Spring Break
Sorry, Seniors; The Curse Is Over
Kevin Meacham
Issue date: 5/11/08 Section: Sports
By the way, if you were paying attention, the soccer teams pulled a similar trick in 2007.
Last season, the men's team, arguably the favorite for a national championship, fell to Virginia Tech in December's NCAA Quarterfinal thanks to a muddy Morrone Stadium field and a fluke Hokies goal.
And then the women's team - which had underachieved, losing in the Big East quarterfinals - took Florida State to overtime before falling short of the Final Four, 3-2.
The basketball teams weren't so lucky in the year following their double heartbreak. The men infamously finished 17-14 with eight freshmen, five sophomores and one coach who had no answers. The women were steamrolled by Sylvia Fowles and LSU in the Elite Eight, falling short of the national semifinals for the third straight year.
Then there was UConn football, whose future seemed so promising after the Motor City Bowl. Unfortunately, coach Randy Edsall forgot to recruit a quarterback for a couple years. The team went 5-6 and 4-8 in 2005 and 2006.
Of course, despite my glumness, it's not been all bad. There have been plenty of moments and players that you'll remember from your four years in Storrs.
Like this year, for example.
Men's basketball had its wonderful 10-game winning streak last season. The women's basketball seniors finally got a chance to experience the Final Four. Football had a highly unexpected run to a bowl game against a ranked BCS opponent. Soccer and field hockey made deep NCAA runs.
You saw Rudy Gay and Charlie Villanueva before they became NBA regulars; you got to see Hasheem Thabeet and Maya Moore before they become forces in their respective professional leagues.
And hey - you got to storm the field at Rentschler for the first time.
Not bad. Still no championships though, indicating that the curse was still intact.
Luckily for UConn fans everywhere, as long as the curse isn't laptop-centric (in which case UConn would have to wait until next year, when Price graduates), I like the Huskies' chances in every sport. That optimism begins just about at the moment you all throw your caps-and-gowns into mid-air.
Now, you might be thinking, this whole idea of a curse may just be one big coincidence. Perhaps curses are just silly superstitions used to justify the failures of one's favorite team. Perhaps sustained dominance in any sport in this day and age is unfeasible, even for top-of-the-line schools.
Nah. UConn's going to win everything next year. Hope you enjoy it as much as those of us still stuck in this one-horse town.
Kevin Meacham's column runs periodically. He can be contacted at Kevin.Meacham@UConn.edu.
Last season, the men's team, arguably the favorite for a national championship, fell to Virginia Tech in December's NCAA Quarterfinal thanks to a muddy Morrone Stadium field and a fluke Hokies goal.
And then the women's team - which had underachieved, losing in the Big East quarterfinals - took Florida State to overtime before falling short of the Final Four, 3-2.
The basketball teams weren't so lucky in the year following their double heartbreak. The men infamously finished 17-14 with eight freshmen, five sophomores and one coach who had no answers. The women were steamrolled by Sylvia Fowles and LSU in the Elite Eight, falling short of the national semifinals for the third straight year.
Then there was UConn football, whose future seemed so promising after the Motor City Bowl. Unfortunately, coach Randy Edsall forgot to recruit a quarterback for a couple years. The team went 5-6 and 4-8 in 2005 and 2006.
Of course, despite my glumness, it's not been all bad. There have been plenty of moments and players that you'll remember from your four years in Storrs.
Like this year, for example.
Men's basketball had its wonderful 10-game winning streak last season. The women's basketball seniors finally got a chance to experience the Final Four. Football had a highly unexpected run to a bowl game against a ranked BCS opponent. Soccer and field hockey made deep NCAA runs.
You saw Rudy Gay and Charlie Villanueva before they became NBA regulars; you got to see Hasheem Thabeet and Maya Moore before they become forces in their respective professional leagues.
And hey - you got to storm the field at Rentschler for the first time.
Not bad. Still no championships though, indicating that the curse was still intact.
Luckily for UConn fans everywhere, as long as the curse isn't laptop-centric (in which case UConn would have to wait until next year, when Price graduates), I like the Huskies' chances in every sport. That optimism begins just about at the moment you all throw your caps-and-gowns into mid-air.
Now, you might be thinking, this whole idea of a curse may just be one big coincidence. Perhaps curses are just silly superstitions used to justify the failures of one's favorite team. Perhaps sustained dominance in any sport in this day and age is unfeasible, even for top-of-the-line schools.
Nah. UConn's going to win everything next year. Hope you enjoy it as much as those of us still stuck in this one-horse town.
Kevin Meacham's column runs periodically. He can be contacted at Kevin.Meacham@UConn.edu.
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Amazon Herbs
posted 5/13/08 @ 2:12 AM EST
Things happen the way they happen but we notice certain paterns. They have found that when you craps, the wins and losses tend to happen in streaks. Like you have a winning streak for a while and then you have a losing streak for a while. (Continued…)
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