like she goes out and looks to score a lot of points. But she's a natural. Can you imagine if I was a point guard?"
Rice, a 6-foot-8 forward who played 15 seasons in the NBA and scored 18,336 points, laughed heartily, noting Flaherty's conversion to point guard as a senior. Rice had Rumeal Robinson feeding him the ball.
Flaherty, who finished with 2,776 points, was blown away by Rice: "He was so nice, and a very humble person. It was just incredible. Just to be in the same category as him is really unbelievable. When we talked before we went out on the court, he said that I reminded him of himself when he was younger, being humble and just having a mind to win games."
Oct. 20 // Football
Kornacki Reflects: Michigan's defense had just held Michigan State to 94 yards total offense and 0-for-12 on third downs in a 21-7 win, and what happened in the locker room was equal parts triumph, joy and love.
"Fellas! Fellas!" Wolverine head coach Jim Harbaugh shouted over the joyous voices of his players. "Man, I mean that might be the biggest win ever. Never had a bigger win than that (at Michigan). Just on a personal note, I can't tell you how many guys came up to me and said, 'Coach, we've got your back.'"
Then Harbaugh was overcome with emotion, and his players roared for him. The Paul Bunyan Trophy was hoisted near Harbaugh and the players began bouncing up and down in pure joy: "HEY! HEY! HEY!"
Then they chanted: "It's GREAT to be A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE!" Over and over.
Best of the Rest
11: Flanagan Returns to NCAA Championships After Overcoming Back Stress Fracture, June 5
12: Quinn Hughes Returning to Michigan to Pursue Unfinished Business, July 28
13: After the Smoke Has Lifted: A California Fire & Alec Rennard's Story, July 12
14: Matzka Battling ALS with Championship Teammates in His Corner, Oct. 11
15: Kornacki: Bush Lowers Sonic-Boom Hits, Leads Nation's Top Defense, Nov. 13
16: How Keener, the Catcher Who Came Through So Much, Came Through in the Clutch, May 2
17: Cardiac Awareness Game: Reid Recalls Why She's a Fortunate Mom, Sept. 7
18: Coon Beats Olympic Gold Medalist Snyder in Classic Match, Feb. 12
19: Winovich on His Hair, Being Relentless and What Makes Him Most Proud, Nov. 1
20: Wolverine LaMarre Hits Storybook First MLB Homer for Grandpa, Caught by Uncle, Aug. 15
• Top Stories from 2017 | Top Stories from 2016 | @SKornacki Twitter
