Jay Bilas: Have to embrace UConn's dominance

[UConnCat]

 

[Blueballer]

Love it !!!

 

[CTtransplant]

That is very cool.

 

[drweo]

Wow! Love the respect...and the truth!

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Imagine that - Mozart, The Pyramids, Picasso - what a tribute and a big kick in the teeth to Dano in Beantown.

 

[geneticrex]

I CANNOT believe Jay used the 'Mozart' referrence.

I should have copyrighted it.

 

[JordyG]

Its truth is surpassed only by its succinctness.

 

[jcoton56]

game recognizes game - proper

 

[UcMiami]

Love Jay and his commentary, but what is annoying to me is that Geno had a very meaningful answer in the press conference regarding sports comparisons and specifically men's BB to women's BB and that is getting completely ignored by this BS for an absolute bozo of a sports personality - he is the a shock jock who just happens to specialize in being a horses ass about sports. The next meaningful contribution to sports journalism will be his first.

 

[UConnCat]

Love Jay and his commentary, but what is annoying to me is that Geno had a very meaningful answer in the press conference regarding sports comparisons and specifically men's BB to women's BB and that is getting completely ignored by this BS for an absolute bozo of a sports personality - he is the a shock jock who just happens to specialize in being a horses ass about sports. The next meaningful contribution to sports journalism will be his first.

I agree. I said this to Carl Adamec and this is why I love Carl's article. Geno's response to Shaughnessy is getting all the attention but his response at the end of his press conference to the question about why he hasn't moved on to the men's game was outstanding. That's the response I'd like ESPN to focus on.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Cat, thanks for posting this.

 

[huskeynut]

As usual, Jay Bilas is right on the mark.

Short, sweet and to the point.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Jay is always bang on..... he is beyond reproach in his commentary and is quite willing to call it as he sees it..... good example of this is his ridicule of Tournament Committee for shutting out Monmouth.....

Like Herbstreit in college football, Jay matters THE MOST in college basketball..... no doubt.... and I must say for our game of WCBB, Kara and Rebecca are just about there as well.

 

[Gus Mahler]

As usual, Jay Bilas is right on the mark.

Short, sweet and to the point.

Yes, Jay is frequently on the mark. His speeches are not always short, however.

 

[Geno-ista]

Perfect!

 

[GoUconn7961]

I loved this. And Geno is right - basketball is the only sport where this gender problem seems to rear it's ugly head. What are we saying to our daughters? Be good, but not too good because you don't want to make the boys mad? What are we saying to this team? Be mediocre until other teams decide to step up? Don't these men have sisters, mothers, wives, girlfriends? We're not only teaching girls to be less; we're showing boys that it's OK to treat them as less.

As far as the competition in the woman's game goes. It is up to fathers, mothers, school sports to give these girls the tools they need to BE better. Moms, Dads - instill confidence in your daughters - not just your sons. It's happening more and more, but it's still lacking. Girls are STILL taught to be just a little bit less than their male counterparts.

Kudos to the team because they didn't listen to the naysayers.

(I'll step down from the soapbox now - sorry)

 

[Roundball fan]

Lets face it Geno and CD are at fault, why can't they find players that don't want to excel at the game of basketball? We are so lucky to have them and the other assistant coaches that make up the greatest coaching staff in women's basketball. I think if you ask D, Sue, Maya, or Stewie about what these coaches have meant to them they would say that they taught them to never settle for anything except their best. Other couches don't push their best players that much, they let them settle with the fact that they are pretty good and that is enough. Man are UConn fans lucky to have both great coaches and great player not willing to settle for any thing less. Geno is one of a kind and we will never see a coach like him again. I could listen to him all day and marvel at his genius.

 

[FairView]

Thanks for posting.
Great to watch.
Jay also had a smart, level-headed commentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 on Duke Lacrosse.

This is refreshing also because the media has a lot to do with the "negative" takes on UConn's dominance. There are the rantings of Boston sportswriters who are forever angry at true greatness because of the inferiority complexes they've developed by not being distinctive enough to hang out their shingle in media capital of the world just a few hundred miles to the southwest. Ahhh, so close, yet so elusive. Then there are writers who sometimes make it too much about UConn. (I loved it when Karen Aston asked the reporter if he could please ask a question about Texas instead of UConn. Aston was gracious with the press conference being all about UConn instead of her team and she sidestepped controversial questions pretty well.) And there are tilted stories from local papers where UConn kicks butt. Unfortunately, this all adds to perceptions in a society of people becoming more and more influenced by snippets of digital information that may or may not be true.

Yesterday, a fairly athletic niece of my wife's jumped on me immediately at Easter dinner about how unwatchable UConn basketball must be. (She was a competitive point guard in Jr High and played AAU for a season before she decided she liked boys better.) She cited the 4-point early performance of M State on Saturday as being boring and unwatchable. They weren't original thoughts. She was parroting what she had heard. She pushed back at my characterization of the game and some of the artistry I was explaining -- until her boyfriend chimed in and agreed with me. He had watched part of the game and agreed about how entertaining it was to watch UConn execute. I don't know if he ever would have even told her he had watched the game if he hadn't felt the need to come to my defense.

Anyway, let's hope more people like Jay help influence the collective UConn experience.

If not, I am not sure how much I really care.
I am loving it.
My wife loves it.
My fellow fans love it.
And I love the special feeling it gives me knowing that I appreciate it.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Thanks for posting.
Great to watch.
Jay also had a smart, level-headed commentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 on Duke Lacrosse.

This is refreshing also because the media has a lot to do with the "negative" takes on UConn's dominance. There are the rantings of Boston sportswriters who are forever angry at true greatness because of the inferiority complexes they've developed by not being distinctive enough to hang out their shingle in media capital of the world just a few hundred miles to the southwest. Ahhh, so close, yet so elusive. Then there are writers who sometimes make it too much about UConn. (I loved it when Karen Aston asked the reporter if he could please ask a question about Texas instead of UConn. Aston was gracious with the press conference being all about UConn instead of her team and she sidestepped controversial questions pretty well.) And there are tilted stories from local papers where UConn kicks butt. Unfortunately, this all adds to perceptions in a society of people becoming more and more influenced by snippets of digital information that may or may not be true.

Yesterday, a fairly athletic niece of my wife's jumped on me immediately at Easter dinner about how unwatchable UConn basketball must be. (She was a competitive point guard in Jr High and played AAU for a season before she decided she liked boys better.) She cited the 4-point early performance of M State on Saturday as being boring and unwatchable. They weren't original thoughts. She was parroting what she had heard. She pushed back at my characterization of the game and some of the artistry I was explaining -- until her boyfriend chimed in and agreed with me. He had watched part of the game and agreed about how entertaining it was to watch UConn execute. I don't know if he ever would have even told her he had watched the game if he hadn't felt the need to come to my defense.

Anyway, let's hope more people like Jay help influence the collective UConn experience.

If not, I am not sure how much I really care.
I am loving it.
My wife loves it.
My fellow fans love it.
And I love the special feeling it gives me knowing that I appreciate it.

Great story! What concerns me about it is your niece - a woman - buying into the media drivel. When women start criticizing women's teams, etc. that is where the system has failed. I get it (almost) when the male Internet trolls do it. But I'll never understand when other women do it.

 

[pinotbear]

Sadly, the morning crew on WEEI out of Boston is making Geno's point - "a good boy's high school team could beat UConn", and saying that using Tiger Woods was a poor analogy because Tiger didn't win every time. Perhaps it's just to stir reaction, but, they're completely ignoring Geno's point about excellence motivating excellence, and that excellence should be appreciated and not denigrated.

In thinking about this, part of the problem is that there really isn't another major team sport where women and men play nearly the same game - no women's NFL, no women's MLB, soccer and hockey aren't as prominent in terms of media, viewership, advertising, and history in the US. The most prominent women's professional sports are the individual sports of tennis and golf. But, just about every guy played at least backyard basketball, and has a feeling of familiarity with it that they may not feel with, say, softball, soccer, volleyball or hockey (the other prominent women's team sports). In this case, familiarity does breed contempt, because the yardsticks familiar to "guys" are the Durants and James (and, MJ, and Bird, etc.) - and these male players are simply, physically, not a reasonable comparison. And, yes, I think there's more than a little bit of cultural chauvinism in many of the negative comparisons - there's a lot of guys out there that, on some level, don't cotton to the idea that "girls" can play basketball that well. They were happier, more comfortable, less threatened by the notion that "girls" basketball meant a "dribble it up, dribble around, pass, pass, two-hand shot, miss, ... "good shot, Susie, you tried!"" Athletic, fast-moving, intense, physical, intelligent basketball - excellent basketball, basketball played at a technically superior level - when played by women, upsets them.

 

[Icebear]

Personally, I wish Jay would be on the coverage team for the FF this year.

 

[bags27]

I CANNOT believe Jay used the 'Mozart' referrence. I should have copyrighted it.

Yup! That was an inspired remark you made. Wouldn't be surprised if one of his interns is lurking here and snatched it for him. I know of a NY Times critic who lurks on another blog I follow in a different hobby; something new is discussed there, and suddenly a couple of weeks later, the critic writes about it.

 

[Plebe]

Personally, I wish Jay would be on the coverage team for the FF this year.

I have to applaud the ESPN team for how they've responded. It's always a tough decision whether to address such trolling at all, lest we give it far more attention that it deserves. But between Lawson, Lobo, Neghandi and Bilas, I'd say they hit a home run.

 

[Ukonnfan]

Thanks for posting. Jay did a great job. I guess Dale Earnhardt should have let people pass him more. It would have been good for that sport eh? For sure, most sports are elevated by a dominate team or contestant.
Be sure Shaughnessy loves all this. controversy makes news ratings rise. I would bet he's a Umass fan and still mad. just saying...Geno , step on the gas...

 

[bags27]

I have to applaud the ESPN team for how they've responded. It's always a tough decision whether to address such trolling at all, lest we give it far more attention that it deserves. But between Lawson, Lobo, Neghandi and Bilas, I'd say they hit a home run.

Good thought, Plebe. But Rebecca did an especially great job during half-time yesterday trying to downplay it. She was subtly taking her own network, ESPN, to task for making a big deal about it. She said these types of tweets come out every tournament season, and it's best just to block them. ESPN loves to stir things up, of course, because their overall ratings are down, and they're laying off people. Rebecca cares about the sport, not the stuff manufactured by the media. While Bilas did an excellent job here, fact is that ESPN wouldn't let it go. Really, as Geno said: if you don't like it, don't watch. End of story. Just another sports writer desperate for some face time.