Many of us made New Years’ resolutions just a few weeks ago, and we’re hopeful that we haven’t broken too many of them yet. Many of those resolutions likely included attending all our classes or doing all our assigned readings.
We at The Chronicle have another suggestion for this semester’s goals: attending a women’s basketball game.
The U boasts many stellar athletic programs, but none are undervalued more than women’s hoops. They have won seven conference championships since the 1995-1996 season. Last year, juniors Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn shared the honor of being named the Mountain West Conference Players of the Year-yet how many of us attended their games?
The women’s basketball team has more wins than the men’s this year, yet attendance at its games averages just over one-tenths of what the Runnin’ Utes bring in.
New Mexico’s women’s basketball team can brag more than 10,000 fans at its home games-when was the last time we jammed that many people into the Huntsman Center for something other than Dave Chappelle?
A lot has been said about the fickle nature of Utah fans. We fill our stadium when the football team is doing well-but when it starts to falter, we leave at halftime.
What does it say about us that we can’t muster up any school spirit for a program as good as our women’s basketball team?
Like any other athletic event at the U, tickets are free for students. And since the women’s team doesn’t have a MUSS, you can get as close up in the student section as you want.
Another point that people make is the broad stroke of, “People don’t go to women’s hoops games because nobody around here likes female sports.”
Thanks to gymnastics, that argument doesn’t really add up. The Red Rocks’ attendance average last season was quite a bit higher than men’s basketball, or any non-football sport, for that matter. So there is definitely a market for female sports, just not one that the average U athletics fan has tapped into. Around the country, there is plenty of student and alumnus support to go around to a wide variety of sports, both good and bad.
Since the Utes are good-perhaps even great-on a regular basis, what’s your excuse?