Muffet

[hoopsfan22]

He didn't, but he clearly has someone in mind when he says, "I'm not like some coaches I've seen over the years sit up here and cry cause their team's getting their ass kicked after they've won so many games after all these years." It's a shot at somebody and Muffet fits the description spot on. Who is it directed at if it isn't Muffet?

And the sentence before that he said "I don't think anyone's having pity parties for Connecticut." He's right. UConn like many other great programs over the years isn't going to get much sympathy because they hit a rough patch for the first time in a decade (or two). He wasn't referring to any one specific coach since he said coaches, and like he said he wasn't going to name names, and if I had to bet, there's a good chance he wasn't even talking about WCBB coaches or maybe even college basketball coaches at all.

For Geno to be referring to Muffet means he would have literally meant crying as opposed to complaining/whining/self-pitying/excusing the state of affairs within his program which some coaches may have done after a tough situation over the past four decades in which Geno has coached; that Geno even knew about the incident years ago where Muffet was apparently caught on camera during a game or press conference with tears; and that Geno was thinking about that one incident he may or may not have knowledge about from years ago just minutes after his team lost a tough game against a top opponent. That's a lot of things that have to line up to turn Geno's "I'm not going to sit up here and make excuses or expect pity for our team that has kicked so many asses over the years" into "CLEAR SHOT AT MUFFET!!!!!!!"

Do you think Geno was watching that ND game where Muffet was crying? Or do you think Shea ran into his office the next morning to tell him about it? Maybe CD called him while it was happening and said "you've got to see this!" Perhaps Geno is a big internet meme guy and spent the day after retweeting it and posting it around social media? How do you think this critical piece of information came into Geno's consciousness such that it was the first thing that popped into his head after a loss to Louisville years later?

 

[Ozimoto]

Well, she did give us something to talk about during the dead period of the holidays...

 

[oldude]

Muffet is Ivey's biggest cheerleader. There is no animosity there. Ivey is like a daughter to Muffet.

Normally I would agree with you, particularly as MM supported Ivey, who worked for her for many seasons, as her successor. But MM has a character flaw that she too often displays through her unfiltered remarks, as she did with her ungracious remarks when Stewie was named NPOY.

MM has a tendency to frame everything in terms of how it reflects on her. She would do well to consider the remarks of Paige Bueckers after receiving the ESPY, when she said something to the effect that, “Celebrating the achievements of others does not diminish you.”

 

[Vowelguy]

If you don’t think that clip of MM crying didn’t circulate through the coaching world, you’re insane.

 

[JordyG]

Robinson was an assistant in charge of recruiting for one year. Does that really qualify as a former coach in the company of Landers and Peck? Besides, she is a studio host, not an analyst.

...and Muffet couldn't even beat out a lowly assistant to become one of ESPN's talking heads.. I agree with some of those here who used to respect Muffet as a coach and a representative of many of the good things in WCBB. How she devolved into a caricature of both a coach and a role model would be an interesting psychological character study.

 

[Carnac]

Muffet was a very good coach, and recruiter. She was one of the better coaches at teaching match up zone, which is very hard to play against if done well. Personally, I lost a lot of respect for her and her program when Arike Ogunbowale put on quite a display of unsportsmanlike behavior in the game where she undercut CW, got a technical for her interaction with GA, and topped it off with a horrendous body check on Crystal Dangerfield at mid court which was right in front of the ND bench. She wasn’t removed from the game until she committed another unsportsmanlike foul on CD when she objected to being pressured in the backcourt. Of course she made up for all of this by refusing to shake hands or acknowledge GA in the postgame line. Most of the coaches I have interacted with would have had the hook out after the first of these, not the last.

JMO

I lost any and all respect for Arike after this gutless and boorish display of disrespect and a complete lack of sportsmanship. She openly cursed Geno during that game. It was heard by numerous UConn fans sitting directly behind the UConn bench.

One of those fans reported it here in the yard in detail. McGraw never made Ogunbowale apologize to Geno for cursing him, but she did offer an apology to Notre Dame fans for her irreverent on court behavior. I was a fan of the WNBA Dallas Wings until she joined the team.

I lost interest in them after that. That incident showed us the real Muffet McGraw. Do you think a UConn player would ever openly curse an opposing coach and not be made to apologize and suffer some kind of punishment?

 

[HuskyNan]

As I feared, this has turned into a mean-spirited grievance thread.

Merry Christmas to you in this season of peace on earth, goodwill towards men.