Cavalaris: 'The Summitt' haters are in a vocal minority

Why are some people grumbling about the University of Tennessee's decision to name the court at Thompson-Boling Arena in honor of Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt?

I thought "The Summitt" was a tremendous gesture on UT's part. It is a fitting tribute for a coach who has won more NCAA Division I basketball games (880) than anyone else.

Could you please explain the rationale to be against this?

PAMELA TURNER

Knoxville

I think you're talking about a "female phobia" that involves a vocal minority on local sports-talk radio.

There really isn't any logic to it. They are afraid a court named after a woman could somehow hurt recruiting for a men's team. If this is the case, you've got a whole lot more to worry about than recruiting.

Lest we forget, the UT board of trustees voted unanimously to make this a reality.

Why not bestow a name on the court?

Several schools or teams have named floors after coaches. Once upon a time, the Houston Rockets had a court called "The Summit."

Would you rather see a corporate logo at Tennessee instead?

At least part of the backlash has been from people who felt the court should have been named after former Vols basketball coach Ray Mears. While he deserves to be honored and has a room named after him in Thompson-Boling Arena, Mears never coached a game in Thompson-Boling. So why name the court after him?

Chuck: Would UT have named the court at TBA "The Head" if Pat had not married R.B. (Summitt)?

SCOTT MCCOY

Rogersville

That would have worked better at Austin-Peay.

Chuck: Bob Knight at Tennessee? No multiplied by 1,000. No, make that 10,000.

UT equals dignity. Why would anyone want him on his or her campus?

BILL KAPTEANAKIS

Birmingham, Ala.

Reliable accounts indicate that Coach Knight has finally mellowed at age 64. (Of course, all things are relative.)

I thought about 70 percent of the responses were in favor of The General.

Here's the larger question: Why would someone who needs 26 victories to break Dean Smith's record of 879 for NCAA Division I men's basketball want to step into a coaching graveyard at Tennessee?

Chuck: I keep hearing that Thompson-Boling Arena is a negative factor in UT basketball. What is the knock on the arena? Too big? Fans too far from the floor? If it was filled, would it still be a bad arena?

PETE PIATT

Knoxville

With 25,000 seats, this multi-purpose "assembly center and arena" is just too big for the majority of sporting events. It's like a different place when it's at least 80 percent full.

I would strongly endorse a cozier arena with about 18,500 seats. Check Philips Arena in Atlanta for a really good blueprint. It is excellent in several aspects.

Meanwhile, you've simply got to find a way - anyway - to get students closer to the action. I would make room for some "fanatics" along the sideline and designate a couple of sections behind the goal supports, too.

Chuck: What Tennessee needs now to add mediocrity to an ongoing soap opera is to add Bobby Knight. If this happens, I'm going to burn my UT diploma and resign my status as a Tennessee Society member.

C.M. CRUSE

Tellico Village

Well, C.M., I believe your diploma is safe. There might have been some substance to this courtship, but I really believe it was much more smoke than fire.

Chuck: It seems that the UT basketball coach selection process has always careened from one extreme to another, from fanatical disciplinarians to "players coaches" to nice, laid back guys to raving maniacs (twice, literally).

So now that we are faced with replacing a nice guy, middling disciplinarian of modest coaching talent, are we in store for a misogynous, profane, chair throwing, nearly psychotic military disciplinarian? Or can we get smart for a change and recruit a nice family man who happens to also be a brilliant basketball coach, loved by his players and adored by fans, a Ray Mears find for our time: Bruce Pearl?

RON RIMER

Knoxville

Because of the intensity his team has displayed at Milwaukee-Wisconsin, I would vote for coach Pearl. No. 2 would be Bobby Lutz of Charlotte, followed by Mike Anderson of UAB.

Chuck: Thank you for your level-headed responses to the letters in your column on March 19th. In Buzz Peterson's fourth year, UT was repeatedly embarrassed (Nebraska, Chattanooga, Vanderbilt) and lost critical games to the lowest ranking teams in the SEC (Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas).

However, after I attended the LSU game, all of my friends agreed that Buzz should get one more year because we were more terrified of the UT athletic director's ability to attract the right coach. So far, it looks like this whole process has been botched.

Even though the firing may have been warranted, how badly does the fallout tarnish the university's image? I feel like we are reliving the Johnny Majors incident again.

BRETT TARTER

Franklin, Tenn.

Ouch. As a long-time admirer of Coach Majors, I certainly hope that isn't the case.

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