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NEWS, NOTES &
COMMENTARY
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The
Bradsher Beat
Friday, February 23, 2007
By Bethany Bradsher |
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Lady Pirates, please accept my apologies
By Bethany Bradsher
©2007 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Every time a new flash of good news has been
heralded from the East Carolina women’s basketball program in recent weeks,
I have seen her face in my mind’s eye.
With the way her team has performed since our
conversation, Jasmine Young has successfully planted herself into my
subconscious.
I was over at the Murphy Center about three
weeks ago, interviewing Young and Cherie Mills for a feature story. Young’s
initial reception of me was a bit unexpected. She sat sideways in her chair
frowning while I introduced myself and told her that I was working for the
Pirate Club publication.
“Are they going to come to our games?” she
asked, still not meeting my eye.
I stammered around a little, explaining that I
didn’t know if more fans would decided to catch the Lady Pirates, but that
publicity like the article could only help. I told her that I would try to
come to one of their games personally before the season ended.
I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. My crazy
life intervened, and suddenly I heard last weekend that ECU had just played
its final home game. Augmenting my guilt about my broken promise is this
undeniable fact: This is a team that has swept right past fan apathy on the
way to exceeding every expectation.
Six consecutive wins, all in Conference USA.
That streak, capped last night with a 68-52 drubbing of Southern Miss, is
the longest C-USA winning streak in the history of the program. Center
Cherie Mills was named conference player of the week this week, marking the
first time since 2005 that a team member has been honored by the conference.
In short, the Lady Pirates (15-13, 10-5 C-USA),
have owned everything that the men’s team could only hope to grasp: Photo
finishes in tough contests, strength and chemistry as the postseason
approaches and now, guaranteed with yesterday’s Southern Miss win, a bye in
the first round of this weekend’s Conference USA tournament.
It’s enough to warrant a standing ovation, if
only fans were showing up to give one. As Jasmine observed, the team's home
crowds have been underwhelming this season, even when widespread frustration
with the men’s team should have sent true Pirates scurrying for brighter
horizons.
If they had visited Minges for the final home
game on Saturday, they could have witnessed the Pirates breaking Tulane’s
10-game winning streak with highlights like 80 percent accuracy from the
free-throw line. They would have had plenty to cheer about, and they
wouldn’t have had to spend a minute worrying about whether they should wear
a bag on their heads.
Remember, I’m guilty too. Jasmine Young, who
scored a career-high 29 points in last night’s Southern Miss triumph, got to
the heart of the matter that day in the Murphy Center when she said, “People
just don’t think the women’s game is as exciting as the men’s.”
As a female sportswriter, I should know better
than that. As the daughter of two Tennessee alumni, I should really know
better. But I am still biased toward the type of men’s competition that
makes March Madness my favorite, bar-none sporting event of the year.
Maybe the striking imbalance between the women
and the men with their 13-game losing streak can teach us all a thing or two
as the regular season winds down on Saturday. Take a moment, as you decide
whether to attend the men’s game against Texas-El Paso Saturday night, to
check the results of the women’s road game against Central Florida.
It’s too late for me to truly redeem myself,
Jasmine, but I hope you’ll accept my good-faith assurance that I will pay
closer attention from now on. Next week you’ll be far away, in Tulsa for
your conference tournament, trying to lengthen your team’s foray into places
where no ECU women’s team has gone before.
And next fall, when schedules and preseason talk
begins, I will pick two or three games and write them directly into my
calendar. In pen.
I’m just thankful that Jasmine is only a
sophomore.
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02/23/2007 01:14:38 AM |
