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I read this morning that UConn Athletic Director David Benedict is interested in "leveraging the brand" of UConn's WCBB program.
An early season "multi-team event" at Madison Square Garden was proposed in the article.
I love the idea with one amendment: instead of "early season", how about making it "mid-season" or "pre-post-season". Stage it in late January/early February when teams are slogging through their conference schedules and WCBB interest and news is largely parochial. If there had been such an event this year with, say, UConn, Maryland, Notre Dame and Baylor, it would have been epic, in my opinion, regardless of outcome. Can you imagine how much press such an event would get in the sports world? ESPN's sports news and talk shows would love to have something to hype at this time of year during the vacuum of sports news after the Super Bowl and before baseball spring training.
Geez, maybe Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption might take notice. Bless Jay Bilas, by the way.
Early season and holiday season are full of other distractions. Late January and early February are barren and perfect for such an event. For the athletes, finals are over so academic distractions are minimal, teams have had twenty or so games to smooth out their offenses and defenses.
What better weekend diversion for sports fans in late January or early February than an elite-team WCBB get-together at MSG? Maybe it could put a little luster back on the MSG brand after the odious goings-on of late. UConn WCBB is scandal-free, wholesome and, for the past 26 or 27 months, perfect. New York City basketball fans are taking notice in increasingly large numbers. Bring on the pretenders!
The only downside I see to this idea is the potential reticence of certain self-important WCBB programs to have their teams dismantled by UConn in such a public forum but, hey, you can't beat UConn if you don't play UConn, and the next WCBB team that beats UConn makes history. How many times do you get that chance?
An early season "multi-team event" at Madison Square Garden was proposed in the article.
I love the idea with one amendment: instead of "early season", how about making it "mid-season" or "pre-post-season". Stage it in late January/early February when teams are slogging through their conference schedules and WCBB interest and news is largely parochial. If there had been such an event this year with, say, UConn, Maryland, Notre Dame and Baylor, it would have been epic, in my opinion, regardless of outcome. Can you imagine how much press such an event would get in the sports world? ESPN's sports news and talk shows would love to have something to hype at this time of year during the vacuum of sports news after the Super Bowl and before baseball spring training.
Geez, maybe Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption might take notice. Bless Jay Bilas, by the way.
Early season and holiday season are full of other distractions. Late January and early February are barren and perfect for such an event. For the athletes, finals are over so academic distractions are minimal, teams have had twenty or so games to smooth out their offenses and defenses.
What better weekend diversion for sports fans in late January or early February than an elite-team WCBB get-together at MSG? Maybe it could put a little luster back on the MSG brand after the odious goings-on of late. UConn WCBB is scandal-free, wholesome and, for the past 26 or 27 months, perfect. New York City basketball fans are taking notice in increasingly large numbers. Bring on the pretenders!
The only downside I see to this idea is the potential reticence of certain self-important WCBB programs to have their teams dismantled by UConn in such a public forum but, hey, you can't beat UConn if you don't play UConn, and the next WCBB team that beats UConn makes history. How many times do you get that chance?
