There Used To Be Clocks Here

Diana Taurasi Loves Booze, Driving


Remember this "lady"?
I was sitting in a bar in upstate New York with some college friends when, out of the corner of my eye, I notice on ESPN the bottom line that said “Diana Taurasi…” and I was intrigued. Generally I’m not intrigued by WNBA news of any kind, much like everyone else that is not a woman over the age of 65, but Diana and I have a history. It started my freshmen year. Even then I knew that I hated Connecticut.

Then #1 Connecticut traveled to Manley Field House to take on the then Syracuse Orangewomen basketball team. Well of course Syracuse was drubbed. Back then the team was atrocious save for Julie McBride. Meanwhile Connecticut had Sue Bird, who was as talented as she was lovely, and then Diana Taurasi. Seeing as Sue Bird was the senior leader on the team and the focus of most defensive efforts, she was also the focus of much heckling from my Sour Sitrus Society colleagues. If you are a loyal reader of the blog, you know what I mean by heckling. Now you have to understand, back then the team was horrible, we were playing #1 UConn, and we were getting trounced. We ended up losing this game by 30 points. There was not much to do at the women’s basketball games of this era other than heckle. With everyone else messing with Sue Bird, I focused my attention to the far lesser known Taurasi. I’m jawing at her the entire game, possibly calling her fat in some way, or maybe saying she looks like a dude. This was seven years ago after all. I definitely remember yelling at her, when it was quite as she shot a free throw, saying that I’d love to make up for the heckling by buying her Pita Pit. So we all have a grand old time, and we lose by 30. The buzzer goes and UConn is running back to the locker rooms, and just as I’m about to start playing the fight song, Diana looks right at me and gives me the middle finger across the court. I just stood there with my jaw dropped. And thus my real hatred of Connecticut women’s basketball was born. UConn went on to win the National Championship that year, by the by.

Thus the real news from this past weekend. So as I see Diana Taurasi on the bottom line I see it followed by “cited for D.U.I.”, and I immediately get excited. ESPN.com has the full low down. Basically she was speeding on July 3rd, got pulled over, the police smelled alcohol, transported her to a mobile D.U.I. center, then she gave blood and was issued a citation. Now, as a future lawyer, and at this point almost certain defense attorney, I don’t relish in people getting jacked up by police after having a few cocktails. But D.U.I. is a serious crime and if she had a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, she will surely face a fine but probably not jail. Either way, as probably the biggest WNBA star right now, as well as the leading vote getter for the WNBA All Star Game, she should have known better. Looks like the curse of UConn and the Connvicts caught up to her finally. I, of course, will keep you posted to any further legal developments in this case.

Finally, I wonder where SU Athletics got this idea?

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14 Responses to “Diana Taurasi Loves Booze, Driving”

  1. # Anonymous Anonymous

    Let me see -- at a college b-ball game where your team is getting trounced, from the band section you target the freshman player and make sure she knows exactly how much you hate her. Then, at the end, when she makes clear she knows exactly who you are and gives you the finger, you get pissed off?

    You are a dweeb, my friend. You put it out there, but you CERTAINLY can't take it. Grow a backbone.  

  2. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Anonymous,
    First off, my heckling was all in good fun during the game and it was abundantly clear. You weren’t there I assume, so you have no idea. I kept it clean out there. Second, it’s a real classy move by an athlete, in uniform on the court, to throw a technically obscene gesture at the crowd with mostly young girls there. Great role model. I’m all for taking some sass if it is all in good fun and equal to the proportion that I gave it, but in this case it was not, and that was my problem with it.

    Speaking of growing a backbone, way to post anonymously then. My name is on here, and I am not hiding who I am. If you really believe what you posted, why don’t you grow the backbone friend. But I expect as much from someone who seems to enjoy UConn women’s basketball.  

  3. # Anonymous Bear Visitor

    Dude! You "maybe said she looked like a dude."? Dude, you drove her to drink!  

  4. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Haha, how tragic. I am to blame. I guess I'll have to bear that cross for the rest of my life.  

  5. # Anonymous Bill

    Let me preface this by saying that I am an SU alumn (Class of '05) and a Connecticut native, so I have a very healthy, and well nourished, hatred for the Huskies.

    That said, calling a 18/19 year old girl (no matter how talented) fat and masculine in a half-empty gymnasium where she, and everyone else, can hear every word you say is rather deplorable. And maybe "you had to be there," but I just don't see the humor in it. It's kind of disgraceful. You treat women a certain way, you just do - athletes or not. Trust me, I heckled many an enemy male basketball player in the Dome, but I would never, ever yell comparable things at a woman - and especially not at a teenage girl, Husky or not. I'm kind of embarrassed by this post.  

  6. # Blogger Kevin Weinheimer

    lol so let me get this straight....

    We can yell and scream at UConn men, but we can't yell and scream at UConn women?

    It's college basketball you think good 'ole Diana didn't get heckled when she went to Knoxville, Tennessee or Durham, NC?

    And Bill... Brian was heckling her for being an athlete you know that right? The way your talking it sound like he just picked some random girl and decided to call her fat on the street...

    Maybe she should have chose a different school where her coach wasn't such a scumbag? I mean he kinda talked his own shit to our girls this past winter if I do recall...

    By saying you shouldn't heckle is basically labeling women's basketball as uncompetitive. And that is wrong. So shame on you "Anonymous" and "Bill" for belittling women's athletics to a point where they should be treated with less intensity than men.

    I'm down to heckle any day.

    BYYYARRRRRR
    -KShaw
    http://thesaltinewarriors.blogspot.com  

  7. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Thanks KShaw. Good points indeed. Bill, as a fellow '05 graduate I appreciate where you're coming from. But it would be different again if I was being malicious or overly outrageous. I simply was not. It was all in good fun. Additionally, seeing as students actually never attended women’s games back then (not even for UConn) the Sour Sitrus Society was the only student support, and the only vocal support in Manley Field House at that time. The members of the team welcomed our presence at the game, and Syracuse was certainly not half as bad as several other Big East schools at that time, let alone now. Additionally, the argument that women’s players are somehow exempt from heckling from a crowd is ridiculous and unrealistic. Thanks for reading Bill, but let’s get real. This was a women’s basketball game at Syracuse University in 2002. Not an international incident. Cool out people.  

  8. # Anonymous Bill

    I don't know. I just wouldn't do it. Especially when you factor in here age at the time. She was barely out of high school. Would you go to a high school game and yell at one of the players that way? Of course not. I do realize that players have to anticipate a heightened level of crowd heckling at the college level, but still - fat and masculine? Not really sure how that is supporting the home team. (I can already see the "Well it got in her head and distracted her" argument coming, but I don't think that really holds water.)

    And I'm not saying women's basketball was uncompetitive. I wasn't aware that calling 19 year old girls fat and masculine was the only way to support an athletic team.

    Like I said - I just believe in treating women with a certain degree of class and decorum - regardless of the venue. So yes, KShaw, I do believe in treating the men's and women's team from UConn differently. And yes, you can yell at Geno all you want. He is a scumbag.

    Go Orange.  

  9. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Bill,
    I guess you had to be there, because yeah it did help the team. Maybe not reflected on the score in this game, but it certainly helped in others that season even up to today. Like I said, this was 2002, and I myself was 19 at the time. Your premise that beacuse she herself was 18 or 19 doesn't hold water, because you are now implying that it would be ok to heckle the juniors or seniors on the team beacuse they are simply older. Either way, this whole thing is moot, and yes Geno is a huge scumbag, but none the less this is a part of women's athletics, will always be, and it has a justified and rightful place despite where some people draw their own personal line.

    Again thanks for reading though. It's a friendly debate, which is never a bad thing.  

  10. # Blogger Kevin Weinheimer

    I guess in my humble opinion if you asked the female athletes if they wanted to be treated differently than their male counterparts they would come up with a big hell no. That is the whole point of Title IX is to be treated equally. Now obviously were talking about heckling, but again I feel like if you asked the women they would rather have as close to a male environment as possible, seeing as how mens college bball environments are awesome. And the whole high school thing, it just simply isn't. yelling at a high school girl is way different than yelling at Diana Taurasi. Division 1 athletics are about winning, where not necessarily all high school programs have that as their number one goal. College teams play to win and it's intense. That's just how it is.  

  11. # Anonymous Bill

    Well, this will be my last post on this because obviously this is not THAT big of a deal (especially when one is studying for the bar exam, I am sure).To sum up:

    1)I am not implying that it is appropriate to heckle juniors and seniors. I wouldn't call a 21 or 22 year old woman fat or masculine either. In this specific fact situation however, the girl at issue was either 18 or 19, so I pointed that out - admittedly to make my point a little more dramatic.

    2) Like I've said, I just wouldn't call a woman fat and masculine to her face, and especially not in front of a crowd of people. Just wouldn't do it. Regardless of venue or circumstance. Even if a woman WANTED me to heckle her in such a manner (as KW suggests that these women do) I still couldn't bring myself to do.

    Different strokes for different folks I suppose. Good luck with the studying.  

  12. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Thanks Bill. Take care.  

  13. # Blogger Justin Verrier

    Wow. First Coach Cal, now this? You sure have the best luck when interacting with UConn basketball idols.

    We must schedule a sitdown between you and Geno at a falafel hut or something, because the resulting convo will most definitely be hilarious.

    Get back to blogging soon. Like, now.

    Your brother from another mother with a blog dedicated to a Big East team,
    TheUConnBlog  

  14. # Blogger Brian Harrison

    Justin,
    I would welcome a meeting with Geno. Make it at Ted's and you have a deal.

    I'll have a new article that should be coming out Monday, but I'll be back at it soon enough as football is just around the corner.

    As for the luck, just tell your folks to quit breaking the law!

    Take care buddy.  

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