I don't remember ever seeing so much angst over an undefeated, #1 ranked team that's put on so many dominating performances in my life. I really do not get why some see disaster in every missed shot, impending doom in every turnover, and the team's imminent fall from the pinnacle with every narrow 30 point win. It's confounding.
Did these folks watch the games on tv this past week? How many of those other top 10 teams played a perfect game every single time? That's a rhetorical question because none of them did. The UConn team, and all of the teams, are made up of human beings who have good days and bad, just like you and me and every other person on this earth. If we expect them to be perfect every time, well, that's just unreasonable. Yet, invariably UConn fans will freak out if someone makes a mistake. It's stunning to me that we would expect 18-22 year old kids to be more perfect than we are ourselves. I just don't get it.
Nan, I'm going to try and answer your query. But it's going to take me more than one paragraph to say what other posters said in a word or a sentence. Brevity is not my strong suit, so bare with me. In a word,
HuskyBandDad nailed it,
We're S-P-O-I-L-E-D!!!. Syracuse head coach
Quentin Hillsman uttered a profound and unabashed statement 2 years ago, right after a loss to UConn during the NCAA tournament (Stewie's senior year). He said "
UConn has forgotten how to lose".
The recent unprecedented 111 game win streak by the Huskies corroborates that observation.
There are different levels of "fandom (if that's a word)". Casual, interested, and fanatic (
www.dictionary.com: Fanatic - zealot, militant, devotee refer to persons showing more than ordinary support for, adherence to, or interest in a cause, point of view, or activity. Fanatic and zealot both suggest excessive or overweening. Fanatic further implies unbalanced or obsessive behavior: a wild-eyed fanatic) For the most part, the casual fan seldom posts here in the yard, or has a beef with the status quo. Here's one: "
Expectations are an odd thing...last year this team exceeded expectations and could do very little wrong...this year, expectations are so high that the slightest bit of un-UCONN type play raises questions....no worries on my end". It's the interested and the fanatics that post here regularly that I think you're referring to. Most of us look in on the yard EVERYDAY, several times a day. To say we are interested in this team is an understatement. We've got questions, and we've got answers.
We all have strong opinions about EVERYTHING concerning the team. The players, when they play and for how long.
Who is not playing well and why. Who is not getting enough playing time, etc.
A lot of us are Monday morning coaches. We know what is best for this team, and what Geno should be doing to make sure we win the championship this year (and every year). Some fans want to know
everything that's going on, like what was the real reason AEH left the program. They want to know, whether they have the right to know or not!! They can't just sit back, support the team, and take (accept) what comes. Sometimes, folks just have to get things off their chest. So they vent here to a captive audience.
Olympus has fallen - Aside from being spoiled,
we're also S-C-A-R-E-D. Why are some humans afraid of the dark? Because they fear the unknown. They fear not being in control.
We're afraid of not winning the national championship this year. Some are afraid that the recent rise in the level of play that Louisville, Mississippi (and others), have attained that maybe UConn can't beat these teams. Fans and observers can predict and say whatever they want, it's not going to help the team win. The game will be decided between the lines, not on what some fans want or think. Last year proved that. Despite UConn's monumental success, they are not infallible. They can be beat. Notre Dame gave the UConn a huge scare before their late game collapse. It's THAT possibility that has some folks on edge. Fear can have an amazing effect on people. Fear can temporarily paralyze a person i.e., deer in the headlights syndrome. The fear of failure can also have an overwhelming lasting effect on some athletes.
Donnie Moore - Moore is most remembered for the
home run he gave up to
Dave Henderson while pitching for the California Angels in Game 5 of the
1986 American League Championship Series. With only one more strike needed to clinch the team's first-ever pennant, he allowed the
Boston Red Sox to come back and eventually win the game and series.
Moore was never the same after that. He was so devastated by that incident, 3 years later he took his life on July 18, 1989, at his home in the presence of one of his children at the age of 35.
I'm not suggesting any of us (or a player) will go to this extreme if UConn fails to win again this year. Admittedly this is an over exaggeration to illustrate my point. There have been other professional athletes that failed on the field of play, and were never quite the same afterwards: Mickey Owen, Ralph Branca, Mitch Williams, Bill Buckner, Leon Durham, etc. Some can take a loss "tongue in cheek", on move on, while others may think that the sky is falling, and the world is coming to an end. They analyze and criticize every negative aspect of the game.
We're scared because we saw UConn lose last year to a team that they beat by 65 points the year before. We lost a game we were suppose to win, instead, we were involved in a head on crash, that some of us are still recovering from, and we're not so sure it can't/won't happen again. Last year, that season was going about the same way this one is (to this point). Undefeated and just cruising along. Leaving teams broken and beaten in their wake. We were ALL stunned after that game.
It took 2 weeks before life returned to normal for me, and I stopped thinking about it. Why?, because like many others here in the yard, I'm in deep. I care about what happens to this team. We want to win.........period!!! We expect to win. We have to win. Failure is not an option. I also don't believe Geno was able to kiss it off as easily as he would have some believe. They were so close to winning the trophy, they could reach out and touch it.
A few posters have also (IMHO) nailed it -" One of the reasons I am not around here very much any more, is that it makes me sad that grown adults think nothing of tearing down young women and their coaching staffs for not perfectly living up to their arm-chair prognostications. Is it legit to criticize? Yes, don't get me wrong. But some people on this board revel in misery and negativism".
"We seem to have a "new" crop of posters who do not understand UConn basketball and its history. The angst over who plays and who doesn't, why aren't the frosh getting more minutes, questioning Geno's coaching techniques and a lot of other stupid stuff. I sometimes wonder if these negative posters have ever worked with children and young adults. I suspect the answer is no. And that it was irks me the most!".
"There's both a social and health difference between constructive criticism and fretful negativism. I used to fret about some of the negative posts and posters, but now I rather constructively point out that they reveal people with greater statistical risk for hypertension, headaches, fibromyalgia, arthritis and other afflictions.".
"The only way to avoid the disappointing end to last season is to complain about Geno's substitution patterns on a message board. ".
"I know people like to debate, and I find most dialog interesting and informative. But recently, there's so much nit-picking... It's not as enjoyable to come to the site. How can there be so many negatives when we are undefeated, and winning each game by a large margin?".
I know there will be some posters that will respond and suggest I have no idea what I'm talking about. Thats OK,
This is my opinion, and
my response in reference to your query. Bottom line, Mississippi State and Louisville right now, have some posters concerned, and there's nothing they can do about it, and they fear the worst. It's the fear of the unknown.
They're afraid UConn is going to lose, and fail to win the NC again this year, and they don't like it. 
