Dom Amore: Las Vegas fiasco shows some managing women’s sports still haven’t gotten it right; UConn alum thrilled with football success; more in Sunday Read

Equity for women’s athletics in this 50th year of Title IX is something we’d all like to think has been figured out. Still, too often, there are incidents that indicate otherwise.

There was much lacking at the Las Vegas Invitational, which was supposed to be a top-flight experience and showcase for major woman’s basketball programs, on par with the Bahamas and the first-class running of the Phil Knight events in Portland. Instead, it was run in a manner that wouldn’t even be acceptable for Division III, a reference we will get to.

“We have an obligation to grow our game, and we completely missed on this opportunity because you have a lot of really good teams that are here representing their conferences,” Indiana coach Teri Moren has said. “This was a major miss, in my opinion, in terms of helping to grow this game.”

Laid out in a ballroom at the Mirage Resort and Casino, there were no temporary bleachers set up, like they have in other ballroom events like the Bahamas, just folding chairs around the court. Players were advised to bring their own towels from their hotel rooms, none to be provided at the playing venue.

Worst of all, Auburn’s Kharyssa Richardson was injured during a game and had to wait 45 minutes for paramedics to arrive, none on site to respond immediately. Moren, who took her program to the Sweet 16 in Bridgeport last March, nearly pulled out of Vegas at that point.

“It’s probably the last time they’ll get a good team to go to that tournament,” Geno Auriemma said, after the UConn women won the trophy in Portland last week. “It’s almost that condescending kind of thinking, ‘Yeah, wouldn’t it be neat to have the gals come out here and play.’ It’s unfortunate for them to have to go through something like that.”

UConn sophomore star Azzi Fudd, too, stepped up and spoke out with a clear voice. “It kind of shocked me,” she said. “It gave me AAU vibes. I remember playing in ballrooms like that. I couldn’t believe that was a college game being played like that. I just think we need to do better.”

After the outrage went national, the finger pointing began. Ryan Polk, the site coordinator, told ESPN he apologized to Moren. Polk, incidentally, perhaps ironically, works for the University of Hartford, with the title assistant director, employer relations, career and professional development, according to the school’s website. At UHart resources for athletics has been cut to the bare bones and beyond, which in part prompted men’s basketball coach John Gallagher to resign just before the season after his team played a scrimmage without an athletic trainer present. So opponents of UHart’s administration and its move to Division III acquired more social media ammo.

“We’re very sorry,” Polk told ESPN. “The court and the lighting, that stuff hasn’t been an issue. But we needed to have full-on bleachers. We have notified The Mirage we won’t be coming back again. This is a one-time disaster in terms of events. It definitely did not go the way we thought or planned. We just severely missed the mark when comes to the spectator side.”

MGM Resorts blamed Polk and cut ties with his group, but a concern of that size should have been more hands-on as to what is and isn’t done in connection with its brand.

“We take great pride in hosting events of all sizes and providing world-class experiences and accommodations to our guests,” MGM Resorts said in a statement to ESPN. “MGM Resorts and the Mirage did not organize, operate or sponsor the Las Vegas Invitational. Mr. Polk was the site coordinator and was responsible for all aspects of this tournament.”

It doesn’t matter whose fault it was, though. The ball was dropped, and 50 years since Title IX was passed, and a year and a half after Oregon’s Sedona Prince called attention to the disparity in faculties at the NCAA Tournament bubble, it’s just as Fudd said: “We need to do better.”

More for your Sunday Read:

A Husky’s pride among Giants

Players in NFL locker rooms love to throw shade on each other’s alma mater, so repping UConn in the NFL has come with that hazard. But former Husky Matt Peart, an offensive lineman in his third season with the Giants, can smile ear to ear as the Huskies, 6-6, await their bowl assignment.

“I’m excited,” Peart said after a practice this week in East Rutherford, N.J. “I’m excited, for the program to finally turn it around, a lot of energy. They definitely have the building blocks of a great culture. It’s a testament to the players, a testament to the coaches. They’re fighting for each other and believe in their coach, it’s awesome to watch.”

Peart, who started 48 games for coaches Bob Diaco and Randy Edsall at UConn, 9-39 over that span, was drafted in the third round in 2020. He tore his ACL last season, but made it back in mid-November. He also made it back to Rentschler Field this season for the Syracuse game, a UConn loss, and has watched whenever his schedule allows.

“I keep in touch with the guys,” Peart said, “like Chase Lundt, Christian Haynes, Eric Watts, and Jackson Mitchell — Mr. Connecticut, doing his thing. I’m happy for them, man, I’m really, really happy.”

Giants teammate Darnay Holmes, who played for Jim Mora at UCLA, has filled him in, and Peart hopes to visit the team in the offseason. “I’ve heard nothing but good things,” he said. “So I can’t wait to finally meet [Mora] in person.”

Sunday short takes

* So am I the only one who, out of force of habit, checks even hockey or World Cup stat sheets to see if Nika Mühl got an assist?

* New Canaan’s Drew Pyne entered the transfer portal Friday, leaving Notre Dame, where he became the starting quarterback and won eight of 10 games, four of five against top 25 teams. He threw 22 touchdown passes against six interceptions, competing 64.6 percent. With three years eligibility, Pyne will be a great get for somebody. Meanwhile, Glastonbury’s Tyler Van Dyke appears set on returning to Miami after a season marred by shoulder injuries, according to reports.

* Kemba Walker, idle since last February, is back in the NBA to play a role with the Mavericks. It’s been a rough go for the UConn legend, whose turns with the Celtics and Knicks turned sour, but at 32, he believes he has some basketball left despite his problematic knees. Even after signing him, Mavs GM Nico Harrison isn’t sure. “We’ll see how long it lasts,” Harrison told a Dallas radio station.

* The scheduling in Portland didn’t allow the UConn men’s basketball team to attend the women’s games and reciprocate the support. But the men’s players and staff attended the women’s first game back home, against Providence on Friday.

*If Jacob deGrom wanted to be a Met, like Edwin Diaz, he would be. The Mets’ offer was more than fair, but he wanted to go to Texas. Fortunately, a pitcher isn’t a Picasso, so Steve Cohen will find another to take all that money.

* The USA-England scoreless draw at the World Cup Nov. 25 was the most viewed soccer match ever on U.S. television, with 15.4 million viewers. It was most popular in the Kansas City, Hartford and Boston markets. Ratings in our area have been consistently high.

* After winning his tournament in Portland, Auriemma was delighted to point out the Manchester Travel Basketball program’s 4th- and 7th-grade boys teams won their tournaments in Southington last week. “We’re Title Town,” he said.

Last word

The first sports book I ever read, at age 12, was Gaylord Perry’s Me and the Spitter, which I wanted after reading the hilarious first chapter as an excerpt in Sport Magazine. The book was written in 1974 with Bob Sudyk, who was later a columnist at The Courant, and was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, part of his act to get in hitters’ heads, not a bald-face admission that he threw illegal pitches. Somehow, although the ball was checked after nearly every pitch when Perry was on the mound, he was ejected only once in his 22-year, Hall of Fame career for doctoring a ball, during his second-to-last season. Perry’s wink-wink, catch-me-if-you-can act would be digested much differently today, as opposed to the irreverent 1970s, when cheating was still called “gamesmanship.” But for me, his passing this week at age 84 is the loss of a colorful character and the passing of a fun chapter in baseball history.

Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com