College Sports

Why can’t Geno Auriemma give it a rest?

The University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball coach has a tendency to open mouth, insert foot. He isn’t shy around the media, and doesn’t mind expressing his opinion, no matter how insulting or one-sided.

He has been quoted railing against Big East rival Rutgers, dissing the entire state of New Jersey in the process (”They hate everything about us because we’re what they want to be”, “I have a home in New Jersey [on the shore]… I wouldn’t want to live there full time”, “They have trouble putting sentences together… most of it you can’t understand.” Lovely.

I especially like the part where he claims that Rutgers is the only place where the fans hate him… really? I have been many, many places, and frankly, while he is greatly respected for his knowledge and coaching ability, he isn’t exactly anybody’s first choice to share a meal with. A few years back SI did a story on how Auriemma and the UConn men’s coach Jim Calhoun don’t get along.

Well, now he is back at it.

Auriemma’s favorite nemesis, Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, ended the series with UConn this past summer. It was a loss to the women’s basketball world, as this rivalry was guaranteed to pull in the viewers, if for no other reason that to see if the two coaches would break protocol and go at it on live TV. Summitt has never publicly given a reason for ending the series, saying only that “Gino knows” why.

Most fans know that the reason had to do with Tennessee and Summitt taking exception to UConn’s recruitment of Maya Moore, specifically that UConn scheduled a tour of the nearby ESPN facility for Moore and her mother, Kathryn, during a recruiting trip in October of 2005. This was considered an “extra benefit,” a secondary violation. There were no penalties involved.

Auriemma goes on to say that Summitt “doesn’t have the courage to say it publicly.”

Not so fast, my friend.

Pat Summitt lacks nothing in the courage department. She has never backed down from a fight, and was among the first coaches to take an attitude of “bring it on”, playing the best teams year in and year out. She has never dodged any team, any time… and now she lacks courage?

I think that what may be at play here is more likely disappointment and frustration. 2007-2008 looked to be the season that UConn would return to the top of the women’s basketball mountain. Indeed, the Huskies had a great season, advancing to the Final Four, where they fell to Stanford. So instead of UConn cutting down the nets, it was Pat Summitt and her Lady Vols, claiming their eighth national championship, second in a row.

Ouch!

And here’s the kicker. When Summitt was asked during the tournament about Auriemma, she responded that she thought he had done a great job this season at UConn, and she had voted for him for Coach of the Year.

Double ouch!

Maybe Auriemma feels he needs to make Summitt into the boogie man. After all, once upon a time he did call Pat and the Lady Vols the “Evil Empire.” Maybe he feels this will give him an edge in recruiting. Maybe he thinks by trashing others, he is gaining respect.

But maybe he should just let it go.

LT

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