Words Matter, a lot

There is nothing like an awe inspiring gipper speech to rally the troops. As I watched the Tennessee vs. Rutgers match up this weekend, I kept thinking what Pat Summit would say at halftime. Sure enough, a NYT article pulled a terrific snippit from legendary coach Pat Summit that really made me laugh.

"The last thing I told them coming out of the locker room is you do not want to go home with me tonight having played this way." Summit went on saying "We better at least show up and play with some Tennessee pride."

That's powerful and challenging. I can imagine being a member of that team and really knowing that it was time to step it up.

During the broadcast, they also showed Summit talking, in front of the entire team to Angie Bjorklund (what a shooter!) and challenging her to step it up. I loved that she did it in public like that, and it seemed to work. Incredibly, Rutgers folded and Tennessee staged an amazing comeback.

Separately, Pete Carroll's quote after beating Penn State soundly is also revealing.

"I just wish we could keep playing. Unfortunately, we don't get to. Maybe someday there will be a chance, but not today.

I love it. He's not directly knocking the system, and he remains positive about his team and the things that he can control. I'm not a USC fan, but I'm in awe of Pete Carroll for doing things his own way and reaping the rewards.