Congratulations to the Lady Vols

One of the pleasures of living in East Tennessee, other than the gorgeous scenery, is the consistently inspiring play of Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Tonight she won her 8th national championship by defeating Stanford.

Her record is absolutely stunning. She won her 983rd career win - against 182 losses. She has done more for women's basketball - and for women's sports as a whole - than any other single human being in the last 20 years. The sport has matured so much over the last 20 years as new contenders challenge for the championship each year - both in the SEC and at the national level. But still, Pat Summitt keeps developing championship teams year after year, even with stiffer competition.

So I just wanted to offer up a hearty congratulations to the NCAA Women's Basketball National Champions - once again - the Tennessee Lady Volunteers!

•  Tips for the Lady Vols! nt

  by Elrod on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:16:50 PM PDT

  •  Pat

    There's a lot of folks here who don't much like Pat Summitt or the Lady Vols, but I'm not one of them.

    I've liked and admired her since back in the early '80s, when I used to sit a few feet behind her and scream at the top of my lungs as she beat my Lady Gamecocks at Carolina Coliseum. Dammit.

    I like her and the Lady Vols even more than I hate hearing "Rocky Top," and that's saying something.

    by Ray Radlein on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:28:52 PM PDT

    •  heh. Haven't heard Rocky Top since

      I left school in Knoxville years ago....I thought it was such a backwater then.  Now I appreciate how beautiful East Tennessee is.

      by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:49:58 PM PDT

    •  I grew up on those tunes

      I still know every word to Rocky Top by heart. I started attending UT football games before I could talk, and I probably knew the words to that song as soon as I could sing it.

      by dawnt on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:00:41 PM PDT

      •  No politics at Neyland Stadium

        At home games, there are no reds vs blues in Neyland Stadium.  There's orange vs the other guys!

        by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:06:44 PM PDT

        •  My blood runneth orange

          How many times have we heard that line? This all makes me kind of homesick.

          by dawnt on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:22:32 PM PDT

          •  I bleed orange, too.

            I work for "big pharma."  Well, technically, for me it's "small pharma."  Although I live in Johnson City, UT and Ft. Saunders hospitals are in my territory.  I get to see Cumberland Avenue lined with orange a couple of times a week.

            I finished my M.S. in 1997, but sometimes I still miss college.

            by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:41:09 PM PDT

  •  Hey Elrod

    You related to Burton?

    by dawnt on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:21:46 PM PDT

  •  Big Time Vols Fan

    I got to watch the game tonight and loved it.  I have been watching the Lady Vols for years.  I even followed them when I was away from home in the Air Force or on the road trucking.  A big time congrats to them.

    Yawn......UT winning as much as they have has limited the growth of Women's hoops IMHO. I respect Coach Summit  a lot however when the same 2 or 3 teams win the thing EVERY year I think it makes the Women's game far less compelling. Much ike when UCLA was winning the Men's titles back in the 60's and early 70's.

    By them being the flagship program others improved to beat them.  Everywhere they go they increase attendance.  Look at how many programs have stepped up over the years.  I remember when women's basketball was an afterthought.  Now it is major.  

    I am another that bleeds orange.  Can't wait for Pat to reach 1000 wins.

    Be Well
    Bo

    by Botopdawg on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 11:05:49 PM PDT

•  Stanford fan here

  Congrats to Summit for back to back wins and to the Cardinal for reaching the final and having a tremendously entertaining season.

  by Far left coast on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:24:40 PM PDT

  •  Big, big ups to the Cardinal. Stand proud.

    Dyed in the lycra, yellow-and-green-lovin' Duck fan here.

    My favorite game in the entire tournament this year, men's or women's, was the Regional Final I caught entirely by accident on Sunday, Stanford vs. Maryland.

    At the beginning of the game, they show the side-by-side shot they took during the Selection Show. Stanford looks like somebody killed Tara Vanderveer, including Tara Vanderveer. Maryland looks like I will when Barack Obama is President.

    They go on to explain that Stanford believes they should have received the #1 seed that was awarded instead to Maryland, and then proceed to take it out on the poor Terps for 40 solid minutes.

    It was right about the 35th point she scored, just before the fist pump, that I developed a completely inappropriate crush on a woman half my age, Candice Wiggins.

    I hear Judy Southard's name mentioned as the chief of that Selection Committee, and although I find out later that she reminds me in look and manner of my thoroughly cranky 7th-grade teacher, Miss Hallock, I want to thank her for setting up that particular grudge match for my viewing pleasure.

    Stanford has every right to be proud of their year, but I just want to thank them, and tell them I will never forget Stanford v. Maryland.

    Love you, Candice. Call me!

    by Peace JD on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:56:09 PM PDT

•  Rocky Top!

  by palantir on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:33:52 PM PDT

•  Candace Parker is from our area

  My husband reported on her during her HS career and my daughter thinks she's awesome.  Congrats to the Lady Vols!

  by chicago minx on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:36:58 PM PDT

•  GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!

  Congrats to my alma mater.

  by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:47:22 PM PDT

  •  me too!

    I guess I can forgive all the alumni taking Ft. Saunders' parking spaces during basketball and football games after all these years.

    by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:51:19 PM PDT

    •  LOL!!

      Sorry, I'm one of those guilty Ft. Saunders parkers.  Oops!

      Every time I look for a parking space on game day, I feel as if I've sunk to one of the lower levels of hell.  

      by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:01:15 PM PDT

      •  I'm just glad to hear it still exists

        lessee, I lived on Highland and also on Clinch and Laurel for a while....all over Ft. Saunders.

        Do they still have the LED clock on top on the bank building? I was looking at a Google map just now and it looks like they still haven't done anything with the World's Fair site...heh.  It's been bare since the fair?

        by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:29:53 PM PDT

        •  A wasteland!

          by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:42:37 PM PDT

          •  Yikes!

            When I left (in the stone age) Randy Tyree was the mayor and Victor Ash was a state legislator (I think....and wasn't he the one who was Bush's roommate at Yale?)...seems centuries and continents ago.

            by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:54:20 PM PDT

            •  Victor Ashe Park

              Knoxville's first off-leash dog park was named after him.

              I received my M.S. in 1997.  I'm all "growed" up now and I'm a single mother to a 4 year old boy.  1997 seems like a lifetime ago.

              by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:10:00 PM PDT

              •  yikes again

                got my BA there and went to grad school in Architecture in the mid 1980s (eventually went to law school in Boston) and am the single mom of 5 year old twins (boy and a girl). Must be something in the Knoxville water.

                I don't know about your experience, but I can say that 5 years old is a great age for a little boy.  Mine sure was a handful from 2 to 4.  Whew!

                by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:14:33 PM PDT

                •  LOL!

                  I can tell you with absolute certainty that, even though I don't want him to grow up and would like to keep him little forever, I'm looking forward to a much calmer little guy.  I can't even imagine having 2.       :-)

                  by browneyes on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:21:46 PM PDT

                  •  keeps you spry, let me tell you

                    my little boy went to terror to sweetness in just a couple of months and from drawing squiggles (race tracks) to people and houses and trying to spell words.  All that advice about girls developing faster is true in my family, but watch out for the late 4th year, early 5th year little boy growth spurt!  It will floor you.  

                    I think boys hang on to babyhood a little longer. Some wisdom in that.  I bet you're having a beautiful spring in Tenn. Enjoy!

                    by ksh01 on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 10:30:40 PM PDT

•  Yawn......UT winning as much as they have

  has limited the growth of Women's hoops IMHO. I respect Coach Summit  a lot however when the same 2 or 3 teams win the thing EVERY year I think it makes the Women's game far less compelling. Much ike when UCLA was winning the Men's titles back in the 60's and early 70's.

  by Howard County Liberal on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:47:38 PM PDT

  •  To steal a line from South Park...

    "Play better Cartman."

    Go Vols!

    by PresentMoment on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:54:49 PM PDT

•  GEAUX TIGERS!!!

  Oh they didn't play, sorry ;~)

  by LaEscapee on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:47:46 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, they did.

    They made it to a Final Four. Sylvia Fowles carried them there.

    by Peace JD on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:57:14 PM PDT

•  Yeeeeee Haw!

  Should I sing Rocky Top now?

  by VelvetElvis on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:58:27 PM PDT