[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Juulie Downs

Also, I'm perfectly willing to disagree about which is more difficult to ref, women's or men's, but in the past it's always ended up with mud-slinging and flaming and I didn't just go away from that, but tried to defend myself. That was my mistake, and I left when I realized that there was going to be no way I could change the culture or tenor of this board to actively omit that stuff.

There were plenty of put downs of women's or girl's basketball, but that wasn't the reason I left, but I"m not going to go into that here. It's just not a constructive topic.

OK. I was only referencing things you had said. I am sure there was more to the situation than what you said. I do tend to understand context. And it is certainly true that the comments were not just from me.

Originally Posted by Juulie Downs

I was simply responding to your comment that there weren't upsets in the women's tournament. I was simply pointing out that while you may or may not be right overall, here was a big upset that happened very, very shortly after your comment. Just kinda interesting.

I would understand if I said, "There never…ever is ever an upset in women's basketball." That is the farthest thing from what I have said. I said that there is not the same level of upsets as compared to the Men's side. And without getting into much detail, the information is out there. And I have won a few pools simply by picking mostly the top seeds and winning. Last year was the first time in Men's Tourney history that all top seeds made the Final Four. It is not unusual that the Men's top seeds may not make the Final Four. That was really the point I was making. That has nothing to do with putting down Women's basketball. That is stating things they talk about on ESPN all the time.

Originally Posted by Juulie Downs

I certainly don't mind you expressing your opinions. But it IS frustrating when you claim to be dragged into something that actually, you started. Just saying...

Juulie, I did not start the thread, you did. I did not come here saying "See I was right." And if you did not mention my name, I would not have said a word. And after this thread is over, I likely will not comment again until maybe the Final Four, which I sometimes watch because nothing else is going on (I am not a big early season baseball fan).