Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

If ever you have been or if you ever go to Nashville, you must go to the Ryman Auditorium. There in a converted church is the chapel of all Country Music.

Tonight the NCAA moves their premier women’s basketball weekend event into the Ryman Auditorium where there will be a celebration full of country music, tours of the radio broadcast station and a good old time looking at the stained glass windows and the all the opponents who mill about.

The best part of the Ryman other than the acoustics is the stage – where there is a circle of wood constructed on the stage. Mother Mabel Carter certainly did her part to make it famous. The song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” a Christian tune made for a church setting like the Ryman was made popular back in 1972 when Mother Mabel teamed up with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and forever rendered that song’s title into our lexicon.

There are two women’s teams who enter this weekend’s NCAA Tournament with unbroken circles – the University of Connecticut and the University of Notre Dame. They are both undefeated after a season that spanned more than 30 games apiece.

I don’t much care about Stanford’s chances of upending Connecticut to make it the Championship game. What I care about is whether the University of Maryland Women will break the first circle of Notre Dame’s to move on against the winner of Stanford/Connecticut.

For you the readers of this blog and lovers of sports – it is a full weekend of top premier basketball in Dallas (Men’s Tournament) and in Nashville but only the women’s tournament has two undefeated teams challenging for the crown – someone’s circle will be broken.

Let’s hope, watch and pray that Maryland breaks both circles and in the process comes back home as champs.

There are loved ones in the glory
Whose dear forms you often miss.
When you close your earthly story,
Will you join them in their bliss?

Chorus

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by?
Is a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?

PS: For country music lovers – the answer is yes – there is a circle at the Grand Ole Opry that resides next to the Gaylord Complex that was miraculously saved from a flood 3 years ago. It’s wood origins were from the Ryman.

Seen here is Alyssa Thomas as she leaves the for the last time the floor of the Comcast Center after Maryland defeated Texas in the second round of the NCAA’s

Team Captain, All American and Wooden Award Winner – Alyssa Thomas

About Phil Fabrizio

Phil Fabrizio is an event, news and sports photographer in the Washington D.C. Metro area. He lives in North Potomac and has operated Sugarloaf Photography since 1985. He is a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc in Glen Echo. Stop by Phil's PhotoLoaf site or follow him on Twitter @Photoloaf. Find Phil's blog on MyMCMedia here.

View all posts by Phil Fabrizio