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Editors note: Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts who played womens college basketball at Harvard, pays tribute to Pat Summitt.Like many, I awoke this week to the news that legendary Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt had died. Throughout the day, I exchanged texts with fellow hoopsters, coaches and friends, all saddened by the news. I was moved by the tributes and stories chronicling her career and impact. Pat Summitt is rightly hailed as a pioneer, a trailblazer, a role model and an inspiration. She got the most out of her players, put womens hoops on the map and profoundly changed the perception of gender across American sports culture. She broke records, pushed teams and players beyond what they even imagined was possible, and she showed that girls can play.Coming into coaching just after Title IX went into effect, she made the most of that opportunity, and over the course of her career blew doors open to advance gender equity and became the winningest basketball coach in NCAA Division I history to boot.I didnt know Pat Summitt and I didnt play for her. But for me, like so many, Pat Summitt was a big-time influence on my life. Sadly, its in her passing that I find myself appreciating all that she meant.In a hot July summer when I was 15 years old, I made a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee. I was on my way home to New Hampshire with my coach following play in the national AAU tournament in Oxford, Mississippi. We came in fifth place and I took home an All-American award.I was excited and determined to visit the playground and classroom of a coach I hoped to play for someday. Because if you were a young girl growing up then, the coach you knew, the one you wanted to play for, the ultimate destination, was Pat Summitt. When I did my ball handling, shooting and zigzag drills in cold winter gyms and outdoors on playground hard-top under pelting summer sun, when I did fingertip pushups and sit-ups in my bedroom calculating that Id play on four Olympic teams before I was done, my eye was on Pat Summitt. Because when you were a young girl with big hoop dreams, when you thought you could do and be anything, you dreamed of playing for Pat Summitt in a Lady Vols uniform.So when we pulled up to the athletic complex that day, I felt like I was visiting the promised land. Maybe it was because of my wide eyes -- or maybe it was our funny accents -- the kind receptionist who looked like shed seen this movie before took pity on us and said that Coach Summitt was on the road recruiting, but that I could meet with one of her assistants. A short while later, out came assistant coach (and current Tennessee head coach) Holly Warlick.Holly had been a super player and a point guard like myself, so I was immediately pumped. (In retrospect, I can imagine that poor Holly had to deal with this scenario many times each week.) She walked us around the facility and showed us the trophies and Lady Vols memorabilia. I was like a kid in the candy store; I bought a Lady Vols T-shirt at the campus store and we hit the road. After, Coach Warlick sent me a nice letter and told me to keep in touch -- a gracious touch but one I now realize was extended to probably thousands of girls who showed up similarly unannounced at the door. But I was pumped and returned to New Hampshire fired up.Later on, I got invited to try out for the national team. I went to the trials and was promptly cut after the first couple of sessions. Before I did, I had the chance to scrimmageunder the watchful eye of Pat Summitt, who was helping scout for the team. And for those few hours one day, I felt like a champ, getting to share the hardwood with Pat Summitt.I remember at the end, before heading home, I wanted to go up to her and tell her how great she was. Instead, I got shy and merely mumbled something like, Thanks for having me. I learned a lot. But, Ill never forget, she looked at me with those steely blue eyes, and said, Just keep working hard. That was it. No fuss, no muss. That was my first and only interaction with Pat Summitt.Years later, after I had the chance to play college ball for a great coach and an even better person, Kathy Delaney-Smith at Harvard, I watched and rooted for Pat Summitts teams. It was visceral. I couldnt exactly explain why I felt that way, but I did. Even as the New England favorites UConn Huskies -- a great program with great players and a great coach -- came to dominate, I still always rooted for Pat.Im older now. I still play, but very poorly. But I think I better understand.Pat Summitt made it OK for girls like me to compete, to play hard, to bring it with sweat, conviction and emotion. To dream big, even foolishly, but to dream. She made us believe in ourselves and value ourselves as women competing in sport. But, importantly, she made America sit up and take notice -- to recognize that women bring as much to any endeavor as their male counterparts.I think that what I was also tuning into -- but I didnt know it at the time -- was the power of leadership. Basketball is a team game; success depends upon getting five players to work together in sync on the court, and for the entire team to get those on the court in the best position to succeed and win at any given time. Leadership is about recognizing the skills and talents -- and limitations -- of all the players and then figuring out how to maximize their efforts in a way that gets collective results.Pat Summitt was willing to lead, to take chances, to advocate. And she trusted her players and her coaching staff. She put the right people in place in the right time and got them working together. She also was tough. And tough is good. Because if somethings worth doing, its worth doing with intensity and intent.Look at clips of her coaching from the sidelines. With just one piercing, penetrating look, Pat Summitt could convey to a player that she wasnt doing enough. But look at the same time, at the hand extended, a hand that says I believe in you. I encourage you.Leaders inspire and push people to be their better selves. And thats what I took from watching Pat Summitt -- taking whatever skills you bring to the dance and making that work for the team and getting people together to get it done.Look, I didnt have the opportunity to play for her, so this is only what I observed. Pat Summitt was a leader. You could put her on any battlefield, in any board room, and she would make you a winner. Great coaches know how to inspire, they know how to push people beyond where they think they can go, and they know when to give a high five, a hug, or a stern talking to.Pat Summitt was a genius. She knew how to do it. She changed the face of what it meant to be a female athlete. To compete, to work hard, to sweat, to get angry, to rally, to win. She knew defeat and she knew victory, and she knew the difference that mattered. The country is a poorer place with her gone. I never got to tell her this: She mattered to me, and a whole bunch of people. And thats a great legacy. Touching people you never knew you touched.Well before orange was the new black, we had Pat Summitt.Its a playbook to follow. Mitchell Robinson Jersey . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. Mark Jackson Knicks Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-allonzo-trier-knicks-jersey/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Allan Houston Knicks Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Allonzo Trier Knicks Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. A week which started with him getting lost on his way to the course could end with?Matt Fitzpatrick?winning ￡1 million and the biggest event of his career to date.In Fitzpatricks defence, it was the driver of a courtesy car at the DP World Tour Championship who struggled to find Jumeirah Golf Estates and turned a short trip into a two-hour journey.But all that will be forgotten if the 22-year-old Ryder Cup player from Sheffield can overturn a one-shot deficit in Sundays final round in Dubai and claim a third European Tour title.The car I got into took a few wrong turnings and the roads are really busy so its not easy to make up time, Fitzpatrick explained after a third round of 66 left him in a tie for second behind Frances Victor Dubuisson.It would be great to get a third win, particularly an event of this stature. Its my last round of the year and I want to finish strongly.I thought last year I played fantastically and this year Ive struggled at times. Its still been a great year, dont get me wrong, but I feel last year was better. A good result tomorrow could change that.Dubuisson carded an eagle and seven birdies in his 64 to finish 13 under par, a shot ahead of Fitzpatrick, Nicolas Colsaerts and Tyrrell Hatton, with?Rafa Cabrera Bello, Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari another stroke adrift.Both of Dubuissons victories to date have come in the Turkish Airlines Open, but the 26-year-old Frenchman was third in this event in 2013 and second the following year.Its my best score to date on this course, Dubuisson said. Ive played well, made the good putts at the right time. Its just a course I like.You have to carry the ball long. Its target golf and I just like the way it sets up.On a day of low scoring, Colsaerts -- who has not won on the European Tour since 2012 -- fired six birdies and two eagles in his 66, but the best round of the day, and week, came from Cabrera Bello.The world No. 30, who was unbeaten on his Ryderr Cup debut at Hazeltine, surged through the field with a superb 63 containing 10 birdies and a solitary bogey on the ninth.ddddddddddddI knew I needed something special to catch up to the leaders, but I wasnt expecting something this low, said Cabrera Bello, who has recorded nine top 10s this season but has not won since the Dubai Desert Classic in 2012.Its been a very, very good year and Ive pretty much accomplished every single goal and many of my childhood dreams as well. Now I just need to get that win.Westwood had briefly held a two-shot lead when he followed a birdie on the first by chipping in for eagle on the par-five second, but the 43-year-old played the next 12 holes in three over par before three late birdies.It could have been an even better finish for the former world number one after a superb approach to the 18th in near darkness, but he missed from four feet for a closing eagle.Rory McIlroy fared even worse on the last after finding water with his approach, the resulting bogey leaving the defending champion to sign for a second consecutive 68 and eight-shot deficit.I think I turned a 62 into a 68 somehow, the world number two said. I hit a lot of good shots and didnt really hole many putts and it was the story of the day with what happened on 18.[I hit] a great drive, second shot had 207 (yards) to the pin into the wind. Maybe just was a little too aggressive with it and pulled it slightly and just got punished for a bad shot.Open champion Henrik Stenson remains on course to win the Race to Dubai after a 70 left him alongside McIlroy on five under, with nearest rival Danny Willett one over after a 76.Alexander Noren, who can deny fellow Swede Stenson the title by finishing in the top two, is in a tie for 13th after carding a 69 in pursuit of an incredible fifth win in 12 events. ' ' '