Thank God I never bet anything more than my pride on sporting events. And it’s a damn good thing I have so much of it. Because neither my pick for the men’s championship (Ohio State) nor the women’s (Baylor) even made the Final Four.
Truth be told, I became even less interested than usual in the men’s tournament after it became all about Kevin Ware, the second-string player from Louisville who broke his leg in truly retching fashion during an Elite Eight game against Duke.
I’m sure the stars of his team – who busted their asses all year to get the national attention being heaped on Ware – resented having to bask in his reflected glow. And who can blame them?
But kudos to Michigan State for at least making Monday night’s championship game somewhat entertaining and suspenseful.
Louisville won 82-76. This made its coach, Rick Pitino, the first in NCAA history to win a national championship coaching two different teams. However, I am not sure what to make of the incestuous fact that both teams hail from Kentucky: Pitino also coached the Kentucky Wildcats to a national championship in 1996.
Incidentally, one aspect of the indentured servitude college athletics have become is the way coaches (like Pitino) make millions every year on the talents of players (like Ware) – who are lucky to graduate with a degree that is worth the paper it’s written on.
The hypocrisy inherent in this is beyond shameful. This is why I think universities should be required to compensate student athletes in direct proportion to the way owners of professional teams compensate their players.
(“Reggie Bush Forfeits Heisman Trophy,” The iPINIONS Journal, September 16, 2010)
Not to mention that – for 99 percent of college Basketball players – making millions in the NBA is just a pipe dream.
As for the women’s championship game last night, well, you can be forgiven for having no clue it was being played:
Instead of commanding network coverage in primetime, like the men’s championship, the women’s was relegated to cable last night, which guaranteed only a fraction of the viewership. Yet the TV executives who are responsible for dissing women’s college Basketball in this fashion are the very ones who wonder why they can’t get better ratings for the fledgling women’s professional league – the WNBA.
Moreover, what does all of this say to female college athletes, as well as to young girls who we encourage to have the same interest in sports as young boys…? Frankly, it says that male chauvinism, sexism, and discrimination against women in sports not only still exist but are blithely tolerated.
Sorry girls….
(“NCAA Women’s Championship,” The iPINIONS Journal, April 8, 2009)
As it happens, though, this game was hardly worthy of network coverage. Because UConn so dominated Louisville that, by midway through the first half, the game was effectively over.
UConn ended up winning by the largest margin in NCAA championship history 93-60. Ironically, this mirrored its defeat of this same college for the 2009 championship.
Apropos of which, and perhaps more important, last night’s victory handed UConn’s coach, Geno Auriemma, his eighth national title: another coach making out like a plantation overseer on a college campus.
Related commentaries:
Reggie Bush…
NCAA women’s…