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The Sounds of Winter: Squeaking Sneakers
& Thumping Basketballs
For more years than I care to remember, I have defined fall and
winter not by the change of weather but by squeaking sneakers
and thumping basketballs on a hardwood court. As a kid, I would
hop a train from New Jersey into Madison Square Garden for the
annual holiday college basketball tournament that featured the
top college teams in the nation. Later on I spent more than
a dozen years riding a bus throughout New England, doing play-by-play
radio broadcasts for a small college team.
All of which makes me appreciate what has been accomplished by the UConn women's and men's basketball programs over the last 20 years and the uniqueness of the upcoming season. This is the first time both basketball teams at the same university are considered the top teams in the pre-season rankings by national consensus. It is even more remarkable when you take into account that since the beginning of the NCAA Division I basketball tournaments - from 1939 for men and from 1982 for women - UConn is among only three universities [Stanford and North Carolina are the others] to have won both the men's and women's championships.
The 2003-04 season has the potential to be truly historic. Coach Jim Calhoun has an experienced, tournament-tested team centered around Emeka Okafor [related article], who could achieve the level of the twin Bills of basketball excellence - Bradley the champion Rhodes Scholar and Russell the champion shot blocker. Coach Geno Auriemma has Diana Taurasi - Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Cheryl Miller rolled into one - and an entire championship team back.
In the 64 years of the men's tournament, 35 different schools have won the title and only nine have more than one title - including UCLA, with 10 of its 11 championships under the legendary John Wooden; five schools have more than one women's NCAA title, with UConn's four being second to only the team that wears those orange uniforms.
After years of talking with coaches and players and watching hundreds of games, I know that winning championships requires hard work, healthy players and, at times, a bit of luck. Winter should go by quickly. The games must be played. We get to watch. And we have Emeka and Diana - and the other teams don't.