Your Connection to Longhorn Women's Basketball

[JoeDallas]

Glad to read your bio, Ellis21d. I enjoy your posts. This is such a great thread that flash34 started. I want to go back and reread it so I can remember something about who everybody is.

 

[longhorn47]

It's Texas sports. That is all.

 

[1325232412]

Hmmmm. Not sure how long it has been since I posted here. Long enough that I had to create a new account when I wanted to log in again. Probably about the time KA came back. (For the record, I have always liked her but have been very pleasantly surprised by her level of success.)

I was first introduced to the idea of WBB when I was in middle school, ( we called it junior high). As a young male in ~1969 it was a bit of a surprise. I asked what the girls were doing in the gym after school. When I was told they were playing basketball my reaction was to ask why.

I had no complaint with girls playing basketball. It just didn't fit my worldview to believe that it was something they would enjoy. Did someone make them play basketball? It seemed cruel.

Fast forward to 1986. I had recently moved to Austin and saw in the Statesman that UT WBB had won a national championship. My wife and I decided that we should go to some games the following season.

In 1987 my oldest daughter was three years old. While we thought she wouldn't have the attention span for a basketball game she actually loved every minute.

I have had season tickets since the following year except for a brief period living in San Antonio when we just couldn't get to all the games.

If you have been going to games for a long time you have seen my daughters. Between the two they have probably put in 16 years of service as shorthorns. My youngest may very well own the record for most UT basketball camps.

There are a ton of stories. I can't tel them all. But the young women representing UT where consistently excellent role models. I have no doubt that both daughters grew up stronger, more confident, more independent, and more successful from their participation in basketball.

I grew up in a family of UT sports fans. But WBB has become, to my surprise, my favorite. Some other posters have touched on the things that I love about the game. Mostly that it is a true team sport, based in fundamentals. But also that it is not (at least yet) completely corrupted by money and one season stars.

 

[JoeDallas]

1325...Great story. A true fan.

 

[flash34]

I am super optimistic.......and anxiously awaiting the start of fall practice........will it never arrive? The Italy trip just made it worse. Recently.......and over the years.......I wondered who ya'll are and from what perspective your comments came from. This thread from last year helped me. I also saw the recent reminder where we ALL need to be cognicent as to what is appropriate to post. Comments need to be real.........and truthful ........as much as opinionated fans can be. Help me if I cross the line. I went back and reviewed earlier posts to see if HornsLewis or Mooo had offered their perspective on this thread. But found neither. I have ALWAYS valued Mooo's comments as a true supporter of our ladies basketball program. I wanted to get this thread back started so I can appreciate each poster more. Updates or newbies? Hook 'Em

 

[NEGU13252311]

First of all, it seems unreal that I'm finally posting on hornfans. I'm 27 but for some reason never realized that I was in fact finally old enough to have my own account since I've been reading this women's basketball message board for as long as I can remember.

I don't remember a time in my life when Texas Longhorns women's basketball wasn't a huge part of who I was. I grew up going to games, one of the most exciting "adulting" activities was the year the season tickets came in my name instead of my parents.

I attended UT basketball camp 11 times and went a stretch of seven years only missing one home basketball game. I sat in the stands with strep, nasty sinus infections, the flu and even pneumonia on occasion. But I grew up at the Erwin Center watching Jody's teams and learning my multiplication facts calculating how many three pointers we needed to win.

I learned right and wrong, how to win and lose, how to be classy and still be upset, from the athletes on these teams. Now as a young adult and a coach myself, I'm realizing that without this background I'm not sure who would have taught me these things.

I've cried at every senior night for twenty one years but nothing like the tears I cried when we lost coaches, Jody, Gail or even the assistants over the years. The coaching staff checked my grades every report card in elementary, middle and high school. I received graduation cards from them. They came to visit me when I was suffering from post concussion syndrome and when I celebrated my commencement from college.

This team is so much more than a team to me, it's a legacy, it's my family and it's amazing to watch it return to what it was for me as a kid.

 

[1325232412]

First of all, it seems unreal that I'm finally posting on hornfans. I'm 27 but for some reason never realized that I was in fact finally old enough to have my own account since I've been reading this women's basketball message board for as long as I can remember.
.

It's about time you posted here.

 

[JoeDallas]

NEGU... You must be the most dedicated fan I know of. I look forward to getting your posts and hearing your opinions and other input.

 

[Karen]

I was a WNBA fan (Miami Sol), then moved to Austin. There was no pro team here, and a friend suggested the Longhorns. I immediately bought a pair of season tickets for me and my then 2 year old daughter. We are in our 11th year and loving it; we go to the Big 12 Championship games every year. It's so much fun.

 

[Ellis21d]

Does anyone know if there will be a formal announcement confirming where and when the first practice will be??

 

[Austin Bear]

Hi all -- new to this board. I'm actually and alumnus of both Baylor and Texas and live here in Austin. I joined the board just to occasionally discuss the sport with other fans -- my teenage sons can't believe I'm a women's hoops fan.

Connections with the sport:
1. In HS, a Texas state tournament team of my friends.
2. My wife was part of a program that played at the Texas state tourney a few years later.
3. My wife coached girls' HS basketball when we were first married.
4. I did my undergrad at Baylor and started watching Baylor women's ball around the first NC, attend a lot of games in Waco and sat court side for the second NC.
5. And a very small Texas connection: I met Jodie Conradt by chance in the Cole Haan store in New York and talked with her very briefly about her contribution to the game. Cool moment.

It might seem strange for a Baylor fan to be here and say this, but I'm really excited about the rise of Texas back to a spot of prominence in college women's basketball. It's good for the sport to have closer games. It's good for the conference to have a rivalry and for the championship to not be a foregone conclusion. It's good for both Baylor and Texas to face stiff in conference competition -- it can only make both teams better.

I think Karen Aston has done a great job. Even though I hated losing the game in Waco last year, it was cool to see how excited Texas fans were as they came down to greet the team at the end. I'll always be rooting for Baylor first but would love nothing more than to see both teams in the Final Four this year.

 

[JoeDallas]

Glad to have you, Austin Bear. The rivalry is most of what makes it fun. A foregone conclusion is boring. It will be good to get your point of view.

 

[hornhonker]

Before 2003 I lived on the east coast and occasionally met my sister, who has a similar screen name, to watch the Horns. In 2003 when I said I was moving to Austin my sister suggested season tickets. And I’ve been here ever since. We used to occasionally make road trips; maybe I will retire and we will do that again. I’m not very knowledgeable so I don’t post often but I’m always lurking and learning.

 

[flash34]

Old Post from 2017