We beat the refs, the announcers,

[Waquoit]

When fans say "we beat the refs" after a fair, well-officiated game it makes them look bad.

 

[ctfjr]

We beat Notre Dame. Time to junk the silly conspiracy theories.

I'm all in for this!

Time to move on & think about another Cinderella team about to go down.

 

[RoyDodger]

Did not bother me at all. I watched the first half very closely with my brother and we both agreed - the refs were letting them play, but the fouls called against UCONN were mostly because we were fouling them and it was obvious. UCONN is more of a jump shooting team. ND is a driving team with exceptional guards. I seriously had no issue with the foul disparity in the 1st half.

I also really enjoyed the announcers. Yes Skyler is a senior and one of the 3 to see, but at one point Doris said the new story should be the one to watch in the future, and that was Breanna Stewart. ESPN probably felt this was the de-facto NC game. No one gives L'ville a chance, or much of one, but they will still have to report about it.

Of course UCONN is the big favorite. This is such an unexpected turn of events. If we win it all on Tuesday, it will be one of the least expected NC's (to me) in our history. I actually liked the announcers a lot too.

Eric:

Always makes me laugh when people see the same game or situation in completely different ways. Our (my wife and I) observations: it wasn't just the fouls against UConn. It was also the other calls that turned the ball over to ND. Seemed like every time UConn had the ball for awhile, especially early in the game through mid-game, there was a foul call or some other violation, such as traveling, which wound up turning the ball over to ND**. At the same time, as usual, ND had the magical ability to avoid fouling most of the time. Oh, Skylar Diggins got a couple of fouls early but there wasn't much more. Fortunately, ND didn't take advantage of these calls other than the free throws they made (and, of course, we were constantly reminded by the announcers that ND is one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country).

What makes this interesting to me is that these calls only seem to have been made at this volume against UConn in games they played against Notre Dame. I watched every game this year (with the exception of the one on the west coast that wasn't televised) and never saw UConn called for such a volume of fouls and traveling, etc., violations which resulted in free throws or turning the ball over the other team. Other than the result, it seemed like deja vu once again as this was the pattern in the three games UConn played ND earlier in the season. Does UConn suddenly become an incredibly sloppy team that fouls or travels on almost every play only against ND?

As for the announcers, Doris Burke is impossible to listen to because she never stops talking and repeats herself. Over and over and over and over. And she comes on like the greatest expert in women's college basketball. In other words, a know it all. At one point, late in the game I finally turned the sound off. Couldn't take it anymore. Doris Burke isn't the only announcer who wants you to think she knows just about everything there is to know about the game, but she's the one that ESPN uses over and over for these important games.

**Even the calls on plays when the ball would go out of bounds were often called against UConn when it seemed clear to me that ND had knocked the ball out. On one occasion there was a miracle and the call giving ND the ball was overruled. Wow!

 

[Samanthabrown3]

I thought the refs did a good job tonight....yes they missed some but it was fairly called on both sides

Fairly, I don't know. Evenly, yes.

 

[magic]

So the 11-0 shots at one point didn't bother you? It only evened out when they HAD to foul, and even some of them were multiple fouls just to get the whistle blown.

Absolutely correct! The fouls didn't ven out until the game was under 3minutes left and Huskies were quite comfortably ahead and Irish were notably imploding!

 

[CL82]

I didn't feel like the refs had any bias, or agenda (and sometimes, against my better judgment, I do) but I do agree that annoucers' "script" was about ND accendancy. Oh well sorry guys, time for a re-write, which will likely be the David vs. Goliath schtick until UConn creates enough separation for them to slip into the tying the great Pat Summit narative. It's annoying but it will just make the victory all that much sweeter.

By the way, I don't view the national championship game's outcome as pre-ordained. Waltz has his team playing loose and confident. They are dangerous.

 

[Icebear]

Nice mojo recovery there.

 

[Vowelguy]

Uconn continually shot perimeter jump shots while ND attacked the basket. Of course they are going to shoot more free throws

There was also one case early in the game where our guy got a rebound next to the basket and all the ND players around her let her go back up uncontested, as if they were trying to avoid foul trouble. We would not have done that, but likely would've gotten a foul call.

 

[Vowelguy]

Does UConn suddenly become an incredibly sloppy team that fouls or travels on almost every play only against ND?

In other words, UConn commits more mistakes against Notre Dame than it does against Seton Hall.

I, for one, am shocked.

 

[Vowelguy]

Some other things to keep in mind:

Women's BB officials are generally not good. Mistakes are always going to be made. You just hope they balance out and that none are critical.

There were several calls in the latter part of the game that could've gone against us. Indeed, in previous games they did; but this time they didn't.
And ND didn't merely have a bad shooting night. Our defense did that, and they surely didn't do it by backing off them by 10 feet. I'm sure we got away with some stuff.

 

[Wally East]

I did notice there were stretches of game play in the second half were the announcers didn't say anything. Well, maybe not stretches but spots or moments. It was nice. I thought Doris did a better job of talking about what was happening than I've seen her do in a while.

 

[Icebear]

So far as I know the announcers never stepped on the court.

 

[diggerfoot]

This thread reminds me of cafeteria eating during my college days. My first school was a large university (OK, so it was UConn) and I ate in a huge dining facility that often served things like salisbury steak which we would call hockey pucks. My second school featured a small dining facility with food a little less "mass-produced," but the complaints about the food were just as loud. My third school was an Ivy League college that often brought in chefs from all over the world to design menus. The food to me was heavenly, given my prior experiences, but the complaints by the students around me were just as loud.

As it is with college students and cafeteria food, so it is with fans and referees; perceived affronts independent of reality.

 

[RoyDodger]

This thread reminds me of cafeteria eating during my college days. My first school was a large university (OK, so it was UConn) and I ate in a huge dining facility that often served things like salisbury steak which we would call hockey pucks. My second school featured a small dining facility with food a little less "mass-produced," but the complaints about the food were just as loud. My third school was an Ivy League college that often brought in chefs from all over the world to design menus. The food to me was heavenly, given my prior experiences, but the complaints by the students around me were just as loud.

As it is with college students and cafeteria food, so it is with fans and referees; perceived affronts independent of reality.

I don't know about "independent of reality," but that is the nature of sports commentary. And most commentary, whether it be politics, religion, etc. Without differences of opinion, where would we be?

 

[UConnChapette]

At least she is better than Ann "Motormouth" Meyers and Mike Patrick

Or is that Patrick Michaels and Myra Anderson?

 

[Gurleyman]

Honestly, ND didn't foul on purpose much at all. They had four fouls from the 1-2 minute mark of the second half, but the two on Faris were not deliberate. Once they went for the tie-up after a defensive rebound (a call they had gotten twice in the previous couple minutes, but this time they got called for a foul), and the other was when Diggins bumped her out of bounds trying to trap when Kelly beat her to the sideline. And they definitely didn't foul Hartley shooting a 3 on purpose. I don't remember the one that put Dolson on the line - I suspect it was a hack after a defensive rebound that might have been deliberate.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

As an outsider, I just have to say it - oy vey.

If WBB officiating is bad, it is simply because it can be very inconsistent and sometimes based on pre-conceptions. This was a game with some of the perceived top ref's in the business, and was called as well as any other game, and really not too inconsistently.

One of the great myths in the world of fandom is that fouls should be equal, or called equally, or be mostly on the side of the loser or whatever the take is. They are what they are. Some teams commit a lot of fouls, get called for them and still win. Others, like Rutgers, are toast if they get called for too many more fouls than their opponent. And other teams rarely get called for fouls, often because they do a decent job of matching their play to what the ref's are calling (which is where the inconsistency becomes a killer) or because they are perceived as rarely committing a foul. Lets be honest, if there is a sort of toss-up call between Dolsen and the center of Seton Hall that could go either way - which way do you think most ref's would see it?? And as a fan, if it actually does go the other way, because Dolsen is more talented, wouldn't you question the call? Which, after all, could be correct.

And one more thing, to be fair, more often than not the fouls I question - upon replay - often could go either way at least, and sometimes I see that I erred.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Didn't bother me at all. We had quite a few questionable calls go our way too. Notre Dame was getting to the line because they were driving and rebounding more.

Agree 100%.

 

[CTyankee]

Did not bother me at all. I watched the first half very closely with my brother and we both agreed - the refs were letting them play, but the fouls called against UCONN were mostly because we were fouling them and it was obvious. UCONN is more of a jump shooting team. ND is a driving team with exceptional guards. I seriously had no issue with the foul disparity in the 1st half.

I also really enjoyed the announcers. Yes Skyler is a senior and one of the 3 to see, but at one point Doris said the new story should be the one to watch in the future, and that was Breanna Stewart. ESPN probably felt this was the de-facto NC game. No one gives L'ville a chance, or much of one, but they will still have to report about it.

Of course UCONN is the big favorite. This is such an unexpected turn of events. If we win it all on Tuesday, it will be one of the least expected NC's (to me) in our history. I actually liked the announcers a lot too.

I think Tonyc called the winner way back when this freshman class was announced... In fact i think he promised us four NCs in a row...

 

[EricLA]

I think Tonyc called the winner way back when this freshman class was announced... In fact i think he promised us four NCs in a row...

I could somehow force myself to stomach 4 NC's in a row lol...

 

[RoyDodger]

In other words, UConn commits more mistakes against Notre Dame than it does against Seton Hall.

I, for one, am shocked.

Vowel, very funny. However, UConn also played Texas A & M, Maryland, Baylor, Penn State, Stanford, Louisville, Duke, and a couple of pretty decent teams. I may be wrong; who knows? But I don't recall the "mistakes" against those teams that seem to occur when UConn plays Notre Dame.

 

[Vowelguy]

Vowel, very funny. However, UConn also played Texas A & M, Maryland, Baylor, Penn State, Stanford, Louisville, Duke, and a couple of pretty decent teams. I may be wrong; who knows? But I don't recall the "mistakes" against those teams that seem to occur when UConn plays Notre Dame.

Notre Dame is far far far better than any of those teams, particularly at applying pressure.