RIP: Pat Summitt

[mainejeff]

Pat Summit transcended women's basketball........she was a true sports icon. I was able to meet her briefly back in 1989 and she was truly larger than life. Everyone respected her tenacity, leadership, and accomplishments. She had so much more to give before this dreadful disease took over her life. RIP Pat.

 

[Jmpenn]

Thank you all! I am glad that Pat now has her wonderful memories back. It still doesn't seem real at this point. I feel so horrible for all of the people she left behind but as many of you have said she is much better off now. RIP Coach!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Just saw a post on the Tenn Board. No articles yet. Also on Facebook it is reported by her son Tyler. God Bless Pat and her family as well as the Tenn Lady Vols family.

I hope Pat Head Summit heard all the nice words before she died.. So many said wonderful things about her--Swin Cash got emotional. She had to be pretty great to have so many of her team love her this much.

A big lesson for all to learn here----tell your friends and loved ones all you want them to know before they or you die--you never know when that will be. My greatest regret is not telling my brother what a great brother he was for me all my life.

God support the Family and Team members who shall surly grieve and give Pat the peace she has earned with her work ethic life and the terrible disease!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

RIP Pat. Condolences to her family and friends. A great loss for WBB.

Thank you Meyers7.

 

[Beemer]

She's at peace now, reunited with her father whom she loved so much.

As always it is harder for those left behind.

May she rest in peace always. God bless her family, loved ones and those whose lives she touched.

 

[ktuck911]

RIP to the Greatest Women's College Basketball coach of all time.. Love Geno, but she set the bar...

 

[HuskyNan]

I thought Ally Auriemma wrote a very touching blog post about Pat Summitt back when it was learned PHS was suffering from Alzheimers. It makes a wonderful eulogy for a titan of sports.

Ally Auriemma's Rocky Top: A Tribute to Pat Summitt

 

[Dove]

Man, 64. Wow.

Rest in peace Pat. You made UConn women's hoops exciting. Even when you ditched us it was dramatic!

 

[Dillon77]

Took over a collegiate team at 22. I'd forgotten that. At that age, I thought organizing intramural and industrial league teams presented challenges.

And then she coached like crazy, practice by practice, game by game for 38 years, while directly helping grow a sport and avenue for growth for so many girls and young women. I've run into a number of her former players and I've always been struck by their dedication and gratitude to Pat Summit, which speaks volumes.

I've lost loved ones at early ages and it's a jolt, particularly when the person was so vibrant and life-affirming. This is why this disease is so deleterious...it saps the spirit. Condolences to her family, friends and fans. Keep the faith.

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

Growing up watching UConn-Tenn, I always saw her as a villain, but over the years I grew to appreciate her amazing coaching skill and leadership. She was a tough lady, a fierce competitor, and undoubtedly one of the very best of all time (men's & women's). You think about the sheer number of young people you can influence over a 38 year career, let alone the millions of other young girls you can inspire, the impact of her meaningful life is really incredible. As someone who's family has been personally effected by dementia/Alzheimer's, I'm grateful for her foundation's work in this area and really hope we can see a UConn/Tenn game for charity in the seasons to come. RIP

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Perhaps we're supposed to mention Pat Summitt's legacy and impact on the game of women's basketball and women's sport. But I can only think of the day my mom died of Alzheimer's. It brings back the sadness. Those who loved Pat Summitt must be feeling such loss now. But at some point, passing is a mercy for the patient, and a relief from the oppression that the disease visits on her loved ones. If there is any blessing in this, it is that Pat Summitt suffered the ravages of the disease for less than five years after diagnosis. My mom went through this for a decade.

Pat Summitt is at peace now. Bless her.

 

[FASTEDDY]

RIP Pat, You are an ICON!

Thanks for all that you did for the sport of Women's Basketball and for countless young ladies. You will be missed.

 

[baggerbob]

I would not be a bit surprised if in 2017-2018 UConn and LadyVol played each other [maybe in MSG?] in a game to raise funds for research. This coming season is too close at hand.

It would be fitting for ESPN, and MSG to start a yearly Pat Summit Classic to raise funds, Uconn, and Tennessee could be the host teams, and invite 2 top teams to play them each year.

 

[j66kicker]

I would not be a bit surprised if in 2017-2018 UConn and LadyVol played each other [maybe in MSG?] in a game to raise funds for research. This coming season is too close at hand.

Great idea!

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

RIP, Coach Summitt. What would Women's Basketball be like today if Tennessee had not taken a chance on a 22 year old kid and offered her the head coaching job?

 

[EricLA]

Speechless and in shock. The end came so much faster than I ever thought possible. Condolences to her family, friends, loved ones, and the entire LV nation. She was a great pioneer and her passing marks the end of an era. She truly touched everyone in WCBB.

 

[dtbtbtb]

My deepest condolences to the family and to Lady Vol Nation! Pat Summit was a true Titan of the game and WBB would not be what it is today without her contributions to the growth and popularity of the game!

 

[LesMis89]

My heart and prayers go out to the Summitt family, loved ones and VolNation. Pat was truly unique and we will not see her like again.

 

[cabbie191]

My wife and I both wore orange to work today. A small tribute to a woman we greatly admired.

 

[Kaizen]

R.I.P. Pat .................

 

[geneticrex]

Sad day.

RIP, Coach.

 

[TheGOAT23]

R.I.P. CPS. You were a trendsetter in the college basketball world. When I think of WCBB, thoughts of you will always come to my mind. No one had a more menacing stare (you meant business!!). Your legacy will live on 4EVER! Godspeed to the Summitt family and friends.

 

[triaddukefan]

R.I.P. to a true legend

 

[tomcat]

With the passing of a legend, this is a truly sad day for women's basketball. Here's hoping and trusting that she's in a better place.

 

[bags27]

Listening just now on NPR to Terry Gross interview Sally Jenkins on Pat, Pat grew up rural dirt poor in a way we can no longer imagine in America. (Similar to Geno in Italy, which is so interesting.) Jenkins emphasized that there were no athletic scholarships for women pre-Title IX, that Pat actually set up the chairs herself for spectators at her early games as head coach, etc.; that Pat was fiercely, fiercely loved by those closest to her, even more so than by those who just knew her as a successful coach.

Time has a way a providing perspective. UConners who felt (whether rightly or wrongly no longer matters) betrayed in her accusations against UConn now seem able to separate those feelings from the more important appreciation of how absolutely essential she was in changing the nature of women's college athletics--and perhaps more. She was a towering giant.

For the sake of civility and to show that great institutions rise above pettiness, can we please have games scheduled between the two schools? Someone suggested an annual Pat Summitt game for Alzheimer's research. What a perfect initial game that would be.