More than three decades later, the 1982 Louisiana Tech women's basketball team received their championship rings.
The Lady Techsters won the first NCAA Tournament title in 1982 and had a 54-game winning streak. The players received their championship rings from that inaugural title last weekend. Baylor women's Coach Kim Mulkey was the point guard on that early dynasty but couldn't be at the ceremony because her second-ranked Baylor Lady Bears had a game at Kansas.
She finally got her ring this past week.
"Yeah, I wish I could have been there ... happy for everybody," Mulkey told The Associated Press. "We had a heck of a team back then, the early '80s, pretty dominant."
Nine of the 14 players who are still alive were at the ceremony, including Deb Williamson -- the current coordinator of officials for the Big East, American and Atlantic 10 conferences.
"I think it came at the perfect time," she said. "I think that when you get into your 50s it means so much more now, our families can enjoy it with us. I wouldn't have chosen to wait 35 years. We already lost one teammate and a lot of the people who supported us back then aren't around anymore."
Williamson said the group went to dinner afterward and shared stories of how they were recruited. Amazingly, none of the former players knew each other's recruitment stories until that dinner.
They did remember the remarkable run they had, winning the 1981 AIAW championship and then the NCAA one.
"The year before we went 34-0, and LA Tech made rings for us. When we transitioned to the NCAA that year, we lost one game I think, we were on a 54-game winning streak," Williamson said. "When we won [the NCAA title], no one talked about the rings, we didn't pay that much attention to that. They gave us watches that had the NCAA logo on it. We thought maybe a ring would come later, it wasn't a big deal then."
Memories for sale
Carolina Panthers fans who would like to decorate a wall or entire room have an opportunity to pick up items at a rummage sale sponsored by Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont.
The Charlotte Observer reported Monday the sale is scheduled for Saturday at 8 a.m. Eastern at Goodwill's outlet store at 5301 Wilkinson Blvd. in Charlotte, N.C. The items are donated by the team from suites at Bank of America Stadium.
Fans can choose from hundreds of chairs, bar stools, tables and framed photographs, many of which have been in the stadium since the team's inception.
In addition, an auction will be held at 10 a.m. for a limited quantity of framed photographs.
Most of the 1,000 items offered at a similar sale last year disappeared in a day or two.
He said it
From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:
• "What's this, a pro athlete with perspective? Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry -- when ESPN asked if it bothers him being only the fourth-highest-paid [Golden State] Warrior -- replied: 'If I'm complaining about $44 million over four years, then I've got other issues in my life.' We now return you to our usual assortment of miscreants and knuckleheads."
• "A driverless shuttle is being tested in downtown Las Vegas. Apparently they got the idea from watching the Houston Texans' offense this season."
Sports on 01/24/2017