News from Knoxville

[UConnCat]

on UConn and Tennessee resuming their series. I subscribe to the Knoxville Sentinel and Vol beat writer Dan Fleser posted an article that says (paraphrasing):

• Geno and Holly both said this week they've had informal discussions about resuming the series
• Holly said that when she asked last June if Geno wanted to play, he said only if she would apologize to UConn fans, former players, Maya Moore and Kathryn Moore. Holly declined to do that.
  
• This week, Geno said that he wanted to make sure the record was set straight as there were a lot of hard feelings and what was said is not easily forgotten;
• Geno said this week he wasn't sure what will happen.

Well, this says that certain members of the horde (Carl Adamec) were accurate in their reporting on what happened at the WBBHOF last June, and others were not. I always trust Carl.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno has it right and I'm proud of him. Holly, karma is a bitch with a long memory.

 

[HoopsFan21]

There are a million ways (well not literally) Coach Warlick could do this to satisfy Geno and UConn, and maybe save a little face in the process since she wasn't head coach when it all went down anyway.

 

[sarals24]

Good for Geno. We have nothing to gain by resuming the series, they need us. We don't need to play a team that couldn't make it past the Sweet 16 against a team we beat by 19, missing two of our best players.

 

[UConnCat]

There are a million ways (well not literally) Coach Warlick could do this to satisfy Geno and UConn, and maybe save a little face in the process since she wasn't head coach when it all went down anyway.

There's always a way if the end-result is desired by both sides. Geno suggested it could get done. We'll see.

 

[luckyhusky7]

on UConn and Tennessee resuming their series. I subscribe to the Knoxville Sentinel and Vol beat writer Dan Fleser posted an article that says (paraphrasing):

• 
  [ ]Geno and Holly both said this week they've had informal discussions about resuming the series
  [ ]Holly said that when she asked last June if Geno wanted to play, he said only if she would apologize to UConn fans, former players, Maya Moore and Kathryn Moore. Holly declined to do that.
  
  [ ]This week, Geno said that he wanted to make sure the record was set straight as there were a lot of hard feelings and what was said is not easily forgotten;
  [ ]Geno said this week he wasn't sure what will happen.

Well, this says that certain members of the horde (Carl Adamec) were accurate in their reporting on what happened at the WBBHOF last June, and others were not. I always trust Carl.

He'll is freezing over. If she goes along with this, she loses the crazy conspirator fans of Tennessee.

 

[gandydancer]

F Tn and F ND- the future rivalry is Stanford. Two classy programs and two classy coaches. Tn and ND can crawl to play us.

 

[sawxfan23]

F Tn and F ND- the future rivalry is Stanford. Two classy programs and two classy coaches. Tn and ND can crawl to play us.

Being in this pathetic conference that were in we cant afford to think that way unfortunately.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Wow - I cannot see a Tennessee apology with the shadow of Pat still there..... i do not see holly or anyone else there doing that..... they are sticking to their story..... which is fine

and Geno is totally right to demand that as a prerequisite to doing anything moving forward.....

 

[HuskyNan]

LOL. This could get interesting.

If I were Geno, I'd ask for a couple hundred thousand to reimburse the university for the legal bills incurred from the bogus NCAA complaint, too.

 

[Icebear]

Geno placed the responsibility where it belonged. It was TN who took hostile action and smeared good people in the process. Without TN taking responsibility and making apologies there is nothing to talk about. It will be hard to do but for the good of the sport it is important.

You'll note Geno didn't include himself, it isn't about his ego. It is about him standing up for others unjustly attacked.

 

[Suebird10fan]

There may be a way to thread the needle. More of an indirect apology ... UConn is a great program that has achieved excellence while doing things the right way ... There has been a lot said in the years since we last played. I'm sure we each said some things we regret but, the best thing we can do, for the sake of the two programs and their fans, is to put that behind us and compete on the basketball court.

Personally I think that should be enough. Will it be enough for Geno? I don't know.

 

[Icebear]

There may be a way to thread the needle. More of an indirect apology ... UConn is a great program that has achieved excellence while doing things the right way ... There has been a lot said in the years since we last played. I'm sure we each said some things we regret but, the best thing we can do, for the sake of the two programs and their fans, is to put that behind us and compete on the basketball court.

Personally I think that should be enough. Will it be enough for Geno? I don't know.

That doesn't include apologies to Maya and her mother for the things that were said nor Kib and Tony and others. I think those are important to Geno.

 

[HuskyNan]

There may be a way to thread the needle. More of an indirect apology ... UConn is a great program that has achieved excellence while doing things the right way ... There has been a lot said in the years since we last played. I'm sure we each said some things we regret but, the best thing we can do, for the sake of the two programs and their fans, is to put that behind us and compete on the basketball court.

Personally I think that should be enough. Will it be enough for Geno? I don't know.

There needs to be something addressed to Maya & Kathryn Moore. I don't know if it needs to be made public, though.

 

[Icebear]

I agree, Nan, I do not think that any full apology to Maya and her mom needs to be public. Maybe a simple acknowledge of the apology to them is enough.

 

[Artifact]

No, it's not easy, setting aside all details & rivalry, but for the sake of the players, fans, coaches & concerned parties; Their should be reconciliation between UConn & Tennessee. Forgiveness gives freedom, frees all parties concerned & we able to move on !

 

[RadyLady]

No, it's not easy, setting aside all details & rivalry, but for the sake of the players, fans, coaches & concerned parties; Their should be reconciliation between UConn & Tennessee. Forgiveness gives freedom, frees all parties concerned & we able to move on !

It takes a bigger man to admit when they are or have been wrong...how tall are they over in Knoxville?

 

[HGN]

It all comes down to $$$$. If ESPN, or some other Sports Network , is willing to pay both schools enough $Money for a game , a game might get played. Enough $$$ has a way of making AD's and coaches rethink argumental positions.

Right now Pride and egos are playing a big part in this. But enough money may make both coaches , schools , and AD's forget their biff for 40 minutes.

JMHO.

 

[EricLA]

I'm sure Tennessee fans will vociferously disagree, but Tennessee needs to do something to increase their relevancy and they need us far more than we need them. UCONN just came off of winning 2 NC's in a row. Tennessee hasn't made it past the elite 8 in about six years. Next season is literally their best chance to even make it to the final 4, and they still will have to get past UCONN, ND, or UNC. After next season, Tennessee loses Harrison, Massengale, and Burdick. Yes they have some nice players remaining, but Graves and Russell will be their only remaining players who were top 10 in high school. Even Nared is not a top 10 kid consensus wise (5 per HG but about 15+ per everyone else).

My point is that on their own, if Tennessee doesn't make some real noise next year, they will be in danger of falling out of the top 10 in subsequent years. The NEW rivalry in WCBB is UCONN and ND. Even Stanford gets more publicity for making it to so many consecutive final 4's. If UNC lands Wilson, they suddenly find themselves poised to move past Tennessee. Same can be said for SC. Teams like UCLA and OSU have been recruiting gangbusters, and Baylor, Louisville, and Maryland seem to have permanently moved ahead of Tennessee. Duke is still a question mark. Tennessee has hovered around the top 10 with no less than 8 HS AA's on their current roster. It does not bode well for them when they no longer even have the plethora of top 10 HS players.

At least if they were to play UCONN, even getting walloped would put them in the spotlight for a few days. Better that than fading permanently into irrelevance. Now realistically I honestly don't expect that ever to happen, but I could see them dropping to a permanent top 20 team. They have a great shot at landing top 10 Tea Cooper from 2015 (who originally verbaled to UNC but then reopened her recruiting), but if UNC lands Wilson, that might sway her to the school with better players.

We all know Tennessee fans, at least the ones on the internet, are mostly delusional. They scoff at the idea of Tennessee being wrong, and believe Geno is evil, a cheater, liar, etc. and worse. But the facts are what they are and screaming them over and over like they do doesn't make it true. It's becoming more an exercise of pissing into the wind for them...

 

[msf22b]

LOL. This could get interesting.

If I were Geno, I'd ask for a couple hundred thousand to reimburse the university for the legal bills incurred from the bogus NCAA complaint, too.

And here I thought that your previous thread was in its essence preaching magnanimity.
It's just the University of Tennessee that is excluded from all these lofty feeling of peace on earth and goodwill…

I could think of a multitude of reasons to forgive (or almost so) and forget (or try to).
One could rationalize without straining credulity that Pat was ill considerably earlier, paranoia is a documented symptom.
Holly really had little or nothing to do with this, had no dog in this fight.
It's akin to what the NCAA did to our mens's team last season, punishing them for infractions that occurred years before.
What does this have to do with Bashaara Graves or Mercedes Russell.

Can't we exorcise the last vestiges of our anger and hostility by beating their brains out two or three times.

 

[intlzncster]

Geno placed the responsibility where it belonged. It was TN who took hostile action and smeared good people in the process. Without TN taking responsibility and making apologies there is nothing to talk about. It will be hard to do but for the good of the sport it is important.

An 18 year old kid no less. One whom they desperately wanted to be a part of "the family".

 

[intlzncster]

I'm sure Tennessee fans will vociferously disagree, but Tennessee needs to do something to increase their relevancy and they need us far more than we need them. UCONN just came off of winning 2 NC's in a row. Tennessee hasn't made it past the elite 8 in about six years. Next season is literally their best chance to even make it to the final 4, and they still will have to get past UCONN, ND, or UNC.

Exaclty. Why do you think they are trying to have conversations about playing UCONN again? It's not from feelings of let bygones be bygones.

 

[intlzncster]

Can't we beat out the last vestiges of our anger and hostility by beating their brains out two or three times.

I can sort of get behind that. But I'm looking to stoke the hostility, not lessen it. It's been harder to despise TN when we don't play them ever and they aren't very good. Can't even meet up in the NCAAs because they don't get far enough.

 

[Orc]

They absoutely need Uconn more than Uconn needs them. A lot of impact recruits in the past picked Tenn because they want to beat Uconn. They're not getting those type of recruits anymore. They're now irrelevant in WCBB. They cancelled the series and accused Uconn of cheating. They should at least apologize for it.

 

[Icebear]

No, it's not easy, setting aside all details & rivalry, but for the sake of the players, fans, coaches & concerned parties; Their should be reconciliation between UConn & Tennessee. Forgiveness gives freedom, frees all parties concerned & we able to move on !

Geno understands that it is not his to forgive TN on behalf of others. I believe he called for apologies for others and not himself for just that reason. TN owes those others like Maya and her mom, specific fans, Sue and Dee apologies. It is for them to forgive as they are moved but is it not Geno's right to take unilateral action. Geno can offer grace for any offense against himself.