Summitt on Geno in her New Book

[meyers7]

Wasn't the Ball Hog Chick originated by a long time Summitt poster. It was done "tongue in cheek" I believe. The same poster used to call all UConn fans "commies". He/she could be very funny.

I know JS did a couple of them, not sure if he did them all (Ode to the Ballhog Chick, The Legacy of the Ballhog Chick, The Legend of the Ballhog Chick, and The Return of the Ballhog Chick), but this one seems appropriate.


THE RETURN OF THE BALLHOG CHICK


On the grounds of Shady Acres
where a coach can take the cure
when her nerves have turned to shakers
and can no more strain endure

our Miss Pat strolled in the garden,
for it was her discharge day.
A reporter begged her pardon -
Would some questions be okay?

“But of course” Miss Pat said sweetly.
“I’m all well now, you can see,
and recovered most completely
as my doctors all agree."

“Will you now return to coaching?”
asked the scribe in high suspense.
“With the playoffs now approaching
things might get a little tense.”

And she answered back serenely
“Games won’t phase me in the least.
I can handle stress routinely
which is why I’m now released.”

Next he paused, a little wary,
for he knew this next was key.
“So I guess it won’t be scary
when you face Diana T?”

Then her eyes began to glitter,
and she smiled a frozen smile,
while she watched a furry critter
gather acorns in a pile.

As it scurried up a hick’ry
our Miss Pat said “Pardon me.”
And as dock went after dick’ry
then she promptly climbed the tree.

And she sat there feet a-swinging
while she looked him in the eye
and with hands all clenched and wringing
then she gave him her reply.

“Son, no matter how you swagger,
and no matter what your schtick,
it can’t save you from the dagger
of that awful Ballhog Chick

“At the Civic Center showdown
she just blew my team away.
Made a 60 footer go down
for a halftime lead of trey.

“Tied it up in regulation.
Nailed us good in overtime.
And to add to our frustration
sparked another Boneyard rhyme.

“So just how will you all play it
in the histories to come?
I’m afraid that you’ll portray it
so I’m left the smallest crumb.

“Oh yes, I’ll be remembered
and they’ll carve it on my plaque
that ‘She saw her teams dismembered
by the leader of the pack.’

“And despite my many titles
then the only thing I’ll get
is a chance to give recitals
on how cold she made me sweat

“and a bit part in the story
when they finally make the flick
of the legend and the glory
of the famous Ballhog Chick

 

[Biff]

I know JS did a couple of them, not sure if he did them all (Ode to the Ballhog Chick, The Legacy of the Ballhog Chick, The Legend of the Ballhog Chick, and The Return of the Ballhog Chick), but this one seems appropriate.

JS did indeed author the BallHog Chick Poem series (now available in paperback and e-book format). I think the original question was where did the original term come from. The origin of that term was the Summitt poster RbtNatlnta (again spelling not right I'm sure)

 

[Bestiarius]

I think the original question was where did the original term come from. The origin of that term was the Summitt poster RbtNatlnta (again spelling not right I'm sure)

You're right Biff. His name was RobertNAtl. He was one of the all time best posters anywhere. Very humorous and impossible to get angry with. He died about a year ago.

 

[Fiftyish]

You're right Biff. His name was RobertNAtl. He was one of the all time best posters anywhere. Very humorous and impossible to get angry with. He died about a year ago.

That's the poster I was thinking of and sad to hear he has died. Was fun to read some of his posts back before the UConn/Tenn relationship became toxic.

 

[Icebear]

He was a great guy with a good sense of humor.

 

[choochoo]

Should the book really be named differently. Pats real name is Pat Head. Now that she is divorced and has very little love lost for her x. Pat should have called her book, " Head-ing Down, the story of the Lady Vols after I left"

 

[choochoo]

The Book -- Sum It Up -- is due to hit bookstores on March 5 (an otherwise very quiet time in WCBB):

John A writes that the Courant's Sports Editor reviewed an advance copy and there are 6 pages on her relationship with Geno. Not much new (a couple of stories on Geno's rudeness) and yes, the series ended because of recruiting though Pat offers nothing new; no new allegations beyond what was in the NCAA complaint:

Recruiting is the most difficult part of the game, and no coach likes it. … I believed I had a special responsibility to follow the rules closely, because whatever a coach at the top of the game did, every other coach in the country was going to do twice as aggressively. Over the course of about a year, I became increasingly upset with a couple of UConn’s recruiting tactics. I didn’t itemize my complaints publicly then, and I’m not going to now. I went through the appropriate channels and that’s how it will stay. I made my concerns known to UConn through our athletic director, Joan Cronan, and the Southeastern Conference. UConn responded that they saw nothing wrong with what they were doing. I made my concerns known again. Same response.

“I was finished.”

She ends the section on Geno in a more positive way; his note after her diagnosis and his $10,000 check to her foundation.

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-women/pat-summitt-dishes-on-geno-in-sum-it-up/#more-3335

Maybe a new title could be, Head-ing Down"!

 

[msf22b]

This whole thing is of no consequence.

 

[Icebear]

Should the book really be named differently. Pats real name is Pat Head. Now that she is divorced and has very little love lost for her x. Pat should have called her book, " Head-ing Down, the story of the Lady Vols after I left"

Well, there are some who think The Summitt should have a new name, maybe a more nautical theme, The Hea.... Nah, that's like slapping Harp seal in a barrel.

 

[uconnell]

I really like "I BELIEVE I had a special responsibility to follow the rules closely". So special that the NCAA had to add some rules due to her recruitment of Ann Strother.

 

[schmendrick]

Probably another book I won't be reading.

Not me. I plan to take the book out of the library and will be diagramming sentences and sharing particularly provocative quotes with the Boneyard.

As soon as I can.

 

[Bestiarius]

Well, there are some who think The Summitt should have a new name, maybe a more nautical theme, The Hea.... Nah, that's like slapping Harp seal in a barrel.

That would be a good name for Thompson - B arena. The Summitt bulletin board should change it's name to Rocky Topple. The lyrics fit, being they are a lament over the loss of a way of life.

 

[svetbird]

Didn't she write that Diana's ego was so big she should have her own zip code? Who originated the Ball Hog Chick? Was that Jenkins?

Yes I think that was her. She never even talked to Diana before writing it either. To be fair as much as I love dee her ego does need its own zip code. That being said she backs it up and is not difficult to coach. The article made her seem like a poor team player which she is not.

 

[ChicagoGG]

IMO, she wouldn't address her charges about recruiting in the book because she was WRONG and can't admit it. And if she repeated them, she would be called out on that. So she hides behind Sally Jenkins by coyly avoiding the original charges. (Did I mention that I hate people being coy?)

 

[Zorro]

Absolutely It was RobrtNatlanta (spelling may be off a couple letters) Actually he was a pretty good egg.

Yes he was. I don't know if he originated the "ball-hog chick" appellation, but his was the never to be forgotten; "That ball-hog chick is killing us!" He was a funny dude.

 

[Replicant]

How many highly successful coaches would have the chutzpah to write this about themselves:

I believed I had a special responsibility to follow the rules closely, because whatever a coach at the top of the game did, every other coach in the country was going to do twice as aggressively.

Maybe chutzpah isn't the right word; surely there's a word that captures what it takes to write that about oneself, particularly given Pat (Head) Summitt's less than perfect record when it comes to recruiting. Oy.

Hubris.

 

[JS]

Yes he was. I don't know if he originated the "ball-hog chick" appellation, but his was the never to be forgotten; "That ball-hog chick is killing us!" He was a funny dude.

RobertNAtl did originate the term. His handle, incidentally, which I for a long time mentally pronounced as "Robert National," actually stood for Robert Nephew, Atlanta.

Your quote is a remark he made in a UConn/TN game thread on the Summitt. I'm not aware of any back story but always assumed he was referring to the number of shots D took in certain games as a freshman.

Anyway, reading the game thread, I was struck by the phrase -- liked its rhythm, the impact of the consonants, the lighthearted schoolboy-ish terminology, the imagined faint, rueful chuckle as Robert stood back a little from taking a spectacular defeat too seriously.

A lot to like about a short phrase, I know. But that's what inspired the first of four annual poems during Diana's college career, and how "ballhog chick" graduated from a put-down to, at least in Boneyard lore, a badge of honor.

 

[JS]

this one seems appropriate.

THE RETURN OF THE BALLHOG CHICK

On the grounds of Shady Acres
where a coach can take the cure
Etc.

Although the poems sprung from a single phrase referring to Diana, they weren't really about her. They all made fun of Pat Summitt, suggesting that DT literally drove her crazy.

While expressed as humor, this common theme reflected my actual view of Ms. Summitt -- that she was a rigid, driven woman whose veneer of stability could crack under sufficient stress.

Diana merely served, fictionally, as the agent of that stress. This was, of course, long before the developments that would make such an assessment passé, and put its repetition at risk of being unkind if not inaccurate.

 

[meyers7]

Although the poems sprung from a single phrase referring to Diana, they weren't really about her. They all made fun of Pat Summitt, suggesting that DT literally drove her crazy.

While expressed as humor, this common theme reflected my actual view of Ms. Summitt -- that she was a rigid, driven woman whose veneer of stability could crack under sufficient stress.

Diana merely served, fictionally, as the agent of that stress. This was, of course, long before the developments that would make such an assessment passé, and put its repetition at risk of being unkind if not inaccurate.

Exactly why I thought it was appropriate for this thread.