Editorial Reviews:
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"It wasn't a team. It was a tent revival."
So says Pat Summitt, the legendary coach whose Tennessee Lady Vols entered the 1997-98 season aiming for an almost unprecedented "three-peat" of NCAA championships. Raise the Roof takes you right inside the locker room of her amazing team, whose inspired mixture of gifted freshmen and seasoned stars produced a standard of play that would change the game of women's basketball forever.
The 1997-98 season started innocently enough. One Saturday in August, four young freshmen--Semeka Randall, Tamika Catchings, Ace Clement and Teresa Geter--arrived on the Tennessee campus to begin their college careers. Welcoming them were a number of players from the previous year, including Chamique Holdsclaw and Kellie Jolly. But that night, in a sign of things to come, a simple pickup game turned into an amazing display of basketball brilliance--freshmen against established players, and with barely a shot missed by either side. Suddenly Pat Summitt glimpsed the future: fast, aggressive and hugely talented. This might be the team she'd worked her whole career to coach.
As the season got under way, other dramas unfolded. After one emotional team meeting, Summitt realized that many on the team were playing for something more than just the glory of the game: all four freshmen, for example, came from single-parent homes, and the tough circumstances of the majority of the other players seemed to add an extra edge to their desire to win it all. Further, Chamique Holdsclaw, widely regarded as the greatest female player ever, was being dogged by questions about turning pro--and she seemed reluctant to rule it out. Meanwhile, another member of the team began to notice the unwelcome attentions of a fan, who soon turned out to be a full-fledged stalker.
All this was behind the scenes; out on the court, the win column was swelling with every game: 8-0, 15-0, 21-0. As 1997 turned into 1998, Pat Summitt began privately to admit that this team had changed her: these kids were so lovable, funny and eager to please that she simply had to let them into her heart. Along the way, the Lady Vols were redefining what women were capable of, trading in old definitions of femininity for new ones--in short, they were keeping score. And by the time they entered the NCAA Final Four tournament in Kansas City, Summitt found herself believing the impossible: despite all the distractions, the 1997-98 Lady Vols could go undefeated, and, in doing so, raise the roof off the sport of women's basketball.
Packed with the excitement of a season on the brink of perfection and filled with the comedy and tragedy of one year in the life of a basketball team, Raise the Roof will have readers cheering from the bench for a team of all-conquering players and their astonishing coach.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Champion once more.
Comment: Coach Summit is without a doubt the absolute best college basketball coach-male or female ever. And she doesn't even have to throw chairs. My hat's off to her and her program. Talk about integrity, work ethic and understanding of the game. Her book shines as a testament to her abilities. You have a lot to learn, Geno.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must leader for all basketball fans
Comment: "Raise the Roof", along with "Reach for the Summitt", is a must read for anyone with an interest in collegiate sports, particularly women's basketball. It gives you an insight into the world of Lady Vol basketball and a deeper appreciation of why the Lady Vols phenomenon is more than just a team or a basketball program. It gives you an awareness of why Lady Vol basketball is more aptly described as a tradition. It also gives you a feel for why in Pat Summitt's world losing is rare, unacceptable, and necessary, all at the same time. The book is a testament to why her players adore her and why they choose the Tennessee way and tradition rather than play elsewhere. Candace Parker, arguably the best player to date to wear the orange, remarked recently, "I came to Tennessee because I was one of those people lining the court [for an autograph as a 7th grader] to see coach Summitt and the Lady Vols [during a Depaul-Tennessee game]... To be a fan of women's basketball is to be a fan of Tennessee. And that's a responsibility that we have to represent our school. It's something we don't take for granted." You get to feel why every loss by the Lady Vols is a grief session. You get to feel why Chamiqua Holdsclaw, arguably Tennessee all-time most prolific scorer, wept inconsolably after a loss in her last game in the orange. The book is also a monument to what one woman from a humble beginning with an unwavering passion to succeed has helped to guide a generation of women to excel as individuals while ultimately doing, in the Tennessee way, that which is for the greater good of the team and by extension preserve the Tennessee tradition. You will come away with a sense of why Pat Summitt is the ultimate motivator in women's basketball today.
Customer Rating:
Summary: the best book ever
Comment: Raise the roof is very good. i have read the book so many times that the front is about to come off. I love coach summitt and the lady vols. This is a book that i would like to be buried with. The stories are great and the season was the best i ever saw. GO LADY VOLS!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Comment: Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! Pat Summitt is genuine, frank, and honest in her emotions and actions toward her life, her teams, and her family. What a ride!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Three-Peat Season
Comment: Read about the 1997-98 basketball season when the lady Vols aimed for a three-peat. The history-making season comes to life in this book.
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