Why are so many Uconn fans....

[herbiep]

or fans on this board, so quick to defend Mulkey and Griner?? I am at a loss, could it be that you are just happy that Uconn will not have to face Baylor, if Uconn makes it to the final four. And I am counting on them to be in final four. I believe in sportsmanship as much as the next guy, but, I can't say nice things about the Baylor group.

 

[RadyLady]

well, if you can't say anything nice.....

 

[HGN]

Herb , its just that we Boneyarders are All-Weather Fans.....Not fair weather fans. We can appreciate a good opponent and a good game. We know what have a great player and a great coach is all about. We have Geno and The Huskies. The Baylor team hated losing , we can appreciate that because we hate losing too. We appreciate Griner's great play and we can appreciate Mulkey's coaching skills.

So we are not defending them as much as we are appreciating great skills of a player and a coach.

 

[Blueballer]

or fans on this board, so quick to defend Mulkey and Griner?? I am at a loss, could it be that you are just happy that Uconn will not have to face Baylor, if Uconn makes it to the final four. And I am counting on them to be in final four. I believe in sportsmanship as much as the next guy, but, I can't say nice things about the Baylor group.

It's not that people are hung up on defending them. We have seen Louisville, Rutgers etc.... play the same way against us so there's some level of empathy about being banged up and seeing the game resemble something other than basketball to get a win with less talent. It's up to the refs to control the games and often they do not.
And I for one refuse to employ the term "Outcoached" when a team hits 16 threes against you. Or as in the earlier case UCONN losing to ND because we couldn't hit free throws.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Baylor sucks.....

 

[ThisJustIn]

Baylor, the University, can't lose enough for my tastes.

But I bear little ill will to the players or coach. I can disagree with their actions, but that's very different than bearing an emotionally charged grudge.

I think that some of the Baylor/TN/ND bashing sometimes swings into a level of hate speech. Mean spirited, petty, selfish and small. Many of the characteristics for which some on this board have mocked fans of other teams. It plays in to the "fans of winning" theory -- if you're NOT winning (which is the majority of other programs) you eat your young and tear down those who have the temerity to defeat you.

There's enough mean-spiritedness in the world. I'm not really interested in adding to it -- especially at the expense of young women who are simply bouncing a ball up and down.

 

[UcMiami]

I find Kim's sideline attire and antics both a little over the top, but enjoy 'characters' in sports that are not 'vanilla' (guess why I like Geno so much!) I also think Griner has been blessed with great talent and a very tall body, but that comes at an incredible price for a young woman. She is seen as a 'freak' everywhere she goes, and you need only look at any ESPN Baylor thread to see the really hateful and nasty things that get said about her. (I was really shocked, but then the 'jock's' who post on the internet aren't especially known for their good behavior.) So ... I think outside of that freshman year occurrence Griner has carried herself really well. Kim ... probably could have been a bit more gracious yesterday, and on a few occasions in the past, but compared to many others in defeat and in victory it wasn't too egregious.

 

[semper]

Look, both teams are essentially talented groups of high-spirited plsyrts, and so deserving of each other. UConn has never, in my view, behaved in this way. I can't imagine one of our players sucker-punching someone, for example. Sure we are tough and Geno can be a dumb ass (as he puts it) but we have never had thugs on our teams, the likes of which we have seen in a long list of teams and their coaches...I could give many examples, but everybody knows them as well as I do. And when the moves can be career ending, as some have been, I really get upset. I'd like to see better reffing, and a stop to this, but I fear its becoming the way of the world in WCBB, and that's quite sad.

 

[itsasport]

Yes, it's nice to see Baylor out of the tournament, although it is disappointing that UConn won't get the chance for that epic battle.

UConn fans are sensitive to the thuggery issue.

And to me, it is also that there is a very friendly and respectful relationship between the UConn and Baylor fans who post on each others boards. So, on a personal level, I am sad for the Baylor fans--and they don't have the great UConn ice cream to soothe their sorrows.

 

[semper]

Yes, I am sad for them too...and I thought BG was pretty great in her epic sorrow...but still it is a different world in my view from UConn basketball.

 

[Husky68]

Nah, Mulkey whines all the time, has players play Rugrat defense and then cry at any foul calls. Griner sits out the year for the sucker punch, if she can miss the Olypmpics to catch up on studies she could miss one NCAA tournament for criminal assault.

 

[reno tony]

well, if you can't say anything nice.....

Exactly, if you can't say something good don't say anything at all. Baylor is out of the NCAA...... GOOD!

Kelly Faris is Superwoman in disguise!!​

 

[DaddyChoc]

Herb thinks BG is a guy and he's pissed

 

[UcMiami]

Look, both teams are essentially talented groups of high-spirited plsyrts, and so deserving of each other. UConn has never, in my view, behaved in this way. I can't imagine one of our players sucker-punching someone, for example. Sure we are tough and Geno can be a dumb ass (as he puts it) but we have never had thugs on our teams, the likes of which we have seen in a long list of teams and their coaches...I could give many examples, but everybody knows them as well as I do. And when the moves can be career ending, as some have been, I really get upset. I'd like to see better reffing, and a stop to this, but I fear its becoming the way of the world in WCBB, and that's quite sad.

And yet we did have one post who had the nickname of BamBam and could run over just about any player (including a few on her own team! )
I am not disagreeing with you as Uconn is generally a really good straight up defensive team. But I also don't like getting to high and mighty about it. There have been years when we had clearly the most talented team and you expect other teams to use various tactics to combat that. There have been other years where other teams have accused us of being overly physical defensively on their star players. Not saying that things don't get out of hand with some teams some years, but ...

 

[semper]

I think she was called Bam Bam because she used to make the three quite often....knocked them down, can mean making shots. I don't mean to be high and mighty, not at all. I just like the approach that it seems to me we have, even in the Dee days. Maybe I'm wrong (probably am!), but for my sensibilities, it's a different world. That's all. No biggie.