The UConn women’s basketball team was unbeaten in the last 90 games. Stanford ended that.
Some people, and by that I primarily mean UConn coach Geno Auriemma, have been stomping around, upset that women aren’t getting their due. The headline is, Auriemma’s team broke the UCLA men’s team’s record of 88 consecutive wins.
Truthfully, the University of Connecticut women DIDN’T break the UCLA record. Do you understand why that “broken record” claim is a lie? Because these young ladies do not play men’s basketball and never did. Men’s basketball and women’s basketball are different. The overlap is, the sport of basketball. You might claim that it’s a collegiate record. I’ll answer by saying, You’re trying to backdoor this conversation. You are trying to bring those John Wooden-coached teams down so that you can compare it to an inferior product.
Anyway. The week they “bested the men”, Coach Auriemma demanded some R E S P E C T. “And all the miserable bastards that follow men’s basketball and don’t want us to break the record are all here because they’re pissed,” he said.
I wondered why the coach felt he needed to get that off of his chest. (Other than, he got to slip in that “break the record” phrase in there, which, again: Lie.) Probably he knows that it’s hard for the basketball fan to respect Globetrotter-General type scores for most of UConn’s schedule. It’s hard for a person who appreciates great basketball being played, to watch bunny layups being missed consistently and potential assists becoming turnovers because these females can’t catch. Yeah, we know the UConn and the Stanford and a few other teams look relatively sharp. They’re just outliers.
A lot has been made of Tom Brady avoiding throwing a pick this season. He broke the all-time record for attempts without an interception. Having seen every New England game this season, I remember at least five catch-and-drop interceptions out of Brady’s hand. The pick-less streak is more impressive on paper. Those dropped interceptions that left my mouth hanging were good fortune on Brady’s part, not proof of his skill.
Then again, a dropped pick is meaningless. Almost only counts in horseshoes and nuclear weapons. I’m on the East Coast, and CBS usually shows Pittsburgh or New England on Sunday. That’s it and that’s that. They know what draws numbers, better than I ever will, and those two teams attract the people.
Why reference Brady and football? It’s about numbers. Statistics. This UConn streak is supposed to impress us. I ought to think they’re excellent, right? It’s meant to draw a few people who don’t watch women hoop, become a little bit interested. “They bested the best men in history!” Unfortunately, you can’t fool all the people, all the time.
We like statistics. More than that. We simply like those numbers. Numbers can be dangerous. They don’t lie. But we do.