| 22 December 2010
We’ve all lost perspective as sports fans. That all I’ve got.
At least that’s the only thing I can think of when it comes to the UConn women’s basketball team.
Over the past week, as UConn inched closer to the win total of John Wooden’s UCLA teams of the early 1970’s and since passed them, I’ve heard a lot of chatter from a lot of people, who have all suddenly become experts on something they know nothing about. I’ve heard them say that this record really means nothing. That their competition is a joke. That the sport is a joke. That at the end of the day, it’s “just women’s basketball.”
Sadly what I haven’t heard is what’s most important of all. That since the streak started back on April 6, 2008, the UConn women have not only been the most supremely dominant team in sports, but also the mentally toughest and the best coached as well. Nobody gets to 89 wins in a row in any sport, at any level, by accident, yet all I hear is more excuses for why we shouldn’t be impressed by the streak, than reasons to celebrate. Which is a shame.
Again, I think we’ve lost some perspective as fans.
And if you don’t mind I’d like to go ahead and do my best to provide some. Starting with that previously mentioned date, April 6, 2008, when all this madness began.
Here are just a handful of things that have happened since the UConn women’s basketball team last lost a game. In no particular order…
The United States elected its first ever black President, this after electing its first brain-dead one two terms before.
We saw the worst economic crisis of the last 50 years hit, and a downturn in the auto industry as well.
During that time, Michael Jackson went from former world renowned star, to world renowned weirdo, to dead pop icon. Ted Kennedy, Farrah Fawcett and Patrick Swayze passed away as well.
In the world of sports, Tiger Woods went from world’s most respected athlete, to home wrecker, adulterer and average golfer. We’ve seen an Olympics in Beijing, and a World Cup in South Africa, with additional World Cups awarded to Russia (ok) and Qatar (whaaaat?!?!). The baseball team in Tampa Bay changed their nickname from “Devil Rays,” to “Rays,” just a short time before April 6, 2008, and has since gone from laughingstock to model franchise, and two-time American League East champs.
And of course in football, the Saints went from fun and loveable to Super Bowl champs and Brett Favre went from Packer, to Jet, to Viking, not to mention retired, to unretired, to retired and back again more times than I can count. Cam Newton was just a little known backup at Florida in April 2008. Now he’s one of the greatest college football players, maybe ever.
Now, with that, let's try to put the streak itself into its proper perspective.
Understand, this streak isn’t about UCLA and John Wooden. Never has been, never will be. Auriemma would be the first person to tell you that.
Not only was that a different team, in a different era, but it was also a completely different sport all together. UCLA used a different ball, different shot clock, and played under a completely different set of rules. Comparing these two teams would be like me coaching a group of fifth grade boys, winning 33 games in a row, and then putting us on the same pedestal as the 1971-72 Los Angeles Laker. You’d think I was crazy, right? Well that’s what UConn and UCLA are. Apples and oranges, peas and carrots, tuna fish and Go Fish. One has nothing to do with the other. They’re completely different entities.
This streak isn’t about the comments Auriemma made on Sunday about sexism in the media either. It was a nice way to inadvertently (cough, cough), drum up some press for his team and their accomplishments, and get everyone talking about them. But still, that isn’t what this whole win streak is about.
Instead, the streak is really just about, well, the streak itself.
Eighty-nine straight games is a lot to win a row, in any sport, at any level, regardless of whether we’re talking about men or women. But it’s especially hard in basketball. Teams have off nights, miss crucial free throws, suffer bad injuries, you name it. Which is what truly makes the streak so incredible; a lot of stuff can happen to jeopardize a win. Apparently though, the UConn women are impervious to “stuff.”
Now granted, every person who disagrees with me is quick to point out the level of competition the Lady Huskies play. On some nights it’s bad, others God-awful and still others a word that hasn’t yet been created yet. It’s well documented that UConn has won its 89 games by over an average of 30 points. Only two opponents have stayed within single digits of the Huskies for a full 40 minutes. Umm wait a second, since when is that a bad thing?
And that's what kind of bothers me about the coverage of this streak; that every reporter, columnist and commentator is looking at this from a glass is half empty approach. Rather than saying “Geez is UConn good,” they’re all choosing to say, “Wow is the other team bad.”
Except here’s the thing, this is sports, you can’t win 89 in a row just by being the better team. No sport, at any level works that way. If it was just about the best team winning every night, Villanova wouldn’t have beaten Georgetown in the 1985 National Championship Game, the United States wouldn’t have beaten the USSR in the Miracle on Ice, and Stanford wouldn’t have beaten UConn three Final Fours ago to start this streak.
And it’s under that same guise that I don’t think this team gets enough credit. It’s one thing to win as a favorite, it’s another to win 89 in a row as a favorite. Nobody gets lucky 89 straight times, and nobody avoids luck from the other team 89 straight times as well.
Which is what I think we’re missing here: The mental toughness of UConn, and their ability to absolutely bring it every night.
Like any other great team, UConn seeks out the big opponent, the big game, the big moment. They not only want to play the best and they not only want to beat the best, they want to crush the best. They want to break the other team’s spirit. Sure UConn has won a lot of games, by a lot of big margins. But they weren’t that much better than everyone else. They just want it that much more.
I couldn’t help but notice that Monday night. Yes UConn was the better team, and yes UConn beat Florida State convincingly, but there’s no way they were 31 points better than the Seminoles. I won’t believe it.
Instead the Huskies just wanted it more, and just refused to let Florida State make a game of things. They didn’t beat Florida State simply because they were more “talented,” than them, but because they played harder on both ends of the court for all 40 minutes. Remember, it’s one thing to give 100 percent on defense in the first few minutes of a game. It’s quite another to do it with two minutes to go in a 30 point blowout. Except that’s exactly what UConn did last night, and every night for 89 straight and counting.
Now obviously, a large part of the credit here has to go to Auriemma too. Sure it helps having the best players like he does, but it’s what you do once you get the best players that wins championships. And just like any other great coach, Auriemma’s teams are always prepared, and always play their best in the biggest games. Just like Phil Jackson. Just like Coach K. Just like Pat Summitt, Gregg Popovich and Tom Izzo. I don’t care if it’s men’s or women’s basketball, and at what level, Auriemma deserves to be mentioned amongst the best in the sport right now.
Which brings me back to where I started. Yes UConn has a lot of inherent advantages. They’ve got the best players, one of the best coaches and some of the best fans in all of women’s basketball. But nobody gets to 89-0 over the course of 30 calendar months without something more than that.
The next time we all sit down to watch the Lady Huskies, let’s try to keep that in perspective, ok?
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