In the S16 press conference (posted elsewhere) Jacob Rayburn asked about the hand-checking by Oklahoma State that helped them. I found Tara's reply very illuminating since it comes close to summarizing her philosophy of what makes WBB beautiful. I post a new thread NOT to focus on hand checking or the Oklahoma State game, but to focus on something that was embedded in her answer:
Tara: "I'm a fan of aggressive play, but I think it is a problem when all season long hand checking is supposed to be called and when we get to the tournament all of a sudden there are different rules. I think it should be consistent from the season to the tournament. I am in favor of aggressive play but I think that overly physical play--and I am not saying that that game was overly physical--but I have seem some games that I think are--an overly physical game takes away from the strength of women's basketball which is our athleticism, our fluidity of the game--what I call beautiful basketball. If you are allowing defenses to cling on you, and body you, and people are flying all over the court, then I think that's a problem."
I have heard Tara say similar things before. I agree with her, and reflect on how her views mirror recent developments in feminism--in which equality is not always thought to be achieved simply by equivalency with men, but by giving equal value to uniquely female strengths and characteristics.
So I wonder how the rest of the WBB fans feel. Do you like WBB because it can be a "beautiful game" that has characteristics that the men's game might lack--Tara mentions fluidity--or do you like it in the same way you like MBB, and for the same reasons?
Tara: "I'm a fan of aggressive play, but I think it is a problem when all season long hand checking is supposed to be called and when we get to the tournament all of a sudden there are different rules. I think it should be consistent from the season to the tournament. I am in favor of aggressive play but I think that overly physical play--and I am not saying that that game was overly physical--but I have seem some games that I think are--an overly physical game takes away from the strength of women's basketball which is our athleticism, our fluidity of the game--what I call beautiful basketball. If you are allowing defenses to cling on you, and body you, and people are flying all over the court, then I think that's a problem."
I have heard Tara say similar things before. I agree with her, and reflect on how her views mirror recent developments in feminism--in which equality is not always thought to be achieved simply by equivalency with men, but by giving equal value to uniquely female strengths and characteristics.
So I wonder how the rest of the WBB fans feel. Do you like WBB because it can be a "beautiful game" that has characteristics that the men's game might lack--Tara mentions fluidity--or do you like it in the same way you like MBB, and for the same reasons?