Why is this portrayed differently than Nykesha Sales?

[mhshuskies]

 

[UCAP_Fan]

Because it is not Geno doing it.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Because there was no school record involved.

 

[OldAlum]

Because there was no school record involved.

Yeah, because all those idiots crying about the sanctity of the sport really cared about UConn's record book - NOT

I thought it was a lovely gesture for Sales and I think it is for Adams. Glad that there doesn't seem to be any bad reaction for Adams. I'm still a bit bitter over the stink made over Sales.

 

[geneticrex]

Geno is an easy target.

Try to imagine the politically correct diatribe any dissenter would face for criticizing this current display of sportsmanship.

 

[EricLA]

Yeah, because all those idiots crying about the sanctity of the sport really cared about UConn's record book - NOT

I thought it was a lovely gesture for Sales and I think it is for Adams. Glad that there doesn't seem to be any bad reaction for Adams. I'm still a bit bitter over the stink made over Sales.

I agree with you 100%. The people who cried and whined over the decision to do that for Sales had no business doing so.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Simple, I think Nykesha Sales' basket has long been accompanied by a triple whammy of PREJUDICES which still exist today - an anti-Geno Auriemma bias, an anti UConn- domination hatred, and a gender bias which sadly has only minimally improved over the past 17 years.

 

[Goodgood]

Because it is a one time thing, he will never play basketball again. Nykesha was just an injury and she went on to the WNBA...

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I'm with TJI and GG - regardless of what you think of it, letting an (injured) player get a basket to set a school record (and go on to a pro career) vs. a feel good moment for someone who won't have a basketball career are just not comparable per se.

And some may approve of both, some may think both affect the "purity" of the game, and some may like one and not the other. Neither had the slightest affect on me or the teams I root for, so I have no problem with either.

 

[OldAlum]

I agree that they are not exactly equal. Tho at the time it was unclear how well she would recover and what effect that would have on her WNBA prospects. But mostly it was the sanctimonious whining about Geno ruining "the integrity of the sport" that was so different. If you are not allowed to manage things to allow a player to score, then you are not - no matter the motive. Happily, people have recognized that doing something nice for a player that doesn't affect the outcome of a game is a good thing.

You can argue that allowing a player to break a record because she had sacrificed personal scoring for the good of the team and was only one basket away is not the same as some of the other circumstances and did not warrant the action. Reasonable people can disagree. But it was the over-reaction about the "sanctity of the sport!" and the "tainted record" that I felt was wrong. None of the national broadcasters and commentators would even have mentioned the UConn record if she had broken it before she was injured. Everyone at UConn seemed fine with it and it was a UConn record. Seems it was doomed to be a "tainted" record anyway - Either the record Sales "was given" or the record Sales "should have had". And it wasn't going to last long anyway!

 

[ThisJustIn]

Couple things to add:

People feel about it the way they feel about it.... but remember
1) It was '98. UConn was NOT the juggernaut it is now, so I'm guessing it's hard to imagine backlash was rooted in too much anti-Conn sentiment.
2) There were plenty of "pro" action feelings.

 

[JellyBean]

Time. And probably the fact that many of the people critical of NyKesha's basket, probably did not like women's basketball to begin with.

 

[Fiftyish]

Time. And probably the fact that many of the people critical of NyKesha's basket, probably did not like women's basketball to begin with.

I agree. I remember at the time the biggest whiners were people that probably never even watched a women's game. The ones that comes to mind are Mike Francesa and Chris Russo (Fatso and Fruit Loops) from WFAN in New York. These two went on and on how this was a travesty, dis-honored the game, etc. I was never even sure either had ever watched a women's game or knew women played basketball.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Actually John Thompson III was rightfully blasted for bad sportsmanship after this game because he refused to allow Seton Hall to get a free basket to tie the game after SH let Adams score. To say Thompson was "classy" is dead wrong. Only Seton Hall's coach, the much-maligned Kevin Willard, was classy in this incident.

Geno and Harry did it the right way, with each team getting a free basket so as not to affect the score differential.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Simple, I think Nykesha Sales' basket has long been accompanied by a triple whammy of PREJUDICES which still exist today - an anti-Geno Auriemma bias, an anti UConn- domination hatred, and a gender bias which sadly has only minimally improved over the past 17 years.

At the time of Nykesha Sale's record breaking layup, UConn wasn't considered NEARLY the dominant team that they are now. They had won ONE championship at that time and were just starting to assert themselves as a premier program. I think it had more to do with the other two whammies you mentioned.

 

[BigBird]

Sometimes, the team or player to do something new, or do it first in a sport takes more heat than someone who comes along and does the same thing later. Curt Flood caught hell in MLB for what? Declaring himself a free agent. Times change.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Simple, I think Nykesha Sales' basket has long been accompanied by a triple whammy of PREJUDICES which still exist today - an anti-Geno Auriemma bias, an anti UConn- domination hatred, and a gender bias which sadly has only minimally improved over the past 17 years.

You could have gone even one better.