UConn Students are a F*cking Embarassment

So last night Meg and I watched the UConn Women's basketball game. It was a pretty big game, they're ranked #1 in the country, and were hosting Louisville (ranked #10) at Gampel Pavilion. This game was nationally televised, ESPN2, hence my ability to actually watch the damn thing.

Now I'm not a huge women's basketball fan, but as a basketball fan in general, I will watch highly ranked women's teams as well as Big East women's teams. And of course UConn (until they are completely blowing someone out).

So last night's game, there were hardly any friggin students there, and Gampel, a puny 10,000 seat arena, was NOT filled to capacity. Only 1 trombone in the Pep Band had face paint on.

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!!?

I thought college students were supposed to be progressive. I thought they were supposed to be feminists (as in, believing women, and their sports, are equal to men). I thought THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT THEIR UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!

It comes down to one thing. It is not "cool" to root for the women's team. It is not "cool" to go to women's basketball games. If you saw the students who were at the game, it would be quite clear that only geeks and nerds give the UConn Women's team the support they deserve.

It makes me sick. UConn has one of the most dominant women's basketball programs in America. The only other program that rivals UConn's is Tennessee. They have one of the greatest basketball players (man or woman) that I've ever seen in Maya Moore. Why are no students going to home games, especially the big home games? Playing home games at Gampel Pavilion should be an advantage.

As someone who works in marketing, I think a big part of it comes down to how the Athletic Department is marketing their product. They need to get edgier and get out into the campus community. They have 2 marketable commodities in Geno Auriemma and Maya Moore. There should be contests for awesome signs made for nationally televised games, there should be a point system for going to the games....students who get a certain number of points get entered in a raffle for tickets/airfare to the Final Four. There should be more thinking of how the hell to sell this team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UConn has been great for almost 20 years. That is a long enough period of time for the current generation of students to have been raised into rooting for the women's team. So the other trick is somehow breaking down the idea that women's basketball is inferior, and thus unworthy of our time/support. That is something the NCAA needs to work on, as well as the big time schools like UConn and Tennessee.

Either way, I'm very fucking disappointed in my alma mater. We got a bad ass women's team, almost on par with the greatest women's team of all time (2002 UConn Huskies, 39-0). It's about fucking time some people in CT support this team (outside of senior citizens and lesbians).