Geno Auriemma is tired of Sexism...and...tRump
Geno Auriemma: 'We live in that Trumpian era where it’s okay to be sexist and degrade people that are good'
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/geno-auriemma-uswnt-sexist-question-rio
Geno Auriemma and the US women’s basketball team are being asked a question that comes with a sickening feeling of deja-vu after the team steamrolled the competition at the start of the Rio Olympics: Is it bad for the sport to have a team so dominant?
The question, to be fair, pointed out that the men’s team isn’t being asked the same question. It’s one that also hasn’t been asked of Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky. But as it did with UConn’s run through women’s college basketball last season, it is one that seems to disturbingly hang around women’s hoops.
Question: People have been asking about whether the dominance of the USA team is bad for the game , but that ’ s not being said on the men’s side . What are your thoughts on that ?
Auriemma: We live in that Trumpian era where it’s okay to be sexist and degrade people that are good, just because they’re the opposite sex. We are what we are. We’re never going to apologize for being that good. We’re never going to apologize for setting a standard that other people aspire to achieve. We got a guy in the pool with a USA swim cap on who nobody can beat. And if he wasn’t in swimming, there would be a lot of other guys with gold medals. So, it is what it is. The world needs times when such great, great teams or great individuals are doing great things, that other people can talk about and other people say, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great to be at that level?” These are Olympians. They’re supposed to play at a high level. They’re professionals, they’re supposed to put on a show, they’re supposed to entertain. So, what are we supposed to do? Just go out there and win by a little? We’re not bad for women’s basketball, just like I say at UConn, we’re not bad for women’s basketball. What’s bad for women’s basketball is when nobody’s great, because then you could say, “You know what? I don’t think anybody really knows how to play this game.” I think people will say that there are some really good teams out here and when you see them play each other, they’re great games. Serbia was up 20 the other day and lost to Canada. These are great games. We just happen to be somewhere else right now. That’s okay. I don’t mind.
