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Steve Stranahan, left, was Mike Carr’s closest friend for 16 years.
By Steve Krause
LYNN — It happened too fast, as far as Steve Stranahan is concerned.
His best friend, Mike Carr, was near death last April, but somehow rallied to the point where he was able to coach the English boys basketball team. As he’s been since Carr took over the position in 2010, Stranahan was next to him on the bench.
Then, in January, things changed again.
“His last round of chemo really did him in,” said Stranahan. “He went into the hospital on Martin Luther King Day, figuring he’d be in no more than a day.”
But Carr never came out. He died Friday night, Jan. 27, moments after the Bulldogs had played perhaps their best game of the season in beating Peabody.
“I definitely thought he’d last longer,” Stranahan said. “He went way too quickly.”
Now, Stranahan and the rest of the English assistants are left to pick up the pieces of a tragic season the only way they know how: by winning basketball games.
“I think it’s been a tough situation from the start,” said English athletic director Dick Newton. “The kids knew coming in that Mike was sick, and it was pretty established that Strannie was going to take over if anything happened.”
“I’d say the kids are responding on the court, but struggling off the court,” said Stranahan. “A couple of them have had other people in their lives pass away, so they’re struggling with this.
“I never had to deal with the loss of a coach,” he said, “and I’d imagine that’s a pretty big deal to them. But everything gets back to normal on the court, and they’ve responded there. Hopefully they continue to do that.”
Including the night Carr died, English has not lost. The Bulldogs got off to a slow start Tuesday against Revere, and then scored 25 third-quarter points to end up winning the game. English needs one more win to make the tournament, and has four games in which to get it, including games against Everett, and rematches from earlier games with Peabody and Classical (which is now Wednesday night).
This has been a balancing act for Stranahan. He is now acting as head coach, dealing with mourning students while he is still grieving himself.
“Mike was my best friend for the last 16 years, ever since I moved up here (from Abington),” he said. “I think just about every day, or parts of every day, I was with him. (His death) has left a big hole in my life.”
Like his players, his one solace is the the game. The Bulldogs play a defensive-pressure, up-tempo game, and that’s not going to change, Stranahan said.
“We run under the same philosophy as Mike’s,” he said. “We’re carrying on his tradition. Our offense runs off our defense. As defense goes, so goes offense. We’re always trying to get transition baskets.”
He acknowledges that it sometimes looks as if the Bulldogs are out of control.
“But,” he said, “we have to play with energy. If we don’t, we get beaten badly (such as the last time they lost, against St. John’s Prep, 82-48). Now, The Prep is a good team. We may play our best and still lose by 10. But if we go out and play the way we can, we can play with anybody. Whether we beat them all the time … that’s something else.”
Stranahan is convinced that while it’s been a tough year off the court, the adversity has bonded the players.
“We’ve had the situation with Mike, and we’ve also had some kids who have quit. I think all of it has brought us closer together.”
Stranahan has plenty of help on the bench with freshman coach Tom Smiley and JV coaches Travonne Berry Rogers (who played for Carr) and Ron Young.
“All the guys give input, and I listen,” said Stranahan. “It’s just like it was with Mike. He didn’t always take your advice, but he listened. That’s how I’m working it with these guys.”
“This has been an adjustment for everybody,” Newton said. “But the kids are playing hard for (Stranahan) and he’s kept it together as well as anybody could have.”
