The Bush administration might want to consider replacing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow.
After all, if she can bring together cold warriors Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma, achieving Middle East peace should be a cinch.
Relations between the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history and her five-time NCAA champ nemesis never have been warm and fuzzy, but lately they’ve made Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto look like BFFs. Since the summer, when Summitt brought an end to the annual contest between her Tennessee Vols and Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies for reasons women’s college basketball fans may never know -- but that have reportedly included a) she hates him b) she accused him of dirty recruiting practices c) he told one too many jokes at her expense – it looked unlikely that the two would ever share a sideline unless required by a late-round matchup in the NCAA tournament. And it appeared downright impossible to get them to share a small space in front of camera.
But Kay Yow did it.
Summitt and Auriemma declared a truce and joined forces along with Yow to record a spot to support The V Foundation’s Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. The fund, the first health initiative launched by the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association, was officially announced Monday night during the Jimmy V Classic game between Rutgers and Maryland.
In the spot, Yow, who is battling breast cancer for the third time but continues to coach while receiving chemotherapy, stands between Summitt, in Tennessee orange, and Auriemma, in Connecticut blue.
Summitt says, “There’s nothing I like better than beating Connecticut …”
Auriemma responds, “There’s nothing I like better than beating Tennessee …”
Then, in miraculous unison, “… except beating breast cancer.”
Yow, her chemo-ravaged hair having grown back a whispy white, looks into the camera and says, “Today the only opponent we care about is beating breast cancer, and I’m asking you to help in the fight.”
Click here to see the video.
One of the most universally loved women in the game, Yow is probably one of the few who could have gotten these two sworn foes to unite for a cause. And the V Foundation for Cancer Research is a great one, founded by ESPN and Yow’s NC State coaching counterpart Jim Valvano, who succumbed to cancer 14 years ago. Hell, they might have even kissed and made up if Yow’d asked them to.
Donations can be made here or by calling 1-800-4JimmyV.
