We all know the ancient question - if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound. Well, there is a new question for modern times - if a women's college basketball team wins 89 games in a row, does anyone care? While we may never truly be able to say what the answer to the first question is, the answer to the second question is a definite and resounding NO!
Now, this is a solid streak. Winning anything 89 times in a row is impressive. However, this is not a streak on par with the UCLA winning streak in the 1970s. This is not a streak that compares with the LA Lakers winning 33 games from November 5, 1971 until January 7, 1972. Why is that? Because, despite sharing the same name, these are two completely different sports.
Take the U-Conn women's basketball team and put them in the Division One Men's side, and they get destroyed. Not only do these Clydesdales with a ball simply not have the athletic prowess that men do, but they also do not have anything near the talent of even a mediocre program. Watching women's basketball is the sports equivalent of watching paint dry. No one can hit a shot. Games are routinely in the 50's. The only thing it is good for is to have something on in the background when taking a nap if you happen to be one of those people that cannot sleep without a television on.
What could change this? Maybe lowering the hoops in women's basketball by a foot. Maybe the games would be more interesting if they had token 'basketball players' who were nothing more than hot chicks dressed up in the team's uniforms. This has proven to be a strategy that works; after all, how many people paid any attention to women's professional tennis before Anna Kournikova put on the mini skirt and 'played'? Or, maybe the mainstream media should recognize women's sports as what they are - a niche sport that perhaps four people in total care about. And this estimate may be high.
There are the arguments that these programs help to boost the self-esteem and mental toughness of females. These are valid points. Having women's sports can keep impressionable females from getting pregnant, ending up on a pole in some seedy club, or having a career on a street corner. Of course, this is not exactly something that any of the women on the U-Conn team have to worry about, but it is nice that these options do exist to keep people from following these paths. Just don't expect anyone to care about this 'accomplishment'. After all, this isn't even a real sport.
Well, normally here is where I would play the foil to your rant, where I would say no Mister Dave, you need to see it from THIS angle. Today however, I will simply put a thumbs up and a 'HA'.
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