Our ladies game

[Adios]

The perception is this is an upset, which yeah it is because its Uconn, in reality is this a huge upset, it was a young Uconn team, its not like they had Stewie on the team.

No, our team exceeded even UConn's fans (and Geno's) expectations. Let someone else enjoy a title. Glad it's Mississippi State and South Carolina. Both schools have been starved to win.

This "huge upset" stuff is all media hype.

 

[HuskyNan]

The perception is this is an upset, which yeah it is because its Uconn, in reality is this a huge upset, it was a young Uconn team, its not like they had Stewie on the team.

Miss State is ranked #4. There are articles that made it sound like some Div II team beat UConn. And, yeah, they're young. Geno said on one of the HBO shows that this team isn't mean enough. Hopefully they're pissed off enough to have some mean next year.

 

[superjohn]

Ok, I don't really care about the women's team much, but I do watch from time to time. What REALLY lost them the game last night was Geno sitting Dangerfield the entire 4th quarter. She was the only one that could stick with MSU's little PG. When she started and played most of the 3rd quarter UConn dominated them (she penetrated and created opportunities for others at will). I was kind of shocked she sat, what I believe if my memory is correct, for the entire 4th quarter.

That's exaclty what I was wondering the whole time, where is Dangerfield? Also find it strange that pretty much everyone on the women's board is okay with Chong driving the lane with 13 seconds left in a tie game. Geno also said he was okay with Chong doing that because she was trying to make a play. I understand he is probably trying to take heat off her but Geno also says he never wants to bring the clock down to the end for a shot. I can understand wanting enough time to get a tip in at the end off a missed shot but explaining away Chong's play is impossible. It is the worst possible basketball play you could possibly make.

Sounds crazy to criticize anything about Geno but their losses in tight games always leave me scratching my head. It only seems to happen once every couple of years but the tight games are his achilles heel.

 

[HuskyNan]

Ok, I don't really care about the women's team much, but I do watch from time to time. What REALLY lost them the game last night was Geno sitting Dangerfield the entire 4th quarter. She was the only one that could stick with MSU's little PG. When she started and played most of the 3rd quarter UConn dominated them (she penetrated and created opportunities for others at will). I was kind of shocked she sat, what I believe if my memory is correct, for the entire 4th quarter.

Crystal played 17 minutes, took one shot - and missed - had one assist and two turnovers. Saniya's defense was better and she put up 10 points and had to be defended. Miss State sagged off Crystal because she wasn't thinking offense which meant someone else was double-teamed.

 

[Scoe]

No, our team exceeded even UConn's fans (and Geno's) expectations. Let someone else enjoy a title. Glad it's Mississippi State and South Carolina. Both schools have been starved to win.

This "huge upset" stuff is all media hype.

Exactly my point.

 

[champs99and04]

Guy, UConn was -6000 on the money line. It was a huge f in upset.

The flagrant at the end of the first overtime is one of the worst calls I've ever seen. I don't even think it was a common foul. The contact had nothing to do with the play and the women sold the living hell out of it.

UConn is not bad for the sport but the power imbalance that exists is. The fact that people ITT are already adamant that they won't lose the next two seasons is exhibit A. We need more games like last night.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

MSU was much more physical. Uconn also didn't get many gimme layups or wide open 3' s that they always get.
MSU was tougher and better.
All that being said Uconn got the game to OT and could have won.

 

[UConn990411]

Guy, UConn was -6000 on the money line. It was a huge f in upset.

The flagrant at the end of the first overtime is one of the worst calls I've ever seen. I don't even think it was a common foul. The contact had nothing to do with the play and the women sold the living hell out of it.

UConn is not bad for the sport but the power imbalance that exists is. The fact that people ITT are already adamant that they won't lose the next two seasons is exhibit A. We need more games like last night.

No, it was the correct call based on the new rule, and I'm surprised at how many people keep ignoring this point. The rule is horrendous and needs to be changed immediately, but they've been calling contact to the face a flagrant all year.

Whether it was an acting job or not, it was definitely a common foul. Not sure what you're talking about there.

 

[champs99and04]

No, it was the correct call based on the new rule, and I'm surprised at how many people keep ignoring this point. The rule is horrendous and needs to be changed immediately, but they've been calling contact to the face a flagrant all year.

Whether it was an acting job or not, it was definitely a common foul. Not sure what you're talking about there.

Sure, it was the correct call based on the rule. But if you called everything based on the rule you would have a holding call on every play in football. Different sport, I know, but the first step to being a good official is acknowledging that you're not going to see everything. I'm more concerned about the contact that directly impedes the action - on that play last night, the tipped pass and contact occurred on separate continuum's, so while there was obviously enough contact to justify a foul call on that play, it is my opinion that incidental contact away from the play should never be called, I don't care if somebody is decapitated.

 

[UConn990411]

Sure, it was the correct call based on the rule. But if you called everything based on the rule you would have a holding call on every play in football. Different sport, I know, but the first step to being a good official is acknowledging that you're not going to see everything. I'm more concerned about the contact that directly impedes the action - on that play last night, the tipped pass and contact occurred on separate continuum's, so while there was obviously enough contact to justify a foul call on that play, it is my opinion that incidental contact away from the play should never be called, I don't care if somebody is decapitated.

Again, I hate, hate, HATE the rule, but it's been called that way all season. I'm all for letting 50-50 calls go down the stretch, but I don't agree with the mindset that the rule book should be thrown out the window entirely.

With that said, I think we can all agree that the rule needs to be modified in the offseason. Which means they'll probably change it to call even more flagrants...

 

[champs99and04]

Again, I hate, hate, HATE the rule, but it's been called that way all season. I'm all for letting 50-50 calls go down the stretch, but I don't agree with the mindset that the rule book should be thrown out the window entirely.

With that said, I think we can all agree that the rule needs to be modified in the offseason. Which means they'll probably change it to call even more flagrants...

Yeah, it's a tough balance for sure. Letter of the law vs. gravity of the situation will probably be debated until the end of time. Easier for me to say from my couch than it is for the refs to openly antagonize their bosses in real time, for sure.

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn is not bad for the sport but the power imbalance that exists is. The fact that people ITT are already adamant that they won't lose the next two seasons is exhibit A. We need more games like last night.

Don't complain to UConn fans, complain to the schools that look at women's hoops as some sort of burden they need to carry in order to have a football team. Schools hire retread coaches instead of searching out promising young talent, they give the women's team almost no recruiting budgets, and they refuse to publicize the teams so that the kids are playing in front of 350 family and friends every game. It's not UConn's fault other schools won't step up to the plate.

 

[MadDogRevival]

Schools hire retread coaches instead of searching out promising young talent, they give the women's team almost no recruiting budgets, and they refuse to publicize the teams so that the kids are playing in front of 350 family and friends every game.

There's a fundamental question that needs to be answered for women's basketball in this country. That question is, "can a larger market be created?"

Market creation in a mature economy is difficult, more difficult for entertainment, and yet more difficult for sports entertainment. Soccer is Exhibit 1. Tens of Millions of kids play soccer, but there has not been the kind of market creation that many had hoped for, which is too bad really. Great game. So why is that? Not sure. Too many other sports? Too many other Tech options? Do we have a short cultural attention span? If you've been breastfed 120 point NBA games and 50 point NFL games your whole life, do you develop sports fan ADD?

The WNB is moving in the right direction, but the question remains - how much market can be created?

We're living in a society where the heretofore unstoppable NFL showed a decrease in TV ratings - seemingly impossible for the franchise that has been held up by all as the exemplar on which to base your sport management. As TV's allure wanes, and young people are grown more attached to virtual reality than reality, the sale for women's hoops will likely not get easier.

That's the pros. For college, though, you must ask, if your point is valid, why aren't colleges willing to invest money in coaches and recruiting and advertising? Are they incompetent? Do they believe there will not be a ROI? Are they misogynistic?

If they invest the money, and the returns aren't there, then can they stop investing the money? How long? 5 years? 20 years? At some point of a failure to earn a ROI, then, by definition, the money being "invested" would not really be an investment, but would rather be something that "needs to be carried" in order to have a football program, as you put it - of course you'd probably agree there is value in college athletics beyond profitability, marketability, and audience size.

I imagine the truth is a mix of many things, with many regional variations. How many schools can run a profitable women's hoop team if all management was done properly? What do you think? 5? 50? I don't know the answer, and there is little useful information out there, particularly given funky accounting that is used by many colleges. I do know that the WBB UConn phenomenon seems to be a black swan event more than a pioneering event - Connecticut demographics, Geno, Lobo, double double championships. It seems unlikely that anything close and sustainable could be created elsewhere. Time will tell.

It would be good for WCBB to improve, expand, and become more profitable. I believe that the UConn women's team success has been incredibly beneficial to the University. I had somebody once ask, way back when, Yukon? In Canada? Really, that happened. By 2000 I'd more often get, "with the great woman's team?"

In a world with a pie that isn't growing as rapidly as in past decades and with the fight for the pieces ever more intense and with non-sports internet occupying a larger part of the pie every year, I'm just not feeling sanguine that the WBB market can be expanded.

 

[HuskyNan]

There's a fundamental question that needs to be answered for women's basketball in this country. That question is, "can a larger market be created?"

Market creation in a mature economy is difficult, more difficult for entertainment, and yet more difficult for sports entertainment. Soccer is Exhibit 1. Tens of Millions of kids play soccer, but there has not been the kind of market creation that many had hoped for, which is too bad really. Great game. So why is that? Not sure. Too many other sports? Too many other Tech options? Do we have a short cultural attention span? If you've been breastfed 120 point NBA games and 50 point NFL games your whole life, do you develop sports fan ADD?

The WNB is moving in the right direction, but the question remains - how much market can be created?

We're living in a society where the heretofore unstoppable NFL showed a decrease in TV ratings - seemingly impossible for the franchise that has been held up by all as the exemplar on which to base your sport management. As TV's allure wanes, and young people are grown more attached to virtual reality than reality, the sale for women's hoops will likely not get easier.

That's the pros. For college, though, you must ask, if your point is valid, why aren't colleges willing to invest money in coaches and recruiting and advertising? Are they incompetent? Do they believe there will not be a ROI? Are they misogynistic?

If they invest the money, and the returns aren't there, then can they stop investing the money? How long? 5 years? 20 years? At some point of a failure to earn a ROI, then, by definition, the money being "invested" would not really be an investment, but would rather be something that "needs to be carried" in order to have a football program, as you put it - of course you'd probably agree there is value in college athletics beyond profitability, marketability, and audience size.

I imagine the truth is a mix of many things, with many regional variations. How many schools can run a profitable women's hoop team if all management was done properly? What do you think? 5? 50? I don't know the answer, and there is little useful information out there, particularly given funky accounting that is used by many colleges. I do know that the WBB UConn phenomenon seems to be a black swan event more than a pioneering event - Connecticut demographics, Geno, Lobo, double double championships. It seems unlikely that anything close and sustainable could be created elsewhere. Time will tell.

It would be good for WCBB to improve, expand, and become more profitable. I believe that the UConn women's team success has been incredibly beneficial to the University. I had somebody once ask, way back when, Yukon? In Canada? Really, that happened. By 2000 I'd more often get, "with the great woman's team?"

In a world with a pie that isn't growing as rapidly as in past decades and with the fight for the pieces ever more intense and with non-sports internet occupying a larger part of the pie every year, I'm just not feeling sanguine that the WBB market can be expanded.

The women's hoops market is:

1. Older folks
2. Young families with children, especially daughters
3. Gays

These demographics aren't generally competing with the NBA, NFL, or even men's NCAA for market share. Smart marketing could pay off huge dividend.

 

[uconnfan68]

The women's hoops market is:

1. Older folks
2. Young families with children, especially daughters
3. Gays

These demographics aren't generally competing with the NBA, NFL, or even men's NCAA for market share. Smart marketing could pay off huge dividend.

I root for, and follow, nearly all UConn teams. I'm concerned that I have already seen the best of times for us, and college sports in general. The uneven distribution of power and money will kill it for all. If any P5 school thinks they'll get anything from me after they have ruined the landscape, they are sadly mistaken. There are 3 P5 schools in NY, New England, and New Jersey, combined. Mississippi has 2. What's wrong with that picture?

 

[Travelman6]

Tied Denham Brown.

?

 

[champs99and04]

I root for, and follow, nearly all UConn teams. I'm concerned that I have already seen the best of times for us, and college sports in general. The uneven distribution of power and money will kill it for all. If any P5 school thinks they'll get anything from me after they have ruined the landscape, they are sadly mistaken. There are 3 P5 schools in NY, New England, and New Jersey, combined. Mississippi has 2. What's wrong with that picture?

That's wild. To take it a step further, there are no P5 schools in Philly, NYC, Hartford, D.C., Baltimore, or Boston. They've completely froze out the east coast.

 

[ivrytontusker]

I root for, and follow, nearly all UConn teams. I'm concerned that I have already seen the best of times for us, and college sports in general. The uneven distribution of power and money will kill it for all. If any P5 school thinks they'll get anything from me after they have ruined the landscape, they are sadly mistaken. There are 3 P5 schools in NY, New England, and New Jersey, combined. Mississippi has 2. What's wrong with that picture?

The best times probably are behind us for the women's team (in the sense that although Geno will win some more titles, he has won most of them already). When you've dined with the king, you aren't going to like McDonalds.

It would be nice if college football mattered to people in Connecticut, New York, or New Jersey the way that it matters in Mississippi. But it doesn't. Birmingham always does a very high rating for college football, whether or not Alabama or Auburn are playing. The sports culture in the rest of the country, particularly in the South and the Midwest, is completely based around football. The P5 schools simply reflect that fact. Very few schools in those states bring in much in terms of football.

UConn is obviously atypical. I mean, the top thread on the men's basketball board is about the women's basketball team. Fans around the country consider UConn to be a "women's basketball school." If that helped us get into a P5 conference, we'd have been in one long ago.

 

[HuskyNan]

That's wild. To take it a step further, there are no P5 schools in Philly, NYC, Hartford, D.C., Baltimore, or Boston. They've completely froze out the east coast.

Ummm, Boston College (University) is in Boston and Maryland is in the Baltimore/DC area.

And there are threes P5 schools in the Northeast - BCU, Syracuse, and Rutgers.

 

[champs99and04]

Ummm, Boston College (University) is in Boston and Maryland is in the Baltimore/DC area.

And there are threes P5 schools in the Northeast - BCU, Syracuse, and Rutgers.

BC isn't in Boston and Maryland isn't in in Baltimore or D.C.

 

[Travelman6]

Maryland is in Greenbelt, MD, which is an awful place, gone for runs around there.

Syracuse is ..in god knows where upstate NY where you freeze your butt off for 6+ months of the year.

BC doesn't really count as a P5 school despite being in a P5 conference because they are so pathetic.

 

[uconnfan68]

BC isn't in Boston and Maryland isn't in in Baltimore or D.C.

It's on the Green Line in Chestnut Hill. By almost all accounts that's Boston.

 

[UConn990411]

BC is technically not in Boston, but from a TV market point of view, they are.

Maryland is in neither DC or Baltimore, but I'm guessing they garner more attention in both those markets than BC does in Boston.

 

[uconnfan68]

The best times probably are behind us for the women's team (in the sense that although Geno will win some more titles, he has won most of them already). When you've dined with the king, you aren't going to like McDonalds.

It would be nice if college football mattered to people in Connecticut, New York, or New Jersey the way that it matters in Mississippi. But it doesn't. Birmingham always does a very high rating for college football, whether or not Alabama or Auburn are playing. The sports culture in the rest of the country, particularly in the South and the Midwest, is completely based around football. The P5 schools simply reflect that fact. Very few schools in those states bring in much in terms of football.

UConn is obviously atypical. I mean, the top thread on the men's basketball board is about the women's basketball team. Fans around the country consider UConn to be a "women's basketball school." If that helped us get into a P5 conference, we'd have been in one long ago.

I'm pretty sure there are more eyeballs from the Northeast watching college football than Alabama and Mississippi combined. There are also many more college choices in the Northeast, and that is part of the problem.

 

[Travelman6]

BTW, that was one of the more amazing shots I have seen, men or women. Does she remind anyone a little of Khalid El-Amin? Super under sized but with a huge heart?