A Big Brother Who Did the Little Things

To Doug Michelson, he was the perfect older brother.

As kids growing up, first in Long Island and then in the Valley, Jack Michelson made sure his little brother was included in neighborhood games, whatever the sport.

“He always picked me on his teams and stuck me in right field, you know,” Michelson said. “He was never embarrassed to have his younger brother tagging along with him.”

As men, they remained close even though Doug stayed in the Valley area coaching basketball and teaching, and Jack traveled the world, working for the U.S. government.

“I never knew exactly what he did. He used to say, “If I tell you, I’d have to kill you,’ ” Doug said, forcing a laugh.

Last week, Doug Michelson buried his brother.

Michelson, 54, the Valley College men’s basketball coach, tried to prepare for what seemed like an inevitable outcome but the blow was hardly softened.

Six months ago, Jack was diagnosed with leukemia and was undergoing treatment but developed fatal complications.

“Ultimately, his immune system shut down and he got pneumonia,” said Doug, who has a younger brother. “That seemed to be his undoing. . . . The last month he really deteriorated.”

Jack, 56, died in Reston, Va., a suburb of Washington D.C., where he lived with his wife. He spent much of the past few years shuttling between home and the South Pacific, working for Uncle Sam.

His government job came after he retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Which came years after he was an All-Valley first baseman at Birmingham High in 1958, his senior season.

Jack’s funeral in Virginia was last Thursday. That night, Valley would travel to Ventura for a game against the two-time defending state champion, a team that Michelson had not defeated in five tries since taking over the Monarchs in 1993-94.

This season, however, Michelson believed Ventura was vulnerable. But he opted for what he called a “no-brainer.”

He put assistant Mike Johnson in charge and went to say goodbye to Jack. The Monarchs lost in overtime, 88-83, the first game Michelson has missed in 29 years of coaching and one Doug said his brother would have asked him not to skip.

“I had to go to the funeral,” Michelson said. “But he would have wanted me to go to Ventura. . . . He was always so supportive. He was a great big brother.”

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For Michelson, his brother was the second relative to die in the past few weeks, much like what happened to Cal State Northridge men’s basketball Coach Bobby Braswell.

Michelson’s father-in-law, Art Vickers, died on Dec. 2. He was 91 but drove from his home in Newhall to watch the Monarchs play.

“He came to just about every game,” Michelson said. “He was a surrogate father to me.”

Braswell’s father, James Jr., died at 68 of complications of pneumonia on Nov. 26 and his brother, Victor, died of a heart ailment on Jan. 4. He was 40.

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Newton Chelette, men’s basketball coach at Antelope Valley, hasn’t beaten Chaffey since former assistant George Tarkanian took over the Panthers in 1993-94.

The streak extended to five games last week when Chaffey defeated the Marauders, 99-95, toppling Antelope Valley from the top ranking in the state. . . .

Woodley Polynice, a freshman guard at Canyons, is the brother of Sacramento Kings’ center Olden Polynice. . . .

Former Ventura point guard Rafer Alston, who two seasons ago helped the Pirates win the first of consecutive state championships but was later dismissed from the team by former Coach Philip Mathews, is averaging 17.7 points at Fresno City College. . . .

Kyetra Brown, a sophomore point guard on the women’s team at Canyons, leads the state with 10.9 assists per game, followed by Valley’s Virgie Juarez (8.1) and Moorpark’s Carrie Billone (8.0).