Odds & Ends 12-24-12

So, here we are; December 24 - Christmas Eve.  I hope everyone who has been taking a peek at my blog so far this season has been nice so Santa can reward you accordingly.  With everything at a relative standstill for the next few days, I thought this might be an incredibly opportune time to take a look at where we've been at and where we're going once the holidays are over and January rolls around.  Oh, and maybe I might vent on a couple of things as well in the process.......

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I have to admit I really had high hopes for St. Olaf this season.  They had everyone back from last year's team and this season appeared to be the moment for the Oles where they were ready to take that proverbial "next step"; i.e., be consistent and be one of the top two or three teams in the MIAC; challenging UST for the league crown.  After winning their opening contest against Colorado College, the Oles have been walking on a virtual minefield ever since; going 2-5 and having all those lofty hopes and expectations seemingly dashed even before the first of the year rolled around.  What makes it even more difficult to accept is that this St. Olaf team not only HAD all the pieces from last year's squad but now that core has been solidified with an up-and-coming group of young talent which appears to be ready to fill in the gaps.  Instead, this group has looked as confused and out of sorts as they ever have; dropping a roadie at Macalester (again) and losing hard-fought road games at SMU, GAC, and UST that have effectively put the Oles behind the 8-ball before the confetti and noise-makers were brought out to ring in 2013.  Even worse, one of the seniors on the squad decided to quit the team; supposedly because of the issue of playing time with the newcomers on the block (more on that later).  Now maybe this team can turn things around when January rolls around.  After all, they have 8 of their 11 games during the month of January at the Skoglund Center and they've always been tough to beat there.  But they'll have to hold serve at home and try and find a way to steal two out of those three roadies during that month - not impossible as two of those road games are against Bethel and St. Kate's.  They've simply got to come out with a sense of urgency each and every game if they want to have a chance.  Their margin for error is, well, I don't want to do any Karen Carpenter jokes on Christmas Eve.

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Incredible how UST has been able to weather the storm they've been enduring every since both Taylor Young and Maggie Weiers went down early.  Young SHOULD be back after the first of the year sometime but not so Weiers.  They just keep rolling right along and just inserting new parts at the critical points which, so far anyway, has worked out pretty well.  Question is, can they keep this up and make another run to the Final 4?

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Okay, so most of you by now are either familiar with or have heard about the latest thing to hit the womens basketball scene here in the great state of Minnesota - the (God forbid) Minnesota Mist; founded by former Minneapolis North and Wisconsin standout and WNBA journeywoman Tamara "Tee" Moore.  Now, under normal circumstances, the addition of a new team (semi-pro or whatever; such as the Minnesota Jags from last year) would be a great thing for womens and girls basketball.  However, in this particular case there's a hitch - it's BIKINI basketball.  Yep, you read that right.  The "participants" (I can't bring myself to call them "players") will be wearing bikinis in lieu of normal basketball gear.  In other words, it's basically the basketball equivalent of lingerie football.  Now, let's all take 30 seconds for a collective face palm.....


Thank you.

Look, I'm going to come right out and say this:  This is SO incredibly bad.  This is NOT how to promote womens and girls H.S. basketball in the state or anywhere for that matter.  My knee-jerk reaction to when I first became aware of all this was "No!" and then, "Why?"  Good question.  Now, don't get me wrong.  BELIEVE ME, I appreciate a woman's true beauty as much as anything and I absolutely have NO problem whatsoever if a former college or current WNBA player wants to pose nude for Playboy magazine or whatever.  Not that I'd necessarily advocate it but I've always wondered if that's one of the things that might be holding the WNBA back.  Look, let's be honest here.  For the most part, women are known for their looks and men are known for their accomplishments.  Of course, women can expand on that notion (and have, BTW) with their athletic prowess as many of them have (see the WTA Tour) and the WNBA could take a few lessons from the WTA, IMHO.  That said, bikini basketball is NOT the way to go about this.  It not only cheapens the participants and it is not the way to go about promoting womens basketball.  It actually gives womens hoops a black eye if anything.  On a broader front, exactly what kind of message is this supposed to send to young girls in high school/junior high?  That, if you play in a bikini you'll be more accepted and attractive to the opposite sex?  This whole thing is just so bad on so many fronts I could spend a whole day writing about this.  I hope that, in the end, the plug gets mercifully pulled on this thing and that the participants have second thoughts about this and pull out before they go down with the ship.  Just, just, don't do this "T".

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I simply have to start giving some more love to the WIAC and I haven't been very good on this front at all.  Granted, while I focus primarily on the MIAC (and it's always the conference I'll defend before any other) I've gotta start doing more WIAC coverage.  Luckily for me, I've had a bit of a jump start this season since I've been able to catch both UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior.  While Point was ranked #1 at the time when they lost to UST, they're still most definitely a team to be reckoned with and almost undoubtedly will be among those handed invitations when the Dance rolls around.  But one team I've especially been impressed with is UW-Superior.  Don Mulhern's squad is arguably one of the big up-and-comers and their 8-2 record is no fluke; they're that good.  And they've got a solid, solid core group led by sophomore Sally Linzmeier who has simply wowed audiences so far - yours truly included.  While I would expect that the road ahead may not be without some bumps along the way once they delve back fully into WIAC action after the first of they year, this is definitely a team you'll want to keep your eye on and I'd be shocked if they didn't make some serious noise coming down the stretch of the regular season - AND in the WIAC playoffs as well.  Another team I can't help but like across the River is UW-River Falls.  Granted, they lost some great players from last year to graduation but they've still got a pretty solid starting five that can take a team a long way.  And one of the Gregorich Sisters is still around - Brittany - who can be a terror on defense and strike fear in the heart of opponents with her scoring ability.  Another player on the Falcons to keep your eye on is junior Tess Lueders who had a big game against CSB back in late November.

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This is really nothing new and I'm sure it won't be the last time we ever see it - particularly at the DIII level.  But I really, really have a huge problem with players quitting in the early part or middle of the season.  It just really bugs the (expletive deleted) out of me.  I mean, what, you spend so much of your young life working so hard on something you love; trying everything you can to improve and be a better player but when things suddenly turn tough for you or a particular set of circumstances arise that you don't like you just up and say "f**k it", right?  Wow.  I'm so glad that we have that escape mechanism for our young people today (Damn, wish I could have had that available to me when I was that age).  What makes this even worse is that we've had more than one example of seniors bolting when things got tough.  Just in the MIAC alone I've seen this happen at Macalester (2002), Hamline (2009), UST (2009), and now just recently at both GAC and St. Olaf just to cite a few examples.  If there's any players out there reading this by chance and they've got "pulling the pin" on their mind I'm going to let you in on a little secret:  Playing college sports; whether it's basketball, softball, tennis, soccer or whatever is a privilege - not a right.  You may THINK that, because you were a star in H.S. or were some sort of all-conference B.S. or that, since you've started the last couple of years, or because you have some talent that's being overlooked or that younger players are getting more playing time you can just up and quit but, in reality, you're not guaranteed shit (sorry about that) and your not entitled to shit either.  Now, when you get into the real world where it's about money and you perhaps ultimately get yourself into a bad situation with an employer that's obviously not giving you your just due then that's different.  I get that and understand that (believe me, I really do).  But in college you're doing it for the love of the game and (hopefully) the love of your school.  Now, that doesn't mean I don't understand transferring to a different school.  We've seen countless instances where that's happened at all levels of college athletics and I'm sure most of those were prudent decisions in the long run.  But, in the final analysis, coaches coach, players play and administrators administrate.  As Carmine Lupertazzi would say, "End of f****n story."  

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So who IS the biggest surprise in the MIAC so far this season?  My guess would have to be either SMU or GAC.  Of those two, I think SMU (believe it or not) is the best bet to do some big things in the second half of the season.  I have not seen them play yet (guess that'll have to change, huh?) but their 7-1 record so far appears to be for real.  They just seem to have it all together and all the important pieces in the right places (read seniors Jamie Stefely and Jessica Thone and junior post Courtney Euerle who just might be the best post player in the conference right now with Maggie Weiers out with her injury.  Some may point at their lone loss; a roadie at UST not long ago and say "I told you so!!" but I tend to look at their recent road win at CSB as the true identity of this squad.  I don't think they have enough to overtake UST but it wouldn't shock me at all if they get to the MIAC Championship Game and get a bid to the Dance. 

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Oh, finally I just want to wish all of you out there an incredibly VERY Merry Christmas.  Let's take the time to enjoy this holiday with family and loved ones and cherish and celebrate the truly important things in life.

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