Even Broadway Joe didn't promise a refund

When Joe Namath made the most famous guarantee in sports history, he didn't offer to give Jets fans or owners their money back if he didn't deliver a Super Bowl victory.  All he was risking was public ridicule.

Oklahoma women's basketball super star Courtney Paris took sports guarantees to a whole new level earlier this month when she promised to repay her scholarship if the Sooners didn't win the NCAA Tourney.

While Paris has completed her course work toward a degree in journalism and entered the N.C.A.A. tournament attempting to become the first player, male or female, to collect 2,500 career points and 2,000 rebounds, she said her ambitions would be fulfilled only by winning a championship.

David L. Boren, the president of Oklahoma, said Paris was apparently so serious about her vow that she checked beforehand with university officials to make sure that repaying her scholarship would not be a violation of N.C.A.A. rules. Since then, Paris has repeated her promise to follow through, presumably using money she will make playing professionally in the United States and perhaps overseas, and from endorsements.

The NY Times provides a look at her $64,000 guarantee and the implications of it to women's sports.

I rarely cover our own women's hoops program, but this story was an intriguing lunch read to me.  It's really about the definition of success.  Or you could just skip my Title IX coverage, and read The Onion's "Famous Sports Guarantees" list.

PWD