UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma doesn’t care if you think his dominating program is unwatchable, and he is not shy about bashing those who think that to be the case.
The topic hit a boil most recently when sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe expressed on Twitter following UConn’s complete obliteration of Mississippi State in the NCAA women’s tournament.
UConn Women beat Miss St. 98-38 in NCAA tourney. Hate to punish them for being great, but they are killing women's game. Watch? No thanks
— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) March 26, 2016
Geno was not impressed.
“Don’t watch. Nobody’s putting a gun to your head to watch,” Auriemma said when asked about Shaughnessy’s comments. “So don’t watch. And don’t write about it. Spend your time on things that you think are important. If you don’t think this is important, don’t pay any attention to it. The fact you have to comment on it, says something about you, doesn’t it?”
Bravo, Geno. Bravo.
Geno responded, "There are a lot better writers than DShaughnessy but that doesnt mean he's bad for the game." https://t.co/f9N0y0vLI9
— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) March 27, 2016
The coach is 100 percent right with his response. You don’t have to pay attention to women’s basketball if you don’t want to. You also don’t have to pay attention to ridiculous comments from sportswriters on Twitter if you don’t want to. The choice is always yours to make, and one person’s negative thoughts about something do not have to sway you one way or the other.
UConn’s run is truly remarkable and worth respecting. UConn’s women’s team may be playing on an entirely different playing field in its sport, but they should not be criticized for doing what every program should aspire to be imitating. We tend to respect dynasties as they are playing out. Did people say this when John Wooden’s UCLA teams dominated the men’s college game in the 60’s and 70’s or the Chicago Bulls dominating the NBA in the 90’s? It seems the people who criticize the success of the UConn women’s basketball program are typically the ones not paying attention to the sport anyway. We don’t know just how much women’s college hoops Shaugnessy has watched or was planning on watching, but he is not the first to suggest the game is actually hurt by UConn’s dominance.
Watch if you want. Do not watch if you are not interested. There is a reason they make chocolate and vanilla, after all.
