Another Ladies' Night: The Sequel to Ladies' Night

By Theo Tate

On New Year Eve 2013, Pittsburgh Cobras co-coaches Annie Vaughn and Karen Gettinger were just two girls sitting in a reconstructed bar at Pittsburgh's South Side reflecting on the 2013 season of the American Little Ladies Basketball League.
The ALLBL, a professional basketball league for 12-year-old girls, was still popular, completing its third season with four new teams. Over 200 girls were living the dream as professional basketball players, making money, traveling all around the country and playing games at 8 o'clock at night and shooting for a trip to the Ladies Cup at Knoxville, Tennessee.
While counting down to the New Year, Annie and Karen talked about stories that include Hannah Storms interview with ALLBL president/founder Scottie Rogers, the league's first ever Midnight Madness game, trailer trash triplets moving from Minnesota to Florida to join the Tampa Bay Trojans, a steamy love affair between a head coach and general manager in Des Moines that ended on a sad note, Las Vegas Lions coach Jenny Hendricks' road as born again evangelist and the Birmingham Wildcats still having that "girl power" as 8-year-old Carol Swank comes back for another year as cheerleader.
It was just another exciting year in the ALLBL.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496916440

Theo Tate

Theo Tate is a longtime sports journalist who became an avid women's basketball fan when he was co-manager of the Belleville East girls basketball team. He lives in the St. Louis area.

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© 2014 Theo Tate. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/04/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1645-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1644-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014910006

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Countdown

Chapter 2 Scottie Rogers

Chapter 3 A Star Is Born In San Diego

Chapter 4 Welcome Aboard

Chapter 5 Midnight Madness

Chapter 6 The Trio Of Tampa Bay

Chapter 7 Back From The Dead

Chapter 8 Dancing Queen

Chapter 9 Court Of Dreams

Chapter 10 The Rebirth Of Jenny Hendricks

Chapter 11 Million Dollar Baby

Chapter 12 Another Music City Miracle

Chapter 13 Coming Home

Chapter 14 The French Connection

Chapter 15 Broken Spirits

Chapter 16 Eight Is Enough

Chapter 17 All-American Girl Power

Chapter 18 M.v.p.

Chapter 19 Happy New Year

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1

THE COUNTDOWN

When the clock struck 2 a.m. on January 1, 2014, fireworks were still popping in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

No, the Steelers didn’t win the Super Bowl. No, the Pirates didn’t win the World Series. No, the Penguins didn’t win the Stanley Cup. The Steelers didn’t make the playoffs, the Pirates’ season ended in October and Penguins played a road game against the New Jersey Devils on New Year’s Eve, but lost. And the Pittsburgh Cobras, who play in the American Little Ladies Basketball League, didn’t win anything either. So, why the fireworks kept popping for over two hours?

It was a normal New Year’s Eve celebration that just went overboard. Even the fireworks drove one of the longtime Pittsburgh residents crazy.

Marty Wheland, a 90-year-old man who lives just minutes from downtown, got out of his bed, opened the window of his two-storied home and shouted, Knock that shit off! So it’s a New Year! We’ve got the damn message! Knock it off!

After 90 years living in this planet, Marty knows it’s the just same old thing when it comes to a New Year – people getting drunk at New Year’s Eve parties and making New Year’s resolutions they probably won’t follow. Marty is all alone at his house after his wife died several years ago, but he has a housekeeper who comes by three times a week.

The fireworks even caused a traffic jam on the bridges, even on the Fort Pitt Tunnel that crosses the Monogahela River en route to downtown. Deanna Hall, who has a fear of driving on bridges, was sitting in her SUV in a traffic jam on the bridge with fear written across her face. She even had to call her ex-boyfriend, Danny, to help get her out of the bridge. I know we broke up a while ago, but I need your help this time, please!

Danny wasn’t studying about Deanna. He was out downtown with his new girlfriend, Gloria, still celebrating the New Year. I can’t hear you, Deanna! The fireworks are popping like mad! Pittsburgh is so fucking awesome! I gotta go! It’s nice hearing from you! He then hung up.

Even though it was past her bedtime, eight-year-old Felicity Rudolph was able to watch the fireworks from her house with permission from her parents. Felicity was watching from her window. Wow, I can see the fireworks from here.

The fireworks display was so massive that it got immediate news coverage from Pittsburgh TV stations KDKA, WPXI and WTAE. Social media also got in the craze as numerous videos were posted on You Tube and people were getting pictures taken near the fireworks so they can post it on Facebook.

No one can figure out why the fireworks aren’t stopping. The fireworks started in the South Side and all of the sudden, they were spread all over the city and the area. All of the police and fire departments were informed about it, but it was out of their control. So the policemen and firemen did nothing about it. They just watched.

Founded in 1758, Pittsburgh -- which sits in the confluence of the Ohio, Monogahela and Allegheny rivers in western Pennsylvania -- probably never had a New Year’s fireworks display that was this massive. Speaking of rivers, Jim Burris and Jamie Young got a boat, sailed down the Ohio, and saw the beautiful Pittsburgh skyline surrounded with fireworks from a distance.

This is the best city in the world, Jamie said.

Kendra Hawkins and Terry Pierce were kissing and smooching at each other while going up the Duquesne Incline. They kissed each other Happy New Year while celebrating at a bar downtown. Since the fireworks wouldn’t stop, the two lovebirds decided to ride up the Duquesne Incline to see Pittsburgh surrounded with fireworks. And, to top it off, Terry pulled out his engagement ring and asked Kendra to marry him. Yes! Kendra shouted. And the two kissed.

Finally at 2:15 a.m., the fireworks stopped popping. Marty, who was cranky at first, eventually had a heart and got to see the rest of what could be the biggest fireworks display in Pittsburgh history. Everybody in the Steel City enjoyed it.

Even Pittsburgh Cobras co-coaches Annie Vaughn and Karen Gettinger enjoyed it. They really enjoyed it.

Their cars were still parked in front of Bush’s, a bar they resurrected here in a deserted neighborhood at Pittsburgh’s South Side. Both of their cars are brand new and both women take good care of their cars. Annie drives a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Karen drives a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. But the lights are not on at Bush’s, and a closed sign is posted in front of the establishment. Even when the two-hour fireworks display was over, the two ladies were still in that building. What was going on inside Bush’s? What are those girls still doing in there?

Annie and Karen did a wonderful job fixing up the place, making it look like a real bar. They had a large glass case full of liquor, a 50-inch flat screen TV, eight sitting tables and a jukebox and a small bedroom in the back.

At 39 degrees, it was indeed a cold New Year’s Eve night in Pittsburgh.

Still, that didn’t stop anybody from the Steel City to celebrate a New Year. From downtown to the suburbs such as Monroeville, Plum and Mt. Lebanon, the folks will be having wild New Year’s Eve parties. There will be a lot of drinking and a lot of eating on New Year’s Eve. The next day, some Pittsburgh people will start their New Year’s resolutions. One resolution could be losing weight, another could be stopping smoking and another could be stopping drinking.

Annie and Karen revived Bush’s, hoping that it was going to be a wild New Year’s Eve party. But it was just Annie and Karen by themselves, getting drunk and talking about the ALLBL and celebrating their 20-year friendship.

At 7 p.m., the curly brown-eyed brunette Karen, who was wearing a Kelly green suit with a black blouse and a black derby with a flicking Happy New Year’s sign on it, was getting excited about the New Year. Instead, when she walked into the place, she saw nobody but Annie, and she had a stunned look in her face.

Where the hell is everybody? Karen said.

The blond, brown-eyed Annie decided to go formal, wearing a black sleeveless dress with glitter on it and some black pumps. She looked through five different outfits before she picked out something at 6 p.m.

Even though there were just two people in the bar, Annie remained upbeat.

Hi, Kare, you look lovely!

"Thanks. I ask again where the hell is everybody? I thought we were going to have the biggest New Year’s Party here at Pittsburgh’s South Side. Did you spread the word that we were going to have a party here at Bush’s?

No.

No? It took us days to fix up the place, we’re all dressed up here and there’s nobody here. How we’re going to have a party in an empty bar?

Calm down, Kare. We didn’t need a party anyway. Think about it. We spent the last three months dealing with hyperactive 12 year old girls and we always spend the New Year’s with family and friends, so we didn’t need to celebrate the New Year’s with people. Besides, we’ve been friends for 20 years, so we just want a quiet New Year’s Eve together.

That’s sweet. Who needs a big party anyway? We’ve got us.

Then, a man with a Steelers jacket walked in front of the door of the bar, thinking that the bar was open. He knocked on the door.

Then, Karen opened the door.

The man said, Hey, are you open?

No. We’re going through some repairs right now. We’re not open tonight. Sorry.

Then, Karen slammed the door. She found a closed sign and put it up.

Nice move, Kare!

Thanks. Hey, it’s five hours before the New Year. Let’s get wasted.

You don’t waste time, don’t you? Annie said.

Annie and Karen had a tradition on New Year’s Eve -- watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC. For 40 years, Dick Clark entertained people around the country by having his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve parties live from Times Square in New York City and counting down to midnight. But on April 18, 2012, Dick Clark died of a heart attack. Eight years before, Clark suffered a stroke and had to miss his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show in 2004 and 2005. He returned in 2006, this time he was teaming up with Ryan Seacrest. Clark still was showing signs from the stroke, but it didn’t stop him from doing his annual New Year’s show. In 2011, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve celebrated its 40th anniversary. It would be Clark’s last Rockin’ Eve show.

Since they were 5, Ann and Karen watched the show religiously. It didn’t matter if was at Karen’s house, Ann’s house or a Pittsburgh sports bar or a church, the two girls would watch it. Ann and Karen loved Dick Clark and they wouldn’t watch any other New Year’s Eve show.

On New Year’s Eve 2013, their 20th anniversary of being friends, Ann and Karen were figuring out what they’re going to do to celebrate. Last year, they spent their New Year’s Eve with family and friends on a ski trip in Vermont, but they were able to watch New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

In 2013, Ann and Karen are back in Pittsburgh. They wanted their anniversary and New Year’s Eve to be really special. This time, they wanted to spend it by themselves instead of celebrating with their friends.

On the afternoon of December 31, Annie and Karen got a call from one of their friends, Jessica. Jessica asked them if they wanted to join Theresa, Leslee, Matthew, Diane and Allison at this wild New Year’s Eve party somewhere outside the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Ann said, No, you go guys go ahead. I think I’m going to stay home. I’m under the weather anyway. Karen said, Thanks for the invitation, but I’m staying home. No parties for me."

But Ann and Karen weren’t going to stay home. They weren’t planning on celebrating New Year’s Eve in their apartments. They live just five minutes from each other in Pittsburgh. Ann and Karen aren’t married and aren’t planning on tying the knot in the near future. They both agreed that marriage is a bore.

Ann and Karen’s New Year’s Eve plans were made a week in advance. At 3 p.m. on December 23, Ann called Karen from her florist job. Ann and Karen were just coming back from their American Little Ladies Basketball League banquet the night before. Ann came up with an idea on where they can celebrate New Year’s Eve. Ann said, Karen, I found the fascinating place on where we can celebrate the New Year. Karen, who is a physical education teacher, said, Where, Annie?

Ann said, Come meet me at Bush’s at 6ish. Karen said, Bush’s? Isn’t that the bar that was shut down 10 years ago? Ann responded, Yes, but we’re going to open it back up.

Bush’s was run by Annie’s late uncle, Rocky Bush, and was located in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Bush’s was a popular restaurant/bar in Pittsburgh. Numerous Pittsburgh professional athletes always head there after a game. The place is still hanging around in Pittsburgh’s South Side, but has been abandoned for 10 years. It was closed after Rocky Bush died in 2002.

Annie asked Rocky’s widow, Bertha, if she still has the key to the place. Bertha said, Yes, Annie, I have the key, but why do you need to go to the abandoned bar for? Ann said, Well, since uncle Rocky died 10 years ago, I just wanted to look back at the memories. No big deal. Bertha said, OK." Ann immediately got a key made and gave the original key to her aunt Bertha.

Karen joined Ann in front of the bar. Karen said, Hey, what’s up Annie? After the two girls shared hugs, they came up with a plan to fix the place up for a big New Year’s Party on New Year’s Eve. Ann said, This is where the party’s at. Wanna help me fix this place up? Karen said, Sure.

After spending Christmas with their families, Karen and Ann went right to work, fixing up Bush’s. For four days, they cleaned off the dirt, put up some lights, installed a flat-screen TV and fixed up the bar. It was nothing to it. Ann requested vacation time from her floral job in Pittsburgh on the project. Karen was already on vacation as she has a three-week holiday break; she’s a P.E. teacher at Mulberry Elementary School in Pittsburgh.

When they’re not florists or P.E. teachers, Ann and Karen are co-coaches of the Pittsburgh Cobras of the ALLBL. They’re not only celebrating New Year’s Eve and their 20-year friendship, but they’re also celebrating in what was a very good season for the Cobras, a season that came up just one point short of a title.

At 10:26 p.m. on December 30, Ann and Karen were finished with their makeover at Bush’s. This is beautiful, Kare, Ann said while looking around the place. Beautiful. Karen said, Yes, it is beautiful. But it could have been much better if we had the big ALLBL championship banner here.

Ann: You’re still bitching about that loss? Kare, we made it to the Ladies’ Cup and the 2013 season was the best ever in the ALLBL. Come on and suck it up. I’ll tell everybody in the South Side what’s going on. I’ll call some friends. All I want you to do is just bring you.

Karen said OK with a smile.

The two women were beat, so they went home to their beds and slept until mid-afternoon. They both got up at the same time – 4 p.m. Ann was the first person to show up at Bush’s at 6:30 p.m. She brought some champagne and put it on ice.

Annie is more energetic than Karen and she smiles a lot. She even has wrinkles around her face. Karen smiles a lot, too, and is always positive about everything. The two are like sisters. They have seen each other every day but seven during their 20-year friendship. In 1994, Karen had to go to a camp and she was so upset that she had to go without Annie, who was grounded for breaking a lamp while playing baseball in the house. Even Karen wrote a three-page letter to Ann, saying that she misses her so much and she requested Ann to make a promise not to get in trouble again. When Karen returned home from her camp, the first person she hugged was not her mother or her father – it was Annie. Annie was in Karen’s house waiting for her to come home. They hugged for 30 seconds.

Ann and Karen first met on New Year’s Eve 1993, but it wasn’t at a bar. It was at a doctor’s office. On a cold morning, Ann and Karen went to the doctor. Both were under the weather. Ann had to get her tonsils out and Karen was planning to say goodbye to her appendix. Both started getting sick before Christmas. Ann’s father, Glenn, took her daughter to the doctor’s office. Karen was assisted by her mother, Priscilla. Both were dressed up for the doctor’s office and had the same outfit. Ann and Karen wore a yellow sweater, a white blouse, a plaid skirt and black, shiny Mary Jane shoes.

Ann and Karen sat next to each other. Karen asked Ann, Will you be my sister? Ann said, Sure! It was a beginning of a beautiful friendship. Glenn and Priscilla ran into each other before they left and he invited Priscilla and her husband to the New Year’s Party at Bush’s, so Ann and Karen got to see each other again later that night and they both were wearing the same dresses they wore at the doctor’s office. So Ann and Karen were celebrating New Year’s Eve 1993 as best friends. The next week, they shared the same hospital room as they were getting ready for their surgeries. At first, Karen was scared of getting her appendix out, but since she met Ann, she wasn’t afraid anymore.

Fast forward to 2013.

Are you still my sister? Karen asked Ann. Yes, we’re still sisters, always. Ann said. And I’ll drink to that.

The girls got a nice variety of liquor, like wine, Jack Daniels, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and beer and plenty of shot glasses.

Ann and Karen talked about that New Year’s Eve meeting in 1993.

Karen, remember we were sick like dogs at the doctor’s office, but we were able to play toys in there like we weren’t sick, Ann said.

Yeah! Karen said. They had some Legos in there and we constructed this building together until it was our turn to get called.

Ann said, Yeah, it was a fun day that day. I remembered dad asked your mom to go to this party right here.

Karen walked to the vacated room in the back of the bar, I remembered we brought all of our toys we got for Christmas and we played with them all night, even though we took a break to watch Dick Clark.

Ann said, The dude was cool.

Known as the World’s Oldest Teenager, Dick Clark hosted American Bandstand for 30 years until it went off the air in 1987. American Bandstand was a music/dance show that was way before Annie and Karen’s time. The show went off the air a year before they were born. Dick also hosted the game show Pyramid. First, it was the $10,000 Pyramid, then it was the $20,000 Pyramid, the $25,000 Pyramid and the $100,000 Pyramid.

At 7:15 p.m., Ann and Karen made another toast. Ann quickly got the Jack Daniels and picked up a couple of shot glasses. Ann said, I want to make a toast to the man, Dick Clark! Karen said, To Dick!

Ann said, Well, we got less than five hours before midnight. What can we do besides getting drunk?

Karen said, We can talk about the ALLBL.

I don’t like to talk about work, but we can talk about the ALLBL, Annie said. That was an amazing season. 2013 was a hell of a year.

Ann and Karen were sitting at the bar drinking their liquor. The flatscreen TV was still off and the jukebox is not on. The bar was quiet, but not Ann and Karen’s mouths. All they talked about was the ALLBL, which completed its third season.

So it’s Ladies’ Night on New Year’s Eve for Annie Vaughn and Karen Gettinger at Bush’s, a pair of 25-year-olds who grew up at Pittsburgh’s South Side talking about old memories and the ALLBL. That night, they probably spent more time talking about the ALLBL than their memories as friends. They already know their friendship was special from the beginning.

They ended 1993 as total strangers becoming best friends. They started 1994 in their hospital beds. They shared the same hospital room, playing games and toys before they were about to go under the knife. On January 7, 1994, both Ann and Karen were in separate surgery rooms and got their tonsils and appendix removed at the same time.

After that, the friendship continued. Both Ann and Karen lived just three blocks from each other. Ann would go to Karen’s house one day, and the next day, Karen would go to Ann’s. They also went to the same school for 17 years. That fall in 1994, Ann and Karen enrolled in kindergarten at Allegheny Elementary School. Their teacher was Mrs. Holliday. On the first day, Mrs. Holliday separated Ann and Karen from their seating assignments, and Karen cried. Mrs. Holliday came to Karen and asked, What’s the matter, Karen? The sobbing Karen said, I want Annie to sit with me. Karen was sitting in a table with three boys next to the teacher’s desk. Ann was sitting in a table with three boys in the back. So Mrs. Holliday solved it by adding another table next to her desk and let Ann and Karen sit by themselves. They were extremely happy.

They continued to be happy all through the rest of the 1990s and the 2000s. After graduating from Allegheny Elementary in fifth grade, Ann and Karen went on to River Valley Middle School. They were pretty athletic. They played soccer, softball and basketball. Basketball was their favorite sport out of the three.

Ann and Karen were a dynamic duo for the River Valley girls basketball team. During their three years with the team, River Valley won 45 games and lost just two. They had a terrific coach in Holly Wood.

Holly Wood! You got to be kidding me! She really pushed us, Karen said.

Coach Wood was a great coach and a character. She would make these awful jokes to us before practice, Ann said.

At first, Ann and Karen didn’t want to play basketball because they thought the game had a lot of running. But with the advice from their P.E. teacher – who was Coach Wood – they tried out. And they were good.

In softball, Ann pitched and Karen was a catcher. In soccer, Ann was a forward and Karen was a goalkeeper. But they were both guards in basketball. After enjoying successful middle school basketball careers, they would go on to play high school ball at Mount Wabash High, where they helped the Hilltoppers advance to the Pennsylvania state championship game three times. Both were named all-conference and all-state three times. Ann and Karen were among Mt. Wabash’s top scorers. After three years, they scored a combined 2,355 points, with Karen scoring 1,311 of them.

The girls started playing varsity when they were sophomores. When Ann and Karen were freshmen, Ann was promoted to varsity, but declined because she decided to stay in the freshman level to continue to work on her skills. That wasn’t true. Ann wanted to stay on the same level as her best friend, Karen. So the two played with the freshman team all season.

I want to make another toast, Karen said. This one is for Coach Holly Wood. She made us start playing basketball and she made us enjoy it. Rest in peace, Holly.

Rest in peace, Holly, Ann said. To Coach Wood. The two sipped their drinks.

Holly Wood died in a skiing accident in 2007 in Colorado. The next year, River Valley Middle School started having a tournament that was named after Holly Wood, and it’s one of the biggest middle school tournaments in Pennsylvania. It has 16 teams comprised of the Pittsburgh area, West Virginia and Ohio.

After graduating from Mount Wabash, Ann and Karen took their basketball talents to Albright College in Reading. After two years, Ann and Karen decided to give basketball up and concentrate on their studies.

I remember basketball took up a lot of our time when we were at Albright, Annie said. At times, we would get stressed out.

Ann and Karen graduated from Albright in May 2011 with degrees in chemistry and education, respectively. Both Ann and Karen went back to Pittsburgh hoping to get jobs. Ann went back to work at Joyce’s Florist Shop, where she still is today. When she was in high school, Ann worked there after school. Karen ended up getting a physical education teacher job at Millerville Middle School, which is River Valley’s big rival.

Why do you still go to that hellhole called Millerville? Annie said. Don’t you remember the time they stole our mascot?

River Valley’s mascot was the Tigers. A nerd named Jason Stewart dressed up as the Tigers’ mascot in every football and basketball game until three Millerville bullies broke into his house, tied him up, tossed him in a bag and put him and the bag in a boat at the Ohio River. The three bullies pushed the boat and the boat kept on sailing through the Ohio River and into Wheeling, West Virginia. Jason was reported missing for a total of three days.

Karen: I still can’t believe they did that, Annie. They could have killed that nerd. But when Millerville had an opening, I decided let bygones be bygones. I needed a job!

Ann: Well, it was nice for both of us getting work at the same time, wasn’t it?

Now, Ann is the manager of Joyce’s Florist Shop. Joyce retired in 2012.

Karen: It’s amazing what you did to that shop. It’s the best florist shop in Pittsburgh.

Ann: It’s great. I would not work anywhere else. I have three workers who are dedicated and we’re a great team. And you’re my favorite customer because you buy a lot of flowers there for your mom and dad and other family members.

Ann visited Karen at Millerville Middle School once. After delivering farewell flowers to the about-to-be-retired principal, Ann interrupted Karen’s P.E. class to give Karen her birthday present. It was a gift basket with soap and lotion.

That was nice of you giving me that present on my birthday, Annie, Karen said. I wish you can come by the place more and see me, even though you don’t like Millerville.

Ann: I wish I could, but I run the shop the same time you work at the school, so that wouldn’t work. But if I get free time, I’ll let you know."

It’s time to make another toast.

To work! Ann said. To work! Karen said. Just like the last two times, Ann and Karen took their drink.

It’s already 7:48 p.m. and the two girls still have plenty to talk about. They’re about to talk about the ALLBL. After pausing for two minutes, Annie and Karen continued talking.

We’re so blessed to be coaches of the Pittsburgh Cobras, Annie said.

Karen: You better thank Scottie Rogers for that.

Ann: I want to thank you for that because you talked Scottie into hiring me to share coaching duties with you.

Karen: I told Scottie I can’t work without you.

When Scottie Rogers, a former NBA player, formed the American Little Ladies Basketball League in 2011, he had to promote his league, recruit players and had to find coaches. When he was making a visit to Pittsburgh in August 2011, Scottie was looking for coaches for the Pittsburgh Pythons. Even though he was still taking applications, Scottie had one woman in mind – Karen Gettinger.

Karen got a phone call from Scottie to set up an interview for the Pythons’ head coaching job. They had dinner and drinks at Rollie’s, a fancy restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. After an hour talking, Scottie really considered having Karen as the Pythons’ head coach.

Karen: Annie, Scottie told me that it’s likely that I’ll be coaching the Pythons this year and it pays pretty good. He told me I would be getting a $150,000 a year coaching this team. I asked him are you looking for an assistant coach. He said yes. I told him that if you’re going to hire me, then you damn well better hire my best friend, too. We’ll share the salary.

Ann: So that’s when you called me to come to Rollie’s. That was so sweet, Kare.

Ann showed up at Rollie’s and suddenly, Scottie was immediately interested. Scottie decided to hire Ann and Karen as co-coaches of the Pittsburgh Pythons, who have black and gold colors like the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Ann and Karen would each make $50,000 as coaches. All coaches in the ALLBL make $50,000.

Pittsburgh never had an NBA basketball franchise, so Scottie decided to land an ALLBL team to the Steel City. The Pythons/Cobras have gotten plenty of support, with fans – most of them are junior high and elementary school kids -- waving their terrible towels like the Steelers fans. The Terrible Towel was invented by Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope in 1975 and has been widely recognized as a symbol of the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.

When Ann and Karen took over coaching duties in 2011, their goal was to help the Pythons become a championship team like the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Going into New Year’s 2014, the three teams have a combined 14 championships, with the Steelers leading the way with six Super Bowl titles.