Gabby Williams tattoo

[JordyG]

No one ever said a man will regret a tattoo when he's older; why is it only women that need to worry about it? Could it be people are judging women by their appearance? That's a double standard and, frankly, I'm tired seeing worthwhile people being judged by their looks.

Lots of people will disagree with my take on this. But frankly it all looks like bad cartoon art to me. Excessive tattoo's always seemed to me more a cry for attention and/or help in a society hell bent for narcissism. I'm convinced future tattoo-less generations will look upon tattooed grandma and grandma as embarrassments. I see some people with so many tattoo's I wonder why they just didn't paint themselves blue and have it over. Or at least tattoo "Eat McDonald's on their foreheads and try to get paid for it. And all that ink is a poison slowly seeping into your body as that thing fades over time. Younger people ask me why haven't I ever tattooed myself and I say 1) You know how everyone looks in the mirror and hates their nose or teeth or facial sculpture etc. Well these things can be changed with surgery often without scarring. Over time, just like your nose, you will come to dislike or tire of looking at your tattoo. Tattoo's to me are a permanent scar that can only be changed by more scarring or removed by a bigger scar 2) Life has naturally scarred me enough I don't need to self inflict any. More frankly, I live in NYC. Over time if I didn't judge just about everything and everyone initially by its or their looks I'd have long been be dead by now.

 

[Dougie]

One of my favorite kids, Bria Hartley, has, among others, a large stylized basketball tattooed on her inner hip. After UConn, Stef tatted her inner forearm. Is that a negative reflection on them? I have to believe in 30 years at UConn others have also had discrete, less prominent tattoos. So Gabby has a shoulder tattoo. What does it really matter?? I know Geno (THE best WCBB coach ever) likes to control the UConn image and culture for his players (routines, dress, social media, etc) and I bet he believes (and I won't argue) that it has contributed to UConn's team-first focus and unparalleled success in WCBB. But unlike 25-30 years ago, when practically no girls had tattoos, today it is a socially acceptable way kids express themselves, their individuality etc. Almost forty years ago, I refused to talk to my son for pretty much an entire school year because he came home with a small tattoo on his arm (honoring his grandparents murdered in Auschwitz). I was irrational, I freaked out. He was a great young man (then and now) but I couldn't get past that darn tattoo. I have since learned not to judge people (kids or adults) because they choose to do things that harm nobody, I don't agree with, or I simply don't understand. (A Mike Tyson facial tribal tattoo excluded).

If all things were the same but DT or Maya had impossible-to-cover tattoos, would Geno have decided not to recruit them? Lauren Cox? I don't know. But if a kid is a really good kid, with her head "screwed on right," with solid family values, respectful of others, a team-first not a me-first kid, and a helluva basketball player - an out-there for-everyone-to-see neck tattoo or full sleeve shouldn't mean beans. That which matters is inside, not outside.

Great post. Just tell me though. What's an inner hip? I'm having enough trouble with my outer hip.

 

[Kaizen]

Chong's tattoo is a very small one in memory of her passed brother. I fully support and bless her.

 

[HuskyNan]

Excessive tattoo's always seemed to me more a cry for attention and/or help in a society hell bent for narcissism.

My point is made.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

It's a double standard; you don't see MBB players having to cover up their tattoos so women shouldn't have to, either.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Lots of people will disagree with my take on this. But frankly it all looks like bad cartoon art to me. Excessive tattoo's always seemed to me more a cry for attention and/or help in a society hell bent for narcissism. I'm convinced future tattoo-less generations will look upon tattooed grandma and grandma as embarrassments. I see some people with so many tattoo's I wonder why they just didn't paint themselves blue and have it over. Or at least tattoo "Eat McDonald's on their foreheads and try to get paid for it. And all that ink is a poison slowly seeping into your body as that thing fades over time. Younger people ask me why haven't I ever tattooed myself and I say 1) You know how everyone looks in the mirror and hates their nose or teeth or facial sculpture etc. Well these things can be changed with surgery often without scarring. Over time, just like your nose, you will come to dislike or tire of looking at your tattoo. Tattoo's to me are a permanent scar that can only be changed by more scarring or removed by a bigger scar 2) Life has naturally scarred me enough I don't need to self inflict any. More frankly, I live in NYC. Over time if I didn't judge just about everything and everyone initially by its or their looks I'd have long been be dead by now.

Yup. Like a velvet Elvis or a souvenir plate you'd buy at a Stuckey's.

Yup. "I'm angry and hurt so look at me."

 

[JordyG]

Yup. Like a velvet Elvis or a souvenir plate you'd buy at a Stuckey's.

Yup. "I'm angry and hurt so look at me."

Further, as an African-American I frequently see other young African-Americans with excessive tattoo's. From a distance I see nothing, only up close. Then I end up staring like some half blind oldster or voyeur, just trying to make it out. Is it a tattoo or not? What is it of? I mean why bother? If I'm a foot away still trying to figure out what the heck it is, I'm close enough for you and I to actually have a conversation. I've said to some youngsters tattoo's don't individuate you. How is it a singular expression when you all have one? We all could walk around wearing paper hats and hollowed out beer kegs and we could recognize each other from across the room. What distinguishes you from that other guy is what you say and what you do. Some kids actually listen.

 

[DaBrook4Tuck]

I tell everyone who tells me they are getting a tattoo to be careful what you get tattooed. My daughter went down to Cancun with friend in college, they decided to get their first tattoos down there. She decided to get the Chinese writing of Taurus on her wrist. Coming back she and was at a restaurant in China Town and waitress ask (with strong Chinese accent): "What you got on your wrist?" she said Taurus the bull. The women said - "that is not bull that cow - why you have COW on your wrist?" So now when she does something we want to get back at her we say "Why you have COW on your wrist."

 

[victor64]

Do you think the staff avoids recruiting players with visible body art?

 

[HoopsFan21]

Do you think the staff avoids recruiting players with visible body art?

Probably. Imagine what they'd do if a player had a sleeve? You can't hide something like that with kinesiotape.

 

[UcMiami]

Do you think the staff avoids recruiting players with visible body art?

I doubt it. They recruit the player, the person, and the family - that is enough of a gauntlet. If am Augustus type player with Augustus style tattoos in HS came on the recruiting radar, I think they would be all over her. CD would figure something out.

 

[cabbie191]

It is a different world today. Body art has become body ART and not traditional tattoos. Below is a pic of one of our pastors in Denver. She 6'1" and rows crew and does power lifting and most importantly is a good theologian and pastor. She is, also, a published author. Her body art is largely the liturgical year told through stained glass window panes.

http://www.nadiabolzweber.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/nadia-frame5-229x300.png

And Nadia is also, in my opinion, an amazing role model.

 

[Patty Bailey]

It's a double standard; you don't see MBB players having to cover up their tattoos so women shouldn't have to, either.

It's a CD rule, not a WBB rule. It would only be a double standard if the same coach coached both teams and only allowed tattoos on the men. If you don't like it, don't play for UConn WBB. Has nothing to do with the men. Maybe someday a men's coach will come along and make that rule for his players, then you'll see them all in long sleeves playing basketball. Personally, I'd love to see less tattoos on some of the guys.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno likes them as people, and their talent is obvious, so I think Geno would recruit Seimone and Britney, despite lots of body art.

 

[JordyG]

Geno likes them as people, and their talent is obvious, so I think Geno would recruit Seimone and Britney, despite lots of body art.

The question isn't whether he would have recruited them. The real question is whether he would've made them cover up such extensive scrawlings?

 

[MilfordHusky]

The question isn't whether he would have recruited them. The real question is whether he would've made them cover up such extensive scrawlings?

Maybe, but both had a lot fewer tats coming out of high school.

 

[Icebear]

And Nadia is also, in my opinion, an amazing role model.

Indeed, and an excellent speaker and pastor.

 

[UcMiami]

Tattoos do seem to wax and wane in popularity - the big difference in the last 30 years seems to be that they have become gender neutral - used to be a much higher percentage of men than women with any tats and more particularly with extensive tattooing.

I do think the more permanent nature of tattoos vs. body piercings creates more 'regret' through the years. And there is quite a vibrant business in tattoo removal that, as techniques have improved, has grown very profitable. What appeals to a 20 year old with a ripped body, can become less appealing on the expanding flesh of a 50 year old! And some matters that were vital in youth, become trivial in time.

And appearances do matter to us all - we make lots of snap judgements about people we meet based on visual cues - the longer the contact with a person gets, the less important those initial impressions become, but they are real. If you meet your new doctor and they have L O V E and H A T E tattooed on their fingers, you may change doctors pretty quickly regardless of the diplomas on the wall.

Personally, I have always thought regardless of gender, choosing body art in locations where the choice to display/conceal was an option depending on circumstance made a whole lot of sense - like any fashion/accessory being able to change the effect depending on the occasion seems sensible. But I guess for some people the art is so integral to their sense of identity that it becomes important to display it at all times.

 

[BigBird]

It's a double standard; you don't see MBB players having to cover up their tattoos so women shouldn't have to, either.

Very few MBB players have accepted scholarships to play for UConn Women's Basketball.