Celebrating 1,000

I think I've officially flunked blogging. It's been FOREVER since I last made an entry, and it certainly hasn't been because there's been nothing to write about. I'm just a big slacker.

Alas, I thought I'd make an entry in honor of the 1,000th coaching victory of the legendary Pat Head Summitt. The stories of Pat, her players, her driving the van, Tyler, her dog, and the 'coon have all been posted aplenty the past week, so I'm not here to rehash those. Rather, I'm here to reflect on my own memories from the 1,000. :-)

My first memory of idolizing the Lady Vols came when Debbie Hawhee (yes, that was really her name), a standout player at South Greene High School (which would become my alma mater years later), signed to play at Tennessee. I remember taking my first trip to Thompson-Boling Arena with my parents to watch my first Lady Vols game. I'm going to guess I was probably 10 or so. Poor Debbie never saw a lot of floor time in her Lady Vol career, but I was hooked. :-)

My mom and I would usually pin my dad down to take us to one game a season from that point forward, and my next Lady Vol memories were of the Class of 1995. I loved Tiffany Woosley, a guard from Shelbyville, a high school national power in Middle Tennessee. Those were some awesome years for that group, but I'm sad to say they hold the distinction of being one of the few Summitt classes to never win a national title. I also remember being bummed when we went to our one game in 1995, senior day. I was bummed because Tiffany had torn her ACL in a game at Vanderbilt on New Year's Eve, so the closest she came to being on the court for that annual trip was limping to midcourt for her senior day recognition.

My own UT years brought a different perspective as a Lady Vol fan, since I attended classes with some of the players. That was kind of odd after growing up idolizing the players! Alas, my favorite memory from my college years was attending the national championship celebration following the 1998 national title. I also remember standing outside for two hours in the freezing cold one of those four years (can't remember which) to rush to one of the general admission (and thus student ticket) seats for a UConn game. I couldn't get any of my friends or roommates to go to that game, so I sat among total strangers and enjoyed myself all the same. I also remember skipping statistics class one afternoon to get Pat to sign my copy of "Reach for the Summitt" at the UT Book and Supply Store. It should be noted that's the best book I've read outside the scriptures. :-) Oh, and for the record, the accounts of Pat's players sitting in the first three rows of class are true. They really do do it. And, unlike some men's teams that shall remain nameless, that obviously means they actually attend class. ;-)

And finally....my VERY FAVORITE Lady Vol memory was attending my first Final Four last April to see the Lady Vols cut down the nets for the second straight year. What an awesome experience that was!!! Great seat. Great games. Lively pregame pep rallies. If I live to be 400, I don't think I'll ever forget those two days in Tampa.