Papa33
Poster Emeritus
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 569
- Reaction Score
- 3,345
Hey, you know what?
After Monday’s triple overtime loss to Notre Dame, we would have no weeping, wailing, blame throwing, or gnashing of teeth if—
We had made one 1 more free throw in regulation play;
We had made only 1 of the 4 free throws we missed in the first overtime (especially the three that were the first of 1 and 1’s;
We had made only 1 of the 2 free throws we missed in the second overtime.
We had made only 2 less of 35 turnovers we made, especially any one of the 11 turnovers that led to 21 Notre Dame points;
We had made only 1 more of the 38 shots we missed;
We had made only 1 more of the 10 defensive rebounds we missed that led to 20 Notre Dame second-chance points.
WHY would we not have published comments to the Boneyard full of all-knowing, 20-20 hindsight recriminations?
Because we would have won!
And in the world of the Boneyard and in sports blogs and sports talk radio, fans tend to make too much of too little. Sports contests often hinge on very small and incidental and accidental moments— a slip here, a small error there, an inch too long or short (McBride’s 3-pointer?— a error that turns out right, a wise decision that goes wrong. In the case of this high profile game, one that many Husky fans had invested so much hope and heart in, any one of those “misses” made the difference. But we tend to forget that when our team wins.
If any of those single events changes, UConn wins and Notre Dame loses. Somehow that changes the whole UConn season and universe. That’s how fans tend to work and exaggerate.
IF we had won, no one—
Blames Geno for not coaching his freshman into game winners (even though two of those frosh played through all three overtimes and put UConn in a position to win);
Finds fault with Geno’s game decisions;
Charges (Doty/Hartley/Dolson/Faris) with gross incompetence (even though their play put UConn close enough to win);
Lays the loss on the refs (even though, despite some egregiously bad calls, the officiating erased the usual Notre Dame foul shot advantage entirely until they made 11 foul shots in the third overtime);
Would suggest that what UConn needs is some of Diggins’ “attitude,” because her team would have lost! (She shot 11 for 31 with 8 turnovers; McBride shot 11 for 28— that’s pretty great UConn defense.)
Would claim UConn players have lost the ability to finish out tough games;
Would declare the apocalypse for the UConn Women’s program.
It’s called perspective, folks.
And, by the way, all the same principles apply to the first loss to Notre Dame earlier in the season. With KML hitting >50% of her three’s, we had a better than even chance that UConn is 1-0 vs Notre Dame going in to Monday’s game.
Yes, we were all horribly frustrated by the results. Yes, our kids could have played better. But no on one should question their dedication or effort or heart. Please, put those two agonizing losses into perspective without making them into the decline and fall of UConn basketball. You don’t have to turn yourselves into Pollyannas to do that.
Choose honest, balanced critiques over ad hominem criticism. Don’t let your disappointment acidify your comments.
Apologies for making this so long. I’m off my soap box.
After Monday’s triple overtime loss to Notre Dame, we would have no weeping, wailing, blame throwing, or gnashing of teeth if—
We had made one 1 more free throw in regulation play;
We had made only 1 of the 4 free throws we missed in the first overtime (especially the three that were the first of 1 and 1’s;
We had made only 1 of the 2 free throws we missed in the second overtime.
We had made only 2 less of 35 turnovers we made, especially any one of the 11 turnovers that led to 21 Notre Dame points;
We had made only 1 more of the 38 shots we missed;
We had made only 1 more of the 10 defensive rebounds we missed that led to 20 Notre Dame second-chance points.
WHY would we not have published comments to the Boneyard full of all-knowing, 20-20 hindsight recriminations?
Because we would have won!
And in the world of the Boneyard and in sports blogs and sports talk radio, fans tend to make too much of too little. Sports contests often hinge on very small and incidental and accidental moments— a slip here, a small error there, an inch too long or short (McBride’s 3-pointer?— a error that turns out right, a wise decision that goes wrong. In the case of this high profile game, one that many Husky fans had invested so much hope and heart in, any one of those “misses” made the difference. But we tend to forget that when our team wins.
If any of those single events changes, UConn wins and Notre Dame loses. Somehow that changes the whole UConn season and universe. That’s how fans tend to work and exaggerate.
IF we had won, no one—
Blames Geno for not coaching his freshman into game winners (even though two of those frosh played through all three overtimes and put UConn in a position to win);
Finds fault with Geno’s game decisions;
Charges (Doty/Hartley/Dolson/Faris) with gross incompetence (even though their play put UConn close enough to win);
Lays the loss on the refs (even though, despite some egregiously bad calls, the officiating erased the usual Notre Dame foul shot advantage entirely until they made 11 foul shots in the third overtime);
Would suggest that what UConn needs is some of Diggins’ “attitude,” because her team would have lost! (She shot 11 for 31 with 8 turnovers; McBride shot 11 for 28— that’s pretty great UConn defense.)
Would claim UConn players have lost the ability to finish out tough games;
Would declare the apocalypse for the UConn Women’s program.
It’s called perspective, folks.
And, by the way, all the same principles apply to the first loss to Notre Dame earlier in the season. With KML hitting >50% of her three’s, we had a better than even chance that UConn is 1-0 vs Notre Dame going in to Monday’s game.
Yes, we were all horribly frustrated by the results. Yes, our kids could have played better. But no on one should question their dedication or effort or heart. Please, put those two agonizing losses into perspective without making them into the decline and fall of UConn basketball. You don’t have to turn yourselves into Pollyannas to do that.
Choose honest, balanced critiques over ad hominem criticism. Don’t let your disappointment acidify your comments.
Apologies for making this so long. I’m off my soap box.
