At this point I'd say that it's in the best interest of the Big East Conference to have Connecticut represent them in the BCS Bowl game. Will it happen, I hope so. Am I biased, COMPLETELY. However, I have a reason.
The perception is that there aren't many good football teams in the Big East Conference. People think of West Virginia and Pittsburgh and thats about it. Even then, neither of those schools are thought of as top 10 national programs...maybe West Virginia is considered a top 25. That's about it. A West Virginia win in a BCS game doesn't do as much for the league as the possibility of adding a credible program to the league. I'd say that there are two schools that are credible nationally. Pitt and WVU. It's going to be much easier for the BIG EAST to sell it's parity and depth than it will be to sell it's top program. The lack of percieved tradition in football hurts the conference. People don't think that it means much to beat Connecticut, Syracuse, Rutgers, Cinci, South Florida or Louisville. People say that these programs are mediocre at best and are not credible wins in other BCS conferences. What the BIG EAST needs are for all of their teams to say they have done something credible nationally. Connecticut beat Notre Dame last year and as an underdog outplayed the SEC's South Carolina in a bowl game. The program also produced a boatload of early draft picks in 2008. They are showing signs of getting closer to one of the more elite programs and a BCS trip would only help the trajectory of the program go higher.
I think the BIG EAST, although struggling for a big win nationally this year, had a good season because a team with the tradition of Syracuse is showing signs of life. A team that was ranked and thought of highly just back in 2006 and 2007, Louisville, appears to have things going in the right direction.
I think it's good that Cincinnati went to the BCS bowl for the BIG EAST the last two years because it helps legitimize that program. Going to back to back BCS bowls had to have take Cincinnati football to a higher level in terms of the recruits it gets and it's national significance. The BIG EAST needs more teams that will raise their national credibility.
Anyway, back to my main point.
Connecticut, like Cincinnati the past two years, would be yet another program that has atleast accomplished something noteworthy by getting themselves in the BCS picture and in a Big Bowl. Getting Connecticut into a BCS game could help take Connecticut's young program to even higher heights. With the proven consistent success of the basketball programs I think it's slightly easier for Connecticut to establish themselves than it is for Cincinnati. It's also easier for Connecticut to take over Boston College as the premier New England Division I Football School. The BIG EAST would love to have a program like Connecticut be considered the best in the Northeast, even if it's only the Northeast. Connecticut going to a BCS game could help the program and conference in more ways than WVU or Pitt would. The BIG EAST needs Syracuse to get better and needs Connecticut to keep improving so that the conference can get back to the level of competitiveness and national significance that it had before Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left. Connecticut becoming a traditional force to be reckon with is another step towards respectability for a conference clearly lacking it.
Winning the Bowl would be even better for the conference, but if the conference is going to send a 4 loss team to a BCS bowl (even if that team lost to Temple and Michigan) it would be so much better for the conference if it was a new team, and not a traditionally good team just having a down year.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
This is the best Men's Bball Team since I've been at UConn
I'm going to say something that will surprise people. This Men's Basketball team, the nucleus of it, is the best UConn team that I have seen since I've been at UConn. I like them much better than the team that went to the Final Four in 2009...although I wish they had a center like Hasheem Thabeet.
The team that beat Wichita State had heart, and they battled. They seemed to play unselfishly. They drove to the rim. They still may not have hit many three pointers, but I think they will come. I really like this team, especially being lead by Kemba Walker.
I really think that the nucleus of this team could win a National Championship. I don't know when, and it would be great if Kemba Walker were back next year...but I really have high hopes for this Men's Basketball Team...in the long term.
The team that beat Wichita State had heart, and they battled. They seemed to play unselfishly. They drove to the rim. They still may not have hit many three pointers, but I think they will come. I really like this team, especially being lead by Kemba Walker.
I really think that the nucleus of this team could win a National Championship. I don't know when, and it would be great if Kemba Walker were back next year...but I really have high hopes for this Men's Basketball Team...in the long term.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Playing basketball with girls
I was invited to play basketball with some girls I know really well this week. These girls are elite athletes, who for the most part, lack experience in basketball. Watching them try to shoot a basketball is funny for most them, with the exception of three of them.
Anyway knockout was extremely difficult for me, as a matter of fact shooting was in general. There is a huge difference between a men's and women's basketball. When you are used to shooting with a men's ball you will air ball a women's ball because you over shoot it. That was my problem. I was toast because of the difference in basketballs. It was embarrassing.
Most guys would feel really weird playing basketball with girls...especially as the only guy. Seriously it could have felt so weird being one guy with the rest all girls. It probably looked weird to most other people. They wondered what this one guy was doing. I didn't think it was weird at all. It felt normal and natural to play with them, but it's because I knew them well.
Gender differences made playing difficult too. I was taller than all but one player, but she was on my team. I was stronger than all of them...although was certainly in the worst shape of everyone, although I was still respectable I guess. I never fell down panting. Those physical advantages give me a difficult predicament. I can't not score in the game because not scoring makes me look so nonathletic and pathetic. Who wants people to think of them like that? If I score a lot then I look like a jerk because I'm beating people who are shorter and not as strong as I am...although too their credit, are in much better shape then me.
I also don't feel comfortable making too much body contact because I don't want to injure anyone, yet I don't know what to do when they shove me around from time to time.
It's also different playing basketball with girls because it's the only time I can remember playing and not keeping score...at all. No one ever shouted out the score. When I play with guys the score is kept and yelled out every possession or two.
Playing basketball with the group of girls I played with was a lot of fun (because everyone was very competitive) and a cool experience. Glad I was able to play.
Anyway knockout was extremely difficult for me, as a matter of fact shooting was in general. There is a huge difference between a men's and women's basketball. When you are used to shooting with a men's ball you will air ball a women's ball because you over shoot it. That was my problem. I was toast because of the difference in basketballs. It was embarrassing.
Most guys would feel really weird playing basketball with girls...especially as the only guy. Seriously it could have felt so weird being one guy with the rest all girls. It probably looked weird to most other people. They wondered what this one guy was doing. I didn't think it was weird at all. It felt normal and natural to play with them, but it's because I knew them well.
Gender differences made playing difficult too. I was taller than all but one player, but she was on my team. I was stronger than all of them...although was certainly in the worst shape of everyone, although I was still respectable I guess. I never fell down panting. Those physical advantages give me a difficult predicament. I can't not score in the game because not scoring makes me look so nonathletic and pathetic. Who wants people to think of them like that? If I score a lot then I look like a jerk because I'm beating people who are shorter and not as strong as I am...although too their credit, are in much better shape then me.
I also don't feel comfortable making too much body contact because I don't want to injure anyone, yet I don't know what to do when they shove me around from time to time.
It's also different playing basketball with girls because it's the only time I can remember playing and not keeping score...at all. No one ever shouted out the score. When I play with guys the score is kept and yelled out every possession or two.
Playing basketball with the group of girls I played with was a lot of fun (because everyone was very competitive) and a cool experience. Glad I was able to play.
Top UConn Athletes in my years
I've been trying to think about the top UConn athletes in the past five years that I've been to UConn...(Yes I have a degree and am working on another) Here is the first draft of my list...I think I will try to limit my list to sports with pro leagues
1. Maya Moore DUH
2. Tina Charles
3. Donald Brown
4. O'Brian White (What could have been if it wasn't for his injuries)
5. Renee Montgomery
6. Hasheem Thabeet (His height helps him on this list SO much)
7. Jordan Todman
8. Julius James (I know he was really good...wish I saw him)
9. Brittany Taylor (Two All-Americans, only player to score two goals against UNC in her freshman year of 2005, Big East Defensive Player of the Year Twice...on US National Team)
10. Darius Butler
11. A.J. Price
12. Mike Olt (UConn home run king)
13. George Springer (he could shoot way up this list)
14. Kemba Walker
15. Toni Stahl
16. Meghan Schnur (Big East Midfielder of the Year, All-American, National Team member)
17. Kalana Greene (underrated)
18. Jeff Adrien (The heart of Men's Basketball)
19. Lawrence Wilson
20. Jerome Dyson
21. Josh Ford
Stephanie Labbe (two amazing keepers who I have a hard time having this low...on this list of amazing athletes...This is my first draft...so they may move up)
23. Marcus Easley (Would be higher on list if he had more seasons like his senior year...but having a vertical threat on the football team is enough to get him on the list)
24. Akeem Priestley
25. Mel Thomas
Honorable Mentions: Cody Brown, Charde Houston, Tyvon Branch, Will Beatty, Donald Thomas, Stanley Robinson, Dori Arad, Tony Cascio*, Niki Cross, Kacey Richards, Ryan Cordiero, Lindsey Witten, Dan Davis, Matt Barnes*, Andre Dixon, Tiffany Hayes*, Zach Hurd*, Pierre LePage, Larry Taylor, Scott Lutrus
*Means they could make the list and bump someone else off depending on how they end their careers.
I think this is pretty fair...wonder what others think...
Not winning a championship hurts Men's Basketball players...
1. Maya Moore DUH
2. Tina Charles
3. Donald Brown
4. O'Brian White (What could have been if it wasn't for his injuries)
5. Renee Montgomery
6. Hasheem Thabeet (His height helps him on this list SO much)
7. Jordan Todman
8. Julius James (I know he was really good...wish I saw him)
9. Brittany Taylor (Two All-Americans, only player to score two goals against UNC in her freshman year of 2005, Big East Defensive Player of the Year Twice...on US National Team)
10. Darius Butler
11. A.J. Price
12. Mike Olt (UConn home run king)
13. George Springer (he could shoot way up this list)
14. Kemba Walker
15. Toni Stahl
16. Meghan Schnur (Big East Midfielder of the Year, All-American, National Team member)
17. Kalana Greene (underrated)
18. Jeff Adrien (The heart of Men's Basketball)
19. Lawrence Wilson
20. Jerome Dyson
21. Josh Ford
Stephanie Labbe (two amazing keepers who I have a hard time having this low...on this list of amazing athletes...This is my first draft...so they may move up)
23. Marcus Easley (Would be higher on list if he had more seasons like his senior year...but having a vertical threat on the football team is enough to get him on the list)
24. Akeem Priestley
25. Mel Thomas
Honorable Mentions: Cody Brown, Charde Houston, Tyvon Branch, Will Beatty, Donald Thomas, Stanley Robinson, Dori Arad, Tony Cascio*, Niki Cross, Kacey Richards, Ryan Cordiero, Lindsey Witten, Dan Davis, Matt Barnes*, Andre Dixon, Tiffany Hayes*, Zach Hurd*, Pierre LePage, Larry Taylor, Scott Lutrus
*Means they could make the list and bump someone else off depending on how they end their careers.
I think this is pretty fair...wonder what others think...
Not winning a championship hurts Men's Basketball players...
I'm so bad at breaks
I can't tell you how bored I am being home and having a break...
Ok I do have school work to do...but still I'm so BORED. Is it summer yet?
I started to read a book on my favorite U.S. President ever, Theodore Roosevelt. I liked that he was active, liked sports and was instrumental in creating National Parks. He was also a really strong, courageous and tough person.
The Cowboys won again. It's nice, too bad it's probably a little too late for the team to make the playoffs. Possible but highly improbable. It's a lot to ask to win six in a row, including games against Colts and two with Eagles..plus the Saints this week.
The Mets are hiring Terry Collins to be their manager and I must tell you I have no idea who he is.
UConn Women's Basketball won. I was able to attend the Baylor game which was really nice. It was so nice to be at a game and not worry about working at it. I got to sit back, relax and enjoy. So far I've been really impressed with freshman Bria Hartley and Samarie Walker.
Men's basketball looks good and I think they will have a much better season then what people think. I think they worked hard in the offseason and I think that the players will work better with each other than in years past. I like Jeremy Lamb and Niels Giffey so far.
I was sad to hear about Men's Soccer. I think they outscored their opponents something like 40-7 this year.
Ok I do have school work to do...but still I'm so BORED. Is it summer yet?
I started to read a book on my favorite U.S. President ever, Theodore Roosevelt. I liked that he was active, liked sports and was instrumental in creating National Parks. He was also a really strong, courageous and tough person.
The Cowboys won again. It's nice, too bad it's probably a little too late for the team to make the playoffs. Possible but highly improbable. It's a lot to ask to win six in a row, including games against Colts and two with Eagles..plus the Saints this week.
The Mets are hiring Terry Collins to be their manager and I must tell you I have no idea who he is.
UConn Women's Basketball won. I was able to attend the Baylor game which was really nice. It was so nice to be at a game and not worry about working at it. I got to sit back, relax and enjoy. So far I've been really impressed with freshman Bria Hartley and Samarie Walker.
Men's basketball looks good and I think they will have a much better season then what people think. I think they worked hard in the offseason and I think that the players will work better with each other than in years past. I like Jeremy Lamb and Niels Giffey so far.
I was sad to hear about Men's Soccer. I think they outscored their opponents something like 40-7 this year.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The first week is always the most depressing
The first week after a season is over is always the most depressing week for people who are involved in athletics, unless of course you are having a horrible season because then you look forward to it. All of a sudden everything you do goes from preparing for a game to preparing for...what exactly? There is always work to do but it's much less exciting when you don't have a game coming up.
The first week is the most depressing because in that week you get to re-live the past several months more than in any other week. Your not constantly working towards a new game so your mind has so much free time to ponder what just happened. It also doesn't help that everything is fresher in your mind in the first week.
Each ending to every year is also very depressing because you realize that seniors are now more than likely done with their athletics career. The final game of a season is in many ways the culmination of hard work and determination of not just one year but many, many years. Since probably the age of four or five when they first started playing their sport. If the season doesn't go as a senior had hoped or if they ended it in a sour way it's a hard thing to deal with, especially at first. Some just re-think the whole year and their regrets for several days.
It must also be a shocking thing for juniors because at the end of the season they become seniors. What goes from having a couple of seasons to look forward too goes to having that one final season. There is pressure, personal pressure more than anything else, to get it done and reach ones ultimate athletic goals as a senior because your senior year is your last chance.
Freshman probably and realistically understand the process worse than anyone else. Freshman want to win, but just like every other typical freshman they also can sit there and think to themselves that they have three more years. This doesn't just apply to sports either. Applies to three more years without worrying about paying for living expenses or worrying about needing a job, or if they have a meal plan..cooking their own food. This isn't to say that freshman don't care about a teams success. That's not the case at all. Freshman care deeply about the outcome of a season and they are crushed when it's over, but I think it's much different for a senior than a freshman.
What I'm trying to say is that freshman probably have the hardest time relating to a senior because to a freshman everything is the beginning. It's so easy for a freshman to look forward to next year. Seniors can't say that.
My least favorite part of a season ending is seeing the reactions of seniors. It's crushing to see them come up short. This is why losses during the year might make a person more mad than anything else. A loss in the season makes you mad because it might take you off track and make reaching goals more difficult. A loss to end the season is just sad because you realize that it's all over.
It's hard not to cry sometimes, whether in person or in private when you see the seniors. Looking at how hard they take it is tough, yet at the same time I wouldn't want to see them in any other way. You don't want to see crying, yet at the same time the crying is what makes people understand just how hard they have worked for years and years and years. Those tears are what shows what sport means to them. Those tears represent not just a season over, but in many cases an athletic career over. No more practices happen. Friendships are over because sport is over. Those tears represent so much. It's important that they flow, or that the emotion of sadness, or frustration or whatever might overcome an athlete who comes up short is visible because it shows others a quarter of how much sport means to that senior.
Some of the seniors are in tears for a while and if you are around them it effects you somehow. At first you don't talk to the seniors. You may give them a pat on the back but you don't say anything to them. What can you say? There is nothing you can say or do that will make them happy. The only thing that could make them happy, besides having another game to play, is to leave them alone for a little bit.
Personally when it comes to the seniors I am referring too I will really miss that class. That class meant a lot to me as a whole. It's so difficult to imagine things without them. Doing that makes me more depressed.
I think when a season is over everyone involved with the team is depressed for a little bit and in the end it's a good thing. The feeling stinks but I think you need the sorrow before you can come to grips with the situation and move on.
I don't think I can ever truly write about what it's like for a season to end because I'm not an athlete and have never played at such an elite level. I can only take the experience that I have seen through my work as a reporter and with teams and try to put myself in the shoes of others. Hopefully I am good at putting myself in other people's shoes.
And before you know it, things will be better.
The first week is the most depressing because in that week you get to re-live the past several months more than in any other week. Your not constantly working towards a new game so your mind has so much free time to ponder what just happened. It also doesn't help that everything is fresher in your mind in the first week.
Each ending to every year is also very depressing because you realize that seniors are now more than likely done with their athletics career. The final game of a season is in many ways the culmination of hard work and determination of not just one year but many, many years. Since probably the age of four or five when they first started playing their sport. If the season doesn't go as a senior had hoped or if they ended it in a sour way it's a hard thing to deal with, especially at first. Some just re-think the whole year and their regrets for several days.
It must also be a shocking thing for juniors because at the end of the season they become seniors. What goes from having a couple of seasons to look forward too goes to having that one final season. There is pressure, personal pressure more than anything else, to get it done and reach ones ultimate athletic goals as a senior because your senior year is your last chance.
Freshman probably and realistically understand the process worse than anyone else. Freshman want to win, but just like every other typical freshman they also can sit there and think to themselves that they have three more years. This doesn't just apply to sports either. Applies to three more years without worrying about paying for living expenses or worrying about needing a job, or if they have a meal plan..cooking their own food. This isn't to say that freshman don't care about a teams success. That's not the case at all. Freshman care deeply about the outcome of a season and they are crushed when it's over, but I think it's much different for a senior than a freshman.
What I'm trying to say is that freshman probably have the hardest time relating to a senior because to a freshman everything is the beginning. It's so easy for a freshman to look forward to next year. Seniors can't say that.
My least favorite part of a season ending is seeing the reactions of seniors. It's crushing to see them come up short. This is why losses during the year might make a person more mad than anything else. A loss in the season makes you mad because it might take you off track and make reaching goals more difficult. A loss to end the season is just sad because you realize that it's all over.
It's hard not to cry sometimes, whether in person or in private when you see the seniors. Looking at how hard they take it is tough, yet at the same time I wouldn't want to see them in any other way. You don't want to see crying, yet at the same time the crying is what makes people understand just how hard they have worked for years and years and years. Those tears are what shows what sport means to them. Those tears represent not just a season over, but in many cases an athletic career over. No more practices happen. Friendships are over because sport is over. Those tears represent so much. It's important that they flow, or that the emotion of sadness, or frustration or whatever might overcome an athlete who comes up short is visible because it shows others a quarter of how much sport means to that senior.
Some of the seniors are in tears for a while and if you are around them it effects you somehow. At first you don't talk to the seniors. You may give them a pat on the back but you don't say anything to them. What can you say? There is nothing you can say or do that will make them happy. The only thing that could make them happy, besides having another game to play, is to leave them alone for a little bit.
Personally when it comes to the seniors I am referring too I will really miss that class. That class meant a lot to me as a whole. It's so difficult to imagine things without them. Doing that makes me more depressed.
I think when a season is over everyone involved with the team is depressed for a little bit and in the end it's a good thing. The feeling stinks but I think you need the sorrow before you can come to grips with the situation and move on.
I don't think I can ever truly write about what it's like for a season to end because I'm not an athlete and have never played at such an elite level. I can only take the experience that I have seen through my work as a reporter and with teams and try to put myself in the shoes of others. Hopefully I am good at putting myself in other people's shoes.
And before you know it, things will be better.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sadly
Sadly some of my family members didn't want to pick up the phone when I wanted to thank them for birthday gifts because they thought that I was a political phone call.
Then to play a joke on them when they picked up I said that "I'm RTP and I'm running for governor"
I hope they write me in.
And this election day please write me in instead of not voting for someone.
I'd feel honored to get your vote, and really mad if I actually won.
This year I wrote in two members (a forward from Sweden and goalie for Jersey) to be my state representative and be a member of the board of education.
Thats what happens when you run unopposed and I don't know you. I know your going to win, so I find it more stimulating to vote for someone I know and then be able to tell them that I voted for them.
Then to play a joke on them when they picked up I said that "I'm RTP and I'm running for governor"
I hope they write me in.
And this election day please write me in instead of not voting for someone.
I'd feel honored to get your vote, and really mad if I actually won.
This year I wrote in two members (a forward from Sweden and goalie for Jersey) to be my state representative and be a member of the board of education.
Thats what happens when you run unopposed and I don't know you. I know your going to win, so I find it more stimulating to vote for someone I know and then be able to tell them that I voted for them.