University of Tennessee Athletics
Inside The T - Always Back Pat
January 23, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
The impact that Pat Summitt made on sports, not just women's sports, not just college sports, but all sports has never been in question.
I'm starting to really believe we should question it. I think we have been underselling it.
Tennessee hosted the first "We Back Pat" game while Summitt was still on the bench for the Lady Vols in her final season in 2012. It was a meaningful night, one that sold thousands of t-shirts in support of her newly-established Pat Summitt Foundation for Alzheimer's research. The opponent that night, LSU, wore "We Back Pat" t-shirts in their own colors, a nice gesture from a program led by former Lady Vol player and assistant coach Nikki Caldwell.
Fast-forward three years and LSU was back for another "We Back Pat" game at Thompson-Boling Arena. But this was not a stand-alone event. It's part of an initiative that moved to all of the Southeastern Conference and now the country for "We Back Pat" Week.
Teams all over the country, from the SEC to Notre Dame and the west coast are all wearing "We Back Pat" shirts and helping in the effort to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's research.
Sit back and think about that for a minute. One person made such an impact in sports that when she faced the biggest challenge in her life, she turned it into a positive, focused on helping people. And because of who she is and what she meant to her sport and all sports, teams all over the country are wearing the name of their onetime biggest competitor across their chests.
Of course, it means even more in Knoxville, where Summitt still takes in most home games from seats at mid-court. It is not uncommon for Tennessee players to come over and hug Summitt at home games. Former Lady Vol Taber Spani did it prior to every game she played.
Before the game Thursday night, Caldwell and Holly Warlick each made their way over to Summitt to present flowers and get a photo with their mentor. It was an emotional moment on what was already an emotional night. As they took the photo, the student section began a "We Back Pat" chant that gave me chills and got things a little dusty on press row.
One of our student workers was practically star-struck when Summitt thanked him for delivering a stat sheet to her seat during Thursday's game. My first encounter with her was slightly less cordial, but the message she sent that day stuck with me forever.
I was a high school kid working her summer basketball camp and had been given the responsibility of setting up Stokely Athletics Center as one of three on-campus sites for the first night of camp. One problem: The lights would not come on. About every fifth light on the ceiling was on, that wasn't going to be enough. Terrified of my employment ending before it really even began, I sought out a maintenance worker to help with the issue. He looked at me, headed out the door for the weekend and said "Son, that's not my problem."
I now had to go tell the most famous Tennessean that I had failed and a third of her campers were going to have to play in the dark. I got The Stare. She broke the silence and said "What did you do to handle this yourself? I need people that can solve problems, not create them."
I was terrified to tell her about the maintenance guy. Terrified. But this was me on the line. I looked up and said "I asked the building contact on my list for help." Silence. She raised her eyebrow, say "And..." without ever actually saying it. So I continued "And he said it wasn't his problem."
The Stare intensified. I might have blacked out. But the beginnings of a smile crept to the sides of her mouth. "Well," she said, "we're going to make it his problem."
Impact. What did I do to solve a problem before running to someone else for help? I passed the test through my own dumb luck that day, but that question has stuck with me all of my life since. And I don't remember seeing that maintenance guy around when I came to college the next summer.
Impact is more than what you do while you're in your prime, while you're doing what you do best or are the most visible doing. Impact is the legacy you leave and what people do because of you. What Pat Summitt did as a coach was incredible, but the impact she has had since then is even bigger. An impact that only continues to grow. And it is why We will always Back Pat.
