- Joined
- Oct 17, 2011
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If our favorite team, as I fully expect, wins it all yet again (!) this year, it will be, as usual, because they boast the best team in the tournament...not necessarily a roster of the best players, but the best team, the best-coached, and most cohesive unit in the entire field. Yes, they may, and probably will, get some unexpected "help" from an unlikely source, as Louisville once famously gave them vs. Baylor, but that felicitous potential NC outcome will ultimately be the result of team superiority. As Geno has been oft-quoted, "if we bring our A game, no one is going to beat us."
I think the coach has it right, as he usually does. Should UConn unexpectedly lose, it will certainly be because, for one night, the A game was not there. It will be because of uncharacteristically cold shooting, because of defensive lapses, because of careless turnovers and because of silly fouls putting key players on the bench. Most importantly, it will NOT be because they got "screwed" by the selection committee (eye-roll here), and, even more saliently, it will NOT be because the referees conspired against them. It seems to me that we UConn fans, treated as we are to the greatest magic carpet ride in sports history, should be above that kind of whining and self-pity.
Does this team have a huge target on its back? Of course. Will a large segment of the country derive great satisfaction from, heaven forbid, a UConn loss? Natch. That's been true ever since the DT years, when the team boasted the presence of the most in-your-face player ever to take the court in WCBB. That antipathy from a large segment of the small general population that cares, even marginally, about WCBB should be proudly worn as a badge of honor by those of us who are Husky fans. But to descend into conspiracy theories as to why an unanticipated loss may occur...that, my friends, is below us...or it should be!
I think the coach has it right, as he usually does. Should UConn unexpectedly lose, it will certainly be because, for one night, the A game was not there. It will be because of uncharacteristically cold shooting, because of defensive lapses, because of careless turnovers and because of silly fouls putting key players on the bench. Most importantly, it will NOT be because they got "screwed" by the selection committee (eye-roll here), and, even more saliently, it will NOT be because the referees conspired against them. It seems to me that we UConn fans, treated as we are to the greatest magic carpet ride in sports history, should be above that kind of whining and self-pity.
Does this team have a huge target on its back? Of course. Will a large segment of the country derive great satisfaction from, heaven forbid, a UConn loss? Natch. That's been true ever since the DT years, when the team boasted the presence of the most in-your-face player ever to take the court in WCBB. That antipathy from a large segment of the small general population that cares, even marginally, about WCBB should be proudly worn as a badge of honor by those of us who are Husky fans. But to descend into conspiracy theories as to why an unanticipated loss may occur...that, my friends, is below us...or it should be!
