He is a coach. That was obvious.

Before he addressed the journalists sitting around the conference table, U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon grabbed a pen and drew a chart. He placed each reporter’s name at his or her spot on his little map.

A coach. Organized. Prepared.

He is a son-in-law, a husband. That’s clear, too. He is the face and voice of the Bachman family in China for now.

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His father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was murdered Saturday while touring a Beijing landmark. His mother-in-law, Barbara Bachman, remained in a Beijing hospital, her condition upgraded Monday from critical to serious, but stable.

Monday night, in a hotel meeting room, McCutcheon decided to chat with reporters, to thank a host of agencies — from the White House to the Chinese Foreign Ministry — that have been helping the Bachman family since the awful events of Saturday at the Drum Tower and to detail what he knew about the incident.

While I’m working for SBJ in Beijing, I have long been based in Minnesota and have covered the sports career of Elizabeth Bachman. She is Todd’s and Barb’s daughter. She is Hugh McCutcheon’s wife.

McCutcheon and USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel reiterated that Chinese law enforcement officials have determined the attack on the Bachmans was, as Seibel put it, “not premeditated, not specific and not targeted.”

But it was, said McCutcheon, 39, balding, somber, a native New Zealander, “tragic and senseless.”

“It’s hard to sum up Todd in an anecdote,” he said. “This is a man of great personal integrity . . . He was a great father, a loving husband. He had a very good sense of humor, very compassionate, very caring, very philanthropic. It’s just hard to imagine a nicer person that this tragic and senseless event could happen to.”

The last time they communicated was Friday night, fewer than 14 hours before the assault. Todd Bachman, CEO of Bachman’s, the Minneapolis-St. Paul-area floral and gardening store, text-messaged McCutcheon during the Opening Ceremony. The Bachmans were in the stadium. They’d seen Todd walking with the U.S. delegation. Todd texted.

“They were happy to be able to share in such a wonderful event,” is what McCutcheon remembered of the message.

Elizabeth — known as “Wiz” — Bachman had been a 2004 volleyball Olympian. Now her husband of two years was going to coach the U.S. team, a strong team, a medal-contending team. It was a family event of the highest order.

Then Saturday came. McCutcheon was in a practice with his team. The men had just won the World League, an international circuit. The team was peaking at the right time for the Olympics. Many were giving McCutcheon, a native New Zealander, credit.
“I received a message that Elizabeth needed to get in touch with me, and I called her on my cell phone,” he said. “She was still at the site.”

He went on: “She told me right away what had happened. I obviously couldn’t put all the pieces together, but I knew there was a violent incident and Todd was the victim and Barb was hurt as well.”

He bolted from the gym. An Olympic committee car dispatched him to the Drum Tower. Todd Bachman was dead. Barbara had suffered serious injuries.

“It was a case, unfortunately, of wrong place, wrong time,” McCutcheon said.
McCutcheon said that during the guided tour, as far as he knew, no one in the Bachman family had any contact with the assailant.

“To my knowledge, it was not a drawn-out event, “ he said. “I think it happened quite quickly and I don’t think there was anything said.”

Barbara Bachman hasn’t been able to communicate well enough to describe the details, he said.

McCutcheon’s interview came on the same day the China Daily, the official English-language newspaper, reported that Chinese President Hu Jintao apologized to President Bush for the attack. Hu instructued the Chinese Health Minister to visit Mrs. Bachman in the hospital “to ensure she got the best treatment.”

“Her improvement has been steady,” McCutcheon said of Barbara Bachman. “Her injuries were significant. But the surgical team at the Chinese hospital has done a marvelous job of repairing the wounds and giving her the best possible chance of recovery.”

There were others who were hurt. The tour guide of the group that the Bachmans were a part of was injured, too, condition unknown. Elizabeth “Wiz” Bachman, the former great Minnesota high school volleyball player, was there when the attack occurred.

“Clearly Elizabeth is a victim in this as well,” her husband said. “She physically is unscathed, but having to deal with this event has been hard for her. She’s shown incredible strength. … A lot of tears and a lot of hugs.”

As for him, the son-in-law, the husband, “For me, personally, anger isn’t an emotion I’m allowing myself to indulge in.”

The U.S. volleyball team played Sunday and beat Venezuela. McCutcheon wasn’t there. The team played again today and beat Italy. McCutcheon wasn’t there. He hasn’t decided when he’ll return to the team.

“Volleyball is my job and family is my life,” he said. “So that distinction has been very easy for me.”

Funeral arrangements for Todd Bachman have still not been made. The length of Barb Bachman’s stay in the hospital remains uncertain. An investigation continues.