Rarely would you have met an intellect that came within a 60-foot slap shot of matching Ron Mason’s mind.
He had some of the fastest mental wheels in college sports, the biggest reason why, for so long, he was the winningest college hockey coach in North America and why ultimately Michigan State decided to transfer him from Munn Arena to the athletic director’s office in 2002.
Super smart. Terrifically personable. Good-humored. A man you could not out-organize, out-plan, or, on an ice rink, often beat, died Sunday night at 76.
He had about him an incandescence that flowed from his white hair and moustache, punctuated by dark eyes that were like X-rays in their ability to detect anything that mattered, professionally, competitively, or personally.