It’s been a minute since I’ve ranted on this blog.
I’ve been busy with business travel the last couple of weeks, coupled with the demands of fatherhood and husbandly duties. Oh, and sprinkle a training or two in there as well.
In other words, life took over for your boy.
However, being busy doesn’t mean that I haven’t been paying attention to all things sports. You do remember who I am, right?
At any rate, back to the sports rant at hand.
The 2015-2016 men’s college basketball ended with perhaps one of, if not the greatest, championship games ever played. Villanova and North Carolina traded blows all the way to the end, when UNC’s Marcus Paige hit a miracle 3-pointer to tie the game – only for this to happen afterwards:
Not to be outdone, the women’s championship ended with Connecticut’s women’s basketball team curb-stomping yet ANOTHER opponent to win their fourth straight championship, and 11th overall. They also finished the season undefeated, yet again (38-0).
UConn’s women is now hands-down the greatest juggernaut in not only women’s college ball, but in ALL of college sports history.
Apparently, not everyone had been feeling UConn’s dominance on women’s college basketball. Check out the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy’s tweet during the women’s Final Four:
This, of course, led to UConn coach Geno Auriemma to rightfully rip the hell out of Shaughnessy with this classic clap-back:
Look, I am not an avid follower of women’s college basketball – not a hater, but more of a casual fan. However, I do recognize greatness when I see it. And last I checked, greatness is not bad for ANY sport.
I’m sure the old-heads out there remember legendary coach John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins running through squads in the 60s and early 70s. I do not recall reading anywhere that folks said Wooden was bad for men’s college basketball.
Remember when Tiger Woods was winning all those tournaments during his prime? Did anyone bitch about that being bad for golf? Hell, from a popularity and monetary standpoint, it was the best thing that could ever happen to golf.
Now, if we were to examine the effect that Wooden and Woods had in their respective sports, one thing became apparent: everyone else eventually stepped up their games.
In men’s college basketball, other blue bloods such as UNC, Kentucky, Duke and Indiana stepped up and strengthened their brands. In golf, guys such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Zach Johnson, and Adam Scott stepped up in the post-Tiger era.
Same to be applied to the women’s game.
If the UConn women are so bad for the sport, then other teams need to man-up, if you will, and compete. And from the looks of it, that has already been taking place.
We’ve seen Baylor have their run with Brittany Griner. Ditto for Stanford. Notre Dame and Maryland arrived on the scene a while ago and has some staying power. And finally, South Carolina have seemingly come from nowhere to establish itself as a respectable power in women’s college basketball.
As those teams, as well as a few others (title game sacrificial lamb Syracuse and Florida State) continue to improve in recruiting, UConn’s hold in women’s college basketball will eventually weaken. The fact that UConn is still kicking ass and taking names despite those aforementioned impressive squads vying for the throne just adds to the greatness that much more.
So to the critics of women’s college basketball, enjoy the UConn dynasty as long as you can. For when that dynasty goes away – and it eventually will – y’all will kick yourselves for not appreciating the greatness that was before your very eyes.
Categories: college basketball, sports story
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