I love college sports. All of them. When March rolls around, you can never have to much basketball to watch. 3 of the 4 men's reg. finals were blowouts by thehalf. Davidson took Kansas to the wire. I have watched the womens tourney for about the last 10 years or so. They play an exciting game of ball. Every possession, both offense and defense work. Unlike the men, where I think they all take plays "off". With the exception of Tenn, and UConn, the womens tourney is always unpredictable. They play with much more passon than the men do.
This is my first women's basketball game candace parker. Texas A&M is leading TN by 3 with about 5 min to go candace parker. The announcers are either employed by TN candace parker, or they are stuck for something to say candace parker. I think I'll go watch the NIT candace parker. If all this league has is one player candace parker, there will be a funny call at the end to make sure candace parker is in the next round candace parker.
I feel the passion in both the men's and women's games is extremely high - neither collectively is any better but, understandedly, some games are more fever-pitched, hyped-up than others. The Regional Finals games were more exciting for the women than the men 'this year,' but not all years.
Both traditionally have mostly lousy opening weekend games, with very few upsets. This year there were way more upsets in the opening rounds for the men (or at least it seemed that way, with several 12 & 13 seeds winning in Tampa). Traditionally, it seems the women usually advance mainly Seeds 1 to 5 to Sweet 16, and then men advance about 2-4 lower seeds(6-12 or so).
That makes for a more exciting opening weekend for the men (with all the upsets) and a more exciting Sweet 16 for the women, with very few underdogs making it the Regional Semis, and oftentimes better games.
The thing I love about Women's NCAA games more than guys is the scheduling.
They schedule tough pre conference opponents. You always see TN play UConn,Rutgers, Unc, and Duke before conference. Thats awesome I wish guys did that.
UConn and TN are the most exciting games to watch almost more than Duke UNC
Whomever thinks Women's games are just as exciting is crazy!! It's like watching the equivalent of High School JV Basketball when compared to their male counterparts at both the Collegiate and Pro level. Worse than that is the WNBA taking up major network TV time with that boring crap in the middle of summertime. So unexciting watching so-called athletes with about a three inch vertical leap trying to play basketball and shooting layups and set shots. The best women athletes are the Volleyball and Field Hockey Players.
The one admonition I'd make to women's basketball is a coaching safety issue. Don't let winning a few basketball games let you get engrossed in this oft-repeated insane notion that you (coach so and so) are some psychological genius. These are children, and a lot of them are very fragile. The men's game has had a number of suicides over the years. Other high-pressure elements of general college life has produced a number of suicides in the student body at large. Don't get so intent on psyching these kids that you begin to think you know what a licensed therapist knows. Doing that makes you dangerous, not genius. Go Stanford.
And now for the complete and total homer commentary: Geaux Tigers. We don't care how we beat TN, and we certainly can't stop laughing about all that hogwash about only being satisfied if we beat TN at full streghth. If Cadace Parker plays in a full body cast to protect her shoulder, if Pat summit get Montezuma's revenge on the bench and if remaining TN players all start sneezing uncontrollably for the whole game, we don't care. We just want to win tonight AND Tuesday. Geaux Tigers.
i like watching the girls game sometimes better then the mens game it is more exciting some times and a lot closer games and a lot faster to and go vols tonight
Yeah. I'm sick of hearing about Candace Parker...she's a great player, but there are better. If it were up to the announcers, Tennessee would only have to play Candace Parker and have their coach to win the game. I think that's an insult to the rest of the team.
If Tennessee comes out and plays as poorly as they did against TX A&M and LSU, they're going to get beat badly by Stanford (the first team they've played since the Elite Eight against a team that can score). If they play well, they have a very good shot at winning.
CANDACE PARKER, YOU ARE #1 WITH YOUR HANDS TIED BEHIND YOUR BACK!!! REALLY!!! I want to thank you, the Tennessee Lady Vols for all of the joy that you have brought to my life these past few years. I have played on a basketball team and have enjoyed watching the game for years but never have I seen so much versatility from a player than from you, MS. CANDACE PARKER! It has been such an honor to have you live, play basketball, and get a good education in one of the best cities in America, Knoxville, Tn. We truly are proud of our women's basketball program and the tradition here at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and of especially Ms. Pat Summitt! She has brought the game of women's basketball so far and the game is so much better because of you Pat and I thank you so much for giving us that! One thing that I always noticed about you Pat after the games is that you thanked all of the fans for being there and yo let them know how much you appreciated them for being there. If you could go back and watch all of Tennessee's games these past two years then you will know why Tennessee Lady Vols have such good fans and why these players are destined to be number one in the nation!!! Yes, these championship games will undoubtedly make the teams a bit nervous when playing on such a national stage and even players that score double figures about every game might not be able to score so well in these tournaments but how do you think Tennessee got to this point in the first place - somebody on the team had to know how to score as well as defend and during all of the previous 30 games that Tennessee won that is what they did. Everyone has been going on about Candice Wiggins making all of those shots. Listen, if they are scoring that many points then that means that there is not any good defense or yet they wouldn't be scoring that many points. Here is some of Pat Summitt's famous words. She says that "Offense Sells Tickets, Defense Wins Games, and Rebounding Wins Championships!!! It makes good sense to me!!! Oh Yes, Tennessee's freshmen Angie Bjorklund shot one three after another during the season and fell short somewhat in the tournaments but boy oh boy did she make up for it with her defense(as Pat Summitt also says, "You might not be able to depend on making your shots all of the time but one thing you can count on is how you handle your defense and as we all know well by now that excellent defense can shut a hot handed shooting team completely down and that is what the lady vols did to the Stanford Cardinals), Alexis Hornbuckle scored high points at many of the games and the steals you made - YOU GO GIRL!!!, Nicky Anosike can play defense like nobody I have ever seen before and during the season she hit almost every one of her foul shots and many other shots and also scored high(ESPN never shows that, they mostly always point out the players faults - anyone that knows anything about sports at all knows that), Shannon Bobbitt is the fastest guard I have ever seen and can dribble that ball around in circles compared to many others I have seen, during the season she scored high scoring points as well and got the ball inside where it needed to be when necessary, to Ms. Parker, Alberta Auguste is also the greatest on defense and has also had high scoring during the season and has made points when we needed them most, Vicky Baugh, thank you for coming to Tennessee all the way from California and making such a contribution to this precious & tough Tennessee team, Alex Fuller, don't think that I have forgotten you, you stepped up many times when your team needed you scoring eighteen (18) pts. and more in some games and you are a tough defender as well as a very good shooter and your kindness and good looks has made it all the better for this team, Cait MacMahan, we haven't forgotten and I am glad that you will be there to play and support our team next year as one of our guards who has experience and we also love your Mom and we hope that her cancer is in remission, tell her we love her too, now Sydney Smallbone, we have watched you also grow with the team this year and are looking forward to you doing great things in 2009 and after and we also appreciate your hustle on defense and trying to make yourself a better player for the team, and Kelley Cain I have not seen you play any this year because of your injury but you have been around the whole season to see what it takes to win a national championship and I know that you will be there next year and be a force to be reckoned with and we fans can't wait. LADY VOLS, YOU LITERALLY SHUT THE CARDINALS DOWN, I MEAN SHUT THEM DOWN AND WE LOVED IT!!! TO ALL OF THE NAYSAYERS, ESPN AND FORMER LADY VOL KARA LAWSON, WE LOVE YOUR SUPPORT - NOT!!! We do love you Kara but you should know better! Anyway, thank to all who made these past few years of Tennessee womens basketball the best. WE LOVE ALL OF YOU GIRLS THAT ARE LEAVING AND WE HOPE THAT YOU KEEP IN TOUCH AND THAT WE SEE YOU ON THE NEWS LOCALLY FROM TIME TO TIME AND WE WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU CANDACE AND OTHERS PLAYING IN THE WNBA! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!
I agree with TJCONEY, it is time for ESPN, CBS, and the other sports outlets to stop forcing women's basketball down our throats. Outside of family members of the players and a select few within the university nobody cares about women's basketball or women's sports in general. Now before someone chimes in about large crowds at Tennessee games or something of that nature, I will respond in advance with, "college kids look for any reason to drink and party." Why not justify there Wednesday morning hangover than they were out celebrating the women's basketball win. As for the "pros", the WNBA has never made money for the NBA and I am a bit stupified as to why it still exists. I guess the NBA is afraid the 10's of people who watch those games on ESPN 2 in the summertime might send them nasty e-mails.
Unless it is golf or tennis, women's athletics is very painful to watch.
How much will Candace Parker make next year? i saw somewhere that she will only make the league maximum for rookies of 30,000 dollars. How much will she make in the offseason in europe? How much will sponsors pay to use her name and personality?
CANDACE PARKER, YOU ARE #1 WITH YOUR HANDS TIED BEHIND YOUR BACK!!! REALLY!!! I want to thank you, the Tennessee Lady Vols for all of the joy that you have brought to my life these past few years. I have played on a basketball team and have enjoyed watching the game for years but never have I seen so much versatility from a player than from you, MS. CANDACE PARKER! It has been such an honor to have you live, play basketball, and get a good education in one of the best cities in America, Knoxville, Tn. We truly are proud of our women's basketball program and the tradition here at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and of especially Ms. Pat Summitt! She has brought the game of women's basketball so far and the game is so much better because of you Pat and I thank you so much for giving us that! One thing that I always noticed about you Pat after the games is that you thanked all of the fans for being there and yo let them know how much you appreciated them for being there. If you could go back and watch all of Tennessee's games these past two years then you will know why Tennessee Lady Vols have such good fans and why these players are destined to be number one in the nation!!! Yes, these championship games will undoubtedly make the teams a bit nervous when playing on such a national stage and even players that score double figures about every game might not be able to score so well in these tournaments but how do you think Tennessee got to this point in the first place - somebody on the team had to know how to score as well as defend and during all of the previous 30 games that Tennessee won that is what they did. Everyone has been going on about Candice Wiggins making all of those shots. Listen, if they are scoring that many points then that means that there is not any good defense or yet they wouldn't be scoring that many points. Here is some of Pat Summitt's famous words. She says that "Offense Sells Tickets, Defense Wins Games, and Rebounding Wins Championships!!! It makes good sense to me!!! Oh Yes, Tennessee's freshmen Angie Bjorklund shot one three after another during the season and fell short somewhat in the tournaments but boy oh boy did she make up for it with her defense(as Pat Summitt also says, "You might not be able to depend on making your shots all of the time but one thing you can count on is how you handle your defense and as we all know well by now that excellent defense can shut a hot handed shooting team completely down and that is what the lady vols did to the Stanford Cardinals), Alexis Hornbuckle scored high points at many of the games and the steals you made - YOU GO GIRL!!!, Nicky Anosike can play defense like nobody I have ever seen before and during the season she hit almost every one of her foul shots and many other shots and also scored high(ESPN never shows that, they mostly always point out the players faults - anyone that knows anything about sports at all knows that), Shannon Bobbitt is the fastest guard I have ever seen and can dribble that ball around in circles compared to many others I have seen, during the season she scored high scoring points as well and got the ball inside where it needed to be when necessary, to Ms. Parker, Alberta Auguste is also the greatest on defense and has also had high scoring during the season and has made points when we needed them most, Vicky Baugh, thank you for coming to Tennessee all the way from California and making such a contribution to this precious & tough Tennessee team, Alex Fuller, don't think that I have forgotten you, you stepped up many times when your team needed you scoring eighteen (18) pts. and more in some games and you are a tough defender as well as a very good shooter and your kindness and good looks has made it all the better for this team, Cait MacMahan, we haven't forgotten and I am glad that you will be there to play and support our team next year as one of our guards who has experience and we also love your Mom and we hope that her cancer is in remission, tell her we love her too, now Sydney Smallbone, we have watched you also grow with the team this year and are looking forward to you doing great things in 2009 and after and we also appreciate your hustle on defense and trying to make yourself a better player for the team, and Kelley Cain I have not seen you play any this year because of your injury but you have been around the whole season to see what it takes to win a national championship and I know that you will be there next year and be a force to be reckoned with and we fans can't wait. LADY VOLS, YOU LITERALLY SHUT THE CARDINALS DOWN, I MEAN SHUT THEM DOWN AND WE LOVED IT!!! TO ALL OF THE NAYSAYERS, ESPN AND FORMER LADY VOL KARA LAWSON, WE LOVE YOUR SUPPORT - NOT!!! We do love you Kara but you should know better! Anyway, thank to all who made these past few years of Tennessee womens basketball the best. WE LOVE ALL OF YOU GIRLS THAT ARE LEAVING AND WE HOPE THAT YOU KEEP IN TOUCH AND THAT WE SEE YOU ON THE NEWS LOCALLY FROM TIME TO TIME AND WE WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU CANDACE AND OTHERS PLAYING IN THE WNBA! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!