Inside The Playbook

Top 5 Weekly Countdown

By: Lily Zhao

Here are the top sports stories this week on my "Top 5 Weekly Countdown":

(sports.yahoo.com)

1. Pat Summit has stepped aside as the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The 59-year-old has guided the Lady Vols to eight national titles and has kept the Tennessee program in the top echelon of women's basketball. This move comes less than a year after her diagnosis of early onset dementia and Alzheimers. Summit coached at Tennessee for 38 years.

Story: http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7828864/pat-summitt-steps-aside-coach-lady-vols

2. It's "The Decision-Kentucky Wildcats Edition". The starting five who helped Kentucky win 2012 men's basketball championship will now disband. Kentucky's entire starting lineup of freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis, and sophomore Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb have declared for the NBA draft. The group dominated the Southeastern Conference, going unbeaten during the regular season and was the first number one overall since Florida in 2007 to win the NCAA men's basketball title. The five youngsters will join seniors Darius Miller and Eloy Vargas in the draft.

Story: http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/7825727/kentucky-wildcats-starting-five-declares-nba-draft

(digtriad.com)

3. It seems to be a southern tradition. The defending BCS national champions Alabama Crimson Tide's $30,000 crystal BCS trophy was shattered earlier this week. The Coaches' Trophy shattered when a player's father got his foot caught on a rug that sat beneath the trophy display. Alabama joins Florida (2008) and Florida State (2004) who have also had their glass trophies shattered following a national title.

Story: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7821303/alabama-crimson-tide-crystal-bcs-trophy-shattered-mishap

4. You can find more "Linsanity" and "Tebowing" in Time magazine's "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World." New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow were both selected to be part of the prestigious list Time Magazine has every year.

Story: http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7828015/new-york-knicks-jeremy-lin-new-york-jets-tim-tebow-make-time-most-influential-list

(bleacherreport.com)

5. It's getting pretty "Goonish" in the NHL. Pittsburgh Penguins' James Neal has been suspended for one game after knocking down an unsuspecting Sean Couturier with a hard check, while Craig Adams and Arron Asham are also suspended. Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres was also in hot water following his hit on Chicago's Marian Hossa, who had to later be carried off on a stretcher. Torres has been suspended indefinitely.


Story: http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/16426/mayhem-has-become-story-of-playoffs