You know, I really don’t have any emotional affinity for either KU or MU, even though Patty is an MU grad and got quite giddy during the football season.
But I listened to part of the KU-Stanford game today, watched the bitter end on TV and rooted for KU, mainly because they’re supposed to win games like that and they’re supposed to compete for the national title just about every year.
But I came away convinced that KU basketball is overrated, overhyped and even something of a con game.
I mean, people pay tens of thousands of dollars — sometimes hundreds, I guess — into the Williams Fund for the right to buy expensive seats to regular season games, where the gym is so loud you can’t hear a thing except the ringing in your ears.
And what does it get a KU fan — all that yelling and screaming and frothing at the mouth and rockin’ and chalkin’ and Jayhawkin’?
One NCAA tournament win, followed shortly by situational depression.
Tears and tattoos
And what about the ballyhooed freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid?
Hardly got to know ’em, and now they’re “one and done” and headed to big signing bonuses in the NBA, I guess.
What a sham!
It seems to me that neither guy has really done much to prove his pro potential. Wiggins laid a big egg today and was hardly noticeable — except for his four turnovers — and Embiid has a broken back, which should give NBA owners pause.
…And people ask me why I’m crazy about women’s basketball.
Well, here are my reasons:
** The ladies play all four years, so it’s easy to become familiar with them and watch them develop as players.
** You can see outstanding basketball for $5 to $10 during the regular season and no more than about $50 at NCAA tournament games.
** You can sit just about anywhere you want. (I like to sit right behind one of the players’ benches.)
** You don’t have to worry about hearing loss (further, in my case).
On the other hand…Tiffany Bias of Oklahoma State
** Many of those women are beautiful; you just have to sit close enough so you can study their faces and get past the baggy pants.
** And, finally, very few of the ladies have those ridiculous tattoos.
So, next week, I’ll probably be headed to either South Bend or Lincoln for some quarter-final games, and the weekend after that I’ll probably be in Nashville for the Final Four.
So, those of you who feel cheated by the KU, Kansas State and Wichita State men’s teams, perk up. Trust me — happy days are here again, just like that. Toss your brackets away and start following the ladies: They’re easier on the heart and eyes.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Go Gators!
Donovan D. Mouton | 816.719.0015 |
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Also the Mizzou Tigers …
Donovan D. Mouton | 816.719.0015 |
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Great post Fitz! And I would add that the women are great role models for our kids. If you have a daughter, son or grandchildren, bring them along.
Excellent point, Kate…For future explanations, I’m going to put that near the top of my list.
We watch sports to escape. Big $$ / commercial focus just ruins it. i’d rather watch a Rockhurst U mens game than one based on TV timeouts
On target, Kaler. Those TV timeouts sometimes last five minutes…almost (but not quite) as bad as the NFL broadcasts.
Huge sports fan here–and a women’s bball fan, too. But I won’t sit down an watch a UConn game if you paid me. I love the women’s game, but……no parity. I loved what Louisville did to Baylor last year, loved Texas A&M winning a few years ago. Curious to see what happens to Tenn since Summitt left (I think they will do well). I want Bonnie H. at Kansas gone.
Can’t stand Geno or his players, not a likeable one in the bunch (although I don’t think that is their fault, more my bias), but the women’s game needs more teams to to advance instead of the same teams every year reaching the FF.
I agree with you about Bonnie, Jennifer…even though KU beat Baylor during the regular season, in what might have been the biggest upset of the year.
I like Geno (you’ve got to admire the guy, in any event), and how can you not like Breanna Stewart and Stefanie Dolson…especially Stewart, with that big, country-girl smile?
Two Sweet 16s earned her another year or so, but I can’t imagine her getting another year at KU.
If Geno walked into a men’s practice he would not have the respect of anyone–if Pat Summitt or Kim Mulkey walked into a men’s practice, they would. Do. Not. Like. Him. Stewart maybe, but after a year around her coach, not so much.
I have always been drawn to the NCAA men’s tournament, because I used to think it was the most “democratic” of big sporting events. It seemed like there was always a chance for a small relatively unknown school to make a good run. Of course I formed that concept about 35 years ago. Decades of money, money, money, hype, hype, hype, and it’s becoming just another Super Bowl. The “one and done” phenomenon has ruined major collegiate basketball. Bill Self and John Calipari are fueling it’s demise by courting these young men, who will face serious comeuppance when they get to the NBA. (I”m parroting Charles Barkley here, but I agree with him completely). Having said that, “Go Louisville!”
Self has done far better with teams he put together out of the remnants of his superstar teams. Last years squad was an example (and it’s hard to keep them straight when you have all those wins) and my favorite was the one where a walk-on who was a super 3 point shooter became a scholarship player in the regular rotation.
Watching the Wiggins interview, I think it finally hit him that he had been phoning it in just enough to keep his prospects up , but not really caring about the team until it was over and that his college days were done.
This year’s KU team was actually a pretty good bunch of guys, from what I could tell in the Burge Student Union’s Crimson Cafe. I’m not sure their talent matched Self’s preferred game, though. Wiggins is very young and predictably inconsistent, with so much talent that others expected him to lead but with inexperience that made that job impossible for him. I’m absolutely in agreement that his significance was way overhyped, though, considering I heard about his signing in a class, from an adjunct professor who made the news flash his first statement of the day. Tarik Black impresses: he’s a grad student, playing as a senior transfer, acting like a grownup, saying all the right things to teammates and opponents in the final game, even though he missed a chance to play in his hometown of Memphis when KU did not advance. The kid that grabbed an opponent in the balls at the tourney last year was an embarrassment to KU. I don’t think this year’s team had any jerks.
There is truth to the opinion that Self’s “system” works well with uppperclassmen. He stresses defense first and that can take time at the D-1 level. He prefers the bigs get the ball often and first. He just doesn’t like the guards to jack 3s early in the shot clock. His best teams have not been like this year at all–loaded freshman (even lottery pick freshmen). But, make no mistake, losing Joel the last three weeks was detrimental to the team, he covered up a lot of the guards bad defense.
watched all the regional games from behind the benches and I have to say I was impressed by bill self..at no point during any of the games did he lose his mind and start screaming and dropping the” f bomb” at his players he talked to them and worked the system it just didn’t work out for ku, both wife mary and daughter claire are mu grads and i’m sure are loving the fact that no Kansas team moved on. felt sorry for Wichita state, would have been better off losing a game in the valley, 35 & 1 and you’re out. st. Louis was a graveyard for Kansas this year.
Good to hear the report on Bill Self. He’s got a good temperament; you’ve just about got to at that level, or you end up flaming out like Bobby Knight.