We need another breakfast with Lou and Mary

We’ve been missing a lot of things lately. One of my favorite annual events, the Lou and Mary Henson Community Breakfast, which benefits the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces, would have been April 30.

It’s been a good year to think about Lou Henson.

Just in case you don’t know, he was the longtime, two-term, men’s basketball coach at New Mexico State University.

Henson turned 88 in January.

In March, we celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the NMSU Aggies’ Final Four team in 1970.

Coach Henson couldn’t attend, but he delivered a great video message to the Pan Am crowd that night, which included all of the living players from the team.

Henson’s talk inspired everyone in attendance, including this season’s Aggies, who won the game on a last-second shot. That was NMSU’s 15^th victory in a row, and they won four more on their 19-game winning streak to make it a perfect 2020. The Aggies were Western Athletic Conference champs, but, unfortunately, did not get to test their mettle and try for another shot at the Final Four, as the NCAA tournament was canceled.

Coach Henson and his wife, Mary, often the driving force in their many charitable efforts, made the annual Community Breakfast something special. Henson has missed the last few because of health issues (he was wearing a personal protective mask well before it became fashionable!), but he and Mary have continued support behind the scenes.

They have used their connections to help bring powerful guest speakers from the world of sports. Last year, we had Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien. Another year it was Jimmy Collins, the star of that 1970 Aggie team. There was another Olympic gold medalist, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Denver Broncos Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis and many others.

One year the guest was longtime NFL referee Jim Tunney. For some reason, I felt compelled to stand up in front of the crowd and demonstrate the difference between Jim Tunney’s graceful touchdown signal and the herky-jerky style of his contemporary, Jerry Markbreit.

My favorite memory of the event, though, was the year former Louisiana State Coach Dale Brown came. I attended a reception the night before the breakfast, at Lorenzo’s Italian restaurant.

After the greetings and presentations had calmed down, Coach Henson and Coach Brown sat by themselves, talking basketball.

I had no qualms about eavesdropping, hearing their respective takes on players, coaches and, yes, referees from years gone by. At one point, they recalled a game they coached against each other, probably when Henson was at Illinois.

They recalled minute aspects of the game with incredible detail. They bounced back and forth about pivotal moments in the game, plays they called, shots made and passes stolen. And, yes, arguing referees’ calls.

If you’re reading this Coach Brown, I’m still asking you to bring your former LSU player Shaquille O’Neal to speak at the event.

The event is the Boys and Girls Club’s signature fundraising effort each year. Just as many other local nonprofits, the Boys and Girls Club will be suffering the next year without the donations from the breakfast.

Everyone’s financial worlds have turned upside down the past 60 days, and probably will continue to be precarious for the next 18 months.

As always, Las Crucens have stepped up to the plate to help out, even now.

If it’s practical for you to do so, reach out and help your favorite charity. They need it now more than ever. I’m sure it would bring a smile to Coach Henson’s face, as well as to Mary’s.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mary Henson, and to all you wonderful mothers out there.