Streaks in sports are pretty common. This is true for small-scale things, such as when a team scores a bunch of unanswered points during a game. It’s also true for a large chunk of a season such as when Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games.
Despite the commonality, not all streaks are created equal.
One such streak that’s better than most is held by the UConn women’s basketball team. They just defeated the No. 2 team in the country, Baylor University, by one point to win their 80th consecutive game.
The Brewers would do unholy things to win that many and they have 162 games to accomplish it in.
What UConn has done is very impressive and I don’t care what anybody says. I understand that there is not a lot of parity in women’s college basketball. Lower ranked teams almost never beat higher-ranked teams.
That shouldn’t matter though, because to not fail 80 consecutive times is incredible. They haven’t even shot themselves in the foot over that period of time. They didn’t take a game off and they never lost their intensity.
They also never overslept and never ate Taco Bell beforehand. They just don’t screw up.
The sheer amount of effort that winning all of these games takes is amazing to me. I lack the effort to get out of bed in the morning for God’s sake. I just hit the snooze; I quit before the day begins. They endure practice after practice, game after game. (OK, to assuage my mother, I do go to class, but usually only after getting friendly with the snooze button.)
Obviously, there is one streak that this will be compared to and that is UCLA’s 88-game winning streak. Each game they have gotten closer to that mark, more references to John Wooden’s streak appear.
Let me just say that the domination of that Bruins team is ridiculous. It boggles the mind when you think of how men’s basketball is now. It’s hard to keep players for more than a year.
Many Division 1 athletes can barely take that so the history of coaching or clapping 101 are offered so players don’t have to think too hard.
Also, the lure of the NBA has never been stronger, so your John Walls and your Derrick Favors get out as quick as they can. This makes streaks impossible when your best players leave.
Basically what I’m getting at is that UCLA’s streak is very impressive since it may never happen on the men’s side again, which is why I want to see it happen for the women.
Many don’t agree with me because they make the mistake of comparing the two streaks to see which is more amazing. I say that this is an impossible task.
Why can’t both be great in their own right?
The games are so different, so comparing the two is a waste of time. It’s like comparing Phil Mickelson to Kobe Bryant – you just can’t do it.
The styles of play are very different and unique to the other.
I say just stop and enjoy the streak.
I understand that Geno Auriemma is kind of a crappy guy. In fact, he may qualify for ‘the worst’ award which I just created this very moment. The trophy is a bronze sculpture of a toilet.
Anyway, disregard him and root for the rest of the team. Either way he’s getting paid handsomely, but every woman on his team may not make it to the NCAA so cheer for them to get this great accomplishment.
So I wish UConn luck in winning for as long as they can. Now, let’s watch them lose the next game because I just wrote a column about them (I’m an idiot).
