"Rivalry Renewed", Petition for 2017 UConn vs TN game to benefit the PSF

[ucdt3]

ESPN: UConn vs Tennessee WBB rivalry renewed with 2017 Pat Summitt Foundation game

 

[j66kicker]

ESPN: UConn vs Tennessee WBB rivalry renewed with 2017 Pat Summitt Foundation game

I don't care if we never play them again

 

[huskeynut]

Not interested.

 

[BigBird]

Yikes! I almost barfed when I first saw the thread title. Let's just say that was something of a trojan horse. It's a called for petition signatures. They didn't get mine.

 

[mtsuraider06]

I don't care if we never play them again

The feeling is mutual on both sides.

 

[mkwstar23]

HELL no...Tennessee needs this way more than Uconn..they quit the series because they did not want to get their butts kicked repeatedly...they say it was over Maya but i don't believe that for a moment...say what you want Duke stayed with the series and so did Stanford and Baylor...only way the series comes back is if the first 4 games are all at Uconn...NO home and home...you wanted out you got out, now live with the consequences...think the schedule is just fine without the Lady Vols...just my opinion

 

[ucdt3]

Well I'm a diehard UConn fan and if it would raise money and bring more attention to women's basketball then it is worth it. Time to get over the reasons why it ended. If you don't agree, don't sign the petition. And please move on, gracefully.

 

[kibblesnbits]

I'm not sure how you honor Pat Summitt by renewing a series that she cancelled. I know many think it was a manifestation of her illness, but, absent some indication from her family, I think this idea is mis-timed. Some time in the future, when it is no longer about Pat v. Geno, perhaps it will be renewed. Until then, leave it alone.

 

[vtcwbuff]

The feeling is mutual on both sides.

Except that UConn fans don't want the game because UTenn has yet to apologize. UTenn fans don't want the game because they would get their ass kicked.

 

[CTyankee]

Agggh... Make them eat crow!!!!

Another ESPN special!!!!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Well, I'm glad we've gotten this annual vitriol out of the way early on.

 

[EricLA]

Like most other UCONN fans... a big PASS. No need to play a team that has been far back in our rear view mirror for many years. Again, as Geno has said, when the administration apologizes to Maya and her family for what they put them through, maybe he will consider it. Till then... never...

 

[EricLA]

The feeling is mutual on both sides.

Totally understand. The thought by Tennessee fans of getting destroyed and humiliated on the basketball court is nothing they'd want to experience.

 

[Carnac]

Well, I'm glad we've gotten this annual vitriol out of the way early on. ESAD Tennessee.

This comes up every year.!?! The Boneyard is the wrong place to come looking for anyone sympathetic to anything concerning people where Tennessee is concerned. I believe Geno's last comment on this subject was "Until they apologize to to Maya Moore and her mother PUBLICLY, We'll never have any interest in playing them, as long as I'm here" (or words to that effect)".

We've moved on. Anyone that can't or won't embrace this concept (from the man himself), has lost touch. He said........."As long as I'm here". That's pretty cut and dried to me. I don't know what part of that folks have a problem with.

 

[UcMiami]

Well - it is up to 10 signatures! 90 more to reach 100.
I think if and when it happens in an NCAA tournament it will be 'soon enough' and I hope it doesn't happen in the NCAAs because it will be made into a circus.

 

[JS]

Yikes! I almost barfed when I first saw the thread title. Let's just say that was something of a trojan horse. It's a call for petition signatures. They didn't get mine.

Had the same reaction and changed the headline to be more clear.

It's a well-meaning idea. But:

1. The petition is to ESPN, a longtime proponent of the game that for obvious reasons needs no convincing.

2. Grudges have to die sometime. But they can and sometimes do outlast mortal lifetimes.

3. Personally, I'm evolving on this. Whatever Geno & Co. decides is OK, far as I'm concerned. Not signing any petitions, but the events are getting pretty far in the rear view mirror.

 

[Blueballer]

I'd rather just send a donation without the game.

 

[Vowelguy]

Delivering the petition to ESPN is pointless. They would happily air the game.

 

[SCGamecock]

Except that UConn fans don't want the game because UTenn has yet to apologize. UTenn fans don't want the game because they would get their ass kicked.

Ohhhhhh no you didn't! *rolls neck*

 

[tomcat]

Here's a contrarian opinion. I think it's a great idea and wish it would happen. It's not a question of letting bygones be bygones. Back in the day, I was as angry as the next guy about what Summitt and Tennessee had done. But she is dead now -- remember? D-E-A-D? -- and it is a new era, even if some of the nasty TN fans are still around.

Tennessee is a legitimately good team -- maybe top five one of these days, but certainly in or around top 10 right now. Why shouldn't UConn play them? And by playing for the Summit Foundation, UConn can come across as the classy operation we know it to be. The high road is the best in such things.

This one would be good for women's basketball. It would focus the attention of some fans who otherwise would not pay attention to WBB. It would also display another truth -- that UConn is good enough to take on all comers -- every one of them -- regardless of their record, their star players, or yes, their history. I don't see why it would be a good time to do it years down the road but not now. I just don't see it.

 

[UcMiami]

Tomcat - Uconn v. TN back in the day was the only game in town. A whole lot has changed since then - while it was still going Uconn v. Duke for a few years rose to a pretty high level as did TN v. LSU, Uconn v. Stanford, etc. And since the end of the series there are some very good rivalries that have replaced it as must see: Baylor v. Uconn, Uconn v. ND, SCar v. TN, etc. The other reality is that from Parker's graduation to today, had a game been played it would have been a total disappointment - think Ohio State v. Uconn last year, or Uconn v. Miss State in the NCAAs last year, or the last several years of Uconn v. Duke which JPM thankfully put out our misery. There might have been hype before the game, but the Shaughnessys of the world would have been out in force afterwards.

The one moment that I wavered on this was right after the diagnosis was announced when a game at Madison Square Garden for research would have risen above sport into something meaningful in the way that the JimmyV and Maggie Dixon did. I could still see a Pat Summit tournament with a double header at a legendary venue making sense - and Uconn and TN both participating but against two other teams might be fitting.

 

[Bestiarius]

I'd prefer to pick my own charities to support. But if the celebrity game happens, it should be played with the players who were on the teams at the time Pat cancelled the series (2008 - 2009 squads) . Recreate the past, have Tyler Summitt on the bench like the good old days, etc.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Tomcat - Uconn v. TN back in the day was the only game in town. A whole lot has changed since then - while it was still going Uconn v. Duke for a few years rose to a pretty high level as did TN v. LSU, Uconn v. Stanford, etc. And since the end of the series there are some very good rivalries that have replaced it as must see: Baylor v. Uconn, Uconn v. ND, SCar v. TN, etc. The other reality is that from Parker's graduation to today, had a game been played it would have been a total disappointment - think Ohio State v. Uconn last year, or Uconn v. Miss State in the NCAAs last year, or the last several years of Uconn v. Duke which JPM thankfully put out our misery. There might have been hype before the game, but the Shaughnessys of the world would have been out in force afterwards.

The one moment that I wavered on this was right after the diagnosis was announced when a game at Madison Square Garden for research would have risen above sport into something meaningful in the way that the JimmyV and Maggie Dixon did. I could still see a Pat Summit tournament with a double header at a legendary venue making sense - and Uconn and TN both participating but against two other teams might be fitting.

Common sense! The disease that took first Pats brains then her life--afflicts way too many --and the damn disease is taking the minds of younger and old --way too many. I'm for any thing that raises money to defeat it and --notoriety to make it widely known.

I keep reading that until Tenn apologizes to Maya and her family--no game!!
Has anyone asked Maya and her family how THEY feel about it/??

All things end. If my name was Geno Auriemma, and feeling (apparently) as he feels about this--I would not have attended her memorial. I would be angry or not --her death apparently has not changed that.

 

[UcMiami]

If my name was Geno Auriemma, and feeling (apparently) as he feels about this--I would not have attended her memorial. I would be angry or not --her death apparently has not changed that.

I think there is a distinction between personal and professional that Geno recognized when he and Pat met a a final four a number of years ago and when he was one of the first to write a sizable check to her foundation. The professional or 'institutional' position can and often is different from the personal.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think there is a distinction between personal and professional that Geno recognized when he and Pat met a a final four a number of years ago and when he was one of the first to write a sizable check to her foundation. The professional or 'institutional' position can and often is different from the personal.

I understand what you are saying--- not arguing and I like your "fix" for any double games for the foundation But from all printed and video words that came from Geno --it certainly appeared as PERSONAL. Also, if Uconn thought it important to send someone--anyone other than Geno would have been more correct, unless Uconn wanted to renew professional /sports with the Vols. You see---professionally conducting sports with the Vols, for Uconn, made financial sense from the TV revenues--but apparently Geno's personal belief (he stated) over ride Professional attitudes. From a personal point of view--I have learned that holding on to grudges-is a waste of time and eventually they are forgiven or forgotten. But I do have strong beliefs --and if I were Geno i would not have attend the memorial , unless my views thawed.