A few comments about the Tennessee-RU game:

1. It's convenient to say that the Bobbitt 3-pointers ended the game, but in fact Rutgers got back within 8 with more than 2-1/2 minutes left. Lots of teams have come back from three possessions down with that much time to go. That didn't happen this time because Tennessee hit 9 of 10 free throws to seal the deal.

2. The first half Tennessee run began when Heather Zurich got her second foul and C. Vivian Stringer took her out. Zurich didn't get back into the game until there was a minute left in the first half. I won't say there was a direct link, but it's instructive to note that RU played Tennessee even for the rest of the game, and was down 13 - the final margin - over the 10+ minutes that Zurich was sitting with 2 fouls.

3. RU's defensive scheme actually worked pretty well. Parker went 5-15, well below her usual 53% shooting, and Tennessee was something like 17 points below its season average for scoring.

4. For the people who wonder why RU didn't press, the answer is that RU did try the press maybe half a dozen times, and Tennessee broke it by passing to Parker, who has a much, much better handle than the usual 6'4" women's player. Usually a pass to the post is a terrible mistake against the RU press, but not when the post is Candace Parker. Stringer is a good enough coach to know to stop trying something that isn't working and isn't going to work.

5. I think somebody ought to give some credit to Tennessee's defense. The Lady Vols extended their defense out a good 5 feet more than other teams usually do, and they had the size and speed to make that work. The outside shots weren't available (RU took the same number of 3-point shots in the game as it did in the first half against LSU), and so RU was forced to try to feed Vaughn. That worked, but not as well as the usual RU offense.

It's wonderful to say that the Rutgers players should act like this ran off them like water off the back of a duck, but it's also entirely unrealistic.

I watched the press conference. There were repeated references to how they can't get away from this story. Kia Vaughn said she had to turn off her phone, and that even the sympathetic responses of her friends were hard to handle. Last night, Rutgers even went to the trouble to tell the press not to call the players or send them text messages because they were getting so many.

Of course they're angry. They're immersed in this, no matter what they do. It wasn't some jerk in the street calling one of them a name. It was a 66-year old man with a nationally-syndicated radio program simulcast on MSNBC, calling out the entire team based on a few seconds of video. It's a story that they can't ignore.

Truth be told, under the circumstances I think they're handling it very well. Several of the players said that they wanted to hear from Imus why he'd said what he said and that they wanted him to know who they were and what they had done. They're demonstrating the maturity to withhold their public judgment until they have the chance to meet with him and see for themselves if he is contrite or just mouthing (sometimes) the right words. I'm not sure I'd have had the same fortitude at 20 years of age. It speaks very well for them and for the people around them - their families and their coaches.

Some thoughts in response to various posts:

1. Rutgers certainly does nothing to hide the nickname, so you should blame the reporters. In fact, the women's basketball team was called the "Lady Knights" before C. Vivian Stringer came to Rutgers, and apparently she thought was silly, so they went back to the regular school nickname. (For those who want real nickname trivia, Rutgers once was the Chanticleers, which would be even more unusual for a women's team. On the other hand, Delaware's teams, male and female, are called the Blue Hens.)

2. I'm glad someone highlighted the gender issue, in part because I think that bothered the team and the coach much more than has been reported. For instance, during the press conference Kia Vaughn, the starting center, talked about how she wasn't a ho unless the definition had changed.

3. Women's college basketball players are much more like regular college students than most people think. Essence Carson, for instance, is carrying a double major in music and psychology, neither of which is exactly easy(and Rutgers has one of the better performing arts programs - she had to audition to get into it). Women's basketball players have a much higher graduation rate than men's basketball players or football players, and a surprising number of them graduate early. Characterizing them as "genetic freaks, pumped up on steroids" is about as unfair (and ill-informed) as what Imus said. In fact, compare what Carson, Vaughn, Ajavon and Zurich said during the press conference to what you hear every day from male athletes, and the difference is apparent.

4. Finally, it's moments like these that create the cracks in the wall of racism and sexism. Yes, you need to work constantly against them, but specific events crystallize attitudes, and this one opened (or closed, whichever direction you think represents progress) the door just a little bit more.