    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [May 19, 2004]
    [Pages 901-903]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring NCAA Winter Champion Teams
    May 19, 2004

        The President. Thanks for coming.
        Audience member. We'll be back. [Laughter]
        The President. Whoever said, ``We'll be back,'' it sounds like the
    Connecticut women's basketball team.
        I'm glad you all are here. This is what we call Champions Day. It is
    my high honor to welcome champions to the White House. I appreciate--I
    notice we've got a lot of folks from Connecticut here. [Laughter] Yes.
    We've got two fine United States Senators in Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman. We're proud you're here. Nancy Johnson is here with us today. Chris Shays, you made it. Very good. And Rob
    Simmons is with us as well. Yes, there you go.
    [Laughter]
        They're here because Connecticut--University of Connecticut has done
    something really unusual. They have a women's champion and a men's
    champion in the same year, and we're proud to welcome them here. Maybe
    now is the moment that I should admit that I was born in Connecticut.
    [Laughter]
        I want to thank Phil Austin for being here.
    Geno, welcome back. Geno is--he's obviously a
    great coach. And he is a fellow who--I've watched the games, and I've
    watched his attitude, and no wonder Connecticut women's basketball does
    so well, because he knows how to win. And I'm proud to have him back.
    This is the third year that the Connecticut ladies have been here since
    I've been the President.
        And Jim Calhoun is also a great coach and a
    fine man as well. Coach Calhoun looked at me and said, ``I wonder if
    you're a point guard.'' I said, ``I couldn't even touch the net.''
    [Laughter] But he's got some people that can touch the net on his team.
    And both these champs really worked hard to get here--both these teams
    worked hard to get here, with great coaches. And I'm proud to welcome
    them here to the White House.
        University of Denver--one of your--well, you've got a couple of
    alumni who work for me. One is Gale Norton,
    who is the Secretary of the Interior. Welcome, Gale. I'm glad you're
    here. The other one

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    is Condi Rice, and I told her to keep
    working. [Laughter] No rest for the weary. [Laughter]
        I appreciate Marc Holtzman and George
    Gwozdecky, who is the head coach, for
    joining us as well. We've got Wayne Allard, who
    is the United States Senator from Colorado, with us. Scott
    McInnis and Diana DeGette is with us as well. Diana, thanks for coming. We're
    glad you all are here, proud the good folks from Colorado are here.
        Laura Halldorson is the coach of the
    University of Minnesota women's hockey team. I welcome the team here. I
    also welcome Senators Norm Coleman and Mark
    Dayton. Where is Senator Dayton--he was a fine
    goalie, by the way.
        Audience member. Long ago.
        The President. Yes, long ago. [Laughter]
        Martin Sabo, the Congressman, is with us.
    Martin, thank you for coming. We're proud we've got so many here.
        I was pleased to know that the University of Minnesota women's
    hockey team's slogan this year was, ``Get it done, and meet George.''
    [Laughter] It's my pleasure to meet you. [Laughter] You beat Harvard,
    and you became the first women's team in school history to win a
    national championship, and that's got to make you feel great.
    Congratulations.
        I had met one of your players before. I warned her I was going to
    say this, but Krissy Wendell, who plays for
    the Minnesota team, and I met at the winter Olympics. It was there that
    she handed me a cell phone so I could speak to her mother. [Laughter] I worked hard to convince her mother it was
    actually the President speaking to her. [Laughter] I tried as hard as I
    could to sound exactly like myself. [Laughter] I will never, however,
    forget what her mother said. She said, ``I just want you to know, I'm
    praying for you.'' And I told Krissy, when she talked to her mother,
    tell her how--that was--it meant a lot, and tell her mom, thanks.
        I also am really glad that the women's team is here. I'm sorry that
    Diana is not here. She's making a living.
    [Laughter] It's part of the economic recovery package. [Laughter] She
    goes to college, and she gets a really good job with the WNBA Phoenix
    Mercury.
        But these women know how to play basketball, and they're tough
    competitors. I think a lot of people probably wrote Geno's team out pretty early in the year. It seemed like the
    field was really a competitive field this year, and a lot of people
    probably said, ``Well, they don't have it. They're kind of burned out,
    maybe don't have what it takes.'' And in fact, these women show they do
    have what it takes. They've got great courage, great desire, and I'm
    really happy you're back.
        And I'm really happy the men's team is here as well. It's--the NCAA
    Final Four is some kind of exciting for a lot of sports fans. And the
    Duke game was really an exciting game, and I know the people of
    Connecticut were--Connecticut fans were incredibly thrilled that
    Calhoun and his men are here today. And I am
    too--glad you're here.
        And then there's the University of Denver hockey team--the men's
    hockey team. They won their first national championship in 35 years.
    This team wasn't expected to win either. It just goes to show you, don't
    write people out, particularly those who have got desire and character.
    You just don't write them off. You just--you never kind of take anything
    for granted.
        I like the story of Lukas Dora. Where are
    you, Lukas? There you go. Lukas is from the Czech Republic. He said--
    they tell me he talks a lot on the ice. He's a talkative guy, but he
    uses unique English to confuse the opponents. [Laughter] Kind of sounds
    like the strategy I use at the press conferences. [Laughter]
        They're champs on the court. They're champs on the ice. They've got
    to be champs off the court and ice too, to be true champs. You've got an
    opportunity

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    now, with the spotlight on you as champions, to make a difference in the
    communities in which you live. Here's a chance--a chance to be more than
    just an athlete. It's a chance to be a hero to somebody who needs a role
    model, somebody who--like when you go to visit the children in the
    hospital--and I know you do--somebody, when you touch their life--you go
    in as a champ, and you touch a life, and somebody feels better as a
    result of a little love and compassion, or serving food, or helping with
    toy drives. All of it matters, see. All of it counts.
        And now that you've got the spotlight on you, I hope you continue to
    seize that moment and make America a better place, by changing a heart
    and a soul, one person at a time. See, true champs are those that show
    courage and work hard to win, but they're also people who show
    compassion and love and decency when given the chance.
        We're welcoming true champs here to the White House, and it's my
    high honor to do so. Congratulations for what you have done. May God
    continue to bless you all, your schools, and your families. Welcome.

    Note: The President spoke at 4 p.m. in the East Room at the White House.
    In his remarks, he referred to Phillip E. Austin, president, Geno
    Auriemma, women's basketball head coach, Jim Calhoun, men's basketball
    head coach, and Diana Taurasi, former player, University of Connecticut;
    Marc Holtzman, president, and George Gwozdecky, men's hockey head coach,
    University of Denver; and Drenda Wendell, mother of Krissy Wendell. The
    President honored the University of Connecticut men's and women's
    basketball teams, the University of Denver men's hockey team, and the
    University of Minnesota women's hockey team.