In light of poor attendance at the Greensboro Coliseum for the women’s NCAA regional, the N&R’s Ed Hardin says the “great experiment” of women’s college basketball still needs work. No kidding:
Greensboro was supposed to be different. The Gate City had planned for this weekend, even lobbied quietly for a Final Four of its own in recent years. The back-to-back regionals proved once and for all, however, that Greensboro will not support the women’s game without Duke or Carolina in it while providing the final example of an idea gone wrong from the beginning.
The idea was, with proper planning and given time to educate the public about the women’s game, pockets of support would sprout far from the usual places — Knoxville, Tenn., Storrs, Conn., and, well, that’s about it. Chapel Hill sold out a women’s game for the first time in years this season. Cameron Indoor Stadium wasn’t filled at all for women’s basketball, and Raleigh saw a sharp drop. Winston-Salem? Forget it.
I agree the NCAA could have used more common sense and put Carolina in the Greensboro Regional. But the public’s education on women’s college basketball has been going on for some time now, with a lot of help from the media. But until the women can play above the rim like the guys do, the great experiment will continue to be just that.
