UConn Women Vs. UCLA

[slotdirt]

^^^ Seriously, and this is completely sexist and I'll openly admit it, but who follows chickball this closely?

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

^^^ Seriously, and this is completely sexist and I'll openly admit it, but who follows chickball this closely?

People who go to UConn, girls 12-16 who play basketball and maybe some men whose daughters play basketball.

I'm not trying to be sexist, but I find woman's basketball (on any level) to be totally unwatchable. Then again on certain night I feel the same way about the NBA.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

People who go to UConn, girls 12-16 who play basketball and maybe some men whose daughters play basketball.

I'm not trying to be sexist, but I find woman's basketball (on any level) to be totally unwatchable. Then again on certain night I feel the same way about the NBA.

It's horrific to watch...I agree.

[Slewbopper]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

People who go to UConn, girls 12-16 who play basketball and maybe some men whose daughters play basketball.

I'm not trying to be sexist, but I find woman's basketball (on any level) to be totally unwatchable. Then again on certain night I feel the same way about the NBA.

Math.....The first I heard of a female basketball player was Ann Meyers (David Meyers older sister and Mrs. Don Drysdale) when she was at UCLA in the mid 70s. About '79, I became curious about women playing bball when I read an article about Nancy Lieberman in the NY Times playing against boys on the playgrounds in Brooklyn. As a point guard she was the first great player in the women's game. I started watching on TV the once or twice a year games were shown, mostly in the Final Fours of the then AIWA. Until UConn came to prominence in the early '90s, I remained a curious fan. In that 15 or so year period of time, the players improved by leaps and bounds.

With the '94 baseball strike, I became basically fed up with the greed of professional sports as well as the college bballers leaving early for the NBA. As someone that went to UConn who has lived in CT most of my life, I gravitated to the Huskie women. What I think I appreciate the most is the girls stay at the school for four years. As a fan, I knew Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi would be playing at UConn through their senior years. If I lived anywhere else and had not attended UConn, I would probably still only have the casual interest that I did prior to their emergence as a powerhouse.

Edit: To put it into perspective, I am willing to bet that the ratings on Tuesday night were higher than some Breeders Cups

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Slewbopper

Math.....The first I heard of a female basketball player was Ann Meyers (David Meyers older sister and Mrs. Don Drysdale) when she was at UCLA in the mid 70s. About '79, I became curious about women playing bball when I read an article about Nancy Lieberman in the NY Times playing against boys on the playgrounds in Brooklyn. As a point guard she was the first great player in the women's game. I started watching on TV the once or twice a year games were shown, mostly in the Final Fours of the then AIWA. Until UConn came to prominence in the early '90s, I remained a curious fan. In that 15 or so year period of time, the players improved by leaps and bounds.

With the '94 baseball strike, I became basically fed up with the greed of professional sports as well as the college bballers leaving early for the NBA. As someone that went to UConn who has lived in CT most of my life, I gravitated to the Huskie women. What I think I appreciate the most is the girls stay at the school for four years. As a fan, I knew Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi would be playing at UConn through their senior years. If I lived anywhere else and had not attended UConn, I would probably still only have the casual interest that I did prior to their emergence as a powerhouse.

Edit: To put it into perspective, I am willing to bet that the ratings on Tuesday night were higher than some Breeders Cups

Let's be honest, they stayed in school for all four years because there is no money to be made in the WNBA. If the WNBA pay scale was 1/3rd of what the NBA is, I would think that there would be very little chance that many of these girls would be there for all 4 years.

I understand what you are saying, but you are obviously vested/genuinely interested in the program as you attended college and from the sounds of it live in the area/state.

As a sports fan from a nearby state, I could honestly say I just don't find women's basketball interesting. They could win 1000 in a row and while I acknowledge that it's an accomplishment, I honestly couldn't care less. I just don't find the sport interesting.

I do enjoy certain womans sports, just basketball isn't one of them.

[Slewbopper]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Let's be honest, they stayed in school for all four years because there is no money to be made in the WNBA. If the WNBA pay scale was 1/3rd of what the NBA is, I would think that there would be very little chance that many of these girls would be there for all 4 years.

I understand what you are saying, but you are obviously vested/genuinely interested in the program as you attended college and from the sounds of it live in the area/state.

As a sports fan from a nearby state, I could honestly say I just don't find women's basketball interesting. They could win 1000 in a row and while I acknowledge that it's an accomplishment, I honestly couldn't care less. I just don't find the sport interesting.

I do enjoy certain womans sports, just basketball isn't one of them.

There is an age limit of 22 for entering the WNBA, the same as there was in the NBA years ago. Remember Wilt jumping to the Globe Trotters from Kansas after his junior season? The exceptions to the rule are the player has completed 4 years of college or is not an American. Underage foreigners can play in the W but few do because as you said, there is just no money here. Diana Taurasi and a few other American gals are making $1 mil a season playing in Russia during the winter. There is also good money to be made in Spain, Turkey, and Israel. Weird, eh? Then they play in the W in the summer under a salary cap that only allows salaries of $40,000 to $100,000 a season.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Slewbopper

There is an age limit of 22 for entering the WNBA, the same as there was in the NBA years ago. Remember Wilt jumping to the Globe Trotters from Kansas after his junior season? The exceptions to the rule are the player has completed 4 years of college or is not an American. Underage foreigners can play in the W but few do because as you said, there is just no money here. Diana Taurasi and a few other American gals are making $1 mil a season playing in Russia during the winter. There is also good money to be made in Spain, Turkey, and Israel. Weird, eh? Then they play in the W in the summer under a salary cap that only allows salaries of $40,000 to $100,000 a season.

I find that amazing that there is such a market for them overseas.
Makes you think, why even play for 100k during the summer and jepordize your 7 digit paydays in the winter.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I find that amazing that there is such a market for them overseas.
Makes you think, why even play for 100k during the summer and jepordize your 7 digit paydays in the winter.

For da love of the game

[GPK]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Let's be honest, they stayed in school for all four years because there is no money to be made in the WNBA. If the WNBA pay scale was 1/3rd of what the NBA is, I would think that there would be very little chance that many of these girls would be there for all 4 years.

I understand what you are saying, but you are obviously vested/genuinely interested in the program as you attended college and from the sounds of it live in the area/state.

As a sports fan from a nearby state, I could honestly say I just don't find women's basketball interesting. They could win 1000 in a row and while I acknowledge that it's an accomplishment, I honestly couldn't care less. I just don't find the sport interesting.

I do enjoy certain womans sports, just basketball isn't one of them.

Women's Beach Volleyball has a tendency to capture my attention.

[blackthroatedwind]

I actually think the two streaks are extremely comparable. I wonder what the lines were in the VAST majority of UCLA's games. I bet the competitive level was shockingly similar. Division I men's hoop was a LOT different back then and UCLA was absolutely stacked. No doubt UConn has a similar competitive advantage, though many women's programs have gotten much stronger since Diana and Sue were playing there.

It's an amazing achievement and I bet Bill Walton would agree with me.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I actually think the two streaks are extremely comparable. I wonder what the lines were in the VAST majority of UCLA's games. I bet the competitive level was shockingly similar. Division I men's hoop was a LOT different back then and UCLA was absolutely stacked. No doubt UConn has a similar competitive advantage, though many women's programs have gotten much stronger since Diana and Sue were playing there.

It's an amazing achievement and I bet Bill Walton would agree with me.

In the history of the NCAA womans tourney, Uconn and Tenn have won more championships than every other team combined, 15-14. The talent pool is simply not that deep and the teams getting the premier players (currently Uconn and formerly Tenn) win 50% of the championships. The difference in the little womans basketball that I watch seems to be the bottom teams have practically no chance to ever beat a top team.

[herkhorse]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

It's an amazing achievement and I bet Bill Walton would agree with me.

oooooohhh, Bill Walton