Announcement
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Whitlock claims in his recent tome "Give Women the Chance to Succeed" that the women's collegiate game faces too much competition from the men's game during March Madness. He proposes that the women start their season in December and wind up in April so that their tournament can gather national attention in its own right. He claims such a move would allow the women's game to flourish apart from the shadow of the men's game. I agree with this proposal. It's reasonable, economically feasible, and politically do-able. Several years ago the president of YBOA noticed an article I'd written about YBOA's failings. He sent me an email asking for ideas of improvement. One of my suggestions was that YBOA move it's national championships (for the younger age groups) away from direct competition with AAU. I suggested that YBOA hold national championships for the 9U-13U age groups during the week after Christmas. That, too, was an excellent idea. Think of it. No other for-profit sporting organization holds a youth championship then. It doesn't conflict with high school ball because the kid involved aren't in high school. The event is held in Florida; who doesn't want to come to Florida in December? Serious AAU teams would show up--some from out west and some from up north. (Right now, YBOA only gets fifth string teams from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. It is the Peach State Hoops of travel basketball). It would make YBOA a credible force in travel basketball instead of the no-name, backwater Kallina it currently is. Did they heed my suggestion? No. They didn't. And that's why YBOA still sucks. Whitlock makes a similar suggestion to NCAA. Although the women's game is doing OK, it still plays to half-filled auditoriums and niche markets. We'll be attending Saturday's Sweet 16 matchup between Vandy and Maryland and don't anticipate any trouble getting tickets. Jordan's "let these people in for free" list is seemingly open-ended. Whitlock goes further by suggesting that the field of teams be reduced to 32 and that the teams play a 2 out of 3 series for the quarterfinals, semis and finals. Not sure I agree with that one. For sheer drama, you can't beat one-and-done. Whitlock is obviously speaking from the perspective of a person who doesn't have a dog in the fight--the common fan. For those of us who have fighting dogs, the whole world boils down to the next game. It's the biggest thing in the world. But for casual fans who seek more thrills in April apart from Tiger in Augusta or the early rounds of the NBA playoffs, a women's basketball championship might just do the trick of filling those arenas. Whitlock points out that legions of casual fans hate the pro game and love college basketball. He posits that an April women's championship would draw those fans. Whitlock makes one more cogent observation:
Can't overlook the drama angle. He might have mentioned the Coleman/Kallina tempest in a teapot that's currently festering in Florida. While not a national issue, it does make women's hoops in Florida more interesting. |
(KB - 03/25/09) Kansas City Star sportswriter Jason Whitlock has accomplished something no other pundit has accomplished. He has put forth an original idea which I think has such merit that it deserves a separate commentary article.
