As a rule, I do not watch any women’s sports programs.
Ladies, you may call me a chauvinist pig or any other name you wish but I don’t find any of them the least bit exciting. All female tennis players do is grunt every time they hit the ball (come to think of it, the men do, too); softball is about as thrilling as a soccer game with scores of 1-0 and maybe 2-1 if you want to see a lot of offense; and golf, well, let’s just leave that one alone, shall we?
I think that it is strange that women are allowed to compete in men’s sports but men can’t play in a women’s golf tournament, for example. Compete may be too kind a word since I don’t think Danica Patrick or that spoiled child, Michele Wie, has even come close to winning anything meaningful.
But I will be the first to admit when I see talent and there is a woman currently playing college basketball that just may be the best the game has ever seen. Technically, she isn’t playing any more since she is a senior and her team, the Connecticut Huskies, have been eliminated from the Women’s NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to see how she does with the pros but, then, it will also be interesting to see if the league itself, survives.
Maya Moore just completed the greatest college career in the history of the game. That is not just my opinion but the opinion of Pat Summitt, the legendary coach of Tennessee, who called her the greatest ever. And Summitt should know since she has coached some of the best herself.
As Georgians, we should be extremely proud of Moore’s accomplishments since she grew up just down the road a bit playing her high school ball at Collins Hill High in Gwinnett County.
Her records there are extraordinary. She is the all-time leader in school history in points and rebounds and was named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in both 2006 (as a Junior) and 2007. While at Collins Hill, the team had a record of 125-3 and won the state championship in its division three straight years. Colleges throughout the country were clamoring for her talents but she decided on Connecticut and her skills have shone just as brightly at the collegiate level as they did in high school.
To say that Moore has had an outstanding college career is a tremendous understatement. During her four years the Huskies won two National Championships and were headed toward a third straight until they got upset by Notre Dame in this year’s tourney. While at UConn, Moore averaged 19.7 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game but here’s a stat that I think says much more. Moore played an average of 33 minutes per game. She was on the court most of the time as both a statistical leader but also as a leader on the court.
If you have ever heard her interviewed, you will agree with me that she is a very poised young woman. I don’t know what her GPA is, but she appears to be quite intelligent and well-spoken. She was asked if she had any regrets about not winning this year’s championship and she simply said that “the other girls deserved to win because they had worked so hard.” Not “I’ve” worked hard and “I” deserved it, but they. Sounds like she knows that it is a team sport.
There might be others who would say that previous women stars like Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, Ann Meyers, Cheryl Miller, Diana Taurisi, and even the great Babe Diedrickson Zaharis were the greatest. And I would certainly be remiss as a Georgia Bulldog faithful not to mention the great Teresa Edwards, who in my mind, is the only close candidate to Moore’s claim as greatest. But when all is said and done, I have to admit that I think those that really follow the women’s game will give the crown of “Greatest Ever” to Maya Moore. Congratulations, Maya for your fantastic accomplishments.
While we’re on the subject of UConn basketball, I guess we have to also send our congratulations to Coach Jim Calhoun and the men’s team for winning this year’s National Championship. In what has to be one of the greatest finishes to a season ever, the Huskies persevered and won the tourney defeating Butler in the championship game. For those of you who didn’t watch it, it was not the prettiest of games since Butler shot below 20% from the field for the game. But the only thing that matters at the end of the game is if you have more points than your opponent…. And Connecticut did.
There still remains a big cloud hanging over the program and Calhoun, personally, will have to serve a suspension next year as some of the punishment for violations, but one thing is clear- his players love Jim Calhoun. Calhoun is gruff and he would never win the most personable award but he is obviously a good coach.
This is his third national title with UConn and that puts him in pretty elite company. Only John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Coach K at Duke, and Bobby Knight have won three or more. So, he can share that honor….at least for now.
If the NCAA finds more violations, particularly if they affected any of the recruits that are playing on this year’s team, they could be stripped of the title but I don’t think that will happen.
Even if it does it doesn’t take away from the remarkable run they made starting with the Big East tournament all the way through March Madness. I will admit that I was pulling for Butler but congratulations for a job well done.
Randy Blalock is a columnist for The Barrow Journal. Send comments about this column to rblalock@mindspring.com.
