First off, I’d like to note that I am not a feminist. However, I do believe in equality. Second, I think all sports fans can agree that men and women are viewed very differently in terms of their athletic abilities and can easily argue that the playing field is not as equal as we all would like to believe. No, I am not saying this because I am a girl. I am merely saying this because it is reality.
Last week, I was walking to class and picked up a copy of our school newspaper, The Daily Bruin – a task I conduct on a daily basis – and immediately turned to the flipside to read the sports section (another task I conduct on a daily basis). After all, we do call it the backwards paper, because the average student here in Westwood turns to the sports section first (that’s kind of what you get for being the university with the most NCAA team championships – Hey, I’m not complaining).
Anyway, back to the point of this entry: The playing field is NOT equal. Why, you may ask? Well, the first and biggest article in the center of the sports section had the headline, “UCLA men's basketball fumbles with early advantage against Oregon” followed by the subtitle, “UCLA takes a 13-point lead against Oregon, only to drop the ball in lackluster play.” And to top it off, a giant 3 by 4 inch picture of Reeves Nelson getting double-teamed by defenders printed right at the top of the article. Disgusting, right?
Right. But what’s even more disgusting is that the article directly to the right of it, titled, “UCLA women's basketball team sinks Oregon Ducks, 104-80,” was a tiny 2-inch wide strip with a picture probably about the size of my thumb embedded within it. Now, I wouldn’t have a problem if the men’s article were about us winning. But losing?! Come on. Our women’s team scored 104 points, “the team’s highest point total since scoring the same number against Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 3, 2009.” THAT is remarkable. Please tell me that accomplishment does not deserve center stage and the bigger picture on the cover of the sports page, because I would truly beg to differ.
This was Friday. Just a day later, I was walking out of Pauley Pavilion and passed Coach Rick Neuheisel on the way to my apartment. I overheard him ask one of his assistants, “Did the girls win? I believe they were playing Oregon State today.” Ladies and gentlemen, if our football coach cares enough about the women’s final score, I think our student body can care about it too – especially if we’re winning.
So true, well said! The women's basketball team is performing much better than the men's team currently and deserves far more recognition. And no matter what team, anytime a college basketball team breaks 100, there should be some sort of news story!
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more. There are too many stereotypes and biases out there...people just dont give womens basketball the time of day. It starts with the media, there needs to be womens basketball on TV more often, when people turn on ESPN there needs to be as much womens basketball on as mens. This will give people no other option but to watch the game. UCLA womens basketball is averaging the least amount of fans in the Pac-10 this season, and as the 2nd place team in the conference, that is pathetic. I know if it were Nikki Caldwell's way, she would have all 12,000 seats of Pauley Pavilion filled for every home game. That is not going to happen unless the school's own newspaper is willing to give the womens basketball team as much exposure as the mens team, who is definitely under-performing this season.
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