After reading, "Masculine Hegemonic Hoops: An Analysis of Media Coverage of March Madness." I found out somethings that were already very obvious to me. The basic summary of the article is it talks about the 2006 NCAA tournament between women and men and how men get alot more coverage then the women do. Overall the dominance that men's college basketball has during March Madness. And how women are lucky to get any coverage at all or at the least very little mention to it.
To me there is a reason why men's basketball is so much more popular during March then women's basketball. First off, looking past the whole gender issue. I can tell you that never in the history of the women's tournament has a number twelve seeded team made it to the final four. Really the closest thing they have to a upset is a team not in the top 25 making it to the sweet sixteen. The year George Mason made it to the final four was maybe one of the most shocking things to take plae in college basketball history. People watched the tournament to see what was going to happen next. Could this cinderella team actually make it to the championship game. In women's basketball you know you will have your Tennessee's and your UCONN's there every year. There is no real suprises. No drama to follow. It really is just boring. And you can't say they don't get coverage because during the tournament, the men's games are not shown on Monday or Tuesday night and ESPN has at least four different games going on at once during those days. Not only that, but the day after the men's finals game, the women's have there's and there is a good amount of coverage and sportscenter discusses in depth what went on during the game. They do get coverage during March, it's just viewers don't find it as interesting. That is why when filling out a bracket, men's is the way to go. Because of one simple reason. It is harder to predict who is going to win what games. Women's is alot easier at predicting the finals. I think if women's basketball had a little more competition and more teams with a chance to win, then more people would watch it. People love March Madness because of the excitement it brings. Women's just doesn't allows bring that to the table. Thus, is the reason why the men's is called the Final Four and women's is called the women's Final four. With all the excitement and money the men's brings in it is more deserving of getting the title "Final Four." Whereas, the women need to be seperated from this and given there own name. I don't think it deals with gender. It is just that it is better drama to watch on TV and is why men's will continue to be more popular.
1 comment:
Keep in mind that the history of the women's NCAA tournament is much shorter than the men's. I think that also contributes to the reason there is not as much depth in the women's game. It takes time to create such depth, and naturally I believe that the best players gravitate toward the bigger programs. It would not surprise me if we see a deeper field down the road. That has happened with tennis as well.
Post a Comment