Bird at the Buzzer

Background

The University of Connecticut and Notre Dame women's basketball teams are two of the more successful teams in women's collegiate basketball. The UConn Huskies have seven national championships, while the Notre Dame team has three Final Four appearances, with a National Championship in 2001. Both teams play in the Big East Conference, and have appeared in the title game of the Conference tournament multiple times, with UConn appearing 21 times between 1989 and 2011, and Notre Dame appearing five times in the same time period.

Synopsis

The main subject of the book is the Big East Tournament championship game of 2001, although the book intersperses play by play coverage of the game with background information on the entire season, as well as commentary on the players, coaches and other aspects of the two programs.

The game featured in the book was neither the first nor the last meeting of the two teams in the season. In January, UConn played Notre Dame at Notre Dame. The UConn team was undefeated, and ranked number one in the country at the start of the game. Notre Dame won the game 92–76, remained undefeated, and moved from third to the number one ranking at the next poll. Both teams would also meet in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, with Notre Dame prevailing and then going on to win the national championship. All of the meetings between the two teams that year were important games for each team, but the game in March had multiple story lines—a tournament championship at stake, a close game in which neither team led by more than eight points at any time, a devastating injury to one of the games best players, and finally, a game that was decided by a single basket scored in the final moments, by one of the best players in the sport, Sue Bird.

Authors

The author of the book is Jeff Goldberg, a sportswriter for the Hartford Courant covering the UConn women's team from 2001 to 2006, although on the night of the game featured in the book, he was acting as a freelance reporter for The Chicago Tribune. Goldberg covered the UConn basketball team as well as the Boston Red Sox. The foreword is by Doris Burke, an ESPN reporter.

Players and Coaches

Many of the participants in the featured game, or in games leading up to the featured game, had notable careers at the time or went on to notable college and pro careers.

Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Shea Ralph, Maria Conlon, Kelly Schumacher, Kennitra Johnson, and Tamika Williams played for the UConn team, under the coaching of Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma.

Ericka Haney, Kelley Siemon, Ruth Riley, Alicia Ratay, Niele Ivey, Le'Tania Severe, Jeneka Joyce, and Amanda Barksdale played for the Notre Dame team, under the coaching of the 2001 National Coach of the year Muffet McGraw.

Svetlana Abrosimova did not play in the featured game, as she sustained a college career-ending injury on 1 February 2001 in a win over Tennessee. But she was the leading scorer in the prior match-up of the season, in which third ranked Notre Dame defeated top ranked Connecticut for the first UConn loss of the season.

Reception

Jeff Jacobs notes that the book is "well-written" with great metaphors, but the real core of the book is narrative. He writes "Women's basketball hasn't left enough permanent footprints in sports literature. From the moment he walked outside Gampel Pavilion, turned to former Courant sports writer Matt Eagan, the beat guy at the time, and said, ' I think we just saw the best women's basketball game ever played,' this was in the back of Goldberg's mind."

Jacobs notes the dual nature of the game—the positive, a well-played game important to both teams at the time, and the negative, the career-ending injury to Shea Ralph. He also notes Goldberg's regret—that the book is viewed as a book about UConn, although he wanted it viewed as "just as much a Notre Dame book".

Stephanie Summers, at Mansfield-Storrs Patch, refers to it as "The Game That Stands the Test of Time.

Kenneth Best, writing for UConn Today, noted the Notre Dame coverage, quoting Goldberg talking about Niele Ivey—"For Niele Ivey to look back and see a slice of that season, even though they lost the game, she thanked me for allowing her to relive that year. It was a special year for her."

Mel Greenberg, former veteran writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, was initially skeptical of Goldberg's claim. Greenberg had planned to attend the game, but was unable due to the winter weather in the area. However, he read a copy of the book and concluded, "before even getting to the halfway point [I] decided that Goldberg’s point is well taken". Greenberg also emphasizes the point that the book is about two programs, not just one. He quotes Notre Dame point guard Skylar Diggins who remembers the game, but didn't want to read the book, and urges her to read it, pointing out that Goldberg goes on to cover the first national title for Notre Dame less than a month later.

Mechelle Voepel, columnist for ESPN, urges fans to take the time to read the book, even if you "know how the book ends". Voepel recounts her own watching of the game when it occurred, standing in a drafty hallway, covering the Big 12 Tournament, but more interested in the UConn-Notre Dame game. Voepel followed up with Sue Bird, who found the book intriguing herself, as it reminded her of things that she hadn't remembered, such as helping Shea Ralph up when she was injured. It also gave her a chance to see the game through he eyes of the Notre Dame team.