FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Griner talks about Baylor loss to UofL
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner covers a number of topics in her new book, In My Skin. The book, hits stores April 8. USA Today was provided with an advanced copy.
In excerpts from the book, Griner said she felt pain at Baylor even though she received support for her sexual orientation.
“I would love to be an ambassador for Baylor, to show my school pride, but it’s hard to do that — it’s hard to stand up and say, ‘Baylor is the best!’ — when the administration has a written policy against homosexuality,” Griner wrote.”I’ve spent too much of my life being made to feel like there’s something wrong with me. And no matter how much support I felt as a basketball player at Baylor, it still doesn’t erase all the pain I felt there.”Griner helped Baylor win a national championship in 2012. In 2013, the Bears were ranked No. 1 and had won 32 straight games before they were upset by Louisville in the Sweet 16. The Mercury drafted Griner No. 1 overall in the 2013 WNBA draft.
“Cracks existed beneath the surface. And the game against Louisville, with the pressure cranked up, blew those cracks wide open … I didn’t deliver the way I usually did, and Kim got outcoached. We both underperformed,” Griner said.
GRINER WASN'T THE ONLY PLAYER ON THE COURT FOR THE BEARS THAT NIGHT. THEY FAILED TO STOP LOUISVILLE'S THREE POINT SHOOTING OR MONIQUE REID DRIVING TO THE BASKET. THEY COULD SOLVE THE WALZ-DESIGNED DEFENSE.
THE IMAGE OF SHONI SCHIMMEL BARKING AT GRINER AFTER THE 'IMPOSSIBLE' BASKET WILL LIVE IN LEGACY AND TESTIMONY AS A EXAMPLE OF 'THE LITTLE TRAIN THAT COULD' AND RAGING AGAINST THE NIGHT ....LONG AFTER GRINER'S ACCOMPLISHMENT ON THE COURT HAVE ENDED.
SELF-THERAPY BY GRINER HERE? POINTING THE FINGER AT THE SCHOOL AND THE COACH INSTEAD OF THE REAL FAILURE...BAYLOR'S INABILITY TO STOP LOUISVILLE FROM SCORING? IT'S EASY TO SAY, "OH, I DIDN'T GIVE IT MY BEST" AFTER YOU LOSE. EXCUSES COME EASIER WITH TIME.
YOU GOT BEAT, BRIT. DEAL WITH IT.
PAULIE
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I've been tired of Griner ever since she blindsided Jordan Barncastle years ago. The second worst cheap shot I've ever witnessed in roundball after Kermit Washington / Rudy Tomjanovich. I don't care if she's a lesbian or not, but if it is considered such a big sin at Baylor there were many other WCBB programs that not only welcomed but promoted the LGBT thingy that she could have signed up with. I don't necessarily blame the 18 year old Griner personally for the decision to go to Baylor but I certainly hold her parents and Mulkey responsible for placing her there when they knew that she was a lesbian and Baylor was a Baptist school. I'm sure Cal, Stanford, Minnesota, Portland State or any number of other "socially responsible & active" WCBB programs would have not only welcomed Griner but would have actively endorsed her gender proclivities.
ReplyDeleteI live in Phoenix and have been witnessing the marketing of Griner locally as a pro. Believe me when I say that there is no groundswell of support here for her. Nationally maybe. Locally, not so much.
In any case, our win last year was legit and is made even more sweet for the Shoni play and pic that will most likely outlive all of us. I'm still looking for a picture of Jude hauling down that rebound and pitching the outlet pass that started the play though...
I guess I didn't take her comments that way. To me, she said they got outplayed and outcoached. They were clearly the more talented team (in terms of raw talent). To say otherwise is ridiculous. They should have won that game and they didn't. Good for us? Yes, most definitely. At least she didn't blame it on the officiating like most other Baylor fans.
ReplyDeleteLet's also remember that she is someone's daughter, BurnBrother. Imagine what it would feel like if someone was taunting you daughter constantly on the court. I know I would be okay with a few punches. I wouldn't imagine Arizona would be a fan, considering what has been going on there lately...
Griner could have gone to any number of colleges that would have acknowleged her being a lesbian. And Burn Brother has it right. The cheap shot she tossed at Barncastle was a punk move. To complain about it now is cowardly. How many girls transfer each year in D1?
ReplyDeletethe real Joe Hill
Maybe you missed the memo but everyone is someone's son or daughter. Griner has reaped the benefits of her physical gifts from early on and she continues to do so both here and in China. She is not the first physically gifted athlete to be taunted and won't be the last. She is however, by far, one of those that has handled the poorest, bordering on criminally.
ReplyDeleteIf you are OK with her punching a competitor then actually you are part of the problem too. I'm thinking that also you haven't either played or coached the game at a level of any consequence. Maybe you should get in touch with Jordan Barncastle and her parents and tell them how she deserved the blind side assault and resultant plastic surgery.
Maybe if Griner wanted to be an out lesbian WCBB participant she should have thought more seriously and looked for counsel before picking Baylor. It's certainly fashionable for her to bad mouth Baylor and Mulkey now. Maybe you missed the memo but transfers happen all of the time. It wasn't important enough to do anything about when she attended but it is now that she's trying to sell a book.
It is what it is.
Hey Joe - Great Minds...
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm thinking that you are more than likely homophobic. Perhaps Baylor shouldn't discriminate against anyone. If no one had sat at that lunch counter because they had options to eat somewhere else we wouldn't have had the civil rights movement. And, I've seen plenty of physical retaliation in college sports between players. Griner just got the press because of the way she looks. Just google "players punched during college basketball games" and you will find thousands of results. No, it wasn't the right thing to do. But, like I said if someone was taunting my kid for the way they look I'd give them a pass for one mistake. Get over it.
ReplyDeleteSave your insults for someone else. As you know or should know Baylor is a private school and has the absolute right to admit those students that agree to adhere to their code of conduct. I'm sure Griner agreed to do so at the time and now wants to complain about the rules she signed up for.
ReplyDeleteSports highlights character, good and bad. It certainly did so for Griner and appears to be doing so for you also. Baylor has the absolute right to believe whatever they want to as a University and have an expectation of their student athletes to do the same. Perhaps ballers like Griner should actually understand what they are signing up for before they do so.
Finally Sparky, trying to justify Griner's thuggish actions by referencing other thuggish actions doesn't work in civilized society. Kinda makes me wonder what neighborhood you hang in.
Basic human rights should not be regulated by a code of conduct. Like I said...homophobic.
ReplyDeleteCalling people names when you can't argue with logic and reason doesn't work any better than trying to justify current violence with historical violence. You lose. Go back to school, get educated and come back when you have an actual basis for argument.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer that we do not start looking and sounding like the fan sites of some other college teams.
ReplyDeleteThe CC has strived to maintain a courteous atmosphere between posters where there is room for all, just as it is for Louisville's athletes and other students.
Let us strive to share athletic information and to uplift each other in the mutual support of our schools teams.
That's fine, but if you're going to let posts calling people homophobic stand you should expect them to be responded to. If you want it to stop then bounce the name calling. I also don't appreciate the shots taken at me for living in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteI don't run this site so do not have the authority to remove any postings. I just inserted my personal opinion of the type of exchanges which this blog has historically and primarily voluntarily adhered to where I for one, do not want it to sink into sad and mean spirited exchanges.
DeleteWhen they advocate violence it most certainly is. That is by far the nicest and most forgiving way it can be characterized. Trust me when I say you can't handle how I really feel about ignorance like that.
ReplyDeleteAww...did someone get picked on when they were little?
ReplyDeleteActually I did fine but thanks for asking. The folks with the real problems are the ones that somehow made it all the way to adulthood thinking that taking cheap shots in a basketball game is OK. Of course the real moron award goes to any parents teach their kids that it is OK also. Not exactly the life skills that young people are supposed to be learning from either sports or their parents. That said I suppose a person needs to consider the source.
ReplyDeleteOh, I didn't ask. I was just assuming by how threatened you appear to be by Griner. Though, I guess it could be because of my initial assumption.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what kind of job you got with all of your education. Probably not much of one if you have time to post on women's basketball blogs all day like an uneducated person such as myself.
Actually Sunshine...that question mark means you asked. Seriously. Look it up. Being critical of someone's actions doesn't mean a person feels threatened by them but I'm sure you will continue to not let the facts get in the way.
ReplyDeleteActually I somehow squeaked by in life on my meager talents. Retired at 53 as Vice President of Credit Operations with Mitsubishi Credit in Los Angeles so I pretty much do whatever I want now. Unfortunately it appears that today that includes exchanges with someone of exceptionally limited character and capacity.
Looks like I am jumping in here a little late in this one. Sorry, been sick as a dog last 48 hours and not feeling much better. The writer's (me) intent here was to comment on an intent by an individual directly affected by the game to steal a bit of thunder away from what was UofL greatest WBB win. We all have choices to make in life. Griner certainly has had them.
ReplyDeleteBaylor lost to UofL. I'd like to think it was because the Cards drained a sackful of threes and Jude and Mo hooked up for a final play that won it. How much Griner's personal and other issues had to do with the loss is pretty much irrelevant, in my opinion. Players "take their baggage" with them wherever they go. To hear Griner say she didn't try with her best effort against Louisville sounds like bitter, back-seat, after-the-fact grousing to me. Was she purposely missing all those shots she misfired for 3/4th of the game? If so, does there need to be a NCAA investigation into game fixing? Ask Odyssey Sims if she wasn't trying. I think she'd answer that she was trying very hard to win.
Maybe these teams play nine more times and Baylor wins eight of them. Who knows? Maybe Louisville has more lesbians on their team than Baylor. Does anyone really care? The undeniable and fact-you-can't-change here is that LOUISVILLE won .
As far as Griner goes, she's never been a favorite of mine on the court. It has nothing to do with her sexual preference. It has PLENTY to do with the Barncastle cheap shot. That is uncalled for and should have been dealt with more seriously. Lay down a precedent an the nonsense stops.
Back to bed.
Pauiie
Well Played. Get Better.
ReplyDelete