I suppose I’m as much a homer as the next guy and granny. I want to see the UConn women’s basketball team run the table and rack up an undefeated national championship for a second straight year.
Who inside these state lines doesn’t?
But, really, can’t the Huskies make it a little more interesting? They are so dominant their games are now like watching Brady Bunch reruns. Marcia’s boyfriend is always going to steal Greg’s playbook and UConn is always going to win big.
So you get to thinking about where else your entertainment hour and dollar can be spent.
That’s the irony of excellence. After a while, it’s taken for granted and becomes a status quo — a status quo miles beyond the rest of the realm, to be sure, but a status quo all the same.
Knowing that Geno Auriemma and his Huskies would never be content with status quo, knowing they are always looking to raise the bar, perhaps it’s not too late to throw in some added challenges that maybe should have been in place all along this season.
Call them the Husky Handicaps.
* UConn has been winning by nearly 36 points a game. Perhaps, then, the opposition should be spotted, say, 30 points before the opening tap. The scoreboard would read OPP 0, UCONN -30 and the Huskies would spend much of the first half just getting to ground zero.
Had this Husky Handicap been in effect for the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament, UConn still would have won by rout — 65-39 over Southern and 60-36 over Temple. UConn’s overall record would be 23-12, the Jan. 18 game at Duke would have been a 51-48 barnburner won by UConn and West Virginia would have won the Big East championship game 32-30.
* In practice, the Huskies often go against an overloaded defense — 5 on 7, 4 on 6, that sort of thing. The coaching axiom is you play like you practice, so why not give this a twirl? Opposing coaches would have the option of going with six or seven.
* The photo you see there of Tiffany Hayes and Lorin Dixon slapping hands with UConn fans after the Temple win — selected with the help of Cub Scout Pack 10, Den 2 out of Meriden’s Thomas Hooker School on a visit to the Record-Journal — prompted another thought. Opposing teams could select a six- or seven-player rotation or go into the crowd and hand-pick a few ringers. They could also choose to suit up assistant coaches.
*All opposition field goals would count as 3-pointers. If that Husky Handicap had been effect all season, UConn would still be outscoring opponents by an average of 82.1 to 59.7 a game.
And, if that 22.4-point differential was made the pre-game spot, with the Huskies down zero to negative-23 at the opening tip — rounding UP, for Pete’s sake — they would still be 28-7. That College Game Day date with Notre Dame would have been a riveting 47-46 UConn win, with the contest tied 19-19 at halftime.
UConn would have also won the regular-season finale in South Bend 53-51. ND coach Muffet McGraw can take solace, though. Her team would have thumped UConn 44-36 in the Big East semifinals. Against these Huskies, one out of three ain’t bad.
Who inside these state lines doesn’t?
But, really, can’t the Huskies make it a little more interesting? They are so dominant their games are now like watching Brady Bunch reruns. Marcia’s boyfriend is always going to steal Greg’s playbook and UConn is always going to win big.
So you get to thinking about where else your entertainment hour and dollar can be spent.
That’s the irony of excellence. After a while, it’s taken for granted and becomes a status quo — a status quo miles beyond the rest of the realm, to be sure, but a status quo all the same.
Knowing that Geno Auriemma and his Huskies would never be content with status quo, knowing they are always looking to raise the bar, perhaps it’s not too late to throw in some added challenges that maybe should have been in place all along this season.
Call them the Husky Handicaps.
* UConn has been winning by nearly 36 points a game. Perhaps, then, the opposition should be spotted, say, 30 points before the opening tap. The scoreboard would read OPP 0, UCONN -30 and the Huskies would spend much of the first half just getting to ground zero.
Had this Husky Handicap been in effect for the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament, UConn still would have won by rout — 65-39 over Southern and 60-36 over Temple. UConn’s overall record would be 23-12, the Jan. 18 game at Duke would have been a 51-48 barnburner won by UConn and West Virginia would have won the Big East championship game 32-30.
* In practice, the Huskies often go against an overloaded defense — 5 on 7, 4 on 6, that sort of thing. The coaching axiom is you play like you practice, so why not give this a twirl? Opposing coaches would have the option of going with six or seven.
* The photo you see there of Tiffany Hayes and Lorin Dixon slapping hands with UConn fans after the Temple win — selected with the help of Cub Scout Pack 10, Den 2 out of Meriden’s Thomas Hooker School on a visit to the Record-Journal — prompted another thought. Opposing teams could select a six- or seven-player rotation or go into the crowd and hand-pick a few ringers. They could also choose to suit up assistant coaches.
*All opposition field goals would count as 3-pointers. If that Husky Handicap had been effect all season, UConn would still be outscoring opponents by an average of 82.1 to 59.7 a game.
And, if that 22.4-point differential was made the pre-game spot, with the Huskies down zero to negative-23 at the opening tip — rounding UP, for Pete’s sake — they would still be 28-7. That College Game Day date with Notre Dame would have been a riveting 47-46 UConn win, with the contest tied 19-19 at halftime.
UConn would have also won the regular-season finale in South Bend 53-51. ND coach Muffet McGraw can take solace, though. Her team would have thumped UConn 44-36 in the Big East semifinals. Against these Huskies, one out of three ain’t bad.
