Stringer vs. Summitt: A rivalry of success and media attention

Vivian Stringer (Rutgers) and Pat Summitt (Tennessee) are without a doubt two of the biggest names in women’s basketball.

On January 3, the coaches’ teams battled it out for the 27th time. The Lady Vols’ 20-point comeback in the second half made school history.

Together, Stringer and Summitt have compiled 1,805 victories over 73 seasons, and they’re both over the age of 50. This past year, Vivian Stringer reached her 800th win, and Pat Summit has 983 wins, along with an incredible .844 average.

As a result of their success, they’ve built up quite a rivalry. Summitt has won 13 of 14 games against Stringer, and the most notable match up occurred in 2007, as Summit’s team defeated Stringer’s for the NCAA Championship.

On January 3, the Lady Vols made history, with the largest comeback in the history of their program.

Down to Rutgers by 20 points at halftime, the Lady Vols came back to defeat the Scarlet Knights, 55-51.

According to ESPN, Shekinna Stricklen’s 16 points and 11 rebounds led this run, and Summitt’s half-time rip speech inspired the comeback to occur.

Trailing 33-13 at the half, Summitt ripped into her inexperienced team telling them it would be a long plane ride home for the Lady Vols if they didn’t start playing with some “Tennessee pride,” reported ESPN.

“Never in my 35 years of coaching have I seen a game like that,” said Summitt, who earned the 994th win of her career. “I’ve been in a lot of games, I’ve been behind a lot in my career, this one stands out as one of the most special.”

It likely will be remebered by Stringer as well.

The impact of the match up extends far beyond the result of last week’s game in New Jersey. In addition to their winning records, the two coaches have successfully demanded media attention, both online and off.

Perfect example of this demand is illustrated New York Times January 2 article, Rutgers Women’s Basketball Resumes Rivalry with Tennessee. Excellently written, author Dave Caldwell rightfully payed tribute to the pioneers of the sport.

Summitt’s success has influenced the University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department to create a specific site for the school’s women’s sports. To my knowledge, no other institution does this, and it’s a huge step forward in terms of exclusivity in a male-dominated industry online.

Summitt’s name has also become a known brand for the school itself, with her face appearing on almost all of its publications.

In addition, Summitt has written two books (with the help of Sally Jenkins), Reach for the Summitt (part motivational book, part biography) and Raise the Roof (about the Lady Vols’ undefeated season in 1997–1998, in which they won the NCAA championship).

Stringer has also generated significant media attention.

In 2001, her success spurred the creation of a GREAT PBS documentary, This is a game ladies. Also, her face almost always appears immediately on the Rutgers athletics Web page.

Stringer has also made strides for minority women in sports. In 2003, she was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports,” and during the summer of 2004 she received the Black Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stringer reflects on these achievements (and others) in her best-selling book, Standing Tall.

Reflective of fan popularity, bloggers are rising out of the woodwork, as well.

The Lady Vols fans have a few noteworthy blogs, including Pat Summitt/Lady Vols News, Govolsxtra, and Tennessee Lady Vols blog, to name a few.

Women’s Hoops Guru, Women’s Hoops Blog and Shes Got Game also frequently writes about Summit and Stringer (as well as other noteworthy teams) in the world of women’s basketball.

Also, of course, ESPN’s HoopGurlz is the best (by far) coverage of women’s hoops available, particularly for high school competition.

As for NCAA basketball, I said early in this article, both Summitt and Stringer are over the age of 50.

The competition for the “winningest coach” in female sports history will continue, I can only hope that some more hopefuls will rise to the top.

As for the media, my hope is that successful coaches like Stringer and Summitt continue to demand attention, and athletic departments realize the value in exclusivity for female sports.

Diversifying the content online (using video, podcasts, etc.) will help drive traffic. Continued wins by great coaches and outstanding performances such as the game on January 3 will hopefully earn a well-deserved spot in the headlines. The increase in the use of blogs will help us all feel like we’re part of the team.

Tennessee Lady Vols squeak past George Washington, great showing of fans

I was fortunate last night to attend a matchup between the University of Tennessee and George Washington University in Washington, DC. The gym was almost full, and within the last five minutes of the game, everyone was on their feet.

Prior to the game, I had received a Facebook invite from a friend for an event titled, “Tennessee is coming…” started by some faithful GWU women’s basketball fans. The message read,

“Hey guys, The lady Vols have been spotted, along with over 1,000 fans. It’s time to remind them that this is our house! Doors open early tonight @ 6:15pm for student only!! This way we can get the best seats in the house.

So, Grab 2 friends, and get out to the Smith Center tonight!!!! Our best opponent of the year is at hand and the team needs our support!”

I was so glad to see a Facebook invite to a women’s basketball event -it already generated over 100 members from the Washington, DC area. So, of course, I decided to go (with a few friends).

Also earlier that day, the Lady Vols took a tour around DC. To the left is a picture of Briana Brass in front of the U.S. Capitol – direct from the Lady Vols’ Web site.

Later that night, I was surprised when I walked in a local bar on campus prior to the game and saw orange. Apparently, the Lady Vols have fans everywhere – and 1,000 of them were headed to GWU’s gym.

I entered the gym- which was pretty-much full, and very, very loud. According to the GWU Web site, last night’s crowd (3,459) was the sixth largest women’s basketball crowd in Charles E. Smith Center history. Pat Summit sure knows how to draw attention. (check out her post-game audio here)

The student section for GWU was in rare form, and the sea or orange behind the Tennessee bench was anything but quiet.

Tenesssee maintained about a 7-10 point lead for about the first 3/4 of the game, but with less than five minutes left to play, George Washington come within a possession of taking the lead (they were down two points).

GWU, a team not even mentioned in the top 20 ESPN/USA Today Divisoin 1 poll, came within 2 points of catching the number 9-ranked ladies in orange, one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country.

I was impressed by two players, in particular, on GWU’s side.  Senior Jazmine Adair and senior Antelia Parrish, two towers over six feet in height, gave the Tennessee forwards some incredible resistance in the paint, on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor.

Head Coach Mike Bozeman, in his first season with GWU, was animated and heated the entire game. When GW came within a few points of taking the lead from Tennessee, Bozeman could be found in front of his bench with a towel thrown over his shoulder and his arms extended, waiving at the crowd to get on their feet.

Unfortunately, Tennessee used a 15-5 game-ending run in the last few minutes to escape with a 71-59 victory.

The game was a lot of fun, and I’m proud of the GWU players, students as well as the Tennessee fans who came out of the woodwork for this game. That’s the type of attention every game deserves.

The young Tennessee team seems to have a lot of work to do this year.

Vols, Huskies Rivalry Extends to Football

It seems that the rivalry between the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee, established through tough competition in women’s basketball play, is extending to football – the two football clubs have agreed to play each other in 2015-2016.

I don’t think too many people would disagree with the fact that Pat Summit’s Tennessee program and Geno Auriemma’s UConn program have drawn both incredible talent and great media coverage for the sport (and women’s sports in general).

But I thought it was really interesting ESPN actually went out on a limb and reported on it, saying that the football teams “don’t have quite the same pedigree.” I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that!

Apparently, the USA’s women’s basketball powerhouses are actually being given some credit in their ability to draw attention, even in the “big dog” world of college football. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it happen.

Here’s what ESPN had to say:

Connecticut and Tennessee’s rivalry is moving from the basketball court to the football field.

Connecticut announced Thursday that Tennessee will visit Rentschler Field in East Hartford in 2015, and the Huskies will travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville the following year.

The two women’s basketball powers had met annually, until Tennessee canceled the series a year ago. The schools’ football teams don’t have quite the same pedigree.

Tennessee won the 1998 national championship in football and has 13 Southeastern Conference titles to its credit. UConn is beginning its sixth season in the Bowl Championship subdivision and is coming off a 9-4 season and its first Big East co-championship.

Needless to say, I’m going to watch this game, and see if the commentators happen to say anything about how the women’s basketball programs have built a rivalry that has extended beyond their sport and gender. My guess is it will be mentioned, briefly.

If only they’d announce women’s sports schedules that far in advance on ESPN….