LSU vs Iowa in NCAA Womens' Basketball Championship Game

One of my favorite memories was getting a chance to sit 2 rows off the court when the Wolves played the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.  The amount of back and forth between KG and Sprewell and  Kobe and Shaq and one my favorites (Sam Cassell) was incredible.  I don’t think they stopped talking for more than 3 seconds.  

Bird was pretty good and loved Gary Payton’s antics.  He was pretty animated 99% of the time.

But it’s not just pros.  At the high school level and definitely AAU circuit you hear and see it.  

Plenty of great remembrances of Bird’s talk on YouTube. It’s an art. Following a defeated opponent with a taunt is inartful.

@Blair Kiel posted:

Plenty of great remembrances of Bird’s talk on YouTube. It’s an art. Following a defeated opponent with a taunt is inartful.

Bingo…and EVERYONE needs to remember that future employers see and hear everything.  Being gracious never goes out of style.

Except at Tschmaks house.

Listening to Tschmack taunt his 8-year-old for their “weak ass pass” of the potatoes would be epic.

I really don’t think Caitlin Clark is all that worried about what her future employer will think.  She’s a generational talent yet has had no issues talking trash or getting into it with other players.   Nor did Paige Bueckers before getting hurt.  Everyone wants to pile on Alexis Morris but it’s part of the game.  

I think a big part of this whole discussion is if it were a men’s game we probably wouldn’t be talking about it at all.  I see this all the time in my kid’s sports.  There’s a big double standard on how young women athletes are viewed versus young men athletes.  Yes, you don’t want to show up your opponent but the best of the best always tend to carry a bit more swag and confidence.  Depending on the sport, sometimes that crosses over into the field of play. Basketball is definitely one of those sports.

Pass the effing potatoes!

Kid’s response - what’s a potato?

Yup

@Tschmack posted:

The real shame is all some people in the media want to discuss were the antics and trash talk.

I mean, both teams had incredible seasons and brought a lot of viewers to the women’s game yet let’s focus on what was said or done instead of how they played.

It’s basketball.  If you don’t think there’s a certain amount of banter that goes on then you either haven’t played or don’t watch.  

Larry Bird was the greatest trash talker of all time. The stories are epic. Fucker backed up all that talk.