I watch and I want to be there. I want to make the backdoor cut for an easy layup, dish the ball to Maya Moore for the trey, and dive for a loose ball playing with the intensity and knowledge that I’m fighting for a national championship.
March Madness, a time for immense competition, filling out brackets, and hours watching college basketball.
Perhaps it resonates more with me as a basketball player, but I can’t help but watch the game with perhaps the same intensity as the players playing. Unfortunately there are many critics who contend that women’s basketball is “a joke†or “not a sport.†Such critics must not consider the energy, drive, and effort given by these women throughout the year as they strive to be the very best.
The men’s bracket certainly lived up to the madness aspect of the tournament with Butler repeating as Cinderalla, making if to the championship game for the second consecutive year. The road to the finals was chalk full of bracket busters and major upsets, but the low-scoring championship game featuring Butler and UConn fell short of fan expectations.
Both teams shot below 35 percent and accounted for less than a total of 50 points at the end of the half. UConn came out victorious with a final score of 53-41. Fans complained the next day, claiming they “fell asleep†or were even forced to turn off the game. Thankfully the women’s teams from Notre Dame and Texas A&M put on quite a show for viewers the very next night.
It is on very rare occasion that my brother will put a women’s basketball game on TV. Even though I wasn’t invested in the game’s outcome, I found myself inspired by the players. As a basketball player I work day in and day out to improve my game and to see other extremely skilled women competing for a national championship shows me where hard work can take you.
While seeing Texan A&M’s Danielle Adams put up 30 points is exciting, I am more inspired by the strong emotions of all the players. Their celebrations, hustle, and shouting make it clear that they are extraordinarily invested in the game. To see them fight with such intense emotion to the final seconds motivates me to work even harder.
In the final minute it seemed that the game was decided with Texas A&M ahead by five points and possession of the ball. But the fighting Irish did not give up. Sophomore point guard Skylar Diggins stole the ball and drew the foul. She then followed up with two made free throws, making it a one-possession game.
But Texas A&M would not give it up that easily. Missouri’s own Tyra White and Adams led Texas A&M to their 76-70 win over Notre Dame.
To see these two women move from small backgrounds to national champions is beyond inspiring. To dismiss their hard work and talent as “a joke†is beyond offensive. The performances of both Notre Dame and Texas A&M outshone that of Butler and UConn in the men’s tournament and will hopefully cause more people to take the women’s game more seriously.
