Sitting in a pressbox in the northwest corner of the Tiger Den during Friday night's boys basketball game at Warsaw Community High School, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda covered a lot of topics. Everything from his friendship with Warsaw native Steve Kesler and long-time college basketball coach Homer Drew to Barry Bonds to newly-crowned MVP Ryan Braun testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The most important subject, however, is the one the 84-year-old Lasorda was preparing to cover when he spoke with Warsaw's boys basketball team after its game against rival Wawasee. "When I talk to kids, I talk to them about education," said Lasorda, the long-time manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I talk to them about drugs. I talk to them about hard work. Getting your education is very important. An education will open a lot of doors to success. Nobody can take your education away, so don't blow it, take advantage of a great situation." Lasorda was a guest of Kesler's. Lasorda and Kesler were in Valparaiso Thursday visiting with Drew, who has coached the men's basketball teams at Bethel College, IUSB and Valparaiso University. Lasorda described Drew as the definition of a coach. "Homer Drew has been a friend of mine for years," said Lasorda. "He's a coach in every sense of the word. He's a class act, and he has all the ingredients of a master coach." Lasorda fondly remembered a time he was asked to speak to the Valparaiso University basketball team. "One time Steve (Kesler) called me and asked if I'd go to Valparaiso and talk to the team," said Lasorda. "It must have been 20 below zero, and I'm not used to cold weather like that. But I went and talked to the team. I ended up sitting on the bench with the team. They won that game, and won 11 games in a row and made the big dance (NCAA Tournament)." Lasorda also remembered a previous trip to the Tiger Den, a time when brothers Rob and Ross Kesler played for Warsaw. "They love their basketball here," said Lasorda. "I remember watchin Rob and Ross play. And I look over there and there's a 3 or 4 year old kid dribbling the basketball. Of course that kid was Rhett Kesler, and he's grown up now." Rhett Kesler is now a senior and a starting guard for the Tigers, who beat rival Wawasee 72-52 as Lasorda signed autographs and watched the game. As for the sport of baseball, Lasorda said "baseball will survive" despite the near-everyday news of players testing positive for banned substances. "Baseball won't go away," said Lasorda. "No player is bigger than the game. I don't know why someone would do those things, but the game of baseball will survive."
