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US volleyball coach is unsure of return

(nytimes.com)
Updated: 2008-08-12 12:22

"Volleyball is my job. My family is my life. It's an easy distinction for me to make," Coach Hugh McCutcheon said on Monday. [AP/NYtimes.com]

BEIJING -- The night before he was murdered, Todd Bachman sent a text message to his son-in-law, Hugh McCutcheon. It was during the opening ceremony, and Bachman was there, watching McCutcheon and the United States men's volleyball team that McCutcheon coaches march into the stadium.

"We're very happy to be able to share in this wonderful event," the message read.

Bachman, 62, died about 14 hours later, after being attacked by a knife-wielding Chinese man at the Drum Tower, a well-known tourist site that dates to the 13th century. Bachman's wife, Barbara, turned to help and was stabbed repeatedly. She remains hospitalized, and was upgraded to serious condition from critical on Sunday.

Witnessing the attack was one of the Bachmans' daughters, Elisabeth, a 2004 Olympian on the American women's volleyball team and McCutcheon's wife since 2006. She and her parents were on a guided tour.

For most of four years, McCutcheon had been preparing his team to make a medal run. The attack came the day before the United States' opening match, and McCutcheon has stepped aside to tend to his family. Whether he returns to coach during the tournament will depend on the condition of his mother-in-law, he said during an interview at a Beijing hotel.

"Volleyball is my job," McCutcheon said. "My family is my life. It's an easy distinction for me to make."

The Americans, led by the assistant Ron Larsen, beat Venezuela on Sunday. They play Italy in another preliminary match Tuesday.

McCutcheon, grim but straightforward, said that as a "representative of the Bachmans," he wanted to speak publicly mostly to thank people for their support. Among those he mentioned were Chinese doctors and authorities, the United States Olympic Committee and the countless well-wishers, including President Bush.

He declined to provide details of the attack, saying it remained under investigation, but he said he did not believe any incident precipitated it. The U.S.O.C. spokesman Darryl Seibel said the organization, along with Chinese authorities, believed the attack was random. The Bachmans, from Lakeville, Minn., were not wearing anything that identified them as part of the American Olympic delegation.

"There's no indication here of any premeditation or anything," McCutcheon said.

The attacker, identified by Chinese state news media as Tang Yongming, 47, jumped to his death from a 130-foot high Drum Tower balcony immediately after the stabbings.

McCutcheon was leading a team practice Saturday afternoon when he received a message that Elisabeth needed him urgently. She was still at the Drum Tower when he reached her and she told him what happened. McCutcheon was quickly ushered there.

Two days later, shock had turned to sadness. Anger, McCutcheon said, had not been one of the emotions.

"I think it's something that no one should have to go through," he said. "Life's not fair. It's never going to be about that kind of stuff. At the end of the day, it happened, and it seems the sooner we can come to grips with that and kind of process it, the better off we're going to be. For me personally, and I can only speak for me personally, anger isn't an emotion I'm allowing myself to indulge in at this time."

With special courtesy to the NY Times