(04-09-2024, 11:39 PM)chrisk Wrote: Contrary to some uninformed speculation, she said tonight that the move to the ACC was not a factor in her decision.
(04-09-2024, 11:39 PM)chrisk Wrote: Contrary to some uninformed speculation, she said tonight that the move to the ACC was not a factor in her decision.
(04-09-2024, 08:10 PM)82lsju Wrote:(04-09-2024, 08:04 PM)StanfordMatt Wrote: If there was even a shadow of a doubt that a deal wouldn’t be worked out with Kate, you can bet they wouldn’t have mentioned it in the press release. Speculation on my part, but they may not have wanted to announce it as a done deal so as not to steal any attention away from Tara’s moment.
so then why have the announcement about Tara at what appears to be ~8pm PT, you'd think it would make more sense to have it tomorrow (or maybe to have had it this) morning to get more coverage.
(04-09-2024, 08:10 PM)82lsju Wrote:(04-09-2024, 08:04 PM)StanfordMatt Wrote: If there was even a shadow of a doubt that a deal wouldn’t be worked out with Kate, you can bet they wouldn’t have mentioned it in the press release. Speculation on my part, but they may not have wanted to announce it as a done deal so as not to steal any attention away from Tara’s moment.
so then why have the announcement about Tara at what appears to be ~8pm PT, you'd think it would make more sense to have it tomorrow (or maybe to have had it this) morning to get more coverage.
(04-10-2024, 04:50 AM)81alum Wrote: For almost 10 years now I have wondered, nearly every year, when this day would come. She came close, she said, in 2014. Tara herself has said, more than once, that she also wonders every year at the end of the season, but that her momentary thoughts of retirement vanish within a few days. I guess this time she figured it out earlier so that she was more confident that her feelings on retirement would not change.
Tara, Bill Walsh, and Mike Montgomery are the reasons I became a Stanford sports fan. They were all capable of "getting" the Stanford environment and promoting excellence in their sport in a elite academic institution. It is a tough thing to do--much more difficult that being a great coach at any other university. And of the three, only Tara sustained it for decades. She was the epitome of greatness at Stanford, and due to changes in the game, her achievement will never be repeated.
https://theathletic.com/5404313/2024/04/...asketball/
What gets me the most is not just Tara's retirement, but that it symbolizes the retirement of an entire era of WBB. She always wanted WBB to become equal to men's, with just as many professional opportunities and just as much TV coverage. That has finally begun to happen. But as it does, so too does the focus of the game shift, and the values that made me prefer WBB are now fading. When Montgomery left I lost interest in MBB. When Shaw left (or even a little before) I finally (after 40 years) lost interest in football. Will the same happen for WBB? I hope it does not.
Yes, there are rightful concerns about the transition with players, but let's not lose sight of the transition with the fans. Several of the season ticket holders who sit around me mentioned that they wondered if this would be their last year--but they kept coming for Tara. The fans at Maples are aging and many are about the same age as Tara. Many were attracted to become Stanford WBB fans because of Tara's role in Title IX and being a truly great leader for women. I can see a lot of them "retiring" as fans as well. Basketball was never the only--and in some cases not even the most important--reason for being a fan of the team for them.
Kate emphatically is the right person for the job--she knows the Stanford environment from every angle. She is also a superb Xs and Os coach, and has been the most successful game planner for the team for years. Her scouting reports are second to none. USC wanted her a decade ago and she declined so as to remain as Associate Head Coach at Stanford, so she and all else have known of this transition for a decade. Recruits no doubt have been aware of Tara's age and they have had to know about succession plans as well. (And, as a side note, we will have probably the brightest coach possibly in the history of sports. Not too many athletics coaches with Stanford MBA/JD degrees. Not that it will necessarily translate into basketball success.)
I suspect that getting this transition behind us is probably necessary for recruiting. For years now talk of Tara's possible retirement has been a constant drag on recruiting, and this will end. No doubt Kate will have different recruiting challenges until/unless she can achieve success in wins and losses--a daunting task. As far as losing current players to transfer--I doubt it.
Amy Tucker's retirement a few years ago is, I think, a model. Yes, she retired, but she is there at every game and is still known and beloved by all the players. Tara, I imagine, will be following a similar path--if Kate stays. I expect Tara will still be involved for a few years and Kate will welcome that. This will therefore be radically different from the departure of Pat Summit at Tennessee. Holly Warlick was not Kate Paye, and Holly did not have Pat genuinely around to assist in transition.
Finally, let me echo others and say that Tara has given me decades of fun and pleasure--not only watching a lot of winning basketball, but watching her develop teams, watching her as an educator. Her transition becomes a transition for all of us, now. Thank you Tara.
(04-10-2024, 04:50 AM)81alum Wrote: For almost 10 years now I have wondered, nearly every year, when this day would come. She came close, she said, in 2014. Tara herself has said, more than once, that she also wonders every year at the end of the season, but that her momentary thoughts of retirement vanish within a few days. I guess this time she figured it out earlier so that she was more confident that her feelings on retirement would not change.
Tara, Bill Walsh, and Mike Montgomery are the reasons I became a Stanford sports fan. They were all capable of "getting" the Stanford environment and promoting excellence in their sport in a elite academic institution. It is a tough thing to do--much more difficult that being a great coach at any other university. And of the three, only Tara sustained it for decades. She was the epitome of greatness at Stanford, and due to changes in the game, her achievement will never be repeated.
https://theathletic.com/5404313/2024/04/...asketball/
What gets me the most is not just Tara's retirement, but that it symbolizes the retirement of an entire era of WBB. She always wanted WBB to become equal to men's, with just as many professional opportunities and just as much TV coverage. That has finally begun to happen. But as it does, so too does the focus of the game shift, and the values that made me prefer WBB are now fading. When Montgomery left I lost interest in MBB. When Shaw left (or even a little before) I finally (after 40 years) lost interest in football. Will the same happen for WBB? I hope it does not.
Yes, there are rightful concerns about the transition with players, but let's not lose sight of the transition with the fans. Several of the season ticket holders who sit around me mentioned that they wondered if this would be their last year--but they kept coming for Tara. The fans at Maples are aging and many are about the same age as Tara. Many were attracted to become Stanford WBB fans because of Tara's role in Title IX and being a truly great leader for women. I can see a lot of them "retiring" as fans as well. Basketball was never the only--and in some cases not even the most important--reason for being a fan of the team for them.
Kate emphatically is the right person for the job--she knows the Stanford environment from every angle. She is also a superb Xs and Os coach, and has been the most successful game planner for the team for years. Her scouting reports are second to none. USC wanted her a decade ago and she declined so as to remain as Associate Head Coach at Stanford, so she and all else have known of this transition for a decade. Recruits no doubt have been aware of Tara's age and they have had to know about succession plans as well. (And, as a side note, we will have probably the brightest coach possibly in the history of sports. Not too many athletics coaches with Stanford MBA/JD degrees. Not that it will necessarily translate into basketball success.)
I suspect that getting this transition behind us is probably necessary for recruiting. For years now talk of Tara's possible retirement has been a constant drag on recruiting, and this will end. No doubt Kate will have different recruiting challenges until/unless she can achieve success in wins and losses--a daunting task. As far as losing current players to transfer--I doubt it.
Amy Tucker's retirement a few years ago is, I think, a model. Yes, she retired, but she is there at every game and is still known and beloved by all the players. Tara, I imagine, will be following a similar path--if Kate stays. I expect Tara will still be involved for a few years and Kate will welcome that. This will therefore be radically different from the departure of Pat Summit at Tennessee. Holly Warlick was not Kate Paye, and Holly did not have Pat genuinely around to assist in transition.
Finally, let me echo others and say that Tara has given me decades of fun and pleasure--not only watching a lot of winning basketball, but watching her develop teams, watching her as an educator. Her transition becomes a transition for all of us, now. Thank you Tara.
(04-10-2024, 09:48 AM)WBB fan Wrote:(04-10-2024, 04:50 AM)81alum Wrote: For almost 10 years now I have wondered, nearly every year, when this day would come. She came close, she said, in 2014. Tara herself has said, more than once, that she also wonders every year at the end of the season, but that her momentary thoughts of retirement vanish within a few days. I guess this time she figured it out earlier so that she was more confident that her feelings on retirement would not change.
Tara, Bill Walsh, and Mike Montgomery are the reasons I became a Stanford sports fan. They were all capable of "getting" the Stanford environment and promoting excellence in their sport in a elite academic institution. It is a tough thing to do--much more difficult that being a great coach at any other university. And of the three, only Tara sustained it for decades. She was the epitome of greatness at Stanford, and due to changes in the game, her achievement will never be repeated.
https://theathletic.com/5404313/2024/04/...asketball/
What gets me the most is not just Tara's retirement, but that it symbolizes the retirement of an entire era of WBB. She always wanted WBB to become equal to men's, with just as many professional opportunities and just as much TV coverage. That has finally begun to happen. But as it does, so too does the focus of the game shift, and the values that made me prefer WBB are now fading. When Montgomery left I lost interest in MBB. When Shaw left (or even a little before) I finally (after 40 years) lost interest in football. Will the same happen for WBB? I hope it does not.
Yes, there are rightful concerns about the transition with players, but let's not lose sight of the transition with the fans. Several of the season ticket holders who sit around me mentioned that they wondered if this would be their last year--but they kept coming for Tara. The fans at Maples are aging and many are about the same age as Tara. Many were attracted to become Stanford WBB fans because of Tara's role in Title IX and being a truly great leader for women. I can see a lot of them "retiring" as fans as well. Basketball was never the only--and in some cases not even the most important--reason for being a fan of the team for them.
Kate emphatically is the right person for the job--she knows the Stanford environment from every angle. She is also a superb Xs and Os coach, and has been the most successful game planner for the team for years. Her scouting reports are second to none. USC wanted her a decade ago and she declined so as to remain as Associate Head Coach at Stanford, so she and all else have known of this transition for a decade. Recruits no doubt have been aware of Tara's age and they have had to know about succession plans as well. (And, as a side note, we will have probably the brightest coach possibly in the history of sports. Not too many athletics coaches with Stanford MBA/JD degrees. Not that it will necessarily translate into basketball success.)
I suspect that getting this transition behind us is probably necessary for recruiting. For years now talk of Tara's possible retirement has been a constant drag on recruiting, and this will end. No doubt Kate will have different recruiting challenges until/unless she can achieve success in wins and losses--a daunting task. As far as losing current players to transfer--I doubt it.
Amy Tucker's retirement a few years ago is, I think, a model. Yes, she retired, but she is there at every game and is still known and beloved by all the players. Tara, I imagine, will be following a similar path--if Kate stays. I expect Tara will still be involved for a few years and Kate will welcome that. This will therefore be radically different from the departure of Pat Summit at Tennessee. Holly Warlick was not Kate Paye, and Holly did not have Pat genuinely around to assist in transition.
Finally, let me echo others and say that Tara has given me decades of fun and pleasure--not only watching a lot of winning basketball, but watching her develop teams, watching her as an educator. Her transition becomes a transition for all of us, now. Thank you Tara.
Great post, 81. Thanks for expressing so much of what I feel as well.
Anne Killion's piece re Tara in the SF Chron -- great article.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...t=MA%3D%3D
(04-10-2024, 09:48 AM)WBB fan Wrote:(04-10-2024, 04:50 AM)81alum Wrote: For almost 10 years now I have wondered, nearly every year, when this day would come. She came close, she said, in 2014. Tara herself has said, more than once, that she also wonders every year at the end of the season, but that her momentary thoughts of retirement vanish within a few days. I guess this time she figured it out earlier so that she was more confident that her feelings on retirement would not change.
Tara, Bill Walsh, and Mike Montgomery are the reasons I became a Stanford sports fan. They were all capable of "getting" the Stanford environment and promoting excellence in their sport in a elite academic institution. It is a tough thing to do--much more difficult that being a great coach at any other university. And of the three, only Tara sustained it for decades. She was the epitome of greatness at Stanford, and due to changes in the game, her achievement will never be repeated.
https://theathletic.com/5404313/2024/04/...asketball/
What gets me the most is not just Tara's retirement, but that it symbolizes the retirement of an entire era of WBB. She always wanted WBB to become equal to men's, with just as many professional opportunities and just as much TV coverage. That has finally begun to happen. But as it does, so too does the focus of the game shift, and the values that made me prefer WBB are now fading. When Montgomery left I lost interest in MBB. When Shaw left (or even a little before) I finally (after 40 years) lost interest in football. Will the same happen for WBB? I hope it does not.
Yes, there are rightful concerns about the transition with players, but let's not lose sight of the transition with the fans. Several of the season ticket holders who sit around me mentioned that they wondered if this would be their last year--but they kept coming for Tara. The fans at Maples are aging and many are about the same age as Tara. Many were attracted to become Stanford WBB fans because of Tara's role in Title IX and being a truly great leader for women. I can see a lot of them "retiring" as fans as well. Basketball was never the only--and in some cases not even the most important--reason for being a fan of the team for them.
Kate emphatically is the right person for the job--she knows the Stanford environment from every angle. She is also a superb Xs and Os coach, and has been the most successful game planner for the team for years. Her scouting reports are second to none. USC wanted her a decade ago and she declined so as to remain as Associate Head Coach at Stanford, so she and all else have known of this transition for a decade. Recruits no doubt have been aware of Tara's age and they have had to know about succession plans as well. (And, as a side note, we will have probably the brightest coach possibly in the history of sports. Not too many athletics coaches with Stanford MBA/JD degrees. Not that it will necessarily translate into basketball success.)
I suspect that getting this transition behind us is probably necessary for recruiting. For years now talk of Tara's possible retirement has been a constant drag on recruiting, and this will end. No doubt Kate will have different recruiting challenges until/unless she can achieve success in wins and losses--a daunting task. As far as losing current players to transfer--I doubt it.
Amy Tucker's retirement a few years ago is, I think, a model. Yes, she retired, but she is there at every game and is still known and beloved by all the players. Tara, I imagine, will be following a similar path--if Kate stays. I expect Tara will still be involved for a few years and Kate will welcome that. This will therefore be radically different from the departure of Pat Summit at Tennessee. Holly Warlick was not Kate Paye, and Holly did not have Pat genuinely around to assist in transition.
Finally, let me echo others and say that Tara has given me decades of fun and pleasure--not only watching a lot of winning basketball, but watching her develop teams, watching her as an educator. Her transition becomes a transition for all of us, now. Thank you Tara.
Great post, 81. Thanks for expressing so much of what I feel as well.
Anne Killion's piece re Tara in the SF Chron -- great article.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...t=MA%3D%3D
(04-10-2024, 07:50 AM)jacket3ree Wrote: Her name on the floor at minimum, right?
Why is this shocking? If I'm still working past 70, something has gone horribly wrong. (Or....horribly right!) Kudos to her for leaving the grind to enjoy retirement while healthy. More kudos for waiting until after the title game to announce anything, and for not doing a farewell tour, which to be honest, would have been weird in a new league.
Seems like a good time to me. She got the third title, the sport has radically changed, and there is some writing on the wall about traveling three time zones to get ACC sand kicked in the face. Not a stretch to see Stanford as the next Tennessee, or worse, the next ODU. She has better things to do than that.
Paye has her work cut out. Easier to be the guy after the guy after the guy.
(04-10-2024, 07:50 AM)jacket3ree Wrote: Her name on the floor at minimum, right?
Why is this shocking? If I'm still working past 70, something has gone horribly wrong. (Or....horribly right!) Kudos to her for leaving the grind to enjoy retirement while healthy. More kudos for waiting until after the title game to announce anything, and for not doing a farewell tour, which to be honest, would have been weird in a new league.
Seems like a good time to me. She got the third title, the sport has radically changed, and there is some writing on the wall about traveling three time zones to get ACC sand kicked in the face. Not a stretch to see Stanford as the next Tennessee, or worse, the next ODU. She has better things to do than that.
Paye has her work cut out. Easier to be the guy after the guy after the guy.
(04-10-2024, 01:11 PM)TooMuchTV Wrote: Farewell press conference is live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3usv90HbU
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2FKJzlf...ipo=images]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2FKJzlf1pDP6UAAAAC%2Fcry-sad.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=79f9f65ec8662282799f43d0f2db21a0adc93c90228836aef64c269190e3677b&ipo=images)
(04-10-2024, 01:11 PM)TooMuchTV Wrote: Farewell press conference is live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3usv90HbU
