The dictionary definition of schadenfreude is “pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.” It’s an unworthy emotion; nothing to be proud of, for sure.
But every little once in a while, it’s enjoyable to see Ozymandias brought low, you know?
It’s been a long time coming. We’d watched Geno Auriemma needle Pat Summitt (and Pat’s repeated attempt to rise above it) for decades on end. After a pause to allow the world to pay its respects when early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease took her away, he reverted to his usual banty rooster aggression and directed his snark against Pat’s successor, Holly Warlick, in 2019 when Tennessee’s starting point guard decided to transfer to the University of Connecticut and Auriemma didn’t think Warlick and then-athletics director Phillip Fulmer were accommodating enough. He accused the University of Tennessee of doing stuff that was “not normal,” and generally running a rotten program.
“If you knew what the environment was [at Tennessee] … you would not want your kid in that environment.”
Them’s fighting words, and our Sunday School teachers ought to give us a pass for savoring that moment when Geno (“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”) was reduced to a sniveling heap of rubble because his team lost a ballgame.
Seriously? Losing a non-conference game to a decent Georgia Tech team on its home court shouldn’t have been enough to trigger any normal human into a deep depression. There was a good reason for UConn to have had a tough day – the team was minus a gaggle of injured players, including last year’s national Player of the Year, the first freshman ever to be named to that honor. But don’t cry for him, Argentina. He’s got another two or three players who were ranked No. 1 in their high school class, plus a handful of top five players to top them off. He is the Babe Ruth of recruiters (or maybe the Ty Cobb – his cleats are sharp).
By their next game, Geno’s Huskies had regrouped enough to beat a decent UCLA team by 10 points, signaling that our window of opportunity is closing fast.
Personally, I’ll take whatever guilty pleasure at Geno’s expense that I can get. He owes me. I’ve written about it before, but I swear I used to be a nice person before I was forced to sit in the midst of the UConn section one snowy night in Hartford – an orange dot in a sea of deep, dark blue – surrounded by Yankees chanting “Geno is God!!!” after they beat us by one point in overtime. It would have been a life-changing experience even if nobody had asked me if I wanted possum on my pizza.
So, forgive me while I gloat. Or better still, join me. The opportunity may be short-lived. And meanwhile, somebody send Geno a copy of Pat’s Definite Dozen with Rule 12 highlighted:
“Handle Success Like You Handle Failure: You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you handle it. Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning. Losing forces you to reexamine. It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.”
Watch Geno’s whiney post-game press conference here.
Betty Bean writes a Thursday opinion column for KnoxTNToday.com.