Cardinal rule!!

There's still a winning streak going on and a certain #23 made sure that it would continue.  I'm talking about the Stanford Cardinal home game win streak at Maples Pavilion, which now stands at 53.  The #23 I'm talking about is senior guard Jeanette Pohlen, who had a game high 31 points, while helping the Cardinal end UConn's 90 game win streak.  Something had to give.




Jeanette Pohlen: the other # 23

Stanford played like a unit, out-hustling and out-rebounding the Huskies and making sure that it was going to be anyone else but Maya Moore to carry UConn to victory.  Maya Moore went 5-15 from the floor for 14 points and while she got some help from Bria Hartley (14 pts) and Kayla Farris (19 pts), it still wasn't enough to extend the streak.  UConn never even led at any point in this game; first time in five years that happened.


UConn's win streak started after a loss to Stanford in the Final Four back in 2008.  During the 90 game win streak, they beat Stanford 3 times including the last two Final Four meetings;  the national semis in 2009 and the national title game in 2010.  The other meeting was in Hartford, CT, where Stanford led at halftime but couldn't keep up with the Huskies in the second half.


Maya Moore: missing in action

Personally, I wouldn't call this Stanford win an upset.  Stanford are a legit program and have the ability to recruit on a national scale just like Connecticut.  They have enough talent to be able to win games just like these and so their win shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. 


What this game proves however, is that UConn will only go as far as Maya Moore will take them.  Rarely does she ever have an off night, but when she does, there's no Tina Charles or Renee Montgomery to help pick up the slack.  She is in a very similar situation to Diana Taurasi, who willed UConn to national titles in 2003 & 2004 and helped extend a winning streak that would climax at 70 games. 




Diana Taurasi: UConn legend

Diana Taurasi was a key contributor on the 2002 national championship team, but it was Sue Bird and Swin Cash who were headliners that season.  Upon their departure, the onus fell on Taurasi to carry the team and she delivered; leading to Geno Auriemma's famous quote, "We have Diana, and you don't", in response to a reporter's question as to why he felt UConn would win the 2004 title.  Taurasi not only established herself as a UConn legend, but as one the great ones to have played the women's game.


Maya Moore has already passed Taurasi on the all-time scoring chart and is on pace to set the record for most career points at Connecticut; a record that is currently held by former teammate Tina Charles.  If Moore can lead this team a national championship, she will undoubtedly be hailed as the best ever to have come through the program. 

Stanford now joins both Notre Dame's football and men's basketball programs on the list of legend slayers.  Oklahoma's 47 game win streak in football started and ended with a loss to the Fighting Irish; the UCLA men's basketball also tasted a little Irish luck during their 88 game win streak. 

Both Stanford and Connecticut of course will move on to their next games, but don't be surprised if they end up playing each other for the national championship.

Remember the Alamo.....bowl!!!

It was exactly six years ago to the day, when I made the trip to San Antonio to watch Oklahoma State play against The Ohio State University (that's how they call it, don't ask me why).  My good friends hooked me up with a ticket (thank you to Barry and Connie Bloyd) that actually turned out to be a great seat.  I had a great trip to San Antonio (well except the Greyhound ride back home).  I got to connect with some old friends, made some new friends, visited the San Antonio Zoo and of course, the Riverwalk.  I had a blast!!  And that was as good as it got.


Come game time, it was a whole different story.  The only things that these two squads had in common was that they played football and shared the same initials.  Other than that, there were two different sets of players on the field; NFL caliber talent vs Division I football talent.  Oklahoma State just never got going against an Ohio State team that at 7-4, was having a considerably down year.


Flash forward to yesterday and it was neat to see the Cowboys round off what has been their best season in school history so far, and snap a 2 game bowl skid while they were at it.  I'm already sick and tired of hearing these commentators and analysts state the same thing, over and over and over and over...... (I could do this all day), that Oklahoma State was supposed to have been rebuilding, they had been picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12..... and so on.  Lookie here guys, and I'm not naming anyone specific (Craig James), we've heard it since spring training, the summer workouts and the entire season!!  How about telling something that we don't already know, okay?


Catch him if you can; oh wait, YOU CANT!!!



At some point in the first quarter, Justin Blackmon got wide open for a pass that went 71 yards for a touchdown.  Arizona corner back Robert Golden was probably thinking that he would have help from a safety over the top, and when that didn't happen, Blackmon did!!  Golden didn't even bother trying to chase him down.  Somebody help me out here; Blackmon is a 1st team All-American, he has lit up just about every cornerback that single covered him, he is a Biletnikoff Award winner (given to the best receiver in the country), yet somehow, he got behind your defense!!  If I was Mike Stoops, I would have him double covered from the day he arrived in San Antonio.  I'd make sure there were 2 defenders following him EVERYWHERE he went (OK, not just about everywhere!!).


Not to be left out of the fun, the defense got in on the act collecting 5 sacks and 3 interceptions.  Markelle Martin was probably the busiest player on the defensive side.  Beside returning an interception for a touchdown, he was busy racking up personal foul penalties left and right.  I'm thinking he must have had a side-bet with someone because he was playing like a man possessed.  Whatever floats your boat, buddy.

Arizona did just about everything but score.  They held the ball for 15 more minutes, ran over 20 more plays and did everything they could to keep Oklahoma State's orange-hot offense off the field.  Only problem was that when they couldn't score, the Cowboys didn't mind showing them how it's done.  I was hoping to see a flea-flicker from OSU at some point, but I guess they didn't get around to it because Dana Holgorsen was too busy chugging a Red Bull on the sideline; talk about free publicity.

I was rather disappointed when the officials reversed Michael Harrison's obvious touchdown.  It appeared to me that he had made a clean catch, had possession as he crossed the goal line and only lost the ball after the defender tried to wrestle it from him.  Poke nation thought "touchdown", the officials ruled "incomplete pass"; oh well!!

Let's do this again sometime!!

With Arizona set to make a trip to Stillwater, OK next September, I don't think the Wildcats, Robert Golden in particular, will be looking forward to seeing Justin Blackmon around.  Prior to the game, there were rumours that Blackmon had told some fans that would be returning for his junior season.  Other rumours have it that he had submitted some paperwork to the NFL to see get an evaluation of where he would likely be drafted should he leave.

I wouldn't mind him coming back for another season, but as I've always understood with regards to the NFL draft, you leave when you're hot and your draft stock is high.  Last I checked, he was projected to be a 1st round (25th overall) pick and ranked as the 3rd best receiver in the draft.  If you're wondering why he is rated as the 3rd best receiver, don't ask me, I'm just quoting the reports.

It was really great to see Oklahoma State players having fun.  It's been a great season and San Antonio isn't a bad place to be, especially at this time of the year.  I can only imagine that the trip back home was a lot better than the last time they played in the Alamo Bowl.

Four-letter acronym for hypocrisy.....

I'm sure that I am not the first person who is confused by the hypocrisy of the NCAA, and neither will I be the last one.  A lot of sports analysts are on the offensive as well, in the wake of the recent suspensions handed out to six Ohio State players who traded autographs for tattoos, and for selling other memorabilia as well.  Among the five players suspended include, QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Dan Herron and WR DeVier Posey.


They have been ordered to repay back anywhere between $1,500-$2,500 and will miss the first five games of the 2011 season.  Here's the kicker though; they have been allowed  to play in the 2011 Sugar Bowl against Arkansas because according to the NCAA, they were not "properly educated" on the rules regarding their "amateur" status.  And there lies the rub.


Give me a break!!  I wouldn't buy this excuse for even half the price!  So these players won't play the first five games of next season, but they're allowed to play in their bowl game, despite their infractions?  Ohio State's first five games of next season are: Akron, Toledo, Miami (FL), Colorado, Michigan State; except for the Miami game, the rest of the fixtures will be in Columbus, OH.  The Buckeyes might go 4-1 at the very least on that schedule; otherwise, it's a sweep.  Another thing to consider is that these players are eligible for the NFL draft, so don't be surprised if they make the jump to the NFL and skip their punishment altogether.


No disrespect to Arkansas, who very much deserves to be in the Sugar Bowl.  They pushed Alabama to the wire, traded blows with Auburn, beat South Carolina convincingly (in Columbia, SC too; and this was the same Carolina team that played for the SEC title), and they beat a great LSU team.  Once again, no disrespect to Arkansas, but it's Ohio State that is the bigger draw in this match-up.  An Ohio State without it's star quarterback, running back and receiver isn't exactly good for ratings.  Do the math and get back to me.


This is probably the same reason that Cameron Newton will lead Auburn into the national championship game, despite being the subject of a "pay-for-play" deal orchestrated by his father.  In Cam's case, he claimed that "he didn't know" his father was trying to auction him off to the highest bidder.  I'm not accusing Newton of anything here, but please, try and tell me that Auburn would have beat South Carolina in the SEC title game had Newton been declared ineligible.


Earlier in the season, Georgia receiver A.J. Green was suspended for the first 4 games after he admitted to selling his jersey from last year's Independence Bowl.  North Carolina started the season with 12 players suspended for various school/NCAA violations.  Last year, Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant was suspended for the remainder of the season, because he lied about having met with an agent.  Dez did not take any money or sign any contracts, so I was thinking that maybe a two-game suspension might suffice.  In another case, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, was forced to miss the 2004 Alamo Bowl and the first game of the 2005 season after it was discovered that he took $500 from a booster.


I hope you can understand why I'm confused.  Don't get me wrong, because I'm not condoning what either of these guys did.  What I'm failing to understand here is why some players got punished right away, while the current group of Ohio State players don't get punished at all?  I could sit here and scratch my head all day long, and still won't get it.

I'm going to let ya'll mess with this one; I'm folding!!

89 consecutive wins; but where is the R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!

The Connecticut women's basketball team now hold the longest winning streak in Division 1 college basketball, courtesy of a 92-63 rout of Florida State.  It doesn't matter whether you talk about men's or women's hoops; we are just talking Division One hoops, period.

Maya Moore making it happen

In such a crucial game, it was only fitting that Maya Moore took center stage to bring home the win and make sure that this Connecticut would go down in history as one of the best teams to ever grace the hardwood.  Moore did it all; inside and out, on her way to a career high 41 points.  Also getting in on the action were Tiffany Hayes (14 points) and Bria Hartley (21 points), who is being tipped as the next big star for this program.


Outside of Maya Moore, Lorin Dixon and Caroline Doty, the current crop of Husky players have yet to play on a losing team.  They probably couldn't spell it if you drilled them.  UConn survived Baylor earlier in the season and play Stanford on the 30th of this month; the last team to beat them, in case you forgot.


Prior to writing this article, I stopped by a few forums to check out what people thought about UConn and women's basketball in general.  What I read didn't surprise me at all, in fact some of the comments were downright stupid if you ask me.  There was a large number of people who were simply happy for the lady Huskies, while others said that they couldn't even beat an average boys high school team.  Seriously?


the man of the hour

Regardless of what people may say, UConn has managed to accomplish something that is very rare and we may never get to see again in our lifetime.  There is some truth about the lack of parity in the women's game; but that argument completely undermines the great job that the UConn staff does when it comes to recruiting and coaching.

A good number of comments stated that "Geno Auriemma should coach men's basketball".  What more does he need to prove?  Maybe women's basketball is "boring" because they actually learn the fundamentals, play as a team and the players actually graduate from school.  Maybe that is why it is possible to establish dominant programs in the women's game.  In the men's game, you're dealing with players who only care about improving their draft stock and what kind of shoe deal they'll get once they declare for the draft; so you're looking at a situation where you're recruiting a lot of one-and-done players.  You can't be dominant when your best players don't stick around, right?  I'm not saying that Auriemma can't coach men, but who would want to give up a good thing?

The immortal John Wooden

Of course, the biggest story of the evening is UConn surpassing the 88 game win streak, set by John Wooden's UCLA teams from 1971-1974.  First of all, these are two different teams from two different eras.  While it's still basketball, men's hoops and women's hoops are two different brands.  You can not compare these two teams against each other.  It is not and will never be the same thing; at all.


When, if ever, will people learn to not read too much into everything that's put out there.  The media has done more than it's fair share of bringing this discussion to the table, and people have take the bait; hook, line and sinker.  People are talking indeed, whether or not they watch the women's game.  It's plain and simple, you either root for them, root against them or you just don't care.


Just because UCLA's record was against men's teams, and Connecticut's record was against women's teams, does not make the Huskies' record any less relevant.  UCLA's record was, is and will always be relevant given the fact no other men's program has even come close to accomplishing what they did.  What these two teams have in common, is that they beat the teams in front of them; which is what they are supposed to do if they want to win, right?

Whether Connecticut measures up to UCLA isn't the topic here, because it's not even relevant.  These ladies shouldn't be victims of their own success.  To keep it simple, give respect where it's due; they earned it.  Take it for what it is, congratulate them, give them a pat on the back or whatever and just leave them be; they've got a streak to preserve.

UConn Lady Huskies; 88 and counting.......

Should the UConn lady Huskies emerge victorious against Florida State tonight, they will be in sole possession of the longest winning streak in college basketball (division 1 at least) period.  At 88 wins, they are currently tied with UCLA men's basketball team of the early 70's for consecutive games won.

Maya Moore; the alpha husky.

You'd have to go all the way back to April 2008, in the National Semifinals, to see when this team last lost a game.  Maya Moore, UConn's all-everything, was a freshman back then, and the top rated Huskies lost to a Candice Wiggins-inspired Stanford team; avenging an earlier loss to the Huskies in the process.

Maya Moore was the focus of a recruiting war between Tennessee and Connecticut, that was so intense, it strained the "working" relationship between Pat Summitt (Vols coach) and Geno Auriemma; and even led to the cancellation of their regular season series between these 2 powerhouses.  I say "working" relationship, because these two coaches could, quite honestly, care less for the other.  It's there for everyone to see (Am I the only one here who thinks that maybe these 2 need a room?).

With regards to the series being cancelled, despite one year left on the contract, Pat Summitt said that it would help Tennessee develop other rivalries, while Geno Auriemma -who's never been known to pull any punches - called out Summitt for claiming that UConn cheated to get Moore.  Go figure.

Having seen Moore play for three years now, I can see what the hype was all about.  She is playing head and shoulders above everyone else.  She is to coach Auriemma what Rebecca Lobo, Swin Cash, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have been in seasons before.  He sure can recruit them can't he?

When the streak started, the Huskies were anchored by Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery.  After Montgomery left, the onus fell on Tina Charles to lead the team.  Charles did her work on the inside, swatting anything and everything withing 3 feet of the rim, while Moore covered the perimeter.  When all else failed, there was one solution; pass the ball to Moore.  This was the case when she single-handedly bailed a struggling team during last year's championship against Stanford.

This season, it's all about Maya Moore.  Everyone knows who's going to take the most shots, and who's getting the ball when the game's on the line.  It's really not rocket science.  Yet somehow, she just can't be stopped.  Of course, this is a team sport and everyone else is playing their part; but without Maya Moore, this streak would have ended a lot sooner.

What UConn have achieved already is remarkable.  However, questions are flying in left and right, asking whether this win streak is bad for women's basketball; a sport that hardly gets any "recognition" if at all.  Would they be getting this much attention if they weren't close to tying the 88 game streak by the UCLA men.  Would anyone even care had the streak ended earlier?  Would the Huskies be better served by losing now rather later in the season?

Whatever the questions may be, one thing stands out loud and clear; people are paying attention.  Whether they care for the sport or not, they are watching.  They might not watch each and every game, but they will try and catch up to see how the Huskies are doing.  That can only mean that the win streak is good for women's basketball; I've never known anything bad to come out of winning.  So when the streak does come to an end, it still won't take away from what these ladies have managed to accomplish.

Would the Huskies be better off losing now rather than later?  Let's keep watching and we'll find out, won't we?