Rec’ing on…The Holiday Drought

Anyone who has spent any time around me knows that I’m passionate about women’s sports (and if the University of Maryland women’s teams are involved, even more so). I have been for a very long time. Basketball, soccer, volleyball, field hockey (again, yea Terps!), lacrosse, softball, billiards, and more than that besides. You think they are fringe now? Turn the clock back a few decades. I’ll give ya fringe.

Anyway…

This is the time of year when a huge hunk of my fellow countrymen and countrywomen plop themselves down in front of a TV for a hefty helping of sports. College football? No problem. We got yer bowls right here. NFL? Why certainly. Get comfortable and enjoy the playoffs. NBA? Excellent choice. College basketball (men’s)? Ah, a traditionalist. Plenty here for you to choose from.

Uh. Hello? Women’s sports? [crickets]

I tell you, it’s frustrating. At best there are a smattering of games–often only in the middle of the workday. “Filler” I think they call it. I’ve had to subscribe not only to the digital sports tier of my cable system in order to see more than a handful of games for a season (never mind just the holidays), but also digital cable…a requirement for the sports tier. Let me tell ya, you don’t want to know from my cable bill.

I read an article in the Dayton Daily News (www.daytondailynews.com) that reported on a roundtable where women’s sports in the media was discussed. It basically boiled down to the catch-22 that’s been around forever: if you want more women’s sports coverage, there has to be more interest…however, it’s next to impossible to increase interest without more media coverage.

This is what I see on the local news. The city in which I live has a Division I university whose women’s basketball team is typically ranked somewhere in the twenties…sometimes making the top 25 polls, sometimes not. This team is popular and sells out the arena–or comes close–almost every home game (I think they’re ranked somewhere around fourth in the nation in attendance). So, time for sports on the news. Let’s assume our team has won a significant victory. Lead story? Nope. NFL or MLB-preseason, depending on the time of year. Now, I probably wouldn’t have a problem with this except for the fact that this city DOESN’T HAVE AN NFL OR MLB TEAM (pardon the shouting).

I mean, come-on, guys. There’s interest…just look at the full arena. The women don’t merit the lead story? Shoot, the school’s second-rate football team gets the lead story if the freshman lineman gets a hangnail (only a mild exaggeration).

Given the explosion of college football bowl games (doubtless part of a government initiative: no college football program left behind), I think there can be more than token room for a game of (say) basketball that is played pretty much in the spirit of the game. No, dunking is rare, that’s true, but that isn’t the be-all and end-all of the game. There’s this little thing called teamwork–ask the 2004 U.S.A. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team if teamwork matters. More than the men, the women play as a team. More than the men, the women demonstrate the skills needed to play more than a one-on-one or two-on-two game with the rest of the people on the court being left with little to do but watch.

Sadly, a quick search of TV listings says that I’m not going to see much of that kind of sport. I can’t even rely on the billiards fall-back position, as the WPBA isn’t getting much air time at this time of year, either. Shoot, I’ll even tune in to some curling, if that’s all that’s available.

The thing is that football has “supplement enhanced” and “celebrationed” itself way beyond being enjoyable for me to watch, and men’s basketball is often a mockery of the game (the pro game more so than college). Just as having _only_ turkey and stuffing and yams in Thanksgiving quantities isn’t good for us, neither is a viewing-diet rich in this limited selection of sports. Some variety is in order. A little cranberry sauce. Some green bean casserole. Maybe even some punkin pie. That’s all I’m asking for. I don’t think it’s too much to ask, and it makes the rest of the meal all the better.