ShareThisThe game ended, and the show began at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday night.
First came the photographers, who raced across the floor so fast you might have wondered if they had been tipped that Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt was planning a sudden getaway after winning her 1,000th game. Then came the confetti.
Up next: dignitaries bearing gifts.
Tennessee chancellor Dr. Jimmy Cheek unveiled an event poster, which will promote the Summitt Legends scholarship fund.
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam presented Summitt with a rendition of the Pat Summitt star, which will become the first star on the Knoxville River Walk.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive gave her a commemorative plaque.
Vols' men's athletic director Mike Hamilton handed her the game ball from her team's 73-43 victory over Georgia.
UT women's athletic director Joan Cronan presented her with a bracelet and necklace.
Strangely, Tennessee didn't save the best for last. It saved the best for a press release handed out to media following an interview session.
Summitt signed a contract extension this week that will run through 2014, it was announced in the press release. She will earn $1.4 million for this season (an increase of $125,000) and receive a $200,000 bonus for her 1,000 victories.
There's more.
The contract also will include two lifetime achievement bonuses -- $500,000 in 2009-10 and a $1 million longevity bonus in 2013-14 to reward her for her 40 years as coach of the Lady Vols.
How's that for looking ahead? And how's that for putting a milestone victory in perspective?
Never mind that Summitt has won 1,000 games and is 35 seasons into her career. She isn't Joe Paterno. She's 56 years old.
There's more to come.
Remember when her 500th victory was a big deal? And 800? How big will 1,000 be in five years?
If Summitt just coaches out the length of her new contract, she will go way past 1,000 victories. But who's counting?
You don't measure her program by victories alone. You measure it by eight national championships and 22 Final Fours. She reminded her fans of that as she thanked them so profusely and gracefully for their support.
"Our goal is to be in St. Louis for the Final Four," Summitt said during the post-game ceremony.
That's setting the bar a bit low by Summitt's standards. After all, Final Fours are as routine as milestone victories for the Lady Vols.
But this season, which follows back-to-back national titles, hasn't been routine. It has been distinguished by too many injuries, too many freshmen and too many double-digit losses.
So what if the team is 17-5 and has lost four games by 10 points or more. Summitt made a point of reminding her players and fans that even in an atypical season, the goals don't change.
"I think (the players) have doubted where we are and where we have to go," Summitt said. "I want them to know that it doesn't matter if we're struggling now, you've got to believe."
On a night when Summitt made history and her team won by 30, believing was easier than it has been all season.
(Contact John Adams adamsj@knoxnews.com.)
(John Adams is sports editor of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee.)
