Archive for January, 2009

UT fan sues over stadium seating

In a lawsuit, Thomas Luck wants the seating rights that were given to his father in 1961. The two box seats, which Luck says are the best in the stadium, are on the front row of the upper west deck near the 50-yard line…

• via:  UT fan sues over stadium seating : GoVolsXtra.com.

This is interesting.

Not exactly what I was trying to show in my first post on The Cost of Sports, but in the same vein.  Apparently, Nashville attorney Thomas Luck wants to keep seats in the new Tennessee Terrace zone (West Upper Deck) without paying the additional donation.  According to Luck, General Neyland himself gave lifetime rights to Luck’s late father in 1961.  Along with that came the right to pass the seat rights down after his death.  The University advised Luck that he would have to make a donation commensurate with the seat location, or relocate to another part of the stadium.  In response, Luck filed suit.

Now, I have no knowledge of the particulars of this case, but I do have a few observations…

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This post is part of a continuing series, “The Cost of Sports,” examining the impact of economic changes on the world of major sports.  To see the other posts in this series, click here.

So how much is winning worth to you?

This is a question that many have asked and answered over the years.  The reality is that there is no right or wrong answer to this question—it is a personal matter, which really lives outside the confines of “categorical absolutes” and everyday reality.  We all have our limits.  Some are willing to go farther than others.  In the end, though, it is a question of conscience (or of getting caught).

That question is now being supplanted by a new consideration, one which is far more basic and fundamental, and which is bound by the world of reality.

How much are sports worth to you?

I say that this is now bound by reality due to headlines that have become all too common across the country over the last 12 months such as the one in my hometown paper earlier this week.

That's what you like to see first thing in the morning...

You hardly have to be a news wonk to realize that the economy is seriously in the crapper.  People from all walks of life are being forced to make changes in the way they spend their money and how they live their lives.  With all of the bad news about jobs being cut, investments tanking, and businesses going under many are being forced to cut back not out of thrift but necessity.

Most rational individuals faced with the predicament of making a mortgage payment with dwindling funds or even putting food on the table will usually start by cutting out the things they can live without, namely entertainment and recreation.

Over the past generation, the cost of attending or participating in sports as a fan has increased dramatically.  For example in 1995, the average cost for a ticket to a Carolina Panthers football game was $37.92, in 2008 that average had risen to $63.32, and the Panthers had the fourth lowest ticket prices in the league.  Of course those increases have not been confined to professional sports (which I will address in part 2 of this series).

While food and shelter are obviously not things that a body can go without, tickets to watch your favorite team play are.  That begs the question, is the horizon looking bleak for the financial feasibility and solvency of major sports as we have known them?

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Video: Bruce Pearl Discusses 79-73 loss to the LSU Tigers | Volunteer TV

Yeah, that one pretty much stunk…

In anticipation of her 1,000th win, there’s a really nice piece on the career of Pat Summitt over at USA Today.com:

When Pat Summitt became women’s basketball coach at Tennessee in 1974, she was 22 and Title IX was 2.

* * * * *

Her concerns were basic: “I was trying to figure out how to organize a practice.”

•via: Summitt’s trek at Tennessee nears the pinnacle: 1,000 wins – USATODAY.com.

It’s a great read with a multimedia interview (which unfortunately is not embeddable) to go along with it.

Well, we knew the honeymoon would end eventually for Lane Kiffin.  Fortunately, this one appears to be all “smoke” and no fire.

According to UT spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter, coaches used smoke machines as recruits entered the field from the tunnel inside Neyland Stadium when the Vols hosted prospects on official visits earlier this month.

• via: UT reporting possible secondary violation | GoVolsXtra.com

Wow, I see a bowl ban on the horizon!

Can’t blame Tennessee for being safe, but that sounds like an awful waste of a lot of folks time…

In other news, it sounds like Alabama Crimson Tide basketball coach Mark Gottfried is done.  Can’t say that one is a surprise.

Kay Yow

As a fan of the Lady Vols, it is a sad time.  Every team, every player, and every fan of women’s college basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss on Saturday…

After fighting for over 20 years, N.C. State Wolfpack Women’s Basketball Coach, Kay Yow lost her battle with breast cancer.  She was 66 years old.

Throughout her 38-year coaching career, Coach Yow was widely respected not only for her winning teams and spirit, but also for her courage, compassion, and loyalty.  Along with her overall record of 737-344 as a head coach, her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, Coach Yow also served as assistant coach to Tennessee Lady Vols Coach Pat Summitt during the 1984 Olympic Games, where the United States earned its first gold medal in Women’s Basketball.

On hearing of Yow’s passing, Coach Summitt reminisced on coaching with Kay Yow:

I was a young coach of 32 when I was asked to coach the 1984 Olympic Team.  When I decided who my number one assistant would be, I knew that I had to choose someone who would be loyal…who knew the game…someone I could trust and someone with great wisdom.  When it came time to make that decision, I picked Kay Yow.

Kay had great wisdom. She had a special way of telling you things that you really didn’t want to hear but needed to.  Kay was not a ‘yes’ woman.  She accepted the challenge of helping me to bring home the first gold medal to the United States in women’s basketball. It was a daunting task but Kay made it so much easier by helping to relieve the pressure.

Video: Coach Summitt Remembers Kay Yow | ESPN

Since the late 1980′s, however, Yow’s battles were not confined to the basketball court; Yow had been fighting for her life against breast cancer.  After undergoing a mastectomy in 1987, Yow seemed to be winning that fight until a recurrence in 2004.  As a result ,she missed 2 games in the 2004-05 season.  Continuing to fight, she never wavered in commitment to the players and team she loved, but was forced to take a 16 game leave of absence during the 2006-07 season.  Still, she returned to the court once more.

Then, this past December, after having just coached her 1000th game, Yow missed the next four games due to weakness from her ongoing cancer treatments before announcing in early January that she would be taking a leave of absence for the remainder of the season.  On Saturday, Coach Yow passed from this life.

Kay Yow was a pioneer in the game of women’s basketball.  More importantly, she was a testament to the enduring spirit of grace in the face of adversity.  Along with battling cancer and coaching her team, Coach Yow tirelessly worked to raise money for cancer research an to promote breast cancer awareness.  It was for this strength that Yow was awarded the inaugural Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2007 ESPYs, which was presented by Coach Summitt.  Said Summitt:

In the two decades she fought the disease, Kay never allowed herself to be victimized by cancer. Kay never pitied herself. Instead, she tried to bring awareness to the horrible disease that was robbing her of her life. Through her foundation in conjunction with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) – The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, she did all that she could do to help others. That was just Kay.

Helping to get the cancer fund off the ground put Kay on a mission. She fought for cancer funding the same way she fought the disease… positive and determined every step of the way.

Kay Yow with Pat Summitt after winning the Jimmy V award in 2007

Kay Yow’s courage, dedication, and example serve as her enduring legacy.  The foundation which now bears her name will continue the struggle to defeat the adversary that took Coach Yow’s life.

Still, women’s basketball has lost a legend and the world has lost a courageous beautiful person.  She will be missed…

Click the logo above to donate to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund (Part of the Jimmy V Foundation)

– So it goes…

Images Courtesy of: UNCG • New York Times / Chris Carlson(AP) • The Kay Yow Cancer Fund / Jimmy V Foundation

So yesterday’s 54-52 loss to Memphis hurts. Sure, it’s less the day after, but I won’t lie – I needed a couple hours to chill out and relax after exerting quite a bit of energy and emotion. Things go on and Tennessee has two more HUGE home games coming up this week in the SEC.

I don’t want to spend too much time of why Tennessee lost, because the answer’s pretty short one. Missed opportunities aplenty and just some untimely plays. Memphis was 11-of-14 on free throws, Tennessee was 14-of-23 from the line. Tyler Smith shot 5-of-18 from the field, many of them decent – and contested – looks. Wayne Chism didn’t get the ball enough down the stretch – he only had 7 field goal attempts the entire game.

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