NFL
By: Jeffrey Newholm
In the well-known window scene in Shakespeare’s classic Romeo And Juliet, Juliet makes the famous argument that “that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet”. However, in the case of recently deceased Hall Of Fame basketball coach Pat Summitt, I disagree. Summitt is a very befitting name because Pat really did climb to the top in the world of both sports and life. She went from an ordinary farm-girl to a coach with 1,098 wins and eight national titles. But her impact on women’s sports and the American sports landscape went beyond wins and (far fewer) losses.
Summitt was the pioneering figurehead behind women’s basketball. The ball is now in our court. In the words of Depaul coach Doug Bruno, “The fight for gender equality in America and the rest of the world is the torch Pat Summitt passes to us all!” But some context will help put this fight into perspective. When Summitt first started coaching at Tennessee women’s basketball wasn’t even a NCAA sponsored sport. It was only the impetus of the federal “Title IX” that goaded the NCAA into sanctioning the sport in 1982. Before Pat reached the heights of success, she was turned back time and again. It was, in fact, not until her eighth Final Four appearance that the Lady Vols finally walked away with the crown. Before her untimely retirement due to the horrors of dementia, she had conquered scores of foes. She coached such legends as Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw and Candace Parker. But her greatest foe is as of yet unbeaten: patriarchy.
Summitt didn’t need to look past her own shadow to see her most insidious enemy. To this day Tennessee’s athletic department is amok with rampant allegations of sexism and bullying. A Title IX lawsuit is a dark cloud currently hanging over the athletic department. It alleges the department created a “hostile sexual environment” and a culture of rape. Professor Barbara Mead alleges Athletic Director Dave Heart has belittled womens’ sports success out of envy. But even to the death-and it was a frightening one-Summitt refused to stop battling. Neither have her players, all of whom graduated and many of whom rushed to her bedside in her final hours. And her legacy won’t-and must not be-forgotten.
Today the entire women’s sports world mourns. Even Summitt’s longtime adversary Geno Auriemma, who’s usually very tight-lipped with praise for rivals, said ” one would be hard-pressed to name a figure who had a more indelible impact on her profession than Pat Summitt”. But as time passes and our sadness subsides, I encourage fans to look back on Summitt’s legacy with a smile. Last year the college game set a record high for attendance, and the WNBA remains the first viable professional league for women’s hoops. But now we must realize that, as Coach Bruno put it, the torch has been passed.
For the Vols in the professional league, this season now has a new sense of urgency. Catchings will try to win Olympic Gold in her final year. Parker will try to lead her first place Sparks to a redeeming title. And Holly Warlick will try to knock down the glass ceiling that has kept the Lady Vols out of the Final Four since Summitt’s departure. But for the average fan or player, the goal is to, like Summitt, leave the game in a better place. She never took a day off fighting for her team, her health or her game. God forbid any of us who follow drop the torch and fail to do the same.
