alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 10,096
- Reaction Score
- 7,844
Quick: What Do Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles, Kelly Faris, Bria Hartley, and Stef Dolson (among others) all have in common?
Simple enough answer: they all departed Storrs as champions.
What was heartbreaking about Jen Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Shea & Svet, Annie Strother, and Maya Moore? These were all championship players, and great players at that, who didn't get to finish their college careers on top. It may have been injuries, or it may have been other circumstances, but this is nevertheless the common thread.
Here's my point: I remember Maya Moore in 2010-2011. She was graceful, beautiful, and brilliant. It was a privilege to see her tour de force against Baylor, her 40+ game against Florida State in #89 in a row, her near-single-handed annihilation of Oklahoma, and on and on. I may be a man, but I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a tear or two as Maya's career came to an unwanted end, when she scored 36 points in bitter defeat. I'm sure Maya hated how the 2007-08 season ended. 90 games later, she was more than vindicated. But as her college career ended one game too soon, this was a story she could never complete triumphantly.
In other words, I felt awful, just terrible, for her. Conversely, on April 9 2013, simply seeing the joy in Kelly Faris added to my delight in UConn's then-eighth national championship.
We live vicariously through these girls. At the Creighton game last Sunday, we applauded anyone's good plays and groaned audibly for Morgan's missed bunnies. We love these girls and want them to actualize. When Stef dropped 17-16-7 on Notre Dame in last season's NC game, I knew she was giving herself and all of us everything she and we wanted. Reveling in stuff like this is what being a fan is all about.
Well, I'm a Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis fan. I know she's won two national championships, that she's got her name on the Huskies of Honor wall by season's end, that a promising WNBA career awaits her. I know she's given us just about everything we could ask for.
Just about.
I want to see her in tears of joy, of gestalt, of satisfaction and contentment.
And I really don't want to feel for her what I felt about the previous #23.
Simple enough answer: they all departed Storrs as champions.
What was heartbreaking about Jen Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Shea & Svet, Annie Strother, and Maya Moore? These were all championship players, and great players at that, who didn't get to finish their college careers on top. It may have been injuries, or it may have been other circumstances, but this is nevertheless the common thread.
Here's my point: I remember Maya Moore in 2010-2011. She was graceful, beautiful, and brilliant. It was a privilege to see her tour de force against Baylor, her 40+ game against Florida State in #89 in a row, her near-single-handed annihilation of Oklahoma, and on and on. I may be a man, but I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a tear or two as Maya's career came to an unwanted end, when she scored 36 points in bitter defeat. I'm sure Maya hated how the 2007-08 season ended. 90 games later, she was more than vindicated. But as her college career ended one game too soon, this was a story she could never complete triumphantly.
In other words, I felt awful, just terrible, for her. Conversely, on April 9 2013, simply seeing the joy in Kelly Faris added to my delight in UConn's then-eighth national championship.
We live vicariously through these girls. At the Creighton game last Sunday, we applauded anyone's good plays and groaned audibly for Morgan's missed bunnies. We love these girls and want them to actualize. When Stef dropped 17-16-7 on Notre Dame in last season's NC game, I knew she was giving herself and all of us everything she and we wanted. Reveling in stuff like this is what being a fan is all about.
Well, I'm a Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis fan. I know she's won two national championships, that she's got her name on the Huskies of Honor wall by season's end, that a promising WNBA career awaits her. I know she's given us just about everything we could ask for.
Just about.
I want to see her in tears of joy, of gestalt, of satisfaction and contentment.
And I really don't want to feel for her what I felt about the previous #23.
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