'Tennessee Nation:

It would be futile to add a feeble attempt at a testimonial to pile on the incredible list of a who's who among notable Americans, best of all the one from the nation's President. Instead, let's have a conversation (as Tony likes to say) about where we go from here to build on the incredible life of Pat Head Summitt:

THE FIGHT AGAINST DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER'S: Shame on us if Knoxville and the state of Tennessee don't set the pace nationally for support of the fight against this most cruel disease. Phillip Fulmer spoke forcefully to this point this week. Knoxville's medical and philanthropic leaders should take the point on this issue. Let Pat's terrible demise be a rallying cry for us.


APPRECIATE THE PAT SUMMITT PLAZA: Anyone who frequents this space knows we give AD Dave Hart plenty of grief when he deserves it, but we also praise the good things and his work in the establishment of the Pat Summitt Plaza is laudable. The statue is terrific and a welcoming beacon to that part of campus. It has been a shrine for well wishers this week. Well done, Hitman.


ARENA NAME: Not sure we need to eradicate the Thompson-Boling Arena name, but perhaps emphasize "The Summitt" court name as a nickname for the entire facility. Good show topic for Tony.


TAKE THE SUMMITT STORY STATEWIDE: UTK has done a nice job memorializing Pat. The state of Tennessee needs to do more, both around the state capitol and in her hometown. Perhaps UT-Martin needs to do more. A kid growing up in our state 50 or 100 years from now needs to be well aware of Pat Summitt and there needs to be places to go to learn about her.


RESTORE THE LADY VOL NAME TO ALL WOMEN'S SPORTS: As good as what Dave Hart did with the Summitt Plaza, his decision to strip the Lady Vol name from all sports but basketball was illogical, inflammatory and ill-conceived. We expect Univ of Chattanooga AD David Blackburn to become our new AD no more than a year from now and he should promptly restore the Lady Vol name as a tribute to the person who put the name on the national stage.

RESURRECT THE TENNESSEE-UCONN GAME: Geno Auriemma can honor Pat by getting off his high horse and agreeing to play Tennessee every year in the Pat Summitt Memorial Classic and donating the proceeds to medical research. Play the first one in Knoxville and then alternate. Forget the past. It's ridiculous that these two programs don't play. Do it, Geno.


FIX THE DAMN LADY VOL BASKETBALL PROGRAM: We all love Holly Warlick ... deeply, and she never asked to be in this situation. But, she's the head coach of the most storied program in the history of the sport. If she can't live up to it, she needs to step aside ... period. Give her a nice job in the department, but we should honor Pat by restoring this program to a level SHE would be proud of. We think Blackburn would have the political capital to make this happen and his hiring track record at Chattanooga predicts well. Of course, there will never be another PHS and it would take an exceptional person to take the challenge to restore the Lady Vol program to glory but that coach is out there somewhere. Geno is 62. All dynasties end. Let's start a new one at The Summitt and cut down the nets on a natty and place them lovingly on the statue of the Tennessee Legend called Pat.




RIP, Trish
Orange Throat'

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'All we hear from local media shills, the actual coaching staff, Dave Hart, and some fans is that it's going to take this staff 3 years to build relationships. That's how it is everywhere if you listen to them. They hardly use any prior relationships to bring talent in here. Well Rick Stansbury used a prior relationship to get a 5 Star Top 10 Center Mitchell Robinson to commit to Western Kentucky today! Stansbury also hired Robinson's godfather Shammond Williams as his third assistant to seal the deal. That's how you do it and according to Jerry Meyer they lead for a 4 Star 63rd ranked SF Galen Alexander because of Shammond Williams and are also finalist along with Oregon and Kansas for Miss. State 5 star transfer Malik Newman! All in year one!! Wait!? I thought it took a few years to get it rolling?

ALL Vol
CC Hoops'

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'Tony:

I think we need a campaign to rename either Hwy 70 or I-40 as the Pat Summit Hwy through TN. Both those highways span the length of our very wide state, and with her influence throughout TN, and her roots in middle and west TN, and of course her contribution to the eastern part of the state, I don't know of anyone who has touched more people in TN. Plus, hwy 70 is currently known as the Dixie hwy, it's just a matter of time before the PC police demand that moniker be dropped.

Andy'

'Tony,

Reading and hearing all the stories about Pat Summitt over that past few days got me remembering something about her when I was going to UT in the 70’s and living in the Knoxville area. It was how when the Lady Vols would show up at a town to play a game and the local team that would normally have a few hundred people attend their women’s basketball games, all the sudden several thousand would show up. Just to see the Lady Vol and Pat….not their own team, who would usually get annihilated by the Lady Vols. That in itself was a feat, but here is the part that will never be seen again in sports. OPPOSING fans that just saw their home team get clobbered, would wait after the game to ask for an autograph and pic of Pat, which she always would take the time to do!


Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine Gino Auriemma blowing out a team and then standing around signing autograph for the opposing fans after the game?? Or, Butch Jones beating Florida or Alabama at their place and hanging around signing autographs for the Florida or Alabama fans??? Or, even Nick Saban, with all his national championships signing autographs for opposing fans after a game??? Of course not. It sounds silly or stupid.


With the sports world having very few role models that kids can look up to, Pat Summitt was one of the last truly great role models…on and off the court. Plus, she’ll be the last coach that will have opposing fans asking for autographs after a game in which their team just got pummeled. Never again. Never again.



All these inspirational stories have got me to buy the last book (that I never got around to get) by Pat written with Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, which did something else that is a rarity for a sports figure, much less a local one. When the book came out it premiered #1 on the NYTimes best seller list. Amazing.



Dean K,
Knoxville'

'Tony, your coverage of the Pat Summitt passing has been outstanding. I worked with her sister for several years, good person, much like Pat. I know that you don't follow women's basketball greatly, but the level of play has really improved over the years. What people miss is that an average, hard working young female athlete can get scholarship money at an NAIA school or a lower level D1 school. I have known several players that have taken advantage and helped themselves greatly..... Also, the political correctness has filtered down to the high school level. If they keep this crap up, no one will want to get themselves into the education field.

Thanks

V in the Mid-State'