KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Pat Summitts fight against Alzheimers disease continues, and has even gained momentum since her death.The former Tennessee womens basketball coach made sure of that through her efforts the last five years. As soon as she announced her diagnosis in 2011, Summitt vowed to take an active role in leading the battle against the disease that would eventually kill her.She looked me directly in the eye, and she said, `Joan, I thought I was going to be remembered for winning basketball games, but I hope Im remembered for making a difference in this disease, former Tennessee womens athletic director Joan Cronan said.Tennessee is holding a ceremony Thursday at Thompson-Boling Arena to celebrate the life of Summitt, who won eight national titles and 1,098 games with the Lady Volunteers. Summitt died June 28 at the age of 64. A private ceremony was held on June 30.Alzheimers experts say theres no doubt Summitts impact will continue.Her willingness to go public with her diagnosis helped motivate others to do the same and her advocacy helped raise more money to fight the disease.Federal funding for Alzheimers climbed from $448 million in the 2011 fiscal year to $991 million in 2016, according to the Alzheimers Association. It is impossible to measure how much of that can be directly tied to Summitt, though her efforts certainly contributed to the increase.The National Alzheimers Project Act that created a national plan to fight the disease was signed into law in January 2011, seven months before Summitt announced she had early-onset dementia, Alzheimers type.Certainly in the last five years, the amount of support from the National Institutes of Health for Alzheimers research has just skyrocketed, said Allan Levey, the director of the Emory Alzheimers Disease Research Center. Is that all due to Pat? Obviously not. But she was part of that campaign to raise awareness, for sure.Perhaps the most tangible evidence of the difference Summitt made will come in December with the opening of the Pat Summitt Alzheimers Clinic at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The clinic will offer Alzheimers research while also providing care for patients and providing services for caregivers.Funding for the clinic is coming in part from the Pat Summitt Foundation, an organization the former coach launched in 2011 to help fight the disease. The foundation has pledged to give the clinic $500,000 in grants for each of the next five years. Patrick Wade, the foundations director, said those $500,000 annual grants are expected to continue indefinitely.I think its going to become a real icon in the southeastern part of the (United) States for Alzheimers disease care and research, said Ronald Petersen, the director of the Mayo Alzheimers Disease Research Center in Minnesota.The effect of having someone as respected as Summitt play such a visible role in the fight against Alzheimers is evident by the outpouring of support her foundation has received.Wade said Wednesday that the Pat Summitt Foundation has received $320,000 in donations since Summitts death. That includes about 225,000 in proceeds from the sale of nearly 25,000 commemorative T-shirts.Petersen gave Summitt her original diagnosis at the Mayo Clinic and now is co-chair of the Pat Summitt Foundations medical advisory council. He said the extra attention Alzheimers awareness received after her announcement was similar to when President Reagan was diagnosed. Petersen recalled an address Summitt made at a dementia conference in Minnesota.People raved about her willingness to do this, Petersen said. She maintained a sense of humor as far into the disease as she could. She likened the battle to coaching basketball, and the way the players would react to a challenge on the court is the way she was reacting to dealing with this disease.More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimers disease, according to the Alzheimers Association. Beth Kallmyer, the vice president of constituent services for the Alzheimers Association, said about 200,000 have early-onset Alzheimers and start developing symptoms before the age of 65.Levey said people often tend to withdraw or are reluctant to disclose information about their memory problems or their diagnosis after they learn their situation. Summitt instead came forward as a public face of the disease -- even continuing to coach for a year after her diagnosis -- and showed that Alzheimers could affect anyone.When we look at public figures, there are very few that have come out publicly and said, `I have Alzheimers and then continued to remain public for a period of time, Kallmyer said. The impact of that is significant.A disease like Alzheimers, theres still a lot of stigma around it. There are still a lot of people that arent talking about it. There are doctors that arent diagnosing it. Its not unlike how cancer was seen maybe back in the `50s and `60s. When people started talking about cancer, things got better. People started paying attention to it.Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys China . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Cheap Detroit Lions Jerseys China . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.cheapfootballchina.com/cheap-new-york-giants-jerseys-china_525w.html . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys China . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury.NEW YORK -- Getting above .500 has proved to be difficult for the New York Yankees.The degree of difficulty is about become even more challenging.The Yankees will begin a 10-game homestand against three of the best teams in the majors starting Friday night when they face the Boston Red Sox.The Yankees will be taking on an opponent that leads baseball in runs (490), batting average (.292), on-base percentage (.359), slugging percentage (.474), OPS (.833) and doubles (216).And the difficulty doesnt let up after that with seven games against the first-place Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants.Its the kind of homestand that can put you in a good position or it could put way downstairs, right fielder Carlos Beltran told reporters during the All-Star break.Way downstairs would be even worse deficits in the American League East and the wild-card races. The Yankees are 7 1/2 games behind the Orioles in the AL East and 5 1/2 out of the second wild card with six teams (Toronto, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City and Seattle) ahead of them.Friday begins a stretch of seven straight games against the top two teams in the AL East.Were not in a great position necessarily, but if youre in this position you want to be playing a lot of games, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. That could be a really good thing.The Yankees have reached .500 eight times since May 24 and the latest instance might have been the least unexpected. New York ended the first half by taking three of four in Cleveland after dropping four of six in San Diego and Chicago, respectively.The Red Sox took a 49-38 record into the break and have seemingly recovered from a June slump that dropped them out of first place. From June 14 to June 29, the Red Sox dropped 10 of 16 to fall 5 1/2 games out, but since then they have won seven of nine and concluded the first half with a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay when David Price threw eight outstanding innings and David Ortiz hit a two-run homer.This homestand is what we needed, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. Coming off a tough month of June, we gain a little momentum as we go into the break.Ortiz has 75 regullar-season games remaining in his career and enters Friday with a .dddddddddddd332 average, 22 home runs and 72 RBI.According the Elias Sports Bureau, he has the most RBI at the break of any player 40 or older and is the second oldest player to hit 20-plus home runs in the first half.Its probably beyond our expectations coming into his final season, Farrell said. Just a powerful and impressive first half.Ortiz is not the only Red Sox player to post impressive numbers in the first half.Mookie Betts is batting .408 (20-for-49) during an 11-game hitting streak, the sixth Red Sox with a hitting streak of at least 10 games this season. Dustin Pedroia is batting .315 (23-for-73) during his current 18-game on-base streak and Hanley Ramirez is hitting .408 (20-for-49) in his last 14 games since June 22.Michael Pineda (3-8, 5.38 ERA) has personified inconsistency at various points this season and will open the second half for New York.Pineda had a 2.75 ERA in six June starts but began July by allowing five runs and five hits in six innings during a 5-0 loss at Chicago on July 6. It marked the sixth time he allowed at least five runs, and it is one less than the amount of starts that Pineda has gotten at least eight strikeouts.Pineda is 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA in nine career starts against the Red Sox. On April 30 in an 8-0 loss at Fenway Park, Pineda allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. On May 6 in New York, he gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings of a 3-2 win.If pitching to Bostons offense isnt challenging enough, hitting against knuckleballer Steven Wright might only add to the difficulty for the Yankees. Wright (10-5, 2.68 ERA) took a shutout into the ninth inning and pitched a three-hitter in two hours and 20 minutes on May 8 in New York.Wright is 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA in four outings (three starts) against the Yankees. He went into the break with straight wins despite allowing a combined nine earned runs and 17 hits in 11 innings against the Angels and Texas Rangers. ' ' '