11-09-2021, 03:28 PM
Given what I have seen from Stanford athletics during this COVID era I have a greater appreciation for Tara than ever before.
Mere mortal coaches clearly have struggled to keep Stanford teams in the top tier of their sports over the last ~16 months. Almost every team has stumbled several times with COVID-19 protocol challenges, stunning loses to awful teams, and more. Men's gymnastics won their title but there are very few teams in that sport now, and only Oklahoma had any chance to beat the loaded Stanford team assuming Stanford could get enough scores to qualify for the post season. Getting those scores was no small feat, so I am forever grateful for the creativity and technology that got Stanford into the post-season.
Tara's ability to put together a plan during the COVID-19 restrictions and keep the team together in the 2020-2021 in the very competitive women's basketball landscape will be the stuff of legend when people look back on Tara's career. It looks like most Stanford coaches are trying hard to make it seem like COVID-19 protocols are not crushing recruiting, training, game prep, and more, but watching different Stanford sports it has been very clear that many of the teams are struggling. So big thanks to Tara for making what must be a close to impossible set of tasks look so easy.
Given the stumbles and setbacks of so many of Stanford's fall sports teams, I suspect the NCAA team title run will depend on either Tara or Thom getting winning a title this academic year. So while as fans we quickly dive into the roster news, I just want to thank Tara and her staff for all they have done to date keeping Stanford women's hoops right at the top of the national scene during this pandemic.
Mere mortal coaches clearly have struggled to keep Stanford teams in the top tier of their sports over the last ~16 months. Almost every team has stumbled several times with COVID-19 protocol challenges, stunning loses to awful teams, and more. Men's gymnastics won their title but there are very few teams in that sport now, and only Oklahoma had any chance to beat the loaded Stanford team assuming Stanford could get enough scores to qualify for the post season. Getting those scores was no small feat, so I am forever grateful for the creativity and technology that got Stanford into the post-season.
Tara's ability to put together a plan during the COVID-19 restrictions and keep the team together in the 2020-2021 in the very competitive women's basketball landscape will be the stuff of legend when people look back on Tara's career. It looks like most Stanford coaches are trying hard to make it seem like COVID-19 protocols are not crushing recruiting, training, game prep, and more, but watching different Stanford sports it has been very clear that many of the teams are struggling. So big thanks to Tara for making what must be a close to impossible set of tasks look so easy.
Given the stumbles and setbacks of so many of Stanford's fall sports teams, I suspect the NCAA team title run will depend on either Tara or Thom getting winning a title this academic year. So while as fans we quickly dive into the roster news, I just want to thank Tara and her staff for all they have done to date keeping Stanford women's hoops right at the top of the national scene during this pandemic.