[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 6, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2184-S2186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATION TEXAS A&M LADY AGGIES
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, something happened last night, and I
feel compelled to say on the floor of the Senate that I am very proud
of the Texas Aggies women who won the NCAA national basketball
championship.
It is so important, I want to say a couple of words about that,
because this is the first national championship that the Lady Aggies
have ever won. It was a great game last night. I certainly congratulate
the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as well. But the Texas Aggies played with
spirit. They came from behind at the half, and 76 to 70, they defeated
Notre Dame.
I congratulate the Texas Aggie ladies, but I also want to say that
Texas A&M's coach, Gary Blair, became the oldest coach to ever win a
national women's championship. He has turned the Lady Aggies basketball
team into this national championship team.
I mention Danielle Adams. Her All American performance last night was
incredible. It is a great day. I am a Texas Longhorn, and most days I
am for all of our Texas teams, and I love to say ``Gig `Em Aggies.''
There is one day that I cannot say that. That is Thanksgiving Day. But
364 days a year, I am all for the Aggies when they are playing. And
when they played like they did last night in any sport, all America
should recognize it.
With that, I wish to say that my colleague Senator Cornyn and I are
going to ask unanimous consent to offer a resolution congratulating the
Lady Aggies of Texas A&M on winning the 2011 National Collegiate
Athletic Association women's basketball championship.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, congratulations to the Texas A&M Women's
Basketball team for their NCAA Women's Division I Basketball
Championship victory against Notre Dame. The game was an exciting and
hard fought victory, and a fitting end to a championship season.
[[Page S2185]]
Thanks to the Aggies's hard work, determination and tireless work
ethic, they have finished out the 2010-2011 season with a strong 33-5
record, second place finish in the Big 12 Conference and a National
Championship title.
I salute head coach Gary Blair for coaching the Aggies to their first
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship after 38 years of
helping young women compete and reach their full potential. Associate
head coaches Vic Schaefer and Kelly Bond, and assistant coach Johnnie
Harris also worked to lead the team to this fine achievement. And the
Lady Aggies's success would be incomplete without great athletes such
as MVP and All-American, Danielle Adams and her teammates: Kelsey
Assarian, Maryann Baker, Kristi Bellock, Kelsey Bone, Sydney Carter,
Skylar Collins, Sydney Colson, Adaora Elonu, Karla Gilbert, Kristen
Grant, Adrienne Pratcher, Catherine Snow, Tyra White, and Cierra
Windham.
Today, it is my honor to join with the entire Texas A&M University
family and the State of Texas to honor the Aggies. This team has
learned what it takes to become national leaders. The experience that
each of these athletes has gained in this endeavor is invaluable, and
it will surely lead to future success in life.
The following article written by Dawn Lee Wakefield for the
Examiner.com describes Coach Blair's and the Aggies's persistent and
positive approach to the game and this exciting championship series:
[From the Texas A&M University Arts Examiner, Apr. 6, 2011]
Texas A&M Women's Basketball, NCAA Champions Win It for the Aggie
Family
(By Dawn Lee Wakefield)
Bryan-College Station.--Texas A&M University sports fans
around the world celebrated another important first tonight,
their very first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. For
almost as long as TAMU Women have been competing in NCAA
athletic competition, the road has been long, and the ability
to gain respect for the team has been tough. A real
battleground in fact. Even as recently as four months ago,
you couldn't get a crowd into Reed Arena to see the Lady
Aggies play basketball. But that all changed tonight, in 40
short minutes of play, in the heart of Indianapolis, Indiana,
seen around the world on ESPN.
On-campus support for TAMU Athletic teams, by the Aggie
student body is legendary, for that trademarked 12th Man
Spirit. Even more in the forefront of all sports is the 12th
Man Foundation (formerly the Aggie Club), whose mission it is
to garner funds and endowments by which to support Texas A&M
Athletics. And yet, it was not all that long ago that a few
hundred stalwart fans would arrive at Reed Arena (there was
no charge to park as in men's games, because they really
didn't expect much of a crowd), that Coach Blair himself
would walk up and down the steps of Reed Arena, carrying bags
of candy, tossing them to fans and thanking them for coming.
Never one to be subtle, Coach Blair would work the crowd by
saying, ``bring a friend next time, bring two friends; let's
fill this place!'' After each game, the Lady Aggies didn't
head to the locker rooms to rest after a hard-fought game
right away. Instead, they would come up into the stands and
thank people for coming. Week after week, game by game, it
simply mystified the Aggie faithful in attendance as to
``what are they thinking'' about why the TAMU Athletic Ticket
office wasn't being pushed for ticket sales. Every game the
Lady Aggies gained style, grace, accuracy, and stature and
yet, the only crowds of Aggies lined up to camp out for
ticket-pulls for student tickets were for the men's games.
They didn't know what they were missing, the ones who
weren't there. They were missing the faithful Aggie Yell
Leaders leading the crowd, the Hullaballoo band doing a
rendition of ``Sweet Caroline'' that would make Neil Diamond
proud, and the crowd responding, ``Aggies Ball!'' every time
PA announcer Mark Edwards would identify ball possession for
the team. Mike Wright and Tap Bentz, with their radio play-
by-play, kept those in touch who couldn't get there in
person, and local TV KBTX did their best to show highlights.
And yet, the second deck of Reed was filled only once, when
Baylor came calling. With a solid loss at the hands of the
Greiner-Mulkey-driven offense, those who'd come to see the
game left, and some didn't come back. That didn't faze the
Lady Aggies or the coaching staff.
As part of Coach Blair's and Coach Schaefer's mandate, the
Lady Aggies participate in a multitude of community charity
events. One night last October, the starting players and
waiting-in-line players crowded into a Double Dave's to
participate in a pepperoni-roll making contest against the
men's team, and then stayed to visit with the crowd, thank
them for coming out to support them, by contributing to
United Way, and once again, they went home to study. They're
some of the hardest-working kids in town, and yet the words
``national champions'' were never spoken, or expected by
those who loved them `anyway'.
It is surreal to some to think that, the newly crowned
national champions, Texas Aggie Women's Basketball, has for
years remained the best kept secret on campus. Until tonight.
Throughout the NCAA championship series, the Lady Aggie
basketball team overcame naysayers, doubters, and brutal
physical competition in the most exciting display of Aggie
spirit shown in years. They did it by creating a sense of
family, with whomever embraced their love of basketball, the
coaching staff, and Texas A&M University. Never was the
spirit of Aggieland greater than after each game, seeing
President Loftin (easily recognizable in his signature bow
tie) in the middle of a long line of Aggies, ``sawing
varsity's horns off'' as they sang the Texas Aggie fight song
after each victory. Local business sponsors paid countless
thousands of dollars to create ``jewelry cam'', ``kiss cam'',
``know your Aggie players--what's on their iPod'', ``the
berney cam'' and flying blimps to make each game an event, an
exciting event, and share the love of family Aggie basketball
style.
The prelude to the national championship was nothing short
of high-octane spectacular. Almost 500 Aggie fans waited in
the basement of Reed Arena in the Aggie practice room 3 weeks
ago, to find out what the NCAA draw would be, and where they
were to begin their journey to the Sweet Sixteen. When the
announcement came on ESPN, ``Shreveport'', the cheers were
deafening as Aggie fans knew they were within driving
distance to watch the first, and hopefully second, round of
play as the bracket opened, and the race was on, the only
goal at the time, to make the Sweet 16, out of the Superb 64.
Just being in the NCAA championship was enough, almost, for
most Aggie fans. It was an unprecedented thrill to think that
this year's team had the perfect combination of talent,
strategy, coaching staff, and the hearts and minds of players
who refused to let go of one goal, and one goal only:
Victory. Getting that W. The girls studied in buses, on
planes, at 2 a.m. when the rest of Aggieland was fast asleep.
The Lady Aggies knew how important it was to stay true to the
title ``student-athletes''.
On March 20th in Shreveport, the CenturyTel Center still
had plenty of room in the stands for Aggie fans, but the
faithful alumni, friends, and fans of the Lady Aggies made
the pilgrimage with joy and great expectation to watch them
defeat McNeese State by the score of 87 to 47. The crowd
reaction was joyful, and yet people were just thrilled to be
there, not thinking much about the next game to come against
Rutgers. When the Lady Aggies made short work of Rutgers with
a score of 70 to 48, the Aggie family was again surprised, if
not thrilled, to be going to the Sweet 16, at last.
Advancing to the NCAA 3rd round on March 27th, again, Aggie
fans picked up numbers, if not their speed, as they gassed up
their cars and planes for the short hop to Dallas, to the
American Airlines center to watch their team face Georgia's
Lady Bulldogs. Georgia was at first an `unknown quantity with
potential and power,' but the Lady Aggies came to play,
making short work of their solid opponent, 79 to 38, in a
game that looked much like a 3-point shooting clinic. The
work of the Big D, defense, proved to be a powerful force
meeting an immovable object.
Not only was Tuesday, March 29th the occasion of the 4th
round of the NCAA finals, that Elite 8 night, it marked the
4th matchup between Texas A&M and the highly advertised
Baylor Bears. Three times, the Aggies had met them; three
times they had fallen, as hard as Kim Mulkey's snakeskin
jacket hit the ground in disgust one night when she didn't
like the referee calls.
Although 11,000+ fans crowded into Dallas' American
Airlines Center to watch ``The 4th time's (hopefully) a
Charm'' matchup, the gold and green far outweighed the maroon
and white in the seats. And yet, the Aggies gathered, the
faithful, were loud, proud, and the happiest people in the
state of Texas with a victory that was hard fought, in a
night where the Lady Aggies refused, again, to give in to
negative expectations. Instead, they focused mentally on the
``+'' sign that Coach Blair draws on the back of his left
hand, self-created to remind him to stay positive throughout
the game.
``They're kids, 18-22, and this is just a game'' as he
announced as a reminder to all that sports were about
sportsmen and sportswomen, in the spirit of competition.
Lessons well taught. Lessons well learned. Every after-game
interview, you'd hear one word above the rest. ``TEAM''. No
stars, even among the player of the game. It was ``my team,
our team, this team''. The class possessed by the Lady Aggies
spoke for itself, loud and clear.
The chant went up, ``Final Four, Final Four'' after the
Lady Aggies stunned Baylor, 58 to 46. The Aggie faithful
didn't want to leave the American Airlines center as they
stood and swayed to the Aggie war hymn, and watched each
member of the team, the yell leaders, Lady Aggie Dance Team,
Hullaballoo band, staff, and the sports announcers each cut
down a piece of the winning game net. Coach Blair thanked
everyone for coming and encouraged people who could to make
that trip to Indianapolis to root on their team in the Final
Four.
Outside the arena in the hallways of the American Airlines
center, Aggie faithful
[[Page S2186]]
made new friends among those who'd lingered to absorb the joy
of the Elite Eight to Final Four pathway. With tears in their
eyes and joy shining from their countenance, three women
introduced themselves to the BCS fans, saying ``that's our
Coach, that's our Coach'' about Blair. Turns out they'd been
his players at South Oak Cliff High School. And, true to
form, Coach Blair had mentioned each and every team he'd been
a part of in his thank-you speech following the game. A man
who's never forgotten who brung him to the dance, was now
``going to the dance'' in Indianapolis.
Though the distance was longer, those who could afford the
charter planes, the buses, or the time and gas to drive made
their plans to attend the Final Four in Indianapolis. The
Final Four was in store, and all eyes were only on the prize
of eliminating the Stanford Cardinal. No other goal was
announced. Stanford was considered in the same light as the
Aggies. A number 2 seed. Overlooked. Relegated to the
category of ``nice, but not a contender''.
How wrong the rankings can be in predicting who is the
champion of the day. The oft-used expression, ``any given
day'' was never more true than when the Lady Aggies went back
to work, and walked out of Conseco Field House with a 63 to
62 win, thanks to Sydney Colson's pass to Tyra White for the
layup, and 39 minutes and 45 seconds of defense, defense,
defense, and the hot shooting arms of every player who made
their play a key' play. Fans were stunned. It seemed too good
to be true.
The Championship game was in sight, and the Championship
title was at stake. Could it be, that same team, who 16 short
weeks ago couldn't find a crowd had emerged as a national
powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with, was now the darling
of ESPN up-close interviews, sound bytes by Blair, and the
contemplation of Vic Schaefer's `drawing board' where he'd
drive that defense to excellence each and every game of the
way. Blair and Schaefer, together with Associate Head Coach
Kelly Bond and Assistant Head Coach, Johnnie Harris, are not
to be overlooked. Team. Family. United. Aggies. Spirit
personified filled each player with a sense of family such
that even the motto printed on the tickets at the beginning
of the season read, ``This is Home''.
So, tonight, as Texas A&M set out to prove their worth
outside the walls of their hometown, they were taking on a
first-class team with a second-tier rating in Notre Dame. It
was the Fighting Texas Aggies vs. the Fighting Irish. How
appropriate. For 40 minutes of regulation play, all these
players did was fight, not against each other as much as
against misperceptions, being overlooked, disregarded, and
essentially underappreciated as the true champions each team
came to be realized before the game started.
Aggie fans throughout the Brazos Valley jammed the
restaurants, bars, and homes of their friends, anywhere there
was a TV powered `on', it was tuned to ESPN from 6 p.m.
central until at least midnight, as the Women's Basketball
team pulled out all the stops on offense and defense.
With a ``never-say-die'' spirit, the can-do Aggies, led by
America's favorite new coach, Gary Blair, and King of
Defense, Vic Schaefer, let loose and held forth as the Aggies
pulled out a 76-70 victory that still seems unreal, unless
you saw it yourself. Never. Say. Die. The Lady Aggies, per
Coach Blair's pre-game speech, stayed on the bus, to come out
winners. Said Blair, ``if you don't plan on winning tonight,
then get off the bus. There's only one thing that counts.
Winning''. Taking his words to heed, each team member
committed to that outcome, and emerged the first national
champions in Texas A&M Women's basketball. History was made.
Throughout the NCAA series the team: MVP Danielle Adams,
Tyra White, Sydney Carter, Sydney Colson, Adora Elonu,
Maryann Baker, Adrienne Pratcher, Kelsey Assarian, Karla
Gilbert, Kristi Bellock--battered, bruised, in visible pain,
tossed and slammed onto the floors of field houses, arenas,
and stadiums, play after play, time after time, just got back
up and showed America what it meant to be a proud `Fightin'
Texas Aggie'.
``Some may boast of prowess bold, of the school they think
so grand, but there's a spirit that's ne'er been told. It's
the Spirit of Aggieland. We are the Aggies, the Aggies are
We, true to each other as Aggies can be. We've got to fight
boys (old traditions die hard), we've got to fight, we've got
to fight for maroon and white. After they've boosted all the
rest, they will come and join the best, for we are the
Aggies, the Aggies are we. We're from Texas AMC''. The words
to the school song never sounded sweeter as they did to those
who witnessed history in the making, in a fieldhouse in
Indianapolis.
Wednesday, April 6th at 2 p.m., history will be made once
again. The Lady Aggies will be at Reed Arena to be greeted by
their Texas Aggie family, the Aggie Nation, and at last their
time has come. Word to the wise: get there early if you're
going. For the first time in the history of Women's
basketball, there's going to be a parking problem to welcome
home the champions.
The Lady Aggies have brought honor, dignity, and joy to
those who call TAMU their team. Sunday night, TV audiences
were treated to a one-shot of a little fellow holding up a
cardboard sign saying, ``Coach Blair is my hero''. That went
viral across Facebook and Twitter. Turns out, it was the
coach's grandson, Logan. His sign tonight, shown to the
nation, said, ``after we win Coach Blair is taking me to
Disneyland''. That only seems fair, as Coach Blair took
Aggies everywhere to the top of the college sports world
tonight. And it was the ride of a lifetime, and sheer joy
every minute of every game of every season. Gig em, Aggies,
for tonight you are indeed the NCAA Champions.
____________________