Those letters would be ACL. Those three letters may have a lot to do with shortened seasons for our basketball teams and soccer teams last year.
A.J. Price, Mel Thomas, Kalana Greene, O'Brian White and I believe Brittany Taylor and all had ACL injuries last year (I'm tempted to add Karl Schilling to that list, but I'm not sure) and arguments could be made that all of them made UConn teams have much shorter seasons then usual.
Caroline Doty's injury just plain sucks. She is coming off an ACL tear from 16 months ago. I don't know how devastating it is to have to deal with two of those injuries to the same knee so quickly. Atleast Caroline was able to recover quickly from her last injury. Hopefully she can do that again. The rehab is really tough, but what might be one of the hardest things to overcome is having confidence in her knee when she comes back. What really sucks in my mind is that she can't redshirt this past season. So her first UConn season is over way too prematurely. I feel really bad for her. Having two ACL tears and having a freshman year end prematurely is not fair. It makes you realize that life is not fair. For Caroline's sake, while she might not want to hear it now, somehow this injury will make her life better. I don't know how, or why it has to happen like this, but whenever a setback like this occurs in life something good always comes out of it. It certainly doesn't look it now but I guarantee she'll learn something from it, or appreciate life more, or meet someone important, but something good will eventually come out it.
Now for UConn this is a tough injury to deal with. Guard injuries is what in my opinion caused UConn not to win the Women's Championship last year. I won't go as far as to say that they won't win it this year. With Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Tina Charles UConn has enough to get to the final four, arguably enough to get to the championship. The other players will determine what happens from there. Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes have been bright spots over break. They need to continue to play well. Tiffany is more than capable of being a reliable 3 pt threat like Caroline. Tiff is also great at slashing to the basket. UConn is going to have 7 players that will play a lot. The starting 5 and Lorin Dixon, and Tiffany Hayes. I do believe that this year could be a coming out party for Tahirah Williams in the sense that I think she can continue her contributions and make a big impact for the rest of the year. Meghan Gardler needs to come in and contribute her hustle plays and knack for finding a loose ball. I think UConn needs to get 10-15 solid minutes combined from Gardler and Williams from now on this season. I think those two are more than capable of doing that.
Honestly, UConn fans shouldn't panic. The road to the championship was made a little steeper with the loss of Caroline, but it certainly has not made it impossible. Win or lose in UNC, UConn will be there at the end. I believe that Renee Montgomery is possessed to win a National Championship, and I think that counts for a lot more than people might think. And by possessed, I mean it, I think she wants it more than anyone else in women's basketball. On top of that, Maya Moore is Maya Moore and thats better than anyone else in women's basketball. Maya is like Renee because she is also possessed to win a championship. Maya wants it really really really really badly and Renee wants it really really really really really badly. (not a diss at Maya at all, Renee is just well possessed) Maya also seems very confident to me. Tina Charles has stepped up her game from last season. She is much improved from last season. One thing UConn has this year that they didn't have last is Kalana Greene. She is so underrated and she is a leader who will get UConn to where they need to be. Lorin Dixon is also improved from last season. She is much more confident and comfortable this year than last. So UConn fans in conclusion, don't panic. It's tough losing Caroline Doty, but UConn can still win a championship this year with the rest of the pieces in Storrs. They will just fit together differently.
I am very happy for O'Brian White, who will be joining Julius James in Toronto in the MLS and Akeem Priestley who is headed to Kansas City in the MLS. I wish them the best and will miss having them on campus. Two great people who I will be sure to tune in to watch. And I've never watched the MLS before.
Also former UConn Women's Soccer player's Meghan Schnur and Nikki Cross were selected in the Women's Pro Soccer draft. Schnur will play close to UConn, as she will be with the New York/New Jersey team.
I went running on my Lake in Massachusetts. It's tough running on it with all the snow on top of the ice. That's also why I ran on it though. I just had to be really careful to avoid the places where the ice fishing was taking place yesterday.
Larry Fitzgerald is the best Wideout in the NFL. Regardless of the outcome of todays game.
We'll have to see how often I will be able to write once I get back to campus tomorrow. I will be really busy at school so I may not be able to write as much, but I won't stop.
In case you are wondering, it has been said that ACL injuries occur much more frequently in women than men because of the differences in anatomy.
No comments:
Post a Comment