alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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Well, I guess there are just a couple months left of pre-season before 2013-14 kicks off, with some significant early challenges coming shortly thereafter. Quite a lot to look forward to if you ask me. Having said that, let's take one last moment (at least) reliving UConn's very special 8th national championship.
Eight is a lot. By the time UConn's gotten to that number, it's almost to a point of being used to it. In fact, some of the fanbase expects it so much that the NC is a relief rather than a source of joy. But we should all rejoice.
Winning it all is a manifestation of completion, of gestalt. It's all about the whole- what could have been being everything that's actually happened. No moral victories necessary, and no complaining about officiating necessary either. When you throttle your opposition that fully, it's hard to worry about whether things should have gone differently. No worrying about Breanna Stewart either- after the Final Four, she's going to be as good as we'd hoped when she first set foot on campus.
Winning it all is also about catharsis. That's important too. All the frustration, all the gut-punching losses experienced by players and fans alike...well, it's easy for that to go away when you beat Notre Dame decisively. No snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Just taking and taking and taking everything the kids could while Notre Dame was powerless to stop them. And a pure obliteration of the team who beat Baylor. Oh yeah, that all happened too.
So, I guess some final thoughts beyond gestalt and catharsis are necessary:
And remember:
Eight is a lot. By the time UConn's gotten to that number, it's almost to a point of being used to it. In fact, some of the fanbase expects it so much that the NC is a relief rather than a source of joy. But we should all rejoice.
Winning it all is a manifestation of completion, of gestalt. It's all about the whole- what could have been being everything that's actually happened. No moral victories necessary, and no complaining about officiating necessary either. When you throttle your opposition that fully, it's hard to worry about whether things should have gone differently. No worrying about Breanna Stewart either- after the Final Four, she's going to be as good as we'd hoped when she first set foot on campus.
Winning it all is also about catharsis. That's important too. All the frustration, all the gut-punching losses experienced by players and fans alike...well, it's easy for that to go away when you beat Notre Dame decisively. No snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Just taking and taking and taking everything the kids could while Notre Dame was powerless to stop them. And a pure obliteration of the team who beat Baylor. Oh yeah, that all happened too.
So, I guess some final thoughts beyond gestalt and catharsis are necessary:
- First and foremost, one more time, please join me in one last player chant you heard time and time again in the student section: "KEL-LY FAR-IS (CLAP, CLAP, CLAPCLAPCLAP)...KEL-LY FAR-IS (CLAP, CLAP, CLAPCLAPCLAP)".
- God, how can you not love yourself some Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis? I posted a thread recently regarding my excitement about having two more years of that kid. She is everything she might have been, and she's going to keep being as great as we hoped. Talk about gestalt.
- The Breanna story will just continue to unfold. Will she have the kind of regular season as she had in the postseason in 2013? Will she become one of the most visible players in WCBB? WIll she dunk and do other things to get magnificent ESPN exposure? In short, will last season's final four be her shining moment, or "merely" a microcosm of her career?
- Let's relive some great games: the obliteration of the Stanford team that beat Baylor (BTW, UConn was an absolutely dominant 2-0 against teams that beat Baylor), Kelly's great game against Duke, the Bridgeport Mugging of Maryland (a better win compared to UCOnn's first meeting with them), 40 Minutes of Shred against Kentucky (the first half of which made it seem clear to me that UConn was going to win it all), and of course the Final Four.
- Meanwhile, we know what we hope to see from Stef, from Bria, from MoJeff, from Morgan, maybe even Banks and Kiah. We know what we have in KML and Breanna. And we also have the Parade Girl's BB NPOY joining forces with the core of a team that won it all last year. Get excited folks- this team is freaking stacked!
- And finally, I bid adieu to Caroline Doty and Heather Buck. Caroline suffered multiple injuries, but she went out a champion as joyously as one can. Buck may never have become a great player, but she scored UConn's final points of the season. She deserved to run back happily to play a final minute of defense.
And remember:
