Coach Pat Summitt

Early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

At the mention of that, I get this picture in my mind of somebody really old and wrinkled.  Maybe stooped over on a walker.   Wisps of hair are all that remain.  A vacant stare.

But Pat Summitt?!?   She of the icy stare.  Pat Summitt--one of the most respected coaches in all of sports?  Pat Summitt, who is categorized with John Wooden as one of the greatest coaches of all time?  

Pat Summitt who could coach anything, anytime, anwhere?   A lot of folks have suggested that she should be the men's basketball coach at UT every time that job came open.  

Heck, I'd give her pretty much any job she wanted.  Athletic Director?  Sure.   CEO?  Any time.   President of the United States?  I'd vote for her.

Her tenacity, her integrity, her dedication, her brains...I could go on and on.   Those things would translate to any job.   I'm not alone in believing she could straighten out Wall Street, Afghanistan, and the NCAA in about a week if they would just put her in charge.

And now we're all concerned because Pat (which is what her players call her---I don't think I could do that), an icon and a legend, has early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. 

At 59.  Goodness gracious, I'm 58!

Coach Summitt taught tennis to my wife in a Physical Education elective class at UT in 1975.  Back then, she had to teach classes as well as coach basketball.    That seems pretty bizarre now.

So what can we all expect?  

We all know that there is not yet a cure for Alzheimer's.   The very mention of the word scares us, much like the word "cancer" did to another generation.  We know that it is progressive.  And ultimately fatal.

But we all also feel like we know Pat Summitt.   And we all know that she will attack this with the same intensity that is her trademark.  Heck, I stand up straighter just at the mention of her name.

Whatever happens, however this disease affects her, we all know that Pat Summitt will deal with it on her terms, the same way she has always coached.

But as this whole scenario plays out, I betcha several things happen.  I betcha more people will get diagnosed earlier, when more can be done.  I betcha everybody in Tennessee will know more about this disease.  I betcha that there will be more research on this disease than ever before.

And you better not bet against Coach Summitt.

joeblack