Bookends

There are bookends...

And then there are

BOOKENDS!!!!!!!

Let's Face it--

some BOOKENDS

are better than others!

Now that was fun!

Hold On, Santa's Comin'!

The North Pole was flooded

With mail from far and wide.

Just so many letters

That Santa just sighed.

"I've so much to do!

What about the recession?"

And slowly he sank

Into a bit of depression.

"I had planned a short roadtrip

To Knoxville and DePaul

But I got so darned busy

That I couldn't go at all!"

"And I hear, in my absense,

A few things went wrong

Which meant that road trip

Seemed especially long!"

Santa took a deep breathe

And leaned back in his chair

And came up with a plan

To help clear the air.

"As soon as this is over

And the kids have their toys

I'm heading to Maples

For some post-Christmas joy!"

"I owe it to My Cardinal

To be in that place

To win a few big games

with Toni, Sara and Grace!"

"So hold on, I'm coming

Chiney, Nneka and Mel

Jeannette, Kayla and Jos

And all will be well!"

"We'll share something special

Yes, that's what we'll do!

Mikaela and Booooothe,

Hannah. Ashley and Lulu!"

With that, Santa smiled

Confident with his plan

To end 2010

With a terrific homestand.

"There will be talk of some streak

And an X team from last year

But my Card will be ready

With nothing to fear!"

And then Santa chuckled

And let out a Ho Ho Ho

And headed back to the workshop

While cheering "Go Stanford! GO!"

Happy Holidays, y'all!

Calling 1-800-VanDerveer

As I sat down to write this, I thought, "Didn't we just do 700?"  Yep, it was just 2007, but you can move up the ladder quickly when you average 32 wins over the last three years.  That is what Coach Vanderveer and her troops have done to put her on the threshold of her 800th win.

The numbers are easy.

Career Milestone Wins

1 Idaho Dec. 1,1978 Northern Montana 70-68

100 Ohio State 1982-83 (date N/A) Michigan 74-60

200 Stanford Feb. 12, 1988 Washington 70-66

300 Stanford Dec. 20, 1991 Southern Illinois 82-63

400 Stanford March 16, 1995 UC Irvine (NCAA) 88-55

500 Stanford Nov. 26, 2000 Pacific 73-65

600 Stanford March 20, 2004 Missouri 68-44

700 Stanford December 28, 2007 Washington State 105-47

And so are the highlights.

Two NCAA Championships

Head Coach of the 1996 Gold Medal winning USA Olympic Team

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2002

Eight trips to the Final Four
18 Pac-10 Titles

Three-time NCAA Coach of the Year

10 time PAC-10 Coach of the Year

As impressive as all of this is, that is not the measure of Coach VanDerveer.  Put the records and the accolades aside for a minute and it is still easy to see what Tara has contributed to not only the world of Women's Basketball, but to the whole world in general. 

Women's Basketball will be forever changed by her coaching strategies and the thriving Coaching Tree that grows with each year.  Five former players and seven former assistants have been head coaches at the NCAA or WNBA level.  Throw in a whole bunch of former players who are currently assistants and you know that Tree will continue to sprout.

As for the world in general, a quick look at the list of former players tells the story--doctors, lawyers, teachers, business professionals, engineers, moms, consultants, analysts, nurses, trainers, Peace Corps members.  It is not a stretch to say that the players that Tara has coached are making a big difference in the world.

Because, at heart, Tara is a teacher, and we all know that nothing makes her  happier than seeing a player work hard to progress and make the full use of their potential.  It may be that they find that full potential not as a player, but as a human being.  For Tara, that is the true definintion of a Win.

So as our Coach gets ready to join the elite 800 Club, along with Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, C. Vivian Stringer and Sylvia Hatchell, let's remember to celebrate Tara the Mentor as well as Tara the Coach.  Nothing would make her happier.