Women's track has declined during the past six years, but not the nation's respect for the Longhorn coach. Last month, Women's Track and Field head coach Beverly Kearney was one of seven extraordinary legends in music, literature, entertainment, media, service and education to be honored at the fifth consecutive BET Honors gala at the historic Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. The 2012 honorees include renowned poet/author Dr. Maya Angelou (literary arts), internationally acclaimed musician Stevie Wonder (musical arts), Grammy-Award winning songstress Mariah Carey (entertainer), influential filmmaker Spike Lee (media), the heroic Tuskegee Airmen (service) and Kearney, the inspirational coach and mentor (education). That is pretty exalted company.
I didn't have a chance to watch the BET Honors last night but went to their website today and you can view the full show as well as the individual acceptance speeches. The full video is better though because you can move ahead to Bev's portion of the show if you don't want to see the full thing. Of course there is only one honor ahead of hers and it's Stevie Wonder, with an incredible tribute by Aretha (sounding better than she has in 25 years IMO), so you can watch just those two honors without having to jump ahead. Anyway, it was an amazing tribute, with an intro by Sanya Richards-Ross and also a video, and Bev's acceptance speech was truly funny and inspriational. In fact Bev had the best line I think I've ever heard on any award show, of any kind. It was special to see her receive a long standing ovation and to be cheered by everyone from Michelle Obama to Spike Lee to Colin Powell. Really good stuff so everyone should visit the site and watch the show if possible.
