Geno Auriemma, never one to keep his mouth shut, opened it up at a pregame presser Saturday and here's what came out.
This from Saturday's New York Times.
Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma offered a disclaimer before his team’s practice session Saturday. Then he offered his opinion on why some may view Stanford, Connecticut’s Final Four opponent Sunday, as soft.
“I know this is going to get played out the wrong way,” said Auriemma, who was named the Associated Press women’s coach of the year for guiding Connecticut to a 37-0 record. “But I’m going to say it anyway. And I know I’m going to get criticized for this.
“White kids are always looked upon as being soft. So Stanford’s got a tremendous amount of really good players who for whatever reason, because they don’t look like Tina Charles or Maya Moore, the perception out there is going to be, well, they must be soft.
“Well, I think that’s a bunch of bull. I watched them play and nobody goes harder to the boards. Nobody takes more charges. Nobody runs the floor as hard. Those kids are as tough as any of the kids in the country. But people on the sports world like to make judgments on people by how they look. And it’s grossly unfair.”
Those of us at the OSG HQ, being white ourselves, know where Geno is coming from. We have seen Maya Moore before her UConn days, (Collins Hill HS, Suwanee, GA) and she is one bad ass. As we all know talent has no color but when Geno says "come," you pack your bags and endure the long winter in Storrs, Connecticut plus Geno's creative coaching skills.
Photo Courtesy: AP
