Battle for 9

[Stray Cat]

Sidebar: This website showcasing the Lady Vol program and this year's team is really well done and worth a look. www.grindfor9.com

Excuse me, but why do you feel it necessary to promote a LV web site on in a UConn forum? Oh that's right, because The Summitt is a paid for site which no one outside of LV Nation reads. I feel strongly on this issue and had reported my opinion as such. I encourage others to do the same.

 

[Icebear]

Notre Dame has 3 players with USA Basketball experience (Loyd, Reimer, and Allen) and one with Canadian basketball experience (Achonwa). Notre Dame had no one on this year's USA teams because of the European trip they took this summer.

Despite the fact that Notre Dame played at TBA last season, they are playing there again this season, so that game is a home game for Tennessee. The 2 seasons following this season will in South Bend. I appreciate the respect UConn fans have for Notre Dame, but I don't think that Tennessee fans share that perspective. I guess we'll see how Notre Dame fares post Diggins, but I certainly hope her impact on the program lingers long after her graduation.

ND's biggest challenge this year will be replacing Diggins which I think will be surprisingly easier than many think.

 

[Stray Cat]

I think the Battle for the National Title comes down to 5 teams. UConn, Duke, Tennessee, Maryland, and Stanford.

After taking the LV's behind the woodshed three consecutive years, and given how they are recruiting, I think Notre Dame has also surpassed the LV's on the national seen and deserve to be included in the NC discussion, at least if you are going to be including the LV's.

You and many other LV fans pretend like nothing has changed, while ignoring the fact that the coach who WAS your program retired and the fact your team has failed to make the Final Four for FIVE consecutive. Instead of focusing on "Grinding for Nine", I would be more concerned with getting your program out of the free fall mode. Getting excited about a verbal from the 89th ranked player is a sign of how desperate your coach and program is getting.

 

[AllHusky529]

Lots of good analysis...my money says Notre Dame doesnt skip a beat. McBride and Lloyd compensate for loss of SD. And Reimer, Nelson and Thompson give them size depth they didnt have. Duke seems to be the likely challenger for the Title, but that's only if they play someone with less size and Alexis Jones stays out of foul trouble. Now, if Maryland can stay healthy at the guard position, dont be surprised if they take the ACC this year and a #1seed. Tennessee...hmmm, Russell makes them a serious contender because Graves will by her side, but if they cant keep Simmons focused then they may only get as far as the elite 8. Barring injury, UConn will take #9 in Nashville, period! Talent, experience, confidence, balance, chemistry and a solid bench says it all. BTW...didnt they win their tournament games by an average of 35 pts? Im just saying...

 

[chrissaran]

You cannot overlook Notre Dame. Even with Skylar Diggins gone they have a lot of talent, including McBride, Ochonwa and Lloyd. Don't go to sleep on Notre Dame.

 

[AllHusky529]

I didnt say anything about Stanford but thats because they remind me of Baylor with Griner...except Griner is the 6'3 Chiney. They got a lot of bigs that can shoot spot up jumpers but not much else, especially on defense. And, honestly, they have no one like Sims. We beat them 61-35 last year because their guards cant create and they have only one big that can create her own in the post. I wouldnt expect much difference this year...maybe a closer game?

 

[UcMiami]

You cannot overlook Notre Dame. Even with Skylar Diggins gone they have a lot of talent, including McBride, Ochonwa and Lloyd. Don't go to sleep on Notre Dame.

Absolutely agree on having talent, but I think a lot of people on here under-appreciate what Diggins brought to the table in a not dissimilar way to outsiders discounting some of what DT brought to Uconn. SD was much more than her stats for ND and she made the players around her better. Uconn struggled much more than most people thought, and players like Annie were exposed as less than what we thought once DT left. I may be off base on this, but I think ND's talent may not shine quite so brightly next year. They still have a very good coach and a good team.

 

[HuskyNan]

Excuse me, but why do you feel it necessary to promote a LV web site on in a UConn forum? Oh that's right, because The Summitt is a paid for site which no one outside of LV Nation reads. I feel strongly on this issue and had reported my opinion as such. I encourage others to do the same.

Fans of other programs are welcome to post such items and promote their teams here as long as they don't denigrate UConn in the process. You know, stuff like, "Yeah, your player is good but ours does this that and the other thing that your player can't do". VolFan didn't do anything like that.

I don't care to see the Boneyard become one of Those Boards that try to run off reasonable fans of other programs that just want to have a normal conversation. We'll leave that kind of shabby behavior to Those Boards and continue to welcome civil fans of other programs.

 

[doggydaddy]

There are many UConn and Tennessee fans that believe that or a variation thereof
But the rest of the country would love to see that game
and a game between us and ND as well.

Did you take a poll?

 

[PacoSwede]

... If you are still angry at TENN for their perceived ill actions then root for UCONN to beat the daylights out of them....

Very intersting thread. (And TonyC is right on. Bravo.)
But this one little word, "perceived," gets me to post. It may well be that RenoT simply was trying to be "neutral" or polite by choosing the word "perceived." That happens often and it's easy enough to just pass over in the context of a forum like this.

But it is a big deal in the ccontext of the mass media, where it is in fact a horrible problem. When they don't call a spade a GD spade, they aren't being "neutral," they're damaging society because they are misleading people into potentially diastrous viewpoints/decisions.

The deceitful Tennessee attacks on UConn are/were not merely "perceived," they are/were reality. Fact.

Muddying the water is a far-too-commom tactic used by the powerful to deceive common folks who don't have the time/inclination to find out the truth for themselves. And the mass media are bald-faced co-conspirators. On a minor scale, the fact that people can still with a straight face say Tennessee's dirty tricks vs. UConn are "perceived" can be largely attributed to the fact that the (national) media, supposedly devoted to spreading the truth, was and continues to be too wimpy to do so in this matter. That's not a dangerous thing when you're talking WCBB -- but it's also their approach to much more significant segments of reality. When we know something is true, let's stop hedging our bets about it.

 

[Phil]

Excuse me, but why do you feel it necessary to promote a LV web site on in a UConn forum? Oh that's right, because The Summitt is a paid for site which no one outside of LV Nation reads. I feel strongly on this issue and had reported my opinion as such. I encourage others to do the same.

I think the link is fine.

This is a Boneyard site, which means the focus is on UConn. However, many participants are interested in what is happening at other schools, and we have many fans of other schools who post here appropriately.

If someone turns into a pest, that person is likely to find their posting privileges restricted or removed, but short of that, I don't see the harm in allowing such a link.

Some fans of some teams are unable to express themselves respectfully, and those fans are best bottled up in a pay site no one reads. But if one of them wants to act like an adult, I think we should encourage such behavior.

(Edited to note that I posted before realizing that Nan was already on the case)

 

[UcMiami]

I think the link is fine.

(Edited to note that I posted before realizing that Nan was already on the case)

And how fortunate you were both on the same page!
And I agree with the sentiments - I like the visitors input and enjoy seeing other marketing efforts in WCBB.

 

[EricSD]

BTW I also just have to comment on the thread title - Battle for 9... I do get that both UCONN and Tennessee are currently at 8 NC's. But Tennessee has about as much chance of winning it all as Louisville did last year, coming up 30+ points short of UCONN in the NC game. And I mean this as no gratuitous swipe at Tennessee, but they simply aren't close to the same level as UCONN this year.

This is not to say miracles can't happen. Look at the US Olympic hockey team in 1980. More recently, look at Baylor's loss to L'ville last year. L'ville's road to the NC game really was miraculous. But that's what would be needed for Tenn this year...

Next year I'd give them a fighters chance. All they lose is Simmons, and while I don't really feel the 2 kids they landed in 2014 bring much more to the table than being solid reserves, they will have a core of Massengale, Burdick, Carter, Graves and Russell. Harrison has been better than I thought she'd be, and their role players of Phillips, Jones, Moore, Reynolds and the 2 freshmen will be solid.

I also wanted to respond to the LV poster who said Lockwood was the best post coach in the game. He's been an asst coach at Tennessee for 9 years and involved with the program for 14. That means he's been involved with coaching Gwen Jackson, Shyra Ely, Ash Robinson, Tyesha Fluker, Nicci Moats, Dominique Redding, Alex Fuller, Sybil Dosty, Nikki Anosike, Kelly Cain, Vicki Baugh, Alyssa Brewer, Faith Dupree, and Isabelle Harrison.

Aside from Harrison, I don't see a single player on that list who really improved dramatically while at Tennessee, and many of those post players transferred out, while others were injured. Obviously I'm leaving Parker out because I think a turnip could have coached her in college and she'd still have developed into a great player.

But if that's what Lockwood has to hang his hat on, I'd say it's not even north of average.

 

[Phil]

Hmmm interesting. Has someone done a summary of active/past WNBA players from TN and CT by position?

I don't want to incur the wrath of the Kib, so I don't mean 1,2,3,4,5, I mean G,W,P

 

[CL82]

To me the UConn/Tenn rivalry has come and gone. We don't play each other and Tennessee hasn't stuck around long enough to meet Connecticut in the NCAAs. If they have a good run this year, I wouldn't mind being the team that ends it but it would not be any different than any other opponent. Right now I'd put ND as our principal rival. We'll have to see how they do in the post Diggins years. They certainly have the talent to make another deep run.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Hmmmm Tenn at the Final 4 in Nashville.... I never had given this much thought.... may happen... if so, they would have to play up to their capability and beyond, something they absolutely have not done the past 5 years.... I appreciate the zealousness on their part.... there is nothing quite so nice as blind loyalty..... but what justification is there to put UT even into the final 4? Mercedes is going to have to play out of her mind in order for them to make it..... I look at last year's team..... there was no heart..... UT folks can disagree all they want.... I saw no heart in their game with LVille..... Great teams..... and good teams do not lose to a #5 seed.... and I do not want to hear that it was LVille's year, etc..... that game was there for the taking, and UT didn't step up...... I hope they do well this year, because I would love to play them come April

 

[reno tony]

Very intersting thread. (And TonyC is right on. Bravo.)
But this one little word, "perceived," gets me to post. It may well be that RenoT simply was trying to be "neutral" or polite by choosing the word "perceived." That happens often and it's easy enough to just pass over in the context of a forum like this.

But it is a big deal in the ccontext of the mass media, where it is in fact a horrible problem. When they don't call a spade a GD spade, they aren't being "neutral," they're damaging society because they are misleading people into potentially diastrous viewpoints/decisions.

The deceitful Tennessee attacks on UConn are/were not merely "perceived," they are/were reality. Fact.

Muddying the water is a far-too-commom tactic used by the powerful to deceive common folks who don't have the time/inclination to find out the truth for themselves. And the mass media are bald-faced co-conspirators. On a minor scale, the fact that people can still with a straight face say Tennessee's dirty tricks vs. UConn are "perceived" can be largely attributed to the fact that the (national) media, supposedly devoted to spreading the truth, was and continues to be too wimpy to do so in this matter. That's not a dangerous thing when you're talking WCBB -- but it's also their approach to much more significant segments of reality. When we know something is true, let's stop hedging our bets about it.

Well, I don't believe I was the victim of a conspiracy. I try to look a little deeper into why people do what they do. I shall explain. For a period of my life I showed Border Collies in sheep dog trials. A few days after a trial, an animal control agent came to the ranch acting on a complaint I was abusing my dogs. At first I was shocked, then angry, then became amused as the agent examined my kennels and dogs and found them in perfect condition. As I thought about it, I realized that someone had turned me in, hopefully with the interest in protecting my dogs. I tried to believe they were acting in good faith and not because it was me.

I think that people who are part of organizations like the NCAA, WBB, colleges around the U.S. need to follow the rules and assist in making sure others do as well. I hold no ill will toward anyone who contacts the authorities in an effort to keep their organization clean. There will obviously be some that will see their actions as an attempt to attack some other member because of personal reasons. My word "perceived" was chosen because if TENN in fact thought UCONN was doing wrong they had an obligation to report it and let those in charge determine the truth. And those actions should not be considered an attempt to undermine the UCONN, WBB or Geno and his staff. Some personal comments from both sides were exchanged and I believe the situation escalated and got a little crazy. I prefer to let it pass and hope that those in charge can do the same. Let's act like adults and get the series started again.

 

[calpedaler]

Well, I don't believe I was the victim of a conspiracy. I try to look a little deeper into why people do what they do. I shall explain. For a period of my life I showed Border Collies in sheep dog trials. A few days after a trial, an animal control agent came to the ranch acting on a complaint I was abusing my dogs. At first I was shocked, then angry, then became amused as the agent examined my kennels and dogs and found them in perfect condition. As I thought about it, I realized that someone had turned me in, hopefully with the interest in protecting my dogs. I tried to believe they were acting in good faith and not because it was me.

I think that people who are part of organizations like the NCAA, WBB, colleges around the U.S. need to follow the rules and assist in making sure others do as well. I hold no ill will toward anyone who contacts the authorities in an effort to keep their organization clean. There will obviously be some that will see their actions as an attempt to attack some other member because of personal reasons. My word "perceived" was chosen because if TENN in fact thought UCONN was doing wrong they had an obligation to report it and let those in charge determine the truth. And those actions should not be considered an attempt to undermine the UCONN, WBB or Geno and his staff. Some personal comments from both sides were exchanged and I believe the situation escalated and got a little crazy. I prefer to let it pass and hope that those in charge can do the same. Let's act like adults and get the series started again.

Well, good for you.

 

[Phil]

Well, I don't believe I was the victim of a conspiracy. I try to look a little deeper into why people do what they do. I shall explain. For a period of my life I showed Border Collies in sheep dog trials. A few days after a trial, an animal control agent came to the ranch acting on a complaint I was abusing my dogs. At first I was shocked, then angry, then became amused as the agent examined my kennels and dogs and found them in perfect condition. As I thought about it, I realized that someone had turned me in, hopefully with the interest in protecting my dogs. I tried to believe they were acting in good faith and not because it was me.

I think that people who are part of organizations like the NCAA, WBB, colleges around the U.S. need to follow the rules and assist in making sure others do as well. I hold no ill will toward anyone who contacts the authorities in an effort to keep their organization clean. There will obviously be some that will see their actions as an attempt to attack some other member because of personal reasons. My word "perceived" was chosen because if TENN in fact thought UCONN was doing wrong they had an obligation to report it and let those in charge determine the truth. And those actions should not be considered an attempt to undermine the UCONN, WBB or Geno and his staff. Some personal comments from both sides were exchanged and I believe the situation escalated and got a little crazy. I prefer to let it pass and hope that those in charge can do the same. Let's act like adults and get the series started again.

Here's the difference. Someone might have honestly thought you were doing something wrong, and contacted someone to look into it. But it wasn't covered on the news or in the newspapers I bet if you hadn't mentioned it, almost no one would know.

When you think someone has done something wrong, you have a personal responsibility to make sure you have a decent case if you know that making the allegation is going to go public. TN didn't do that. They had nothing, but rather than quietly check to see if there was any substance, they worked themselves up and reported it in a way that the sports media picked up on it. Everyone reported breathlessly that TN was accusing CT of "bad things". The reports that there was no "there" there didn't get quite the same coverage. Not to mention that there has never been an apology for the ginned up accusations. So with all respect, I do not see the two situations as comparable.

 

[meyers7]

Well, I don't believe I was the victim of a conspiracy. I try to look a little deeper into why people do what they do. I shall explain. For a period of my life I showed Border Collies in sheep dog trials. A few days after a trial, an animal control agent came to the ranch acting on a complaint I was abusing my dogs. At first I was shocked, then angry, then became amused as the agent examined my kennels and dogs and found them in perfect condition. As I thought about it, I realized that someone had turned me in, hopefully with the interest in protecting my dogs. I tried to believe they were acting in good faith and not because it was me.

I think that people who are part of organizations like the NCAA, WBB, colleges around the U.S. need to follow the rules and assist in making sure others do as well. I hold no ill will toward anyone who contacts the authorities in an effort to keep their organization clean. There will obviously be some that will see their actions as an attempt to attack some other member because of personal reasons. My word "perceived" was chosen because if TENN in fact thought UCONN was doing wrong they had an obligation to report it and let those in charge determine the truth. And those actions should not be considered an attempt to undermine the UCONN, WBB or Geno and his staff. Some personal comments from both sides were exchanged and I believe the situation escalated and got a little crazy. I prefer to let it pass and hope that those in charge can do the same. Let's act like adults and get the series started again.

Wow.

Well I hope you don't bump into anything with those blinders on.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Yes, it is hard to stand beside my Tenn friends in the backdrop of the whole charade of the run to the NCAA.... with no remorse afterward..... just a generic childlike "You know what you did!".... In a big way, I think this emboldened us..... forced us certainly to defend out integrity and our specific actions..... I still cannot believe that UT has nothing to say in the sense of "Gee we probably shouldn't have been so strident in our accusations".... If I was a UT fan, I would be embarrassed.... but of course they are not.... for the reason, again "You know what you did!".... As soon as we became dominant, and the heat got too hot, PHS led her troops out of the kitchen in a hurry in bully fashion. To UT, I would say "Now you well know why you don't want to play us any longer!"

 

[Stray Cat]

Fans of other programs are welcome to post such items and promote their teams here as long as they don't denigrate UConn in the process. You know, stuff like, "Yeah, your player is good but ours does this that and the other thing that your player can't do". VolFan didn't do anything like that.

I don't care to see the Boneyard become one of Those Boards that try to run off reasonable fans of other programs that just want to have a normal conversation. We'll leave that kind of shabby behavior to Those Boards and continue to welcome civil fans of other programs.

CLARIFICATION: I am all for allowing fans of other schools posting in this forum as long as they follow the guidelines you referenced. However, what my real issue concerns is allowing a LINK to a promotional video and web site of another school; especially considering this schools primary message board forum is a premium paid for content site, meaning they can post it on their site but very few outside of their own fans will ever see it. Meanwhile, they post it here -- on the most visited FREE WCB forum around, for fans and possible recruits to see.

This doesn't seem like something that is in the best interest of UConn WBB.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Perhaps an irrelevant tidbit, but in the last 20 years there have of course been 80 squads making it to the , but only 5 were from the host state for the FF. Maybe no effect on UTenn, but historically teams often seem to miss out on the when their state is host but win the NC in an adjoining year, such as Texas did way back in 1986 and UTenn did in both 1989 and 1991 in the years surrounding Knoxville as host in 1990, or more recently as Texas A&M did in 2011 following San Antonio's host job in 2010. Only twice has a team won an NC in their home state, the last being Stanford in 1992, with USC also winning a title in 1984 in LA. The only team to even make it to an NC game when its state was hosting since 1992 was Notre Dame in 2011.

Possibly means nothing, but perhaps the pressure gets ratcheted up a bit.

 

[BooRadley]

Well, I don't believe I was the victim of a conspiracy. I try to look a little deeper into why people do what they do. I shall explain. For a period of my life I showed Border Collies in sheep dog trials. A few days after a trial, an animal control agent came to the ranch acting on a complaint I was abusing my dogs. At first I was shocked, then angry, then became amused as the agent examined my kennels and dogs and found them in perfect condition. As I thought about it, I realized that someone had turned me in, hopefully with the interest in protecting my dogs. I tried to believe they were acting in good faith and not because it was me.

I think that people who are part of organizations like the NCAA, WBB, colleges around the U.S. need to follow the rules and assist in making sure others do as well. I hold no ill will toward anyone who contacts the authorities in an effort to keep their organization clean. There will obviously be some that will see their actions as an attempt to attack some other member because of personal reasons. My word "perceived" was chosen because if TENN in fact thought UCONN was doing wrong they had an obligation to report it and let those in charge determine the truth. And those actions should not be considered an attempt to undermine the UCONN, WBB or Geno and his staff. Some personal comments from both sides were exchanged and I believe the situation escalated and got a little crazy. I prefer to let it pass and hope that those in charge can do the same. Let's act like adults and get the series started again.

RT,

In many situations the reasonable approach you have taken and the conclusions you come to would be spot on... but... in this one, the conclusions you've drawn just don't fit the situation particularly well. As you know, in life there are times when what looks to be reasonable upon a first observation is found to be very unreasonable with a fuller understanding.

I hope that I can give you a better understanding and a flavor of the experience so that you can make a better informed decision/opinion on this topic. I'm not saying that your understanding of those times is unreasonable given that you weren't here to experience them, but I am saying that you have built your opinion without sufficient understanding of those times and of those events. No one can reasonably expect you to GROK the issue but one can expect you to have a better, more flavored understanding if someone is willing to talk to you about those days and you are willing to be open minded to what you see, hear, read.

Sentiments 'Let's act like adults and get the series started again.' have frustrated some of those who lived through those times because your words suggest to us that you haven't sufficiently understood the depth and breathe of the flood of bile that came out of Knoxville at the time and how that spread across WCBBdom. We also believe that you are missing the more basic understanding that the accusations were not made out of a sense that justice or in an effort to keep the sport as clean as could be expected, but out of the more base motives of spite, entitlement & resentment. The accusations were not just beyond baseless, they were an of mean spirited hissyfits and appallingly immature tantrums. Otherwise responsible adults acted like nasty little 7th graders...

The insanely constructed accusations from their school and the nearly endless flow of followup accusations from PHS's proxies and her fanbase were not made in a sincere effort to find truth; they were personal... very personal.... attempts to destroy reputations and careers. There was very little actual high-minded speech coming out of Knoxville back in those days.

It was not all that much fun to be a fan of WCBB or of the Huskys in those days... The boards were aflame with attack and counterattack. The pregame-gametime-postgame media coverage couldn't resist spending insipid conversation after insipid conversation on this nonsense. WCBB as a whole was a lot less fun in those days. The 'troubles' became all-encompassing... it filled the air and pages even when we weren't playing each other... any and every televised UConn or UtTenn game was filled with nonsensical conversations by the play-by-play and color commentators about the problems between PHS & Geno... UConn & Utenn... it was pushing the actual game of basketball out of the conversation... It was all about the anger & resentments. The printed media blindly followed suit.

As Phil said, the accusations were based upon ridiculously flimsy supposition and completely unsupported, yet 'responsible' adults made them anyway. There was no reasonable suspicion that could be found here... there was only an itch to be scratched... a need to lash to be laid upon a foe. Most of us were gobsmacked when we finally had a chance to read the actual NCAA complaint... How UTenns AD didn't squash this all before it left the walls of her office is still a mystery. It was beyond silly... but old angers and the rest of the more base of human emotions took control of our Knoxville neighbors. Positively silly notions became facts in the resentment fueled minds in Knoxville. Given that as a starting point, it wasn't really all that surprising that it rapidly went downhill from there.

So, what would a rational, reasonable, mature person/organization do if they suspected that something was amiss....well, in the absence of facts that would substantiate allegations of wrongdoing, the folks in Knoxville chose to wage a war of innuendo whose first shot was at Geno in the form of "Ask Geno." PHS's fans took up her tactic and the smear was on... Their weapon of choice to give remedy to their suspicions was a campaign of far fetched rumor mongering and a malicious whisper campaign designed to punish Maya's mother, Carolyn Doty, DT, Sue, Geno, Kib, Tonyc, DD and others.... This full scale smear campaign was set into motion by UTenn and kept fueled for years by it's more rabid fans. To them, it was a sacred duty to back Pat with whatever was needed to smear potential recruits, recruits families, Geno, the other Husky coaches, the COOP, Husky fans as a group, and several Husky fans individually many of which were 'interviewed' by the authorities(FBI, Compliance officers).

Because PHS and crew had shown no motive other than a deep sense of resentment as she and they allowed nasty rumors and ugly suspicions to go unchecked and unchallenged, many folks lost respect for Coach PHS.
For many of us this was PHS's greatest misdeed:: she and her subordinates stayed silent as her proxies spread rumors -- her are just a few :::

• Rumors of houses purchased as payoff to recruits parents ::: although untrue and completely concocted out of whole cloth, it had the potential to effect our recruiting efforts and to damage the reputations of both the school, the recruits, and the recruit's parents. Pretty dirty stuff...PHS never lifted a finger to mute this vile onslaught.
• Rumors of sweet-heart book-bag deals made illegally to payoff the parent of a Husky:::not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that this ever happened... just mud thrown at UCONN and Maya's mom.
• Rumors of cash payouts, not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that this ever happened... just mud thrown at UCONN and Maya's mom.
• Rumors of illegal payouts of french fries and Wendy's burgers ::: designed purely to punish CD for having chosen UConn and to discredit UConn & Geno.
• Rumors of secret and strictly illegal car rides home given to a recruit by DT & Sue, who BTW were out of the country at the time of the alleged car ride but had to be interviewed non-the-less. Simply a mud-slinging story created out of the air to damage the reputations of UCONN, Geno, DT, & Sue.
• Rumors of accusations that illegal contact between Husky fans and recruits had become so commonplace that gifts(handmade signs) were given... too silly to take seriously except, of course, if you were the one being interviewed by the compliance folks.

As one rumor was shown to be ridiculous, several more would pop up from Knoxville. Peoples lives were interrupted and their reputations were assailed not as a result of an honest desire to keep the sport as clean as possible, but as a result of spite, resentment, anger, entitlement, and to some extent jealousy. These times were not filled with the laudably high-minded sentiments that you spoke of in your post; they were nothing more than humans behaving very very badly. The story became the nastiness... the game was lost in the muck. Those that disagree with you aren't failing to act like adults, they just don't wish to revisit/repeat those experiences.

I know that this response is far too long and I apologize for that but I also hope that this helps you to understand why you get the push-back that you do when the topic of renewing the series comes up. For many of us, it's as if you are suggesting we get back into an abusive relationship because there were 'good' times too. At least consider the possibility that those who oppose renewing the series are not failing to act like adults, that instead that it is possible that your plea for a detente is far too naive and based upon far too frail of an understanding of those events.


You Ol' Pal Boo

 

[RockyMTblue2]

To be more succinct with you reno tony, in multiple threads this summer you have voiced you opinion the Tennessee and U Conn should play. In those multiple occasions you have either made false assumptions (UConn had a hand in canceling series) or said anyone with a contrary view was "immature" or should "grow up." This is disrespectful to your fellow Boneyarders and begs the question whether you are simply using the position as an attention seeking device. If it's the latter it is akin to the 4 year old farting at the dinner table.

 

[reno tony]

To be more succinct with you reno tony, in multiple threads this summer you have voiced you opinion the Tennessee and U Conn should play. In those multiple occasions you have either made false assumptions (UConn had a hand in canceling series) or said anyone with a contrary view was "immature" or should "grow up." This is disrespectful to your fellow Boneyarders and begs the question whether you are simply using the position as an attention seeking device. If it's the latter it is akin to the 4 year old farting at the dinner table.

This topic obviously stirs great emotion in some Boneyarders but I think this can not be ignored. Some, like you, know that I wish the series would start again. Maybe I am wearing rose-colored glasses when I see a day when all this stuff can be worked out and put behind us and let the teams play. Holly made a big step when she approached Geno about it and I take that as a good sign. Her attempt at opening the lines of communication should be recognized and UCONN should at least consider a chance at some type of reconciliation.

Since this is the first board on which I have posted, I might have unintentionally been disrespectful to someone's opinion and for that I apologize. It was not an attempt to gain attention or stir the pot.

 

[reno tony]

RT,

In many situations the reasonable approach you have taken and the conclusions you come to would be spot on... but... in this one, the conclusions you've drawn just don't fit the situation particularly well. As you know, in life there are times when what looks to be reasonable upon a first observation is found to be very unreasonable with a fuller understanding.

I hope that I can give you a better understanding and a flavor of the experience so that you can make a better informed decision/opinion on this topic. I'm not saying that your understanding of those times is unreasonable given that you weren't here to experience them, but I am saying that you have built your opinion without sufficient understanding of those times and of those events. No one can reasonably expect you to GROK the issue but one can expect you to have a better, more flavored understanding if someone is willing to talk to you about those days and you are willing to be open minded to what you see, hear, read.

Sentiments 'Let's act like adults and get the series started again.' have frustrated some of those who lived through those times because your words suggest to us that you haven't sufficiently understood the depth and breathe of the flood of bile that came out of Knoxville at the time and how that spread across WCBBdom. We also believe that you are missing the more basic understanding that the accusations were not made out of a sense that justice or in an effort to keep the sport as clean as could be expected, but out of the more base motives of spite, entitlement & resentment. The accusations were not just beyond baseless, they were an of mean spirited hissy fits and appallingly immature tantrums. Otherwise responsible adults acted like nasty little 7th graders...

The insanely constructed accusations from their school and the nearly endless flow of follow up accusations from PHS's proxies and her fan base were not made in a sincere effort to find truth; they were personal... very personal.... attempts to destroy reputations and careers. There was very little actual high-minded speech coming out of Knoxville back in those days.

It was not all that much fun to be a fan of WCBB or of the Huskys in those days... The boards were aflame with attack and counterattack. The pregame-game time-postgame media coverage couldn't resist spending insipid conversation after insipid conversation on this nonsense. WCBB as a whole was a lot less fun in those days. The 'troubles' became all-encompassing... it filled the air and pages even when we weren't playing each other... any and every televised UConn or UTenn game was filled with nonsensical conversations by the play-by-play and color commentators about the problems between PHS & Geno... UConn & Utenn... it was pushing the actual game of basketball out of the conversation... It was all about the anger & resentments. The printed media blindly followed suit.

As Phil said, the accusations were based upon ridiculously flimsy supposition and completely unsupported, yet 'responsible' adults made them anyway. There was no reasonable suspicion that could be found here... there was only an itch to be scratched... a need to lash to be laid upon a foe. Most of us were gobsmacked when we finally had a chance to read the actual NCAA complaint... How UTenns AD didn't squash this all before it left the walls of her office is still a mystery. It was beyond silly... but old angers and the rest of the more base of human emotions took control of our Knoxville neighbors. Positively silly notions became facts in the resentment fueled minds in Knoxville. Given that as a starting point, it wasn't really all that surprising that it rapidly went downhill from there.

So, what would a rational, reasonable, mature person/organization do if they suspected that something was amiss....well, in the absence of facts that would substantiate allegations of wrongdoing, the folks in Knoxville chose to wage a war of innuendo whose first shot was at Geno in the form of "Ask Geno." PHS's fans took up her tactic and the smear was on... Their weapon of choice to give remedy to their suspicions was a campaign of far fetched rumor mongering and a malicious whisper campaign designed to punish Maya's mother, Carolyn Doty, DT, Sue, Geno, Kib, Tonyc, DD and others.... This full scale smear campaign was set into motion by UTenn and kept fueled for years by it's more rabid fans. To them, it was a sacred duty to back Pat with whatever was needed to smear potential recruits, recruits families, Geno, the other Husky coaches, the COOP, Husky fans as a group, and several Husky fans individually many of which were 'interviewed' by the authorities(FBI, Compliance officers).

Because PHS and crew had shown no motive other than a deep sense of resentment as she and they allowed nasty rumors and ugly suspicions to go unchecked and unchallenged, many folks lost respect for Coach PHS.
For many of us this was PHS's greatest misdeed:: she and her subordinates stayed silent as her proxies spread rumors -- her are just a few :::

• 
  [ ]Rumors of houses purchased as payoff to recruits parents ::: although untrue and completely concocted out of whole cloth, it had the potential to effect our recruiting efforts and to damage the reputations of both the school, the recruits, and the recruit's parents. Pretty dirty stuff...PHS never lifted a finger to mute this vile onslaught.
  [ ]Rumors of sweet-heart book-bag deals made illegally to payoff the parent of a Husky:::not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that this ever happened... just mud thrown at UCONN and Maya's mom.
  [ ]Rumors of cash payouts, not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that this ever happened... just mud thrown at UCONN and Maya's mom.
  [ ]Rumors of illegal payouts of french fries and Wendy's burgers ::: designed purely to punish CD for having chosen UConn and to discredit UConn & Geno.
  [ ]Rumors of secret and strictly illegal car rides home given to a recruit by DT & Sue, who BTW were out of the country at the time of the alleged car ride but had to be interviewed non-the-less. Simply a mud-slinging story created out of the air to damage the reputations of UCONN, Geno, DT, & Sue.
  [ ]Rumors of accusations that illegal contact between Husky fans and recruits had become so commonplace that gifts(handmade signs) were given... too silly to take seriously except, of course, if you were the one being interviewed by the compliance folks.

As one rumor was shown to be ridiculous, several more would pop up from Knoxville. Peoples lives were interrupted and their reputations were assailed not as a result of an honest desire to keep the sport as clean as possible, but as a result of spite, resentment, anger, entitlement, and to some extent jealousy. These times were not filled with the laudably high-minded sentiments that you spoke of in your post; they were nothing more than humans behaving very very badly. The story became the nastiness... the game was lost in the muck. Those that disagree with you aren't failing to act like adults, they just don't wish to revisit/repeat those experiences.

I know that this response is far too long and I apologize for that but I also hope that this helps you to understand why you get the push-back that you do when the topic of renewing the series comes up. For many of us, it's as if you are suggesting we get back into an abusive relationship because there were 'good' times too. At least consider the possibility that those who oppose renewing the series are not failing to act like adults, that instead that it is possible that your plea for a detente is far too naive and based upon far too frail of an understanding of those events.


You Ol' Pal Boo

First of all, thank you for taking the time to so eloquently express your feelings about this subject. And it is true, I haven't been on this board very long and had only heard of some of the rumors you mentioned. It seems like there were many Bone Yarders that became personally involved in the situation and it may boil their blood to read about someone wanting to start the series again. My simplistic approach of trying to move forward without harping on the past doesn't sit well on the BY concerning this subject. And while my comments are not intended to insult another blogger, I feel entitled to my opinion. However irrational it may seem. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

This topic obviously stirs great emotion in some Boneyarders but I think this can not be ignored. Some, like you, know that I wish the series would start again. Maybe I am wearing rose-colored glasses when I see a day when all this stuff can be worked out and put behind us and let the teams play. Holly made a big step when she approached Geno about it and I take that as a good sign. Her attempt at opening the lines of communication should be recognized and UCONN should at least consider a chance at some type of reconciliation.

Since this is the first board on which I have posted, I might have unintentionally been disrespectful to someone's opinion and for that I apologize. It was not an attempt to gain attention or stir the pot.

Good to know. The weird part of that "Holly...approached Geno about it" was that it appeared that it was done for PR purposes only and Tennessee within days reiterated that the series would not be renewed and refuses to make Holly available to a reporter on the subject. Public hints, closely followed by public disclaimers do nothing to advance the day when these 2 will play again on a scheduled basis. The whole thing was amateur hour or in keeping with the sports theme, bush league. These are not mere details in a big picture. What they mean is that Holly "made [no] big step" other than to put her foot in her own mouth.

 

[HuskyNan]

CLARIFICATION: I am all for allowing fans of other schools posting in this forum as long as they follow the guidelines you referenced. However, what my real issue concerns is allowing a LINK to a promotional video and web site of another school; especially considering this schools primary message board forum is a premium paid for content site, meaning they can post it on their site but very few outside of their own fans will ever see it. Meanwhile, they post it here -- on the most visited FREE WCB forum around, for fans and possible recruits to see.

This doesn't seem like something that is in the best interest of UConn WBB.

The LVs can advertise all they want, until they run an efficient offense and find some team chemistry they aren't any particular danger to UConn or a threat to take over wcbb.

And - this thread would have sunk to the bottom of the board long ago but for our discussion.

 

[Kibitzer]

I feel entitled to my opinion. However irrational it may seem.

You are of course entitled to your opinion.

And it's not irrational, it's just plain wrong. Dead wrong.

It's up to you whether you want to stick with it or not.