Geno Auriemma: "Mr. Women's Basketball"

[PacoSwede]

That wasn't his point at all.

Geno's point was Diana going to college was a great source of pride for her parents. They're immigrants (like his parents) and having Diana attend college and get a degree probably meant the world to them.

It was very much a "respect what your parents have done for you so you can enjoy the privilege you have."

Ahem. I never said it was Geno's point. It was clear in the article. Good job by Geno.

It was my point!

 

[PacoSwede]

a

You can object all you want. You don't get to talk about why it doesn't matter that you don't have a degree on your resume, or what you did get out of college even if you didn't graduate, and many, many recruiters and HR screeners won't give you a second look without it.

A degree is a proxy for having completed what you set out to do. Your average 22 year old has very little else to demonstrate this.

Diana was not an average 22 year old. She has special talents, talents that mean a lot of young girls looked/look up to her. Geno didn't want her to send the message that a degree isn't important. Can you have a successful life without a degree? Sure- it's just less likely. Similarly, you can make it home safe if you drive drunk, but statistically, you're safer sober. Diana has, in her youth, needed to be reminded that there are comparatively few superstar women athletes, and because she is one of them, that gives her proportionally more responsibility than even a male athlete of similar stature. I, for one, applaud what Geno did.

I do not have any problem at all with how Geno handled this. Some seem to assume that I do. That's inaccurate, and perhaps I was not sufficiently clear.

Geno is right that sending a message is important. (Making your parents is important to0, etc.) That's not what I object to.

What I object to is what I highlighted in your post.

I object that anyone is less likely to succeed because he/she doesn't have a degree. If you take pride in being ignorant or being unable to think for yourself, you should be less likely to succeed. If you don't know anatomy, you should be less likely to succeed if you want to be in medicine. If you don't know how to plumb, you should be less likely to succeed as a plumber. You should not be less likely to succeed at everything simply because you don't have a college degree. But you are! I object to that. It is an unnecessary, wasteful barrier, off of which some people make lots of money. Sure, a kid should get a degree under these circumstances, but these shouldn't be the circumstances.

For most of our history, the percentage of people with academic degrees has been very small. Yeah, I know that times have changed. We're in the Info Age, etc. Therefore, you supposedly need this academic education to be productive in this new world.

Hogwash. There have always been newer technologies that required people to learn new things. And they did so without an academic degree, for the most part.

It's not that academic degrees are bad things. They are great for some pursuits in life. But one size does not fit all, as has been said. Everyone can gain from learning new things, but that is something apart from getting a diploma.

Regardless, now, everybody must go to college, and most must get into horrendous debt to do so. And higher education has become a profitable industry. I object to that. (And again, of course, it doesn't matter that I object.

I find it kind of incredible that you compare driving drunk to failing to get a college degree. It does, however, confirm that attitude toward this issue is common.

 

[Kait14]

Or you could say that Kemba, also graduated in three years, in SOCIOLOGY. And according to him, has only read one book

Exactly though.. Sociology has to be the easiest, if not THE easiest major, next to Communications

 

[alexrgct]

a

I do not have any problem at all with how Geno handled this. Some seem to assume that I do. That's inaccurate, and perhaps I was not sufficiently clear.

Geno is right that sending a message is important. (Making your parents is important to0, etc.) That's not what I object to.

What I object to is what I highlighted in your post.

I object that anyone is less likely to succeed because he/she doesn't have a degree. If you take pride in being ignorant or being unable to think for yourself, you should be less likely to succeed. If you don't know anatomy, you should be less likely to succeed if you want to be in medicine. If you don't know how to plumb, you should be less likely to succeed as a plumber. You should not be less likely to succeed at everything simply because you don't have a college degree. But you are! I object to that. It is an unnecessary, wasteful barrier, off of which some people make lots of money. Sure, a kid should get a degree under these circumstances, but these shouldn't be the circumstances.

For most of our history, the percentage of people with academic degrees has been very small. Yeah, I know that times have changed. We're in the Info Age, etc. Therefore, you supposedly need this academic education to be productive in this new world.

Hogwash. There have always been newer technologies that required people to learn new things. And they did so without an academic degree, for the most part.

It's not that academic degrees are bad things. They are great for some pursuits in life. But one size does not fit all, as has been said. Everyone can gain from learning new things, but that is something apart from getting a diploma.

Regardless, now, everybody must go to college, and most must get into horrendous debt to do so. And higher education has become a profitable industry. I object to that. (And again, of course, it doesn't matter that I object.

I find it kind of incredible that you compare driving drunk to failing to get a college degree. It does, however, confirm that attitude toward this issue is common.

Boy, did you manage to miss the point with that last sentence.

In no way was I comparing a college degree, or lack thereof, to driving under the influence. The only commonality they have is that both are instances in Diana's past where she did not behave in a way that was indicative of the fact that she is one of very few very visible women athletes and thus has even more of a responsibility to behave accordingly than does a high profile male athlete. In and of themselves, a degree and DWI have nothing to do with each other.

The bottom line is that our society has different sorts of accreditations/certifications to do specific vocations, and it doesn't matter how talented you are at something if you don't have one. If you want to be successful at something, how hard is it to finish the certification process? A college degree is symbolic of having honored a committment to finishing a process you started, as well as (at least theoretically) of having received a broad-based education and having picked up some critical thinking skills. Neither Geno nor Diana has any ability to rail against the system. They do have the ability to set a positive examples for those that look up to the young women that come through the UConn WBB program. Whether post-secondary institutions should be for-profit entities, or whether everyone should go to college versus having expanded vocational/technical systems (a la the French) is certainly a worthy conversation, but not something Geno or Diana can do much about.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

One of his favorite friends earned his PHD in philosophy and then went back to work on the farm. The friend's explanation was he thought it would be good to have something to think about all day on the tractor.

A college professor friend of mine was in the hospital for back surgery and met a fellow patient, a college basketball player who was bored and grumpy. Professor tells him, "That's why you go to college, to learn to think and have something to think about when you can't play basketball any more."

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

A college professor friend of mine was in the hospital for back surgery and met a fellow patient, a college basketball player who was bored and grumpy. Professor tells him, "That's why you go to college, to learn to think and have something to think about when you can't play basketball any more."

Yet, I bet that Prof wished he could dunk!!

And yes Sam, your story rings true.

 

[Fiftyish]

What surprised me in the article was when they had finished lunch somewhere & went outside for the reporter to smoke a cigar & Geno to smoke a cigarette! Never ever have I heard anywhere that Geno smokes - other than the occasional cigar!!

Totally shocked when I read this in the article. Geno smokes? Also, can't understand why this discovery only rated a few comments in this 8 page thread. You have to be really dumb to continue to smoke in this day and age. I know, I was dumb for 40+ years.

 

[Geno-ista]

What surprised me in the article was when they had finished lunch somewhere & went outside for the reporter to smoke a cigar & Geno to smoke a cigarette! Never ever have I heard anywhere that Geno smokes - other than the occasional cigar!!

I am as big a Geno fan as there is- i never heard any hint of him smoking cigarettes- ever!

 

[Geno-ista]

How do you know she didn't need it? She's not gonna play basketball forever, and unlike an NBA star I highly doubt she's set for life.
At some point she's probably going to need another career.

Geno is a man of principle- the college degree is mandatory to him- it was and is an integral part of his philosophy!

 

[Geno-ista]

Maybe you can get a job as a coach without a resume at some places but there are probably others that do require one. Why limit your opportunities?

And there are other reasons that have nothing to do with earning a paycheck...

It's the principle! The right thing to do.

 

[Zorro]

I haven't read all through this thread yet, but I agree with Jenkins about the 'pure class' writer who is being praised to the high heavens by so many BYers. It is NOT a well-done piece. He does have some good quotes and decent info, but it's poorly written. And while it may be an accurate portrait of Geno in some areas, it's misleading in others.

Just like Geno, you demand perfection!

 

[Fiftyish]

This thread is over a year old. Just curious how and why it got resurrected?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

This is the only Board in America where a thread like this can be found!!!

 

[EricLA]

This thread is over a year old. Just curious how and why it got resurrected?

You'd have to look at the post that started most recently. Someone must have gone thru old threads and saw this and decided they wanted to comment, and voila! It goes to the top of the board! Frankly, it's not a bad thread at all to have continued interest in!! After all, Geno simply is the best!