Univ. of Tennessee AD Dave Hart yesterday said that the sentiment among athletes "has been largely positive since the school announced Monday that all but the women's basketball team would be dropping the Lady Vols nickname and logo," according to Matt Slovin of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. In an interview on Knoxville-based WNML-FM, Hart said that he "has the support of former Lady Vols as well." However, Hart also said that he has "had to deal with some dissent." Former UT softball P Monica Abbott in an e-mail wrote the branding change was "definitely disappointing." Other former Lady Vols also "expressed their dissatisfaction." Regarding athletes who feel strongly that the other nine women's teams also should continue to be the Lady Vols, Hart said, "I encouraged them to express their emotions and their reactions. We talked through a lot of things with our athletes, but I can tell you that the overwhelming response was one of excitement." Asked whether the decision could damage his department financially, Hart said, "History tells me that at other peer schools that have made the transition, there's a huge spike in the first year. Probably 98 percent of our revenues are driven by the power T mark" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/13).
ORANGE CRUSHED: In a special to ESPNW, Maria Cornelius wrote retaining the Lady Vols moniker for basketball is "not sufficient for such an iconic image." It is "not just a logo. It is a brand." To place all sports except basketball under the Power T "diminishes and marginalizes women's athletics." It also "undermines the legacy of Pat Summitt." ESPNW's Mechelle Voepel wrote she understands that "many Tennessee women's sports fans feel the merger of the men's and women's athletic departments has undermined their teams' identity." But UT's "commitment to women's athletics going forward will be measured in the actual resources provided to the student-athletes and the success the teams have." Keeping the Lady Vols name for women's basketball is a "compromise that seemed inevitable." That is the program that is "most intrinsically linked to the 'Lady Vols' nickname and Summitt's legacy." In fact, it "now makes that brand very, very specific" (ESPNW.com, 11/12). But USA TODAY's Christine Brennan writes the women's basketball team kept the Lady Vols name because of "tradition." Brennan: "This is a familiar excuse, isn't it? It sounds as if they are advancing the same argument as Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington NFL team with the racist nickname." Brennan: "No one dared call the men's teams the 'Gentleman Vols.' How silly does that sound? ... Now that all the other Tennessee women's programs have become the plain old Volunteers, you stand alone, meaning that a basketball team that always was leading the way for women in sports is now embarrassingly behind the times" (USA TODAY, 11/13).
