TAMPA, Fla. _ A day meant for discussing how teams are preparing for their upcoming national semifinal games took a strange turn on Thursday when Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw was asked about UConn coach Geno Auriemma and marriage.
From the brief tweets that could only fit a fraction of the question, it appeared the first question McGraw was asked during her press conference was about whether she could see herself in a relationship with Auriemma if they weren't both coaches instead of about her team's Final Four game against the Huskies.
The actual question, which is included below, was referencing a quote from an earlier press conference with Baylor coach Kim Mulkey _ but not many people knew that at the time. Here's what Mulkey was asked in her press conference, which resulted in the answer that prompted the question in McGraw's press conference:
"Sure. Listen, we would all be best friends if we weren't coaching," Mulkey said. "Hell, some of us may be married to each other if we weren't coaching, right? You have the same interests, you know. But when you're coaching your respective universities, it's not like you're kissing your sister and loving on them every day. Usually type-A personality coaches butt heads from what we do for a living. You know, it's the nature of the successful coaches, not just in women's basketball. You can go to pro football. You know, it may come across as personal sometimes, but honestly if we weren't doing what we're doing, we'd all be best friends. I really believe that."
Going off of Mulkey's answer, a reporter asked McGraw the following question: "Kim Mulkey was in here saying, if we weren't all competitors trying to go for the same thing, we'd probably be all friends," the reporter said. "She said some of us would probably even be married. I know you're married, I know Geno is married, but do you think you two would have a normal relationship if you weren't competing every year for the same thing?"
It's not completely clear whether the reporter meant "normal relationship" as a reference to friendship or marriage, and it was clear McGraw was caught off guard by the question.
"Well, there's a question I didn't expect," she said. "I think being from Philly, Geno and I have a lot in common, especially with Jim Foster as a very good friend of both of us. I could see us being friends, but I could not see us being married. So the answer is no, if he's proposing."
When Auriemma heard about Mulkey's quote, specifically the marriage line, he scrunched his face up in confusion. He was also told McGraw's reaction, then asked if he really thought they could all be friends outside of work if they weren't all coaches. The longtime UConn coach joked around at first before becoming serious and explaining how questions like this are taking away from the game.
"You think Tom Izzo has to deal with this crap (smiling)? I don't think so. I don't think Coach K has ever been asked a question like that at the Final Four. I don't think Dean Smith or anybody else has ever been asked a question like that.
"I appreciate you asking it, but I think the issue around women's basketball to me that I find a little bit disconcerting is the attention is always taken away from the game and the players, and it's turned onto the personalities of the involved coaches. God forbid, one coach is a man, the other coach is a woman, there always has to be some kind of friction, tension, all that other stuff. Like I wouldn't marry me either. What's the big deal? I know me better than anybody else knows me.
"I think it's crazy. It's like when you watch a game on TV, a women's basketball game, they talk more about the shoes that the coach is wearing. Who gives a damn? Really, c'mon. Let's get over that. We want to be taken seriously. Let's talk about sports, let's talk about the game. Let's not talk about the other nonsense that's on TMZ. If we want to be taken seriously, let's act seriously."
